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  The call came from a landlord who thought he had an ordinary management problem. One tenant was leaving and the agent was taking days to reply. Could somebody else take over? Then he mentioned the council letter. It wasn't the rent collection causing him sleepless nights after all. The licence paperwork didn't quite match the way the rooms were being used, an inspection was likely, and nobody seemed certain when the fire alarm had last been properly tested. The cheap agent he'd chosen eighteen months earlier was suddenly very difficult to reac h. I've had versions of that conversation more than once. The details change. The pattern rarely does. Cheap management often looks perfectly adequate while every room is occupied and nothing breaks. The weaknesses appear when a certificate expires, a tenant complains, a licence comes up for renewal or the council asks a question that needs a precise answer. By then, the saving of a few pounds a month looks rather less clever. T...

  The call usually starts with a version of the same sentence: “I've had the house for years and nobody has ever said I needed another licence.” Then comes the pause. A council page has been forwarded by another landlord, somebody in a WhatsApp group has mentioned a new fee, and suddenly a perfectly ordinary Tuesday has turned into an evening spent hunting for certificates. The property is occupied. The rent is coming in. Nothing appears to be wrong. Yet the landlord is no longer quite sure whether the paperwork behind it would survive a proper inspection. That uncertainty has become more immediate in Medway. On 4 August 2026, Medway Council's cabinet approved new additional and selective licensing schemes for parts of the private rented sector. The nine area names most landlords will recognise are Chatham Central, Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North, Frindsbury and Watling. The council report anticipated a November 2026 start and, for s...