Landlords in Thurrock have managed to halt the Essex borough’s selective licensing scheme, forcing the council to respond to a legal claim.

The scheme was due to start on 5^th January but following a High Court ruling, Thurrock Council has been ordered not to implement or enforce it. The authority now has 21 days to respond, after which the courts will decide if permission to pursue a Judicial Review should be granted.

Last September, landlords failed to persuade the council that the scheme – costing £1,034 - would be unnecessary and too expensive. Those who leave their property unlicensed for at least 12 weeks will have to stump up £1,767.

Interim

Junaid Ishfaq, partner at letting agent Rentigo, helped co-ordinate the legal claim to apply for interim relief and says 193 landlords have backed the move and helped with costs. “We’ve very confident that we’ve got a good case,” he tells LandlordZONE. The group has taken issue with the way the consultation was conducted and objects to the fee.

“We hope to set a precedent for other boroughs,” adds Ishfaq. “We don’t think it’s fair that the council have only picked out certain wards – it’s a money-grabbing scheme and the charges are ridiculous.”

Covered

All Thurrock wards are covered by the new scheme except Little Thurrock Blackshots, Orsett, Stifford Clays, and Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park.

A council spokesman says: “The order relates to an application for interim relief to pause implementation of the selective licensing scheme pending the outcome of the claim. No ruling or determination of any kind has been made on either the issue of permission or the proposed claim.”

Thurrock Council believes selective licensing will directly contribute to reducing anti-social behaviour and repeat incidents as well as improve property standards and tenant safety.

During the consultation, 29% of respondents opposed the scheme, with 75% of landlords and letting agents arguing that the fee was too high. Some argued that they would have to pass on the extra costs in higher rents.

Last year, a similar legal bid to prevent a selective licensing scheme by landlords in Scunthorpe against North Lincolnshire Council failed.

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