Selective Licensing - Waltham Forest

The council carried out and completed the consultation process on its proposal to introduce a scheme for the licensing of privately rented properties in the Borough on 24 January 2014. Over 1,534 responses were received, together with written comments.
An update report was presented to Council Cabinet Committee meeting on 18 March 2014 . A further report was presented to Council Cabinet on 24 June 2014 which approved the decision to designate the whole borough as a Selective Licensing Area.

Source:Waltham Council

What will Selective Licensing achieve?

The most important issue for us is to reduce levels of antisocial behaviour and make Waltham Forest a safer place for residents and businesses in the area. The main areas we want to focus on are antisocial behaviour such as playing loud music and using homes for illegal activities, and contraventions such as sub-standard conversions of homes. However, we also want to use licensing to drive up management standards generally for all private rented properties in the borough. Our studies have shown that many tenants renting in the private sector are having to endure some of the worst tenancy conditions in the borough, such as serious overcrowding and unsafe homes.
Requiring every landlord or managing agent to apply for a licence will help us to identify all of the properties that are rented out privately. This will give us the opportunity to inspect the properties to assess fitness and speak to landlords and tenants about their obligations.

Why does the Council want to introduce Selective Licensing for the whole borough and not just selected areas?

We have found links between antisocial behaviour and privately rented homes in these areas and so feel it is appropriate to introduce Selective Licensing on a borough-wide basis. We also want to do everything we can to ensure that all residents in the borough who are affected by problems caused by landlords not taking their responsibilities seriously have the opportunity to benefit from any improvement measures that we take.


Private Landlords don't get caught out, join the Selective Licensing campaign here