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Camden Council launch consultation on plans to renew their additional landlord licensing scheme

Sunday, January 12th, 2020 - Camden Council

Camden Council have used powers under the Housing Act 2004 to extend licensing to most Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the borough. The licensing scheme includes house and flat shares, student homes, bedsits and some buildings converted into flats.

The council’s additional licensing scheme came into force on 8 December 2015 and will end on 8 December 2020.

The council estimate that around 7,600 HMOs in the borough need to be licensed under this scheme. Yet despite high levels of enforcement action, there remain a lot of unlicensed HMOs.

In May 2019, research we undertook for safeagent (read here) found that Camden Council had approved 2,620 additional licences and a further 763 licence applications were being processed. This indicates there could still be thousands of licensable but unlicensed properties operating in the borough.

With more work still to be done, the council have launched a public consultation on plans to extend the additional licensing scheme for another five years.

Camden Council property licensing consultation 2020

The council have said they want tenants in the borough to have safe and decent homes and at the same time, want to help landlords, managing and letting agents to provide a quality service and run a successful business.

According to the council, renewing the licensing scheme will help to ensure that HMO accommodation is safe, well managed and well maintained, whilst continuing their enforcement activity against unlicensed properties.

Camden Council are also seeking views on whether a selective licensing scheme should be introduced to extend licensing to all private rented accommodation, not just HMOs.
Take part in Camden’s survey

The public consultation started on 16 December 2019 and continued until 8 March 2020. You can find out more about the licensing scheme and have your say on the consultation by visiting the council’s website.

A free guide containing more detailed information about property licensing in the London Borough of Camden is available here.

For all the latest news and events, you can sign up for the free London Property Licensing newsletter here.