With the deadline now less than one week away, the legislation dictates that any landlord with a property housing five or more people must have a specific ‘House in Multiple Occupation’ (HMO) license, whereas previously only those that housed five or more people and were three or more storeys high, had to have a license.
The changes to the law are set to affect over 160,000 properties, with 77,194 landlords being expected to apply for the new license.
The research, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, has revealed that the new licensing laws will hit landlords with a bill for £1,235 each, totalling £95,399,845 for the sector.
With less than a month to go until the new law comes into effect, landlords are being urged to move as quickly as possible – or else risk being hit with a fine of up to £30,000 per property should they fail to comply.
Simon Moyle, Head of B2B Strategic Partnerships, Currys PC World Business, said: “With tenants, maintenance, collecting rent and paying taxes to manage, we know landlords have a huge amount to juggle before they can even get around to thinking about licenses.
And that’s precisely why we’re here - to give landlords that bit of breathing space to think about the most important things, while we provide the tech expertise that they need.
What’s more, with government law dictating landlords letting an HMO must have a suitably well-equipped kitchen, bathroom and washing facilities, it pays to get organised with everything from your white goods to your licensing.”
Paul Hilliard, Landlord National Purchasing Group, added: “It’s easy to forget that the majority of the UK’s landlords also have other jobs, so applying for new licences isn’t top of their priorities, meaning the government has a big job to do between now and 1 October, to raise awareness of this new law.
That’s why we’re supporting Currys PC World Business’ efforts to encourage landlords to get organised with everything from their tenants and tech, to licenses and their letting agents, this September.
A prime example of the benefits of being prepared are landlords who have invested in smart heating technologies, which enable them to control their property’s heating remotely. So, if their tenants leave the heating on, the landlord can turn it down and save themselves a hefty bill come the end of the month.
