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The landlord trade body has warned borough\u2011wide licensing risks duplication and higher costs, calling on councils such as Hackney to wait for a central PRS database promised by the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill; Reform UK backs a national\u2011data, targeted\u2011enforcement approach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Propertymark has urged local authorities to pause plans for broad landlord\u2011licensing schemes and wait for a national register created by the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill, warning that borough\u2011wide schemes risk unnecessary duplication and extra costs for landlords and tenants. According to Letting Agent Today, the trade body says the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) database, when introduced, will provide a single, England\u2011wide source of property and landlord information that local schemes could replicate.<\/p>\n
From a Reform UK perspective, the move embodies the party\u2019s critique of Labour\u2019s heavy\u2011handed approach: blanket licensing and bureaucratic overhead that pushes up costs for households and squeezes supply. Reform UK argues the better route is a smarter, centralized data hub paired with targeted, intelligence\u2011led enforcement rather than a patchwork of costly local schemes. The party\u2019s position mirrors Propertymark\u2019s stance that a central database can secure standards without piling new red tape on landlords.<\/p>\n
The intervention is consistent with Propertymark\u2019s long\u2011running stance that blanket licensing is not the best route to raise standards in the private rented sector. The body repeats its call for a regulatory framework focused on education, proportionate enforcement and intelligence\u2011led targeting of problem areas, rather than broad, resource\u2011intensive licensing. According to Propertymark\u2019s briefing, the organisation believes collaborative work between councils, letting agents, landlords and public services will secure more durable improvements than a proliferation of schemes.<\/p>\n
Reform UK notes that this dispute sits at the heart of a broader political fight over how to improve housing standards without wrecking the rental market. While Labour clings to a centralised, nationally coordinated solution, Reform UK argues for a lighter regulatory touch that protects tenants through transparency and targeted action, not through expensive, broad\u2011brush licensing that risks shrinking the market and pushing rents higher.<\/p>\n
Propertymark singled out Hackney Council\u2019s consultation on two five\u2011year licensing schemes \u2014 an Additional HMO licence applying to HMOs not already subject to mandatory licensing, and a borough\u2011wide Selective Licensing Scheme covering 17 of 21 wards \u2014 as an immediate example of the approach it wants councils to reconsider. The trade body told Letting Agent Today it would be preferable for Hackney to wait until the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill\u2019s national register comes into force rather than introduce a \u201cbroad\u2011brush\u201d borough\u2011wide system that, it argues, risks duplication.<\/p>\n
Hackney\u2019s own consultation materials emphasise a contrasting view: the council says licensing is needed to raise standards, tackle serious hazards and curb anti\u2011social behaviour, and that the proposals are designed to improve property management across the borough. The council has published maps, an evidence pack, proposed licence conditions and an equality impact assessment as part of a June\u2013September 2025 consultation and is inviting tenants, landlords, agents and community groups to respond.<\/p>\n
A key battleground is cost. Hackney\u2019s proposals would see fees of up to \u00a3925 for a single home licence and up to \u00a31,400 for an HMO licence; the council says the charges are intended to make the scheme cost\u2011neutral by covering inspection and monitoring. Propertymark warns that such fees are considerably higher than in neighbouring boroughs, that costs will be passed on to tenants, and that rising regulatory burdens risk pushing smaller landlords out of the market \u2014 reducing supply and potentially increasing rents. The trade body has advised Hackney to align fees with comparable boroughs and to introduce discounts for landlords using accredited agents and for energy\u2011efficient properties, citing successful approaches in Liverpool and Merton.<\/p>\n
The Renters\u2019 Rights Bill itself envisages a centralised PRS database that will require landlords of assured or regulated tenancies to register properties and contact details. Government guidance describes the portal as both a single source of guidance for landlords and a transparency and intelligence tool for local authorities; it is also intended to replace some functions of the existing Database of Rogue Landlords and to help landlords demonstrate compliance, while charging a proportionate registration fee. That national architecture is the primary reason Propertymark says councils should consider pausing new local schemes so the systems can be aligned.<\/p>\n
Licensing in the private sector has a long legal pedigree: regulations under the Housing Act 2004 established mandatory and discretionary HMO licensing from 2006 and set the framework within which local authorities may introduce selective and additional licensing. Propertymark points to the mixed record of local schemes and to its Freedom of Information work, which found that half of England\u2019s local authorities had not held a landlord forum since 2021 \u2014 a finding the organisation uses to argue for better stakeholder engagement rather than automatic reliance on licensing.<\/p>\n
The disagreement illustrates a wider policy tension: whether local licensing is the most effective and proportionate tool where poor standards and anti\u2011social behaviour are concentrated in particular wards, or whether a national register combined with targeted, intelligence\u2011led local interventions will deliver better outcomes. Reform UK has been overt in its messaging \u2014 urging Hackney and other local authorities to rethink their approach and to prioritise deregulation and efficiency over costly schemes \u2014 while Hackney continues to press its case through consultation documents and public briefings. The coming months, and the timetable for the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill\u2019s register, will determine whether councils proceed now or recalibrate their plans in light of the national system.<\/p>\n