17^th Aug 2016

In an earlier news story it was reported that over eighty landlords had formed a group to fight against North Somerset Council’s proposals to implement a selective licensing scheme, which has been rewarded by gaining a resounding victory.

The landlords’ group Somerset Property Network was formed to challenge the councils licensing scheme that would charge £320 for a five year licence.

The SPN’s fund of £12,000 was raised to take the council to court for a Judicial Review to overturn the decision; however the council has since stated that they will not implement the scheme and therefore the review is no longer necessary.

The council proposed that the areas where the scheme would have been introduced were for parts of Weston-Super-Mare. North Somerset Council will now be consulting landlords in those areas before they look at how they can move forward.

Richard Merrick of PIMS, said: “This is another success in stopping councils levying onerous licensing schemes that are treated as ‘cash cows’ to compensate for the government’s austerity measures. Hopefully many more landlords will take heart and join together to fight their own council’s unnecessary licensing schemes.”


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