Webinar series – 4. Prosecutions and financial penalties: Top tips for successful enforcement

The mandatory, additional and selective licensing of privately rented properties under the Housing Act 2004 is, for many local authorities, a cornerstone of long-term strategic objectives to improve the private rented sector in their area and create more sustainable local communities. It is also a complicated area of local government regulation, which often gives rise to complex legal and practical issues, whether in the course of designating an area as subject to licensing or implementing and enforcing a licensing designation.

In this series of webinars, Dean considers some of the most common issues that arise from the mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and, more particularly, from local authority additional and selective licensing designations.

Other webinars on this series include:

• The law and practice of licensing designations: An overview
• Licence applications and fees: Commonly-encountered issues
• Licences and licence conditions: Understanding the scope of local authority powers

Dean has a broad public, local government and housing law practice and particular expertise in 2004 Act licensing. He has been involved in some of the leading authorities on the subject, including R (Mohamed) v Waltham Forest LBC [2020] 1 WLR 2929 and Waltham Forest LBC v Marshall [2020] 1 WLR 3187, and has guided many local authorities through the process of designating areas as subject to additional and selective licensing. Dean advises and represents local housing authorities and landlords nationwide at all levels of court and tribunal.