More councils delay rental licensing until Coronavirus crisis eases

Several local authorities at different stages of implementing rental licensing schemes have put their proposals on ice until the Coronavirus crisis eases.

County Durham’s proposal for a huge licensing scheme applying across the county and covering 51,000 properties was originally scheduled to have closed its formal consultation period this week.

Instead, it’s been extended until May 24.

And back in February the London borough of Greenwich began a consultation on extending its licensing scheme - this was also due to finish in recent days but has now been suspended with new dates to be fixed when the Coronavirus crisis subsides.

The same applies to the licensing scheme proposed by Bournemouth council.

The National and Residential Landlords Association reports that this authority’s formal consultation period is still open but will not close until four weeks after the official end of the current lockdown - so possibly five weeks from now, or later. 

Recently the councils in the London borough of Waltham Forest and in Coventry have insisted they will continue with the introduction of new licensing regimes.

This is despite opposition from the industry and advice from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that councils not yet implementing new schemes “should consider pausing these at an appropriate point” in light of the Coronavirus crisis.