Propertymark has called for councils to publish the full five-year cost of landlord licensing schemes after warning that fees in some areas now exceed £1,000 per property.
Its new position paper, published on 23 September, says authorities should set out projected staffing, IT and legal costs, then report annually on inspections, enforcement, officer capacity and civil-penalty collection. The trade body argues that landlords and agents are often asked to pay substantial fees without a clear account of what the money will fund.
A landlord with homes across several council boundaries can face overlapping applications, separate document requests and a mounting bill before an inspection takes place. The paper does not change any existing licensing duty, but it adds pressure for councils to explain whether a scheme is directing resources towards the homes with the greatest risk.
Propertymark targets repeat licensing administration
Propertymark accepts that councils need to deal with unsafe and badly managed rented homes. Its argument is that authorities already hold powers including improvement notices, prohibition orders, civil penalties, banning orders and rent repayment orders. Adding broad licensing schemes, it says, can divert staff into application processing and routine checks rather than inspections and action against non-compliance.
The paper does not suggest that every licence is unlawful or that fees are automatically unreasonable. Licensing schemes cannot be run for profit, but Propertymark says the available reporting often gives too little detail to compare fee income with a scheme’s costs and outcomes. It wants councils to disclose civil-penalty collection as well as the number of inspections and enforcement cases.
This follows Residential Landlord’s report on licensing deadlines across England, which highlighted how quickly local requirements can change. The latest intervention shifts the argument from the existence of a licence to the evidence that its fee and administration are delivering results.
That distinction will matter more as England’s rental property register begins its staged rollout in December. Propertymark says the national system should become the main record for landlord, property and compliance information, leaving local schemes to charge only for the inspection and enforcement work they genuinely add.
Five-year costs would face public scrutiny
The paper proposes an independent audit before schemes are renewed, a limit on consecutive renewals, fee reductions for some professionally managed properties and a lead-authority model for agents working in several areas. It also calls for a tighter limit on the administrative part of a licence fee.
Those are recommendations rather than new rules, and councils can still introduce or renew schemes under the current framework. But authorities considering changes should expect tougher questions about their evidence and cost base. Residential Landlord recently covered Rotherham’s proposed penalty policy, a reminder that the practical impact of local enforcement is often felt through the detail of each council’s approach.
Propertymark’s licensing position paper says councils should publish projected scheme costs for the full five-year term, then disclose inspection, enforcement and penalty data each year. That would give landlords a clearer basis for testing whether high fees reflect frontline standards work or the cost of running a parallel system.
Opinion
Licensing fees are easier to defend when a council can show exactly what they buy. The case for targeted action against unsafe homes is strong, but blanket administration can become an expensive substitute for enforcement. With a national register approaching, councils should be ready to show why local systems still need separate charges and paperwork.
