A SCHEME aimed at protecting thousands of Oxford tenants from rogue landlords may be unlawful, the High Court is set to be told.

Oxford City Council will be the first in the country to introduce the stringent new rules for about 5,000 rented homes.

But the Oxford Mail last night learned a group of landlords is set to challenge the new licensing powers in a judicial review that could hit thousands of tenants.

The Town Hall said it needed greater control over the impact of Homes of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) in the city as it has one of the highest number of HMOs in the country.

The scheme is aimed at improving the standard of accommodation and the living conditions of tenants.

But the landlords claim the city’s plan to phase in the scheme over the next three or four years would place many of them in breach of the law through no fault of their own because they would not be able to get them licensed in time.

David Smith, of the legal firm Pain & Smith, which is acting for the Oxford landlords, said: “We wholly support the licensing of HMOs, provided it is carried out with proper consultation and in accordance with the law in a reasonable and proportionate manner.

“Unfortunately, the scheme proposed does not do this.”

He said landlords would be unable to rent their properties because the council had not issued a licence.

Mr Smith added: “This would, as a consequence, place these landlords in breach of the law.”

The court action will also challenge the level of fees being proposed, expected to raise £100,000 by 2016.

Solicitors will argue it is unlawful for a council to be making substantial profit from such fees.

Under the scheme, due to start on October 25, properties where three or more unrelated people shared facilities would require licences.

Inspections would be carried out before licences were granted, with the initial fee for HMOs with five occupants put at £470, plus £20 for each extra room.

A council spokesman said: “We have received queries about the proposed operation of the scheme.

“These are under consideration and we will be responding in due course.”

But Jan Bartlett, owner of Cowley Road firm Premier Letting, said the new scheme was using “a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

She feared it had been introduced because of pressure from Oxford residents’ groups opposed to the high numbers of students living in shared houses in East Oxford.

Ms Bartlett, whose company is supporting the challenge, said: “I would like to see Oxford City Council take a more realistic approach.

“They should look at individual cases rather than reacting to the cries of some residents’ associations which have resulted in the whole of Oxford being affected, which is totally unnecessary.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “We need the scheme in the interests of tenants and also in the interests of Oxford’s neighbourhoods.

“There is a minority of landlords who don’t look after their gardens, rubbish, etc.

“I can’t give legal advice, but the council will have to comply with the law, and that’s what they’ll be doing.

“My bottom line is that the public in Oxford want to see proper licensed control and standards over HMOs and the sooner this happens, the better.”