Lewisham Selective Licensing Scheme
In this post, I look into the strange world of Lewisham’s selective licensing scheme for landlords – where nothing is as it seems. They seem confused at the town hall, but not as much as we are. Also, a Labour MP and architect of a different selective licensing scheme in London appears to have forgotten to have a valid license for his own properties, which is a shame because his tenants have been making all kinds of accusations about the state of them.
As I mentioned in my post about Southwark and their all-borough landlord licensing scheme, the local landlord harassment and tax schemes, sorry, “selective licensing” schemes do tend to spread like a cancer once one Labour area has put one in place.
In that post I mentioned the Southwark one. But sure enough, neighbouring Lewisham soon saw the empire building and fund-raising possibilities Southwark were getting and, not to be out-done, very quickly put their own one in place.
Now, I am not going to recap my beef with these sorts of schemes and why I consider them to be ineffective to deal with rogue landlords, you will have to see my post on Southwark, which is at the bottom of this post to read more on that.
But in their rush to go kerching in Lewisham, a lot of errors seem to have been made. One of which was that Lewisham seem to have failed to promote it adequately and look confused among themselves about when the scheme even started. This does not give one a lot of confidence.
My correspondence with one of their managers will show you the problems. Oh, and by the way, and before I start, it is worth saying that well-off Blackheath and the posh parts of Brockley all fall outside of the scheme, natch.
Otherwise, this so called “Selective Licensing Scheme” is for the whole of the borough – which hardly seems “selective”.
FROM ME:
Dear Mr. X.
Your colleague at the Licensing helpline gave me your email address as I had some questions she could not answer. So, I would be most grateful if you could answer please. Plus, I also have an observation to make on enforcement – and a related question to that.
Scheme Promotion
I was not aware of the scheme until I happened to see it on the back of a bus when travelling in Lewisham. Also, the NRLA (landlords association, if which I am a member) has no info on this scheme at all at their site. Your colleague said that all landlords were emailed about this scheme. However, both my wife and I who separately own and let properties in Lewisham do not recall receiving any such email. (We do not live in the borough). Can you advise when the emails were sent, how often they were sent and, for me, to what email address the email was sent?
Scheme Deadline
I am a little confused about the deadline for applying for the scheme. The scheme is set to start on July 1st, but there is an early bird discount which apparently runs till 20th August, which seems kind of strange. Your colleague said there is currently “no deadline to apply for landlords to the scheme”. Can you confirm this please? If there is no deadline set, why should anyone apply for the scheme at this time?
Scheme Enforcement and Rogue Landlords
The bad landlords out there will not apply for any such scheme, just as they don’t get gas certificates done, nor do they comply with any of the other legal and safety requirements. What proportion of the budget set aside for the scheme and what proportion of the monies raised from landlords who join the scheme and the HMO licensing scheme, be used for intelligence or other activities to find and identify such operators out there and act against them?
HE REPLIED:
Scheme Promotion:
We have been using various communication streams, to promote our new selective licensing scheme, please see below the various ways we have tried to reach out to all landlords within the Lewisham Borough.
A leaflet promoting the scheme was sent out earlier this year that accompanied the council tax letter; Bus shelter advertisement; Back page ad on the Lewisham Life print magazine which reached every household in the borough on the 26th May 2024; Social media posts via our online channels; News and updates posted on our Lewisham Council Website; Targeted digital campaign; London Property Licensing ad plus various pieces of media coverage.
I can also confirm that we have been working with the NRLA in promoting the scheme to a wider audience of landlords, our advertising campaign ad was included in the email newsletter that is sent out to all members. Please follow link provided: E News | General Election: Renters (Reform) Bill latest | TV star joins conference line-up (nrla.org.uk)
Regarding the emails that have been sent out to landlords: An email was sent to all landlords on our database on the 30/04/2024, also emails were sent on the 14/12/2024 to all respondents to the consultation and organisations identified as representing the interests of landlords or tenants within the designated area or representing managing agents, estate agents or letting agents within the designated area, and organisations providing advice on landlord and tenant matters including: law centres, citizens’ advice bureaux, housing advice centres, homeless persons’ units.
Scheme Deadline:
The scheme became live today on the 1st July 2024, the reasoning behind the early bird scheme running till the 20th August 2024, is that we agreed to run the early bird period for 3 months. The early bird scheme was meant to finish on the 1st July but due to there being a slight delay to the start of the early bird period, we made an executive decision to honour our agreement to 3 months, so it will now finish on the 20th August 2024.
Regarding there being no deadline to the scheme, the new selective licensing scheme runs for 5 years, this would mean the deadline for the scheme would be 30th June 2029. I would advise all landlords that from today’s date (1st July 2024) if you have not applied for a selective licence for your property, you would now be running an unlicenced property and therefore could be subject to enforcement action, specifically a CPN, which carries a fine of up to £30,000. Secondly, you could be subject to a rent repayment order. The reason landlords should apply now, is so they benefit from the early bird discount but also so they will not be subject to enforcement action.
Scheme Enforcement and Rogue Landlords:
I can confirm that all licensing income is ring fenced for selective licensing and therefore will only be used to make the scheme successful in the London borough of Lewisham. The proportion of the budget that is set aside for the enforcement of the scheme is 72%. We will be actively enforcing the scheme as of today date, and using intelligence based enforcement along with our field officers to bring all properties into the new selective licensing scheme and improving the housing stock within the London Borough of Lewisham.
Mmmm. So, there you are, as clear as mud. And we now know that 28% of the money received goes on admin.
I REPLIED:
Dear Mr. X
Many thanks for your detailed response. On scheme deadlines, when I phoned the helpline last week, one of your colleagues told me there “is no deadline”. Unfortunately, I did not get the name of the operator. And earlier today, one of your colleagues told me by email that the deadline was 1st October, though also mentioning the 20th August for the Early Bid discount. They wrote: “Hi Lawrenson, Hope you are well. The deadline will be for the 1st October to apply for the licence. However, I highly recommend you apply ASAP, as the early bird discount ends on the 20th August 2024”.
On marketing and communications, I didn’t receive an email from Lewisham on 30th April. Perhaps I am not on the database? I wonder how is the data base formed – i.e. what is the source data for the database you use? As my property is a leasehold and the freeholder is none other than Lewisham Council, and as they know I let it (because I have told them often enough and because the address that they bill to is different from the property address), one would reasonably expect to have made a mail list to be told about Selective Licensing. Obviously, that did not happen. I can see that mention of the scheme was on that NLRA Elink you supplied, but I don’t recall getting emailed that information. Was it emailed, do you know?
I can tell you that there was absolutely nothing on the NRLA website about the scheme when I looked on 27th June. And when I called the NRLA on Friday, their helpline staff knew nothing about it either. Neither has it been mentioned in the NLRA magazine at any time, which is unfortunate as they do cover other licensing schemes from time to time. This is a matter I have also taken up with them. Perhaps you might like to too?
On enforcement, I would be interested to learn of the mechanics of how, in practice, you identify the landlords who sit outside the scheme. Also, how enforcement action might differ in respect of landlords who are otherwise decent and doing the right thing, but just through no fault of their own, did not know of the existence of the scheme, as compared to the rogue operators who fail on every measure and are letting death trap properties.
My point is, what is the objective here? Is it to catch out and make money from decent folks who simply did not know of the scheme, (which given the possible issues in promotion would seem to be forgivable), or is it to make a serious effort to root out the real rogues who are hiding in the shadows and obeying no law and no regulation? Which is it? I look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, David Lawrenson
Deafening Silence
And that was it. My second email was sent over seven weeks ago and no reply has been received to that email despite me following up. Make of that what you will.
Oh, and despite them saying the deadline is 20th August, the Lewisham website, as of today, 2nd September, is still saying the early bird discount is still available. So, perhaps the real deadline was October after all? Or perhaps there really is no deadline, as one of their officers told me. It is all rather confusing isn’t it. And it hardly inspires confidence.
And what of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) role in all of this? Well, I contacted them too. And they admitted that they had known about the scheme but just forgot to include it in their communications, which is quite a failure to the landlords who have been affected. They finally updated their Licensing Update page on their site in July, possibly after my intervention. Better late than never, I guess.
The Lewisham Scheme – Some Comments
So, what of the scheme itself.
It is much like the Southwark scheme really in terms of cost – a cool £640 over five years.
The system on which one must upload the information is also similar to Southwark’s one.
Both require a whole heap of information, including on who the freeholder/ managing agent/ letting agent/ mortgage company is – and you are supposed to tell each of these folks before you supply Lewisham with the information. Obviously, they think us landlords have ample time to run around doing this. And what if the freeholder or agent does not want their information supplied? What then?
The system is not flexible either. One of my mortgage companies does not supply an email address anywhere on its communications and as the application form will not let you go past the box without entering something in the box, I guess people must simply make up an email address, which is what I did.
Rapacious freeholders – of which there are many – will of course use this an excuse to simply rape their leaseholders for a few hundred quid for agreeing to supply this information. And when they are contacted by Lewisham, will want a few hundred quid more. Alerting the freeholder to the existence of the scheme is an open goal to such freeholders to gouge some cash out of their landlord leaseholders. If it is not in the lease for them to do this – just say no – and if the charge is unreasonable, refuse to pay and seek advice from Lease.org.
At least, Lewisham, unlike Southwark, does not require us to become amateur draftsmen and send them a plan of the properties, including of each room, but they do require room sizes of each and every room.
If your friendly Sparks has been sending you your electrical certificates in paper form, that will be a problem for you, because the Lewisham system, like the Southwark one, will only accept one electronic file to be accepted. As most of these electric safety reports run to 12 pages – with a lot of it technical and unintelligible to the non-electrician, you kind of wonder, what is the point of only allowing for just one file to be uploaded?
If you have a mortgage, the property is leasehold with a managing agent and a freeholder, and you use a letting agent, completion of the whole document for each of your properties will take around an hour, plus an hour or two hours of prepping to find all the information they need.
Like Southwark, Lewisham expects the license holder to visit their property every 6 months. My view is that this is unnecessary and intrusive where one has a good tenant and conflicts with our duty to allow them to “enjoy the property quietly and peacefully”, set out in other legislation. This should be challenged by the NRLA.
Similarly, Lewisham wants to see references obtained from tenants on demand. Really! Aren’t we supposed to get references from landlords and employers confidentially? A conflict with our duties under GDPR surely? This too should also be challenged.
Lewisham requires landlords to display a copy of the current gas safe certificate in the property. This is another thing they appear to have made up for themselves and which is contained in no legislation that I am aware of, maybe for HMOs, but not for non-HMOs. All one needs to do is send tenants a copy by email.
They also expect you to provide a 24 hour emergency response number. Again, ludicrous and why should a private landlord, acting without an agent, and having just one or two properties be expected to provide this. We are not emergency services – and this is a grotesque overreach.
So, it seems to me that Lewisham are seemingly making up requirements that are in no other legislation and which seems to contradict landlords’ responsibilities in other areas of law and practice.
In terms of obligations, there is a long list of responsibilities that Lewisham landlords have to comply with when they grant their license. One of them naturally tells you that a landlords’ gas safe certificate from within the last 12 months must be available to show them. They also say that a certificate showing the electrics are safe in the property – a Domestic Electric Inspection Report – must be available. They don’t say that this should not be more than five years old. Perhaps they are not aware of this legislation – and someone should tell them! I cannot be bothered.
NRLA Response
I asked the NRLA for comment on all these matters. They replied as follows – see in italics below. I don’t actually understand their second point, maybe one of our readers here will? I have not had a reply from them on the 24 hour emergency number that landlords are supposed to provide yet.
- I don’t think that visiting the property every 6 months is unnecessarily intrusive. You are correct that tenants have a right of quiet enjoyment, based on case law from a long time ago, and this is a very strong right. However, landlords are also under many legal obligations as you are no doubt aware already related to the standards of the property and its impact on the health and safety of the tenant (fitness for human habitation and HHSRS legislation for instance). I think that 6 monthly inspections are quite reasonable and allow you to ensure the property is being kept in a good standard and compliantly with all relevant legal obligations placed upon you and the tenant, both in law and from any licence.
- I am unsure what benefit a reference from a tenant who is already in place at the property would provide, and from a prospective tenant a reference is going to be much more use if it comes from a landlord or employer. That being said, asking a tenant to provide a reference and not making any kind of charge for it wouldn’t be a conflict as related to GDPR, as the way GDPR functions is there are several gateways known as different ‘lawful basis’ that allow you to process data legally and in compliance with GDPR. There are possibly 3 that would work here, the consent of the tenant (although not great to rely on this as it can be simply withdrawn), the contract and needing to take specific steps for you to be able to enter into a contract with a person, or a legal obligation, in that you need to comply with the licensing scheme which ultimately is a legal obligation under the Housing Act, or you could face severe penalties. More information on GDPR is available at the ICO website. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/lawful-basis/a-guide-to-lawful-basis/
- The provision for displaying the certificate in the property is an option under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 under s.36 Duties of Landlords, but this is usually an alternative to service of the certificate directly on the tenant that is only available when there is no gas appliance in the room occupied by the tenant (and is therefore primarily an option for room only tenancies) and not necessarily an additional requirement on top of usual service of the certificate. I suppose on that point, you could have a dialogue with the council and suggest that the requirement to have a gas safety certificate and to have correctly served it upon all tenants might be suitable enough to ensure their safety.
I can add to this that we would generally advise you serve a physical copy of the gas safety certificate to ensure there is no possible loophole for a tenant to try and argue their way out of it being served on them, as it can be so key for regaining possession using section 21. If you are going to email it, as best practice then certainly have a clause in your contract that specifies the tenant accepts service of documents by email and lists a specific email it can be served upon, it can also help if the tenant replies to the email and confirms acceptance. This basically comes from the fact that for some documents (the how to rent booklet, the EPC) there is specific legislation allowing for it to be emailed, but for Gas certificates and deposit information it is not as clear. The law can be out of date when it comes to electronic service and we advise this way to be perhaps a bit extra safe but to ensure landlords face the least problems when going to court. https://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/ending-your-tenancy/section-21#faq-serving-prescribed-documents
Strange Goings on in Ilford for a Labour MP
Meanwhile, oh dearie me, it seems the architect of the Redbridge selective landlords licensing scheme in London, who is now a Labour MP for Ilford South and is also a landlord himself, has been a rather naughty boy and not kept his own licenses up to date, which is an extra shame for him, as there appears to be some problems with his properties. His name is Jas Athwal.
You cannot make this stuff up, but it is great fun to report on. See the links here:
https://www.opennewham.co.uk/news/oh-dear-this-is-embarrassing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qgd4q49gvo
My blog post on the Southwark selective licensing scheme: https://www.lettingfocus.com/blogs/2023/09/southwark-selective-licensing-and-my-views-on-licensing/
More on Lewisham and Housing
I will give some credit to Lewisham though. Since they got rid of the dreadful Lewisham Homes ALMO and bought housing back in house, there has been a change for the better. Requests for work now can be registered and not disappear into a black hole and the customer service staff seem to have been given “polite and helpful” pills.
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