Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of capping local authority landlord licensing fees in (a) rural and (b) low-income areas.

Local authorities are responsible for setting fees for their licensing schemes, taking account of a number of factors. These include the initial set-up costs of the scheme, the cost of assessing applications and issuing licences, and, where necessary, the cost of inspecting properties . Licence fees will vary between areas to account for differences in costs, however local authorities are not expected to profit from licensing.

The government expects local authorities to make details of these fees, along with the rationale behind their determination, transparent and readily accessible.