Borough council to implement landlord licensing schemes after defeating court challenge

In January this year the Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge brought by Luton Landlords & Letting Agents Limited to the lawfulness of two designations made by the council under the Housing Act 2004, finding that the High Court was correct to conclude that the claimant company did not have sufficient interest to bring a claim for judicial review.

Lord Justice Lewis said Mrs Justice Heather Williams had also been correct to conclude that there was no arguable ground of challenge.

“Consequently, she was correct to refuse to grant this claimant permission to apply for judicial review of the designations,” the Court of Appeal judge said.

The claimant/appellant then applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal, but this was rejected last month by a panel comprising Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Leggatt and Lord Stephens. The judges concluded that the application did not raise an arguable point of law.

The background to the case was that Luton had made two designations under the 2004 Act in October 2023.

The first designated the whole of the borough as an area where houses in multiple occupation ("HMOs") had to be licensed.

The second designated part of the borough, comprising the town centre and Park Town areas (referred to as South Ward) as an area where a house which was let or occupied under a single tenancy or licence, or under two tenancies or licences in respect of different dwellings in the house, had to be licensed.

Confirming that the schemes went live from 1 June, the borough council said private landlords with residential accommodation would need to apply for a licence for each eligible property.

It said: “To obtain a licence, landlords will need to meet specified standards and comply with licence conditions designed to ensure properties are appropriately managed.”

An early bird payment period up to until 31 August will help support landlords applying for licences.

Cllr Alia Khan, Portfolio Holder for Housing, said " Successfully defending the legal challenge means we can now move forward and continue making meaningful improvements for residents across Luton. I believe that every resident deserves a safe, secure and comfortable home. That is not negotiable. These measures are an important part of our wider work to improve housing conditions and tackle issues that impact local neighbourhoods. Most landlords are responsible. But for the ones that aren't this gives us the power to act.

"We do recognise the valuable role responsible landlords play and so have introduced an early bird period to support applications.”