Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the selective licensing scheme was introduced; and under what legislation that scheme was introduced.

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