Burnley councillors have voted through plans to renew selective licensing schemes in five areas covering some 3,700 homes for another five years following a three-month-long consultation, including a new area in Padiham.

Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State, must now give the vote her approval for the scheme to go ahead in October. This will include selective licencing in Trinity, Queensgate, Gannow Daneshouse and Stoneyholme plus a new area in Padiham

During the previous but smaller scheme, housing disrepair complaints have fallen, as well as the number of empty houses, while there's also been a reduction in ASB and environmental crime and a rise in average house prices.

Fees are set to go up under the new scheme: from £715 for a new application and £640 for each additional property to £750 per new application and £670 for each additional property, with a 30% discount for anyone in the council's good landlord and agent scheme.

Secretary of State

The council has been operating selective licensing since October 2008 and says that between 2013 and 2021, 25 landlords representing 41 properties were prosecuted for failing to apply for a licence while it served 20 financial civil penalties totalling £161,500.

In the Burnley Wood/Healey Wood and Leyland Road selective licensing areas, six financial civil penalties totalling £33,000 have been served.

Councillor Jack Launer (pictured) Executive Member for Housing, Health & Culture said: “People renting privately have a right to expect a decent standard of accommodation.

"Many of the private rented properties in the borough are well-managed, but we still find properties with no gas or electrical certificates, homes with no heating, full of damp and mould, or homes with no smoke detectors, selective licensing ensures that these issues are addressed”.

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