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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the application for Liverpool City Council to be re-designated as an area for selective licensing of landlords was turned down; and if he will make a statement.

Liverpool City Council made an application for selective licensing under the condition of low housing demand across the whole city.

The evidence provided by the local authority was carefully considered against all the relevant statutory conditions, including those contained within section 80(4) of the Housing Act 2004. The application did not meet the statutory tests because it did not sufficiently evidence the existence of low housing demand in every ward in the city, nor that every ward would become an area of low housing demand.