Section 88 — Housing Act 2004: Grant or refusal of licence

Grant or refusal of licence 88 1 Where an application in respect of a house is made to the local housing authority under section 87, the authority must either—

a grant a licence in accordance with subsection (2), or b refuse to grant a licence.

2 If the authority are satisfied as to the matters mentioned in subsection (3), they may grant a licence either—

a to the applicant, or b to some other person, if both he and the applicant agree.

3 The matters are—

a that the proposed licence holder—

i is a fit and proper person to be the licence holder, and ii is, out of all the persons reasonably available to be the licence holder in respect of the house, the most appropriate person to be the licence holder; aa that no banning order under section 16 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 is in force against a person who—

i owns an estate or interest in the house or part of it, and ii is a lessor or licensor of the house or part;

b that the proposed manager of the house is either—

i the person having control of the house, or ii a person who is an agent or employee of the person having control of the house;

c that the proposed manager of the house is a fit and proper person to be the manager of the house;

and d that the proposed management arrangements for the house are otherwise satisfactory.

4 Section 89 applies for the purposes of this section.