Property licensing specialists are warning landlords about councils using minor application errors on House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) forms to issue fines of thousands of pounds.
Landlord Licensing & Defence has exposed what it calls an “unlawful” enforcement tactic being used by local authorities to trap property owners into heavy penalties.
The firm has identified cases where councils reject HMO applications simply because landlords inadvertently ticked the wrong box, applying for an ‘additional’ licensing form instead of a ‘mandatory’ form, or vice versa.
In one recent case handled by the company, a Midlands council used this tactic to fine a landlord more than £5,000 after refunding their licence fee on the basis they had applied for the ‘wrong sort of HMO licence’.
By rejecting applications and refunding fees, often without notifying the landlord, councils effectively remove the landlord’s statutory protection of having an ‘application duly made’ under the Housing Act 2004.
Once that protection is removed, councils are issuing Civil Penalty Fines for operating an unlicensed HMO, despite the schemes requiring identical physical licences and conditions.
Phil Turtle (pictured), compliance director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, said: “They have no right in law to refuse an HMO licence application simply because it was the ‘wrong sort’ of HMO application, but they are unregulated, unaccountable and frankly landlord-hating.
“It is the classic equivalent of British Rail blaming ‘the wrong sort of snow’ on the line!”
Turtle added: “The licences for most councils are exactly the same and rarely state whether they are mandatory or additional on the final document.
“By acting in this manner, councils are acting unlawfully and, as will surprise no-one, immorally.
“They are using pure bureaucracy as a weapon to generate enforcement revenue rather than to improve housing standards.”
