New regulations for all residential landlords with property in Northern Ireland, registration is open and available from today, 25th February 2014
A new compulsory registration scheme for residential landlords has been implemented by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. This will enable the Housing Executive to maintain a register for private landlords and for the properties they own.
The centrally held list / register of private landlords will;-
i) allow tenants, neighbours and local councils to identify if the landlords are registered
ii) provide support to landlords
iii) provide information on the number of landlords in Northern Ireland and enable landlords to be provided with regular updates on their responsibilities and duties
Private landlords are required to register any new tenancy on or after 24th February 2014, or by 24th February 2015 at the latest. Landlords who ignore this compulsory registration process can face penalties of between £500 and £2500.
One can only imagine this list of landlords in Northern Ireland will be used a test bed for rolling out to the rest of the U.K at some point in the future. It is anticipated that HM Inland Revenue will (quite rightly) be closely watching developments with a view to pursuing landlords who fail to declare their income from rental properties.
Registration fee
The fees are £70 for online registration and £80 for paper registration. The only exceptions to paying the registration fee are those who have already registered a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) with the Housing Executive. Even the landlords exempt from paying the registration fee must still register under this scheme however.
Registration is available from the NI Direct website address of http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/landlord-registration-scheme