Despite the Renters Reform Bill introducing a landlord portal and the suggestion that there would no longer be a need for selective licensing, this appears to be ignored by Parliament and by the tenant lobbying organisations along with the environmental health officers who carry out housing enforcement under the Housing Act 2004.

It looks like licensing is here to stay and more and more licensing is coming about with new selective licensing schemes coming in to city areas outside London including the recently and most publicised Birmingham City Council and Nottingham City Council schemes.

There is no evidence that a licensing scheme ever achieves the outcomes promised at the time of the proposal and furthermore it is not understood why the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities continues to support those schemes where the local housing authority wishes to apply the selective licensing scheme in more than 20% of its geographical area.

There does not appear to be any justification most of the time, and some are abandoned, while some are renewed, yet little or nothing is achieved by the schemes. Most of the time it is more revenue for the council in licensing fees and the ability to enforce under a breach of licence conditions.

Licensing conditions often have the risk of double jeopardy enforcement and others of possible entrapment, because it is beyond the power of the landlord to control some of the responsibilities such as antisocial behaviour outside the premises.

This may seem unbelievable and there are cases currently being defended where tenants have confessed to their damaging the property and not permitting access, yet the landlord and agent are being enforced against under licence conditions.