Landlords in Leeds have launched a GoFundMe campaign in a bid to make the city council rethink plans for its selective licensing scheme which is due to launch next month.

Leeds Landlord Lobby Group has already raised £5,480 of its £30,000 target since last week but hopes to encourage support from landlords across the country as it pushes for a Judicial Review. A pre-application protocol has been submitted, and it is now waiting for the council’s response.

The group has 170 landlords and agent members who argue that the scheme will impose significant costs, administrative burdens, and regulatory pressures on responsible landlords, which will ultimately be passed onto tenants by way of increased rents.

The East, South & West Leeds scheme will cover about 12,500 privately rented homes that takes in parts of the Armley, Beeston & Holbeck, Burmantofts & Richmond Hill, Gipton & Harehills, Hunslet & Riverside and Farnley & Wortley council wards. It will cost £1,100 for a five-year licence – going up to a hefty £1,225 if completed on paper - compared with the previous £825 fee.

Lawful

Campaigner Syed Ali tells LandlordZONE it wants a Judicial Review to ensure the decision-making process is lawful, proportionate, and evidence based. He says the group acted because the council has refused to engage with them.

“We think we’ve got a strong case as we believe there are real flaws in the scheme and they haven’t considered issues such as sensitivities around inspections among large groups of Roma and Afghan communities,” adds Ali. “The council hasn’t evaluated their initial scheme properly and as there will be now 12,000 properties rather than 15,000 properties as originally stated, why haven't they reduced the fees to reflect that?”

Pushed

The authority pushed for a renewed scheme following positive results achieved by two schemes that ran in the Beeston and Harehills areas from 2020 until the start of this year. A spokesman tells LandlordZONE that it is carefully considering the pre-action protocol letter and will respond in line with the pre-action protocol.

He adds: “The selective licensing scheme forms part of the council’s wider housing strategy and Leeds’ ambitions to tackle poverty and inequality. It is based on evidence of high levels of deprivation alongside a high concentration of private rented homes in parts of East, South and West Leeds, and is intended to improve housing conditions and protect tenants in some of the city’s most disadvantaged communities.”

The Leeds group is not the only one to challenge the burgeoning schemes. Last week, landlords in Thurrock managed to halt the Essex borough’s selective licensing scheme following a High Court ruling. The council has been ordered not to implement or enforce it and has 21 days to respond, after which the courts will decide if permission to pursue a Judicial Review should be granted. A similar bid in Scunthorpe failed last year.

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