Croydon Council's proposed landlord licensing charge of £1,000 per property for a five year period, is being called a "tenant tax" as it could mean an extra £200 annual increase in rent. This is the second licence scheme that could be legally challenged.

Any landlords "forgetting"/refusing to sign up could face fines of up to £20,000 if their properties are not individually licensed.

The Council's mantra is that the scheme will help eke out rogue landlords, improve standards in housing and reduce anti-social behaviour, all of which sounds very familiar.

The cost to run such a scheme is estimated to be more than four and a half million pounds per year. A manager will be given a salary in the region of £80,000 who will be overseeing twenty staff to operate and implement the scheme. The cost will be paid by the licence fees received from of over 22,800 properties.

Licence schemes are on the increase despite the DCLG 's (Department of communities and Local Government) comments that appeared in a review of property conditions in the private rented sector. The Department reports that there are considerable concerns that such schemes will "unfairly penalise" good landlords.

A group of Croydon landlords' spokesman said: "These proposals will simply mean higher rents as the increased costs will be passed through to tenants in the area.

"The changes would also make investing in properties in Croydon a less attractive prospect for landlords and will only serve to decrease the availability of affordable housing.

"There is clearly a strong desire to push through these proposals but Croydon Council has yet to respond to our invitation to justify the proposals, and has done little to make landlords or tenants aware that the consultation is live."

The landlords are holding a meeting to :  "...discuss how the people of Croydon can influence the decision and find out how to have their say in order to stop the council’s costly proposals."

 

Even the Conservative MP for Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, is going to attend as he is very dismissive of the scheme.

Barwell said: "It doesn’t take a genius to work out what will happen if this scheme goes ahead - landlords will simply pass the additional cost on to their tenants.

"Introducing a stealth tax, which will lead to some of the most vulnerable people in society facing even higher rents, is beneath contempt."