Liverpool City Council is to hire a significant number of new staff to tackle poor conditions in the private rented housing sector.
Under Liverpool’s Landlord Licensing scheme – known as Selective Licensing – all privately rented properties within the designated areas must be licensed.
It 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. This 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.
And 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 1 May 2026, and the ‘duty to enforce’ enshrined within it.
In total it will mean there will be 120 staff dedicated to tackling issues in the private rented sector in the city.
Liverpool 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 per cent of privately rented properties as some areas are not included, so one of the options will be to extend it to the whole city.
Funding for the expanded team will come from the additional income raised from the Landlord Licensing scheme and other sources including HMO (Houses of Multiple Occupation) licensing fees and funding from the Government to support the implementation of the Renters Rights Act.
Council Leader, Cllr 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 and why we need to dedicate appropriate resources to the issue.
“By putting more boots on the ground we can make a real difference to people who are living in conditions that are simply not good enough and whose landlords are in breach the law.
Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Hetty Wood, said: “The Renters Rights Act which becomes law later this year is a once in a generation change to the private rented sector and will fundamentally improve security, quality, and fairness for renters.
“It will make a real difference to tenants, particularly when combined with our Landlord Licensing scheme.
“We will be using our powers under the legislation to make sure that landlords and letting agents meet their legal obligations.
“Our plan to renew the Landlord Licensing scheme will also strengthen our ability to take action where needed.”
More information about Liverpool’s Landlord Licensing scheme can be found at https://liverpool.gov.uk/landlordlicensing.
