Brighton Landlord Accreditation and Fit-and-Proper Person Test

Every property licence application in Brighton and Hove requires the proposed licence holder — and any named managing agent — to pass a fit-and-proper person assessment. At the same time, holding accreditation from a recognised landlord body can save you £75 on the licence fee. These two things are related but separate, and confusing them can cost you money or delay your application.

The Fit-and-Proper Person Test

When you apply for a selective, additional HMO or mandatory HMO licence through Brighton & Hove City Council's online portal, you must complete a statutory declaration about your fit-and-proper status. This is required by the Housing Act 2004 and applies to every licence type.

The declaration asks whether you have any unspent convictions relating to:

• Fraud or dishonesty
• Violence
• Drugs offences
• Sexual offences
• Unlawful discrimination
• Breaches of housing, landlord or tenant law

You also need to declare whether you've been subject to any previous licence refusals, licence revocations, property-related enforcement action or banning orders.

The council assesses the declaration and supporting information to decide whether you are a suitable person to hold a property licence. If the proposed licence holder fails the fit-and-proper test, the licence will be refused — and the Part A application fee (£518 for a selective licence) is non-refundable.

Providing false or misleading information on the fit-and-proper declaration is a criminal offence under Section 238 of the Housing Act 2004. If a conviction becomes spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, you generally don't need to declare it, but unspent convictions must be disclosed.

Recognised Accreditation Schemes

Brighton & Hove City Council offers a £75 fee discount to landlords or managing agents who hold accreditation from one of these recognised bodies:

• iHowz — formerly the Brighton & Hove Landlord Accreditation Scheme
• National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA)
• Safeagent — for letting agents
• Propertymark — associate membership qualifies when the accredited agent is named as the managing licence holder

The discount applies per licence and must be claimed at the time of application — it cannot be applied retrospectively after submission. You'll need to provide your membership or accreditation reference number on the portal.

Stacking Discounts

The accreditation discount can be combined with the £75 EPC Band C discount (for properties with an EPC rating of C or higher) for a maximum total reduction of £150 per licence.

On a selective licence, that brings the total fee down from £740 to £590. On an additional HMO licence, the saving is the same £150 off the standard fee.

Two important restrictions:

1. You can claim a maximum of two discounts per licence (any combination of accreditation, EPC and registered charity discounts)
2. Late applications forfeit all discount eligibility — if the property has been operating without a licence for more than 28 days, you pay the higher late fee with no discounts

Accreditation vs. Fit-and-Proper

These are different things. Holding accreditation from iHowz or the NRLA gives you a fee discount — it does not automatically satisfy the fit-and-proper person test. The council still assesses your declaration independently.

Conversely, passing the fit-and-proper test doesn't require any accreditation — most landlords in Brighton aren't accredited. The accreditation is purely a voluntary step that happens to carry a financial benefit at application time.

Is Accreditation Worth It?

If you're applying for a single selective licence, the £75 saving from accreditation needs to be weighed against the cost and time of joining a recognised body. NRLA membership runs £85–£100 per year, so the discount just about covers it for one licence — but if you're licensing multiple properties, the discount applies to each one, making membership clearly worthwhile.

iHowz is the local Brighton option and has historically been one of the cheaper routes to accreditation. Check current membership fees before applying.

The full fee structure, discount eligibility rules and application walkthrough are in our Brighton & Hove Landlord Licensing guide.

See more England guides →