Andy Burnham's Landlord Crackdown: What Greater Manchester Reveals About the National Direction

Andy Burnham is not yet a national politician with a national licensing policy, but his record as Mayor of Greater Manchester is widely read as a preview of what his national agenda would look like. With his name circulating as a serious contender to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader, and a return to Westminster increasingly discussed as his next political move, the housing policy he has built in Greater Manchester is worth understanding in detail.

The headline numbers are significant. According to Greater Manchester Combined Authority data, the region recorded a 43% rise in landlord fines in the most recent reporting period, reaching £1.47 million — revenue allocated to tenant protection enforcement. The Good Landlord Charter, launched in June 2025, has attracted more than 180 social and private landlords covering over 250,000 homes across the region. Over 100 of those landlords have completed the compliance demonstration required for full membership.

This is the crackdown. Not a single piece of legislation, but a sustained enforcement posture combined with a voluntary framework that sets a clear standard and publicly names those who meet it.

The Good Landlord Charter: How It Works

The Good Landlord Charter is voluntary, but its structure is instructive for what national policy could require. To achieve membership, landlords must demonstrate compliance with existing legal obligations across gas safety, electrical safety, EPC ratings, and tenancy documentation. The Charter then recognises compliance publicly, creating a reputational incentive for landlords who want to signal standards to prospective tenants.

Burnham's rationale is that most landlords are compliant and that a charter model allows the compliant majority to differentiate themselves from the minority driving enforcement activity. The rise in fines against those who fail to comply reflects the other side of the same strategy: the charter marks a ceiling of recognition while enforcement marks a floor of consequences.

What Burnham Has Called For Nationally

Burnham was among the most prominent regional advocates for a universal mandatory property portal and national landlord register, positions he articulated publicly ahead of the Renters' Reform Bill's introduction. Both subsequently became central provisions of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The register is not yet operational. It is due to begin rolling out regionally from late 2026, with full compliance required through 2027 and 2028.

When the register does arrive, the enforcement consequences are severe. An unregistered landlord loses access to Section 8 possession grounds — and the restriction goes further than many realise. Multiple legal sources indicate that only the anti-social behaviour grounds (7A and 14) remain available to unregistered landlords, meaning rent arrears, selling the property, and moving back in could all be blocked until registration is remedied. The exact scope will be confirmed through secondary legislation before the database launches, but the direction of travel is clear. With Section 21 already abolished under the Renters' Rights Act, an unregistered landlord may have no functioning legal route to possession at all.

That single consequence makes registration a practical necessity in a way that no civil penalty alone achieves.

What National Licensing Would Cost

Full national licensing goes beyond the register to require individual property licences with conditions attached. It has not been introduced by statute. But the framework for understanding what it would cost already exists in the selective licensing schemes operating under the Housing Act 2004.

Fee ranges are indicative. Actual charges vary significantly by local authority — check your council's published licensing schedule for current figures.

A national scheme modelled on selective licensing would, on current precedent, most likely sit at £500 to £750 per property per five-year cycle. Portfolio exposure at that illustrative rate:

These figures cover the licence fee only. Landlords who cannot demonstrate compliance with the property standards required for licence approval would face additional remediation costs before a licence is granted.

The Conditions a National Licence Would Carry

Under existing selective licensing schemes, licence conditions typically require landlords to:

• Maintain the property in a good state of repair throughout the licence period
• Keep gas safety certificates, EICRs, and EPCs current and available on request
• Operate a written tenancy agreement with all occupants
• Manage anti-social behaviour arising from the property
• Respond to hazard reports within defined timescales

Awaab's Law obligations cover the mandatory investigation and remediation timescales for damp and mould. They would sit alongside rather than inside licence conditions, but a landlord failing Awaab's Law compliance is also likely to be failing licence conditions, creating compounding enforcement exposure. For a full breakdown of those timescales, see our Awaab's Law private landlord checklist 2026.

Exemptions and Appeals Under Existing Frameworks

No national licensing exemptions list exists because no national scheme has been legislated. Based on the existing selective licensing framework, the categories most likely to be excluded from any national scheme are:

• Owner-occupied properties with a lodger
• Holiday lets and short-term rentals, subject to separate regulatory proposals
• Registered social housing, already regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing
• Properties subject to a long lease where the leaseholder holds the landlord obligations

Appeals against licence refusals or conditions go to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) under the Housing Act 2004 framework. Grounds include unjustified refusal, unreasonable conditions, and incorrect fee assessment.

The Direction of Travel

National licensing is not yet law. But the infrastructure is being built. The register is coming, enforcement budgets in Greater Manchester are producing measurable results, and the politician most closely associated with the agenda is positioning himself for a larger stage.

For landlords, the immediate obligations are the ones already in force: registration when the national register opens, current safety certificates, a valid EPC, and the Awaab's Law response framework for damp and mould. A portfolio that meets those standards now will meet the threshold for any plausible licensing scheme when it arrives.

For a breakdown of the Awaab's Law obligations already in effect, read our full guide: Awaab's Law and private landlords: what the 2026 rules actually require.