Liverpool City Council plans to put more pressure on rogue landlords as it expands its landlord licensing team, hiring an extra 34 people. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool City Council is to add 34 new people to its landlord licensing team, taking the total up to 120, as it cracks down further on rogue landlords.
Under Liverpool’s Landlord Licensing scheme – known as selective licensing – all privately rented properties within the designated areas must be licensed.
This enables the council to ensure that the 46,000 rented homes that are part of the scheme meet minimum safety standards to keep vulnerable tenants safe.
It includes tackling fire and electrical safety hazards, excess cold and damp, and preventing and tackling anti-social behaviour.
Seven people will be recruited immediately to expand capacity within an existing team focused on intelligence-led enforcement.
They will concentrate on issues such as unlicensed properties in flats above shops, landlords who make tenants pay rent in cash, and those landlords involved in suspected criminal activity.
An additional 27 officers will be taken on over the coming financial year to further increase the enforcement side of the team and to meet the requirements of the Renters Rights Act 2025, which comes into force on May 1, 2026.
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Council Leader Liam Robinson, said: “We are committed to working alongside landlords to ensure rental properties in Liverpool are safe and well-managed, and to taking action in cases where they are not.
“Landlords with properties in designated areas have a legal duty to sign up for the scheme, and we now have 5,000 more properties than anticipated – which shows the size and scale of the sector in Liverpool.”
The city council is also set to consult on a new Landlord Licensing scheme to run from April 2027. The existing scheme only covers around 80% of privately rented properties as some areas are not included, so one of the options will be to extend it to the whole city.