u/AccountantLandlord

For landlords who have property in Harrow we have created a guide for the selective licence schemes that are now active in 2026. The fines for not being licensed are up to £40,000 and courts can mandate a repayment of rent to your tenants of up to two years. So this is not something that landlords should take lightly and if you are exposed then act swiftly.

The guide sets out what you need to know, what areas are in scope and how professional help can help you manage the complex requirements of licensing.

If you are overseas and self-managing then you need to pay special attention as you need a local representative to sign a declaration taking responsibility for meeting the conditions of the licence. This person or organisation needs to be properly trained and understand these responsibilities.

We are a Propertymark company and would recommend that you use a suitably qualified outfit if you are licensed. The penalties for non-compliance are severe and councils are taking a much more aggressive approach to targeting landlords for fines. If they knock you really do want someone on your side who understands the rules so you can prove you are compliant.

Are Generation Rent the dumbest group ever? I think they also blame landlords for the titanic sinking!

The Generation Rent activist group says rent levels imposed by landlords encourage the growth of scammers.

The group cites one scammer who defrauded over 30 people in London out of a combined total of over £77,000.

So WTF is that to do with landlords!?

Curious how many people already have a solution in place and if do what it is? It’s a low value task so my practice aren’t doing it. So I am outsourcing it myself. But just started the process of the digital handshake.

The decision was made to close their spin off development firms under their Broadway Living brand and crystallise around £8m of losses. That means they built 108 homes at more than £8m more than they could have bought them!

When people want councils to build they kid us they can do it cheaper and better.

Clearly that is a lie.

I only read this today but this council is actively encouraging tenants to request rent repayment orders with public funds. They have secured £1.3m in RROs to date!

I think it’s a bit of a signal - they really want landlords out.

Andy Burnham is the latest to talk about MORE taxes for landlords! It’s clearly backfired and has stopped supply in its tracks. But it’s like they only have one answer to all problems - more tax!

Am I alone in scratching my head and searching for a long term plan I can’t see? At some point isn’t it just we are spending more than we can afford in the country?

Im just curious as I’ve seen so much on landlord groups saying talk of fines and RROs is scaremongering. I do think some posts on social media are uninformed but I don’t understand why any mention of negative outcomes for landlords triggers people? Is this landlords in denial? Is it landlords who genuinely think not much changed? Or is it tenant groups trolling?

Really curious to hear from landlords what they are feeling without the noise

See Harrow sneakily getting schemes out without them even being on their website I am wondering how other landlords are tracking this?

It’s not always obvious. But the cost of missing it could be huge.

I was at a landlord meeting yesterday and was surprised how many people were still managing 5+ properties on a spreadsheet. Now I’m talking generally smart people and busy people. But they didn’t think they needed more.

Just curious what the general consensus is on this? For me I think a spreadsheet just records information so isn’t really fit for purpose as a compliance tool in 2026. I mean it’s static and can be edited so how does it prove anything?

But curious on if I’m in a minority.

I’m saying this based on the stupidity of arguments like “you’re greedy”, “we pay your mortgage”, “you hoard property” and “I’d be able to buy without you”. I mean these are just some examples of the stupid I see. And you see dumber.

Im starting to think this is driven because people don’t understand even basic home economics and it seems to be getting worse. Because people didn’t used to need a formal education to know how basics like how a household budget works. And from there families had a decent grip on finances and how the world works in general. So you could have meaningful disagreements on an ideological ground but it would never get personal as people understood that small landlords were like themselves just trying to make the best of a system they had no part in designing - and we all understood that all systems are imperfect so there was a valid argument to be had but we understood where reality met theory.

I’m beginning to think dumbing people down is by design so “blame” can be deflected to those who aren’t a voting block. Aren’t represented. Aren’t connected like big business and unions are.

The sad thing is that stupidity is usually self harming. I mean almost all of the populist policies have driven up rents. Am I seeing things wrong? And is there a bottom to this or a turning point?