Lord Justice Ousley has made a ruling on Landlord Constantinos Regas' application for a judicial review to be held into Enfield Council's licencing scheme. The landlord's defence stated that the scheme was unlawful and the outcome was seen very much as a split decision.

The scheme was planning to enforce all landlords in the borough to obtain licences at a cost of £500 per property for a five year term.

Lord Justice Ouseley overruled part of Regas's application and stated that the selective licensing part of the scheme could ahead, citing that were insufficient  grounds fo ar judicial review to be held on this part of the application.

Those applicable landlords who do not register will face fines of up £20,000 together with threats of a criminal conviction and record.

Originally the hearing was only tabled in for a half an hour's worth of proceedings, however it lasted for four hours.

The good news is that Lord Justice Ousley said the additional homes in multiple occupation (HMO) licensing scheme, was "arguably unlawful" and that a further hearing is due to take place at the end of November.

The Council's selective licensing scheme for rented homes by single households will now go ahead from April 1, 2015.

Mr Regas, the landlord, said: "The judgment was long and complicated. There is no clear winner. It would be wise for Enfield Council to consider this judgment carefully.

“They estimate that 40 per cent of private rented properties in the borough are small HMO house-shares.

“This ruling calls into question the financial viability of the scheme, as well as its enforceability. It is unclear how much council subsidy would be needed to make it work and I call on the council to scrap the entire licensing scheme."

Councillor Ahmet Oykener, cabinet member for housing and estate regeneration, was extremely bullish when he called the result “an important victory.”

Oykener said: “This is an important victory for Enfield Council, and tenants, because this scheme will help improve standards in private sector rented accommodation, drive down anti-social behaviour  and enable the council to take action against landlords who do not meet the required standards.”