PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Private Rented Housing: Licensing (6 January 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of rents on tenants in private sector accommodation in a selective licensing scheme area.

Asked by:
Mr Richard Holden (Conservative)

Selective licensing was introduced under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 which came into force in 2006. Since 2015, new or renewed schemes which cover more than 20 per cent of a local authority’s private rented stock or geographical area require approval from the Secretary of State.

Eleven schemes in ten local authorities have been approved. These are:

Burnley,
Peterborough,
Hyndburn,
Newham,
Blackpool,
Brent,
Nottingham

Redbridge,
Waltham Forest,
Burnley, and
Barking and Dagenham.

The Independent Review of the Use and Effectiveness of Selective Licensing commissioned by the Department considered the effects of select licensing. The review is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/833217/Selective_Licensing_Review_2019.pdf

Answered by:
Christopher Pincher (Independent)
15 January 2021