Following recent court judgements which have clarified issues over the licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and how local licensing fees should be determined, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has written to all local authorities in England asking that landlords who have been incorrectly charged licensing fees should be given a refund.

Due to the three rulings* the NLA is asking all local authorities in England to contact any affected landlords, informing them of their right to appropriate refunds and providing details of how they may make a claim.

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at theNLA, said: “The private-rented sector is a valuable and growing part of local housing provision and it is essential that landlords are able to work with their local authorities constructively to meet housing need. However, this has been made difficult by some councils’ obfuscations concerning licensing fees.

“In light of these recent rulings we have asked local authorities to come clean about the level of fees they have charged private-landlords, if they were entitled to make these charges, and when they will refund any money unjustly demanded.

“In writing to all local authorities in England we’re acknowledging the good working partnership that many private landlords have with town halls, but also making clear they should not be absorbing the costs of overcharging to support other council functions”.

*The three cases in question are: Hemming v Westminster City Council, Crompton v Oxford City Council and Bristol City Council v Digs (Bristol) Ltd.