It would be wrong to say all landlords are bad. They are not. That is why we will work with landlords, support and encourage them to meet the minimum standards that we will expect.
Training and Development
The licensing team host free landlord training days, currently provided by the National Residential Landlord Association (NRLA). The training covers everything landlords need to know from pre-tenancy checks, managing the tenancy successfully and how to legally end it, and updates landlords on the latest legislation changes. It also offers landlords and agents the opportunity to network and learn from each others experiences operating in Burnley. Landlords have the option to attend an online course, or face to face in Burnley where lunch is provided free of charge.
In addition, we have arranged for Landlords who are applying for Selective or HMO Licensing or are a member of the Council’s Good Landlord and Agent Scheme (GLAS) to benefit from free online training from the NRLA. This benefit entitles landlords to FREE enrolment on to the Landlords Fundamentals course via: https://www.nrla.org.uk/join.
The course will be accessible through the online Training Academy, and landlords will have 12 months to complete the training. Completing the course means the landlord may be eligible for NRLA Accreditation. Please contact landlords@burnley.gov.uk or by phone on 01282 475810 for the discount code to access this training, or to express an interest in our upcoming training days.
The licensing team also send out updates to landlords with details of any relevant legislation changes affecting them. Read the latest landlord newsletter here.
We also work with partner agencies, such as the Council’s antisocial behaviour team, SMILE mediation and tenancy support services to ensure landlords, agents and tenants have access to support to enable them to be successful in their tenancies.
Tenant Referencing
It is a condition of the licence that landlords seek references from previous landlords of a prospective tenant. In addition to this, the licensing team offer a free tenant referencing service for properties in the licensing area; download the tenant referencing form or contact landlords@burnley.gov.uk for further information on this service.
Tenant referencing is good practice wherever landlords let their properties; we would encourage all landlords who are not already doing so to make this a key part of their procedures.
Tenancy Agreements
Providing a written tenancy agreement is an important element of a successful tenancy. A tenancy agreement is a legally binding document which gives the tenant the right to live in the rental property, and the landlord the right to receive rent. It is important that the tenancy agreement issued by landlords are up to date and meet required regulations. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have created a useful model agreement and guidance for issuing a tenancy agreement.
Support to Meet the Standard
The selective licensing team are on hand to support landlords who are unsure of their responsibilities. If a landlord doesn’t think they will meet the standards for granting a licence, we will give them a list of managing agents who have been accredited through the Good Landlord and Agent Scheme: they can then appoint an accredited managing agent to manage the property on their behalf.
Management Orders are a last resort; they take away responsibility from the landlord, whereas licensing enables us to work with landlords, to ensure that skills and standards are up to scratch and that knowledge and good practice is spread throughout the licensing areas and beyond.
Landlord Responsibilities
Visit the Private Landlords section of our website for information on landlord’s wider roles and responsibilities including outside of selective licensing areas.