This week I want to alert landlords that The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) intend to roll out the Selective Landlord Licensing Scheme already operating in surrounding boroughs in some areas of Tower Hamlets. From 1st of October 2016, any private rented property that you or your company own in the Weavers, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Banglatown areas of Tower Hamlets will require a licence from the Council. Landlords are encouraged to log on to the LBTH site where they can view the interactive map and check the postcode to see if the property that you own requires a licence. Where a property requires a licence, you will need to fill out the online application form for each property. Do not wait, Licences can be applied for now, it is an offence not to have a landlord licence within the above areas of Tower Hamlets. To enable a selective licence application to be made to the Council from the 1st October 2016 – you will require the following information for each property that requires a licence.
LBTH advise you to consider collecting the following information before you start the application process.
- Full postal address of the property that will require a licence
- Determine who the licence holder will be – an individual or company
- Determine who will be the manager of the property
- know the property design i.e. number of floors, construction, age, property type
- Details of freeholder/leaseholder
- Details of rent collector
- Mortgage holder and Account Number, if relevant
- Position and number of smoke detectors
- If solid fuel burners provided, position of Carbon Monoxide detectors
- Previous convictions of the proposed licence holder
- Previous convictions of manager
- Previous convictions of associates of the licence holder and manager
- Details of who carries out repairs
- Number of rooms and amenities
- Any relevant fire safety certificates for fire alarms/ emergency lighting
- Confirmation that any soft furnishings comply with The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1989 and 1993)
- Annual Gas Safety certificate
- Confirmation that any electrical appliances are safe and fixed installation certificate of safety
- Any other rented property licensed to the proposed licence holder
For further information go to: – housinglicensing@towerhamlets.gov.uk or go to www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/selectivelicensing