Southwark Council has reassured landlords that they won’t be lose out on an early bird discount after they reported problems accessing its updated online licensing system.

Some of those trying to complete selective licence applications before the authority’s offer ended on Wednesday found the council had altered how landlords can access the portal.

London Property Licensing says the system was no longer listed on the My Southwark menu. In response to its urgent email, an automated response explained it could be accessed via a new link and that the applicant’s password needed to be reset to restore access.

Richard Tacagni (pictured), MD of London Property Licensing, says: “Property licensing applications can be stressful to complete at the best of times. Changing an online application system 24 hours before an application deadline is never a good idea, especially if the message is not well communicated.”

Reset

A council spokeswoman tells LandlordZONE that the only thing that has changed is the way landlords access the licensing portal.

She explains: “Users no longer need to log in to My Southwark but are redirected straight to the portal from the old website landing page they used to use to log in via My Southwark.

"They do need to reset their password, but we have sent emails to all account users with instructions on how to do this. This included an email address to report any issues they are having logging in.”

She adds that of the approximately 6,000 accounts on the portal, only a small handful have had issues, and this relates to the password reset email not appearing in their inbox.

The council has extended the early bird discount until Sunday and any landlords experiencing ongoing problems will have the discount honoured.

Main pic credit: TTSP.