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

Offences committed before the 1st May 2026 will be subject to the enforcement and civil penalty policies revised in 2022. Offences committed on or after the 1st May 2026 are subject to the new 2026 enforcement and civil penalty policies. 

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

In some situations, we may decide not to provide a service, or to stop providing a service. This may be where:

  • A tenant has unreasonably refused access to the landlord, managing agent or contractors to carry out repairs.
  • A tenant has already instructed a solicitor or legal adviser about a disrepair claim.
  • The issue being reported is clearly caused by the tenant, and there are no other disrepair concerns.
  • The main reason for contacting the Private Sector Housing team appears to be to request rehousing. Where possible, our priority is to bring the current property up to a suitable standard instead.
  •  A tenant has requested a service but does not keep appointments and does not respond to follow up letters or appointment cards.