Licensing and permits

How we monitor private sector housing conditions

The council has a statutory duty to monitor the condition of local private sector housing in Liverpool and enforce landlord legislation in the city.

What we do

Our licensing schemes

Liverpool has two licensing schemes:

The designated area for the selective licensing scheme covers around 80% of the city’s private rental sector. All rental properties in this area must have a licence, unless they are exempt. Find out if your property needs a licence.

This selective licensing scheme helps us monitor property standards because:

  • Licences are granted subject to conditions
  • Officers visit licensed properties to inspect for compliance with the licence conditions.
  • We can take enforcement action if licence conditions are breached 
  • We can punish non-compliance with civil penalty notices or further prosecution

Monitoring of other rental properties

We continue to monitor and inspect the condition of private rental properties outside the selective licensing area, and use enforcement powers when needed.

We also offer advice and support to landlords and other stakeholders, in line with our enforcement policy, to ensure the safety of all privately rented housing. 

The action we take

We have a new Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy and a new Private Sector Housing Civil Penalty Policy. These policies apply to offences committed on or after 1st May 2026.

For offences committed prior to this date, the previous policies are applicable. See both sets of policies below.

We advise landlords to read our enforcement policy to be aware of their ongoing responsibilities to maintain their privately rented property.

All landlords have a duty to make sure their rented properties are well managed, safe and free from hazards.

If a landlord fails to fulfil their duty, we have powers under Housing Act 2004 that include:

  • Serving legal notices
  • Issuing civil penalties
  • Prosecuting landlords

Our officers use their enforcement powers to make landlords address any issue that causes a serious health and safety risk to tenants.

Landlords who fail to carry out corrective work may be issued with a civil penalty notice (CPN) or face prosecution. 

We have the statutory duty to enforce landlord legislation, including the Renters Rights’ Act. If breaches of the landlord legislation are identified, we will usually issue a CPN.

Action against poor or unlicensed landlords

We take all complaints seriously and use intelligence from several sources to identify properties that are poorly managed or in disrepair.

Anyone who controls or manages a property without an appropriate licence, and is not exempt, may be prosecuted. On conviction, this offence carries unlimited fines.

For example, operating a licensable HMO without a licence is a serious offence for which the local authority will usually issue a civil penalty notice. In these cases, penalties are set at a higher level due to the increased risk to tenant safety. The starting point for the penalty is £17,000 and the maximum is £40,000, depending on the seriousness of the offence.  

If there are any significant breaches of licence conditions, or repeated complaints about the property or its maintenance, we will take action. This may lead to a licence being revoked, service of a civil penalty notice or prosecution.

Landlord responsibility for anti-social behaviour 

All landlords have a duty to tackle anti-social behaviour as set out in their licence conditions. Our private sector housing anti-social behaviour team enforce these conditions.

When we may not be able to help

The support we can provide depends on the type of property and who is responsible for it.

In some situations, our powers may be limited and another person or organisation may be better placed to help, and we will normally signpost you to them.

Private tenants

We may not be able to help private tenants if they:

  • Unreasonably refuse the landlord, managing agent or contractors access to carry out repairs.
  • Have already instructed a solicitor or legal adviser about a housing disrepair claim.
  • Have clearly caused by the issue and there are no other housing condition concerns.
  • Contact us to request rehousing - our role is generally to work towards improving housing conditions in the current home where appropriate and achievable.
  • Repeatedly fail to keep appointments or respond to follow-up correspondence.
  • Fail to provide information needed for us to investigate the complaint.

Homeowners

We may not be able to help homeowners as they are generally responsible for maintaining and repairing their own property, however we may:

  • Take enforcement action if the issue affects other people or poses a risk to public health or safety.
  • Become involved where problems affect neighbouring properties, create a statutory nuisance, or present a significant risk to occupants or visitors.
  • Give priority to vulnerable residents at risk where intervention is needed to protect their wellbeing.

Leaseholders

We cannot usually intervene in private disputes between leaseholders, freeholders or managing agents where alternative resolution options are available under the lease. This means that:

  • Leaseholders are normally expected to use the dispute resolution processes available through their lease agreement.
  • Our involvement is generally limited to serious housing hazards, statutory nuisances, licensing breaches, or issues affecting the common parts of a building.
  • Some matters may require independent legal advice rather than our intervention.

Social housing tenants

Housing associations and other registered social landlords are responsible for managing and maintaining their homes. This means that social housing tenants should:

  • Normally report concerns directly to their landlord and follow the provider's complaints procedure.
  • In most cases, exhaust the Housing Ombudsman process before seeking our help.

We may become involved where there is a serious risk to health and safety, a statutory nuisance, or evidence that appropriate action has not been taken.