Newham is to become the first borough in the country to license all private landlords. At a meeting on 21 st June councillors approved the pioneering scheme - covering an estimated 35,000 private tenancies (one in three of all the boroughs households).

The council says it has consulted extensively with residents, stakeholders, private sector tenants, landlords and lettings agencies and that 74% of residents and 76% of private tenants supported the borough-wide licensing scheme. However it does not say what percentage of landlords are in favour of the licensing scheme

The licensing programme is due to come into force on 1 January, 2013 and private landlords will pay £150 for a five year licence if they register before 1 January, 2013. Otherwise the full fee is £500. Those landlords who fail to obtain a license will face fines of up to £20,000 per property if they ignore the scheme and fail to register.

This radical move comes after the borough announced had the creation of a task force to combat sheds with beds - illegal and ramshackle buildings built at the bottom of gardens with tenants exploited by rogue landlords.

The licensing initiative has been piloted on a small scale in the boroughs Little Ilford Neighbourhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) which the council says achieved 100% compliance following enforcement action against a small number of non-compliant landlords.

Newham’s Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: "It is clear from our consultation that our residents, including tenants in private sector homes, back our plans.

"This scheme shows that Newham is leading the country when it comes to tackling bad landlords who flout the law.

"We want to ensure that private sector rented properties are well managed and meet a good standard. We also want to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that is sometimes associated with bad private sector rented housing.

"There are good landlords in Newham and we want to work with them. Unfortunately there are also some unscrupulous ones - which these proposals would target."

In response to the council’s announcement, David Salusbury, Chairman of the National Landlords Association said: “It is deeply disappointing that the London Borough of Newham has taken the decision to license all landlords in its area. We realise that there are significant issues present in Newham, which the Council is right to want to address.

“But, Selective Licensing of landlords is designed to address distinct problems relating to housing management by targeting specific areas. Newham’s blanket approach goes beyond the intention of the legislation and has not gained the support of local landlords.”

Salusbury added: “Newham Council has provided no solid evidence to support their argument that such drastic proposals will have the impact it expects. Indeed, they will only increase the burdens on those who already comply with the law, without having any bearing on those who blatantly ignore it. The NLA offered an alternative strategy which would have enabled the Council to focus their resources squarely on the rogue operators.”