Secret Landlord: I broke housing law by accident – but this is what councils want - telegraph.co.uk

I thought I was doing enough to keep up with the relentless pace of change in the landlord world, but I have a confession.

I’ve been blindsided by a council introducing a selective licensing scheme for one of my rental properties – which I knew nothing about.

How did I find out? Sheer chance.

I’ve written before about doing annual checks on the capital and rental values of properties. That’s what I was doing, except this time around, it occurred to me to google the property address and the word “licensing”.

It only took a few clicks to discover the council in question had introduced a selective licensing scheme.

I felt physically sick. How could I have missed such an important change? How could the council have not informed me? Especially given that on their website they repeatedly stress how critical it is to have a licence, and without one I may be prosecuted or fined up to £30,000 for each offence.

Not only that, a Rent Repayment Order (RRO) could also be granted, meaning I’d have to pay back up to a year’s rental income.

Reader, I swear I knew nothing about this. I am not insane. I would never try and fly under the radar when the fines are that big or with the threat of having to pay back a year’s rent, not to mention the possibility of prosecution.

I instantly contacted a landlord helpline. They advised me to apply for the £900 licence immediately because while my periodic Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement has been running for many happy years, they could not retrospectively prosecute.

Of course, I still live under the threat the tenant may find out I haven’t had a licence and apply for an RRO, which is why I’m not sharing which council it was. I told you, I’m not insane.

But the other worrying thing I learned about this situation is that any insurance I held for the building was then invalidated because of not having a licence.

This is scary stuff. If, for example, a tenant tripped, fell and injured themselves and said you were liable, the personal liability claim for that could run into the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, and you would not be covered by insurance.

I don’t want to catastrophise – but I will – imagine if there had been a fire, or loss of life. I cannot stress enough how important it is to always have a valid insurance policy.

What has upset me the most about this entire incident is that I pride myself on being an “on-the-ball” landlord. This is my day job. I make it my business to be up to date with changing regulations and to know what I need to do, but even I have managed to get caught out.

What upsets me most about this situation is how unfair it seems. When I look around and see the Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners arguing that the Government failed to notify them all those years ago, I say: What about me?

What am I meant to do when councils appear to be intentionally rigging the system so that landlords are not informed of their new duties? Why did the council not inform me of its new licensing rules? What is its justification for not notifying me? Why is it that my ignorance of this new scheme is not justifiable?

Councils know landlords don’t live in the property they are renting, but when a tenant moves out, they are quick enough to contact landlords to demand the council tax.

Which is why this whole affair reeks of yet more unfairness and discriminatory behaviour. This is wrong and unjust. Landlords should be informed when selective licensing is introduced. If councils can send council tax demands, what is their excuse for not notifying landlords of these critical changes?

Reader, I believe it is intentional. The councils are changing the rules and introducing schemes, yet purposefully not informing landlords so they have the opportunity to prosecute and fine those who are caught unawares.

I can think of no other reason.

I urge you now to check whether your council has introduced a selective licensing scheme – as I have done with all of my properties.

Even if it hasn’t (yet), you need to monitor regularly. I’ve now set up a program (with the help of AI) to create a watchlist of my properties. The AI I’m using can’t send me an email if things change, but I can run a query on the watchlist and be kept informed if there are any changes.

If you want to survive – and not go bankrupt – I cannot emphasise enough how you must keep on your toes and develop processes to try to remain in step with these ruthless rule changes.