How do you know if you need a selective licence?

Landlord Discussion
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Hi. I’m after some advice please. We have a property in London that we ended up substantially reducing the rent on just to be able to rent it out to a family and not HMO. We finally found a suitable family then at the last minute the letting agent announced that we need a selective licence. We had never heard of this before even though we have been using the same agency for several years now.

I am now wondering if this is a requirement for another property we own in another part of the country. Is there a way to check a comprehensive list of all the requirements in a particular council? (On googling, I read- on a legal firm’s site that you shouldn’t ask the council for advice about this as they would seek to prosecute you for any laws you may inadvertently not be complying with.

Also, how do other landlords on here manage to make sure they are always up to date with any new national or local legislation being introduced. It feels like it’s becoming a minefield!

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You should be able to check the council website or call them to find out if they run a selective licensing scheme for private landlords without disclosing who you are.

As for staying abreast of all the legislation you can join a landlord association or alternatively use an agent.

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Thanks. Out of interest which landlord association are you a member of and would you recommend them?

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