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17/12/25 3:30 pm
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Luton Council has won its long-running legal battle to go ahead with selective and additional licensing schemes in the town.
The Court of Appeal rejected a challenge by Luton Landlords and Letting Agents Ltd which had argued that the two designations were unlawful.
Luton first tried to introduce a scheme in 2018 after its previous additional licensing scheme ended but faced significant local opposition and went silent about its plans until December 2019. The campaign group launched a legal challenge, forcing the council to admit errors and the scheme – along with a new additional scheme - was put on hold. It launched a selective licensing consultation in 2023 but this suffered further delays.
The case is the latest in a number of challenges against local authority licensing schemes. Landlords in Thurrock have managed to halt the Essex borough’s selective licensing scheme following a High Court ruling, while Leeds Landlord Lobby Group is raising money for a judicial review and Eastern Landlords Association is considering taking legal action against Great Yarmouth Council. A similar bid in Scunthorpe failed last year.
Luton had made two designations, a borough-wide additional scheme and selective scheme in the town centre and Park Town areas (referred to as South ward).
Luton Landlords and Letting Agents argued that the council acted irrationally or unlawfully in relying on data included in a 2019 report when making the designations in October 2023, that the executive was given false and misleading information about the financial viability of the schemes, and had acted unlawfully in requiring applicants who applied early for a licence to pay a fee which included both an amount reflecting the cost of processing the application and an amount reflecting the costs of enforcement of the licensing regime.
The Court of Appeal judges said Luton Landlords and Letting Agents Ltd, represented by director Rajdvinder Singh Bains, lacked standing to apply for permission to bring a claim for judicial review and dismissed all other claims.
Lord Justice Lewis said: “The claimant company does not itself have any direct interest in the subject matter of the claim. It does not own any houses which are HMOs or which are let under a tenancy or licence. It will not have to apply for any licences.”
He added that it had been fair for the council to go ahead with the designations as otherwise there could have been a three-month delay and the report might not have provided any extra help. “The validity and lawfulness of the designations is not conditional, or dependent, on the lawfulness of the way in which fees are set and recovered.”
Councillor Ghulam Abbas, portfolio holder housing and neighbourhood services (pictured), tells LandlordZONE that it’s committed to improving the quality of rented housing and ensuring landlords provide safe, decent accommodation. “While many act responsibly, the council acknowledges that some exploit tenants by expecting them to live in poor and potentially dangerous conditions,” he adds. “The selective licensing scheme which covers the designated parts of the Town Centre and Park Town and additional licensing scheme, which covers the whole of the borough, aim to ensure rental properties provide safe and secure accommodation for tenants.
“The council is now proceeding with the introduction of the licensing schemes and will provide further updates on how to apply in due course.”
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