BPF questions new landlord licensing system

News Category: Legal

This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system.

The British Property Federation (BPF) has raised doubts about the potential effectiveness of the landlord licensing system being proposed by the government.

Speaking to the Local Government Chronicle, BPF director Ian Fletcher said the £2.5 billion scheme will not improve standards in the industry unless councils can be convinced to proactively support and enforce it.

The new initiative is intended to allow councils to more closely regulate the performance of landlords in matters such as property maintenance and repairs.

However, Mr Fletcher suggested that similar systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland have made a limited difference due to poor council cooperation.

He said: "[Landlords] need to see that it is going to be useful and not something that they pay for and then bad landlords continue operating as they have done before."

Earlier this month, the National Landlords Association criticised government proposals for a national register as "unworkable" for reasons of cost and complexity.

How to stay legally compliant with letting agency software