Overview Expressions and abbreviations used throughout these notes Part 3: Selective licensing of other residential accommodation
25.Part 3 of the Act introduces a power for LHAs to introduce selective licensing to deal with particular problems in an area. Selective licensing will be primarily focused on:
	areas of low housing demand, or that are likely to fall into that category; and
	other areas suffering from anti-social behaviour
26.Low house prices in areas of low demand have resulted in an influx of unprofessional landlords purchasing properties to rent. These people frequently show no interest in managing their properties properly, often letting to anti-social tenants who cause a range of problems. This, in turn, can create misery for the local community and cause further destabilisation of these areas.
27.Although these problems tend to be concentrated in areas of low housing demand, other districts also suffer from the activities of poor landlords and anti-social tenants. Accordingly this power will be available to LHAs to tackle problems of anti-social behaviour in areas that do not experience low housing demand.
28.The Act provides a discretionary power, subject to carrying out consultation and to the approval of the appropriate national authority, for LHAs to license all private landlords in a designated area with the intention of ensuring that a minimum standard of management is met. In order for a scheme to be approved, such a selective licensing scheme must be shown to be co-ordinated with an authority's wider strategies to deal with anti-social behaviour and regeneration.
29.The Act also provides the appropriate national authority with powers to prescribe by regulation other circumstances in which discretionary schemes may be made.