LATEST: Greenwich agrees £2.6m selective licensing scheme after Covid delay

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The London borough of Greenwich has re-started its planned roll-out of selective licensing across three of its key areas – Woolwich, Plumstead and Shooters Hill.

Expected to go live at the beginning of July following its Cabinet committee decision, this means nearly a fifth of PRS properties within the borough will have to be licenced within the borough, which already operates an HMO licensing scheme.

The scheme is expected to raise £2.6 million in revenue from landlords within the areas from approximately 4,500 properties.

During the delayed consultation, which was restarted in September 2020, 72% of the landlords and letting agents who contributed were against the scheme.

Greenwich council had hoped to bring in the measure – which will see all private landlords licence their properties within these areas – in 2020 but the plans were shelved during the pandemic after the government requested that new applications be set aside ‘due to pressure on the private rented sector’.

The plans have now been voted through by councillors and the fees for the five-year long scheme will be £312 for early bird applicants rising to £780.

Government approval

This scheme will not require approval by the Secretary of State as the threshold of 20% of private rented property covered by the scheme has not been exceeded.

During the meeting, it was claimed that the areas covered, which include a patchwork of residential streets near the centre of Woolwich, are both a hotspot of poorly-operated private rented accommodation but also blighted by anti-social behaviour.

But the meeting also heard that some HMO landlords had avoided licensing by returning properties to single-family use and that the selective licensing scheme would prevent this happening.

The neighbouring council of Lewisham is consulting on a scheme that would see an almost borough-wide selective licensing scheme introduced.

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