News

Croydon to roll out selective licensing

Tuesday, March 17th, 2015 -

Borough wide selective licensing is coming to Croydon following a decision at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on 16 March 2015.

The Cabinet approved a recommendation to implement a borough wide selective licensing scheme from 1 October 2015. The move, which extends licensing to all private rented homes, will involve licensing about 30,000 properties and is designed to ensure that all private rented accommodation is safe, good quality and well run.

Before to the meeting, Croydon Council said that private renting had increased significantly in Croydon with negative consequences including antisocial behaviour and poor-quality homes.

According to the Council, around 70% of private tenants and local residents who responded to the public consultation said they supported a borough-wide landlord licensing scheme whilst most landlords and letting agents who replied were opposed to the idea.

Prior to the Cabinet meeting, Councillor Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes and regeneration said:

This licensing scheme is about making Croydon a better place to rent, and I know many residents support our proposals because badly-kept properties blight our streets.

Antisocial behaviour is everyone’s problem – but too often we find a minority of private landlords whose failure to act damages communities.

This licence will give peace of mind to responsible tenants and landlords looking to thrive in Croydon – it’s the dodgy landlords who should be worried.

The decision by Croydon Council to implement borough wide selective licensing comes just two weeks before the Government change the law to stop this from happening. In the future, councils seeking to introduce a selective licensing scheme covering more that 20% of their area will need permission from the Secretary of State.

Following the recent Judicial Review that resulted in Enfield Council’s additional and selective licensing schemes being quashed, it is not yet known whether any Croydon landlords will decide to challenge this scheme.

Up to date information on property licensing in Croydon can be found on the London Property Licensing borough page here.