Landlords criticise Middlesbrough Council over £800-per-home fee

Homes are sitting empty in a north-east town due to an £820 fee charged by the council, according to landlords.

Middlesbrough Council has been criticised over the scheme, which it says is designed to "improve" standards in the private rental sector.

However landlords said they have to pay the full fee if they rent their properties, despite the five-year project ending in several months' time.

"Houses will sit empty until June," one said.

The licence, which applies in the town's Newport area, is required under "selective licensing" guidelines, which is meant to provide support and advice for landlords.

But they say the fee is not being reduced pro-rata for the remaining months of the scheme, leading to some homes not being rented out.

One landlord, who owns more than 10 homes in the scheme, said: "People are so fed up. Everyone's going mad about it.

"Houses will sit empty until June because landlords won't pay £800 for a six-month licence.

"People [are not buying] houses in this part of Newport at the moment because there's no point. People aren't renting them out."

Another landlord said they feared that if the scheme is renewed, they may be asked to pay for a new licence.

They criticised the fee, adding that costs are being passed on to tenants.

"What happens when we get to January, February, March? Are you really going to pay £800 for a licence for two months? It's going to be more than the rent," they said.

The scheme is already in place elsewhere in Middlesbrough - in North Ormesby. Earlier this year the council said it would expand the project to a second area of Newport.

A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that each scheme, which runs in five-year terms, had so far shown a "positive impact".

"The licence fees are calculated on the staffing resource required to deliver the scheme - the council does not make a profit and there is no cost to the council taxpayers."

They added that the council has begun offering a 50% discount on the second payment in the last six months of the scheme, although some landlords said this was "too little, too late".

"We are reviewing this policy in terms of potential impact on income, administration costs and discouraging landlords from applying on time," said the spokesperson.

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