A controversial licensing scheme designed to clamp down on rogue landlords has been pushed through a fortnight before new Government rules would effectively ban it.

Croydon Council this week pressed ahead with plans to charge every private landlord £750 for licences, days after housing minister Brandon Lewis announced new rules designed to stop such blanket schemes.

But the new legislation, which will require councils to obtain Government permission for licenses affecting more than 20 per cent of private housing, does not come into effect until April 1.

It means Croydon's scheme will not be halted, despite not coming into force until October 1, because it won approval from the cabinet last night.

Last week: Council to press ahead with landlord licensing scheme - but fees cut after outcry

October 2014: Landlords battling against £200 'tenant tax'

Coun Tim Pollard, leader of council's Conservative opposition, said: "This is a seriously flawed decision. Cabinet has decided to implement a decision which has clearly not been considered in the light of the impending change in the law.

"In just two weeks' time this decision could not be taken, and the law will have changed six months before implementation.

He added: "This is an irritation for landlords, who will have to cope with a significant amount of bureaucratic interference in their tenancies, but a catastrophe for tenants, who will see rents go up as a result."

But council leader Tony Newman, who made the licences a key pledge in Labour's election manifesto last year, accused the housing minister of trying to "bully" local authorities.

During last night's occasionally ill-tempered meeting, he said: "As the leader of this democratically elected council, I will not be intimidated by the Government.

"The scheme is welcome by the many good landlords in Croydon, by tenants and by the communities who are fed up of seeing their streets covered in rubbish by those landlords that are not so good."

The council initially planned to charge landlords £200 for the licences, which will be mandatory for each property.

But following an outcry from letting agents and landlords, who dubbed the charge a "tenant tax" and claimed it would lead to higher rents, it cut the fee to £750 for five years or £350 if they register early.

Landlords renting a property without a licence face fines of up to £20,000, while those who breach licence conditions could be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000.

Coun Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes and regeneration, said: "This licensing scheme is about making Croydon a better place to rent, and I know many residents support our proposals because badly-kept properties blight our streets.

"Anti-social behaviour is everyone's problem, but too often we find a minority of private landlords whose failure to act damages communities."

But in a letter sent to all councils on Thursday, Mr Lewis described borough-wide schemes as "draconian".

He said: "The vast majority of private landlords offer a decent service – so I’m determined we end the 'tenants tax' caused by draconian measures that do nothing to tackle rogue operators and only serve to push up rents.

"I want councils to take targeted action and focus their efforts on tackling that small number of landlords who make their tenants’ lives a misery – and help create a bigger, better private rented sector as a result."

Landlords have argued Croydon's scheme will unfairly penalise those who manage properties well.

Richard Lambert, chief executive of the National Landlords Association, said: "Croydon's problems are based on anti-social behaviour, something which landlords have no control over other than by eviction, which just moves the problem on."

According to a council report, only a quarter of landlords and letting agents who replied to its consultation believed a £350 charge would be "totally or fairly reasonable".

But 62 per cent of all respondents and 68 per cent of private sector tenants said it was fair.

Croydon Council extended its consultation period by 10 weeks after the High Court blocked Enfield Council's attempt to introduce a similar licensing scheme in December.