Burnley Express Readers' letters: 'Burnley Council’s stranglehold over Burnley landlords'

Yet more areas of the town will now come under their costly and unnecessary licensing control.

Reference to “help tackle falling house prices” again makes no mention that some of these properties, as elsewhere in the town, are not economically viable for homeowners to refurbish, let and even sell, such is the low demand.

Compulsory purchase of these unwanted and neglected properties and transferred to social landlords is possibly one hope.

Simply blaming and fining landlords is not the answer and, as some believe, is merely a cunning disguise, whilst Burnley Council continue to graze off the backs of local landlords by charging millions of pounds in unnecessary landlord licensing fees. Along with their “proven track record of successful civil penalties and prosecutions” to rake in even more money.

Burnley Council know and yet still fail to highlight that these costs and penalties result in landlords having to ultimately charge higher rents to recover these imposed costs to some of the lowest income families in the town, who consistently choose to rent from Burnley landlords rather than social housing.

The alternative being chosen by many landlords is to sell up and get out to prevent further losses, which leaves fewer houses for tenants to rent.

Fewer rental properties also result in higher rents being charged in future, to fund these inflated costs, together with even longer housing waiting lists with some tenants left in temporary housing.

Burnley Council clearly realise this scenario but still sadly, choose to ignore it. This undeserved and unnecessary income steam appears too tempting for Burnley Council to give up.

Unless they are forced to, by popular demand and before it’s too late for some Burnley tenants and landlords?