Proposed Licence Fees
Selective Licensing schemes are required to be self-funded from license fees. The fees for the current Selective License schemes, which come to an end in April 2025, were agreed in 2019 and have been held at those levels throughout the 5 years of the declarations. This has not kept track with increasing costs and failed to cover the schemes operating costs. This has limited the opportunities for delivering new initiatives in the existing areas.
The Council has supplemented the costs of delivering additional services in the current areas, ensuring that all license holders had the opportunity to qualify for the schemes rebate and that the health objectives for tenants were delivered. In any future scheme the Licence fee will have to be set at a level to ensure the scheme can deliver its objectives and may be reviewed annually.
Fees for selective licensing schemes are split into two elements, the initial administrative fee, which is paid in full on application and a further maintenance fee which is paid on grant of a license. The maintenance fee can be paid by Direct Debit over 12-month period (if applying in the first 3 years of the scheme) and is partially refundable if the license is surrendered before the end of the scheme.
The proposed fees and discounts for any future selective licensing scheme.
|
Licence |
Administrative Fee |
Maintenance fee |
Total licence fee |
|
Proposed standard licence fee |
£210.00 |
£785.00 |
£995.00 |
|
Standard licence with additional fee, if property not licenced within 90 days of the property becoming licensable |
£210+£136= £346 |
£785.00 |
£1,131.00 |
|
Proposed discount of 35% from maintenance element for all properties which received 'better property rebates' in the 2020-25 scheme, where the application is in the same name as the previous application. |
£210.00 |
£510.00 |
£720.00 |
|
Proposed discount of 5% off maintenance fee for fully completed applications received with all required supporting documents (not applicable on late applications). |
£210.00 |
£745.00 |
£955.00 |
|
Flats within the same building pay one administrative fee and one full maintenance fee, then 30% for all other flats (70% discount) |
£210.00 |
£785 +additional flats @ £235 |
NA |
|
Owners of larger portfolios pay full administrative fee on 3 properties then 30% of the administrative fee on additional properties. This is not available to agents managing properties not in their ownership |
£210.00 X 3, then £63 per additional property |
£785 |
NA |
|
12-month Direct Debit available on Maintenance fee (If within 3 years of start of scheme). |
|
£22.00 |
|
|
Variations to licences |
Free |
|
|
|
Temporary exemptions |
Free |
|
|
Fees and Discounts
The standard Licence fee will be made up of a £210 administrative fee and a £785 maintenance fee.
A 5% discount off the maintenance fee is available to all applicants who provide a fully completed application form with all supporting documentation within 90 days of the property becoming licensable. To receive the discount the application should be able to be processed without significant communication with the licensing authority. This reduced the total license fee to £955.00, the equivalent of 52 pence a day over the life of the scheme.
A further discount of 35% of the maintenance fee is automatically applied to Licenses where the applicant received a ‘better management rebate’ in the 2020-25 scheme and has a proven track record of providing good quality accommodation. This can be combined with the 5% application discount above, offering a total discount of 40%, reducing the total license fee to £720.00 the equivalent of 39 pence a day.
Applicants with flats within a single building, will be charged the full fee for the first flat and receive a 70% discount off the maintenance fee for all other flats.
Applicants who own and license over 3 properties in the scheme will have a 70% discount off the Administrative Fee for the 4th and any subsequent applications.
Delayed applications
Where an applicant fails to prove a fully completed application and required documents for their property within 90 days of the property becoming licensable, an additional administration fee of £136 will be charged. Raising the total administrative fee to £346, and the total Licence fee to £1131.00.
Variations and exemptions
Any minor changes to license holder details e.g. address details, if provided electronically will be free of charge.Where the licence holder fails to provide information regarding changes that could affect their licence within a calendar month of that change, they will forfeit their entitlement to any available pro rata refund of the maintenance element of the license fee.
Direct Debit
If you apply within the first 3 years of the commencement of a scheme, a 12-month Direct Debit is available to spread the cost of the maintenance fee. A flat fee of £22 will be charged to cover the costs of setting up the Direct Debit, monitoring its payments and chasing any missed payments.