-
5/12/25 4:43 pm
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Councillors in Rotherham are pushing ahead with a selective licensing scheme despite widespread opposition from both landlords and tenants in its consultation.
At a council meeting, leader Chris Read (pictured) dismissed one landlord’s attempts to challenge the new scheme by warning his tenants that rents would go up as a result. “His properties have been regulated for 10 years,” Read told colleagues. “He’s lying about the numbers to try to stir up resistance – that’s shameful.”
Rotherham’s consultation revealed that although many accepted that the issues the system seeks to address were real problems for them, 68% of tenants told the council they did not agree with the proposed areas for selective licensing, as well as 76% of landlords.
Respondents said the proposed fees were excessive and could lead to increased rents, landlord withdrawal from the market, and reduced property values. Others thought the previous scheme – which ended in April - had not delivered improvements.
However, at the meeting, councillors were told that that as a result of the consultation, it had made changes to boundaries, removed some areas, and reduced fees for good landlords. Those with a proven track record of providing good properties and management practices in the previous selective licensing scheme will receive an automatic discount of £284 off the standard licence fee of £975, while landlords who “do not license appropriately” will pay £350 more.
A report explains that the lack of a behavioural change in all areas shows that many landlords are still not proactively managing their tenancies, only becoming involved when the council highlights issues. “Some use this continuing non-compliance to illustrate previous schemes have failed,” it adds. “However, it is likely that without the 2020-25 proactive scheme, 1,470 households would still be living in hazardous or poor living conditions.”
It points to Maltby, where the quality of properties is deemed to have improved, which had been taken out of proposals.
The new scheme will cover: Town centre/Eastwood/East Dene/Clifton/Boston Castle, Masbrough/Kimberworth, Thurcroft, Dinnington, Brinsworth and Parkgate - an estimated 4,132 licensed properties.
Tags:
.jpg)
Comments