Some Licensing Scheme rules are illegal

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Selective Licensing:

The Court of Appeal has today ruled that councils cannot use selective licensing conditions to impose new standards on private rented homes.

The case saw Paul Brown, a landlord in Accrington, challenging Hyndburn Council which sought to use its selective licensing scheme in certain areas of the Borough to force the installation of carbon monoxide detectors and also to carry out electrical safety checks and implement their findings.  The case was supported by the Residential Landlords Association.

Whilst Mr Brown had already carried out both of these requirements, he argued that imposing such standards through licensing schemes went beyond the powers available to local authorities. The Court of Appeal has today agreed.

Instead, the Court, Mr Brown and the RLA argued that rather than relying on licensing schemes which only cover certain properties, electrical and gas safety issues are best addressed by councils using the extensive powers they already have under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). This is the risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. Crucially, this applies to all private rented homes, whether they require a licence or not.

The RLA is calling for the guidance associated with the HHSRS, which was last published in 2006, to be updated urgently to reflect considerable changes in the sector since then. This would better support councils to use and enforce their powers under this system.

The RLA Policy Adviser, Richard Jones, said:

“This case was not about trying to stop Councils from imposing requirements.  It was about how they go about this ensuring that they use the proper processes which already exist.

“Today’s judgement is a reminder that councils already have extensive powers to deal with properties found to be unsafe and they must act in a legal manner.”

The RLA represents over 50,000 private sector residential landlords in England and Wales.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Some Licensing Scheme rules are illegal | LandlordZONE.

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Landlords selling rental properties fuels £5.5bn CGT bonanza

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Capital gains tax receipts hit £5.5bn in January and leaves the Treasury on course to rake in £8.8bn this tax year. Analysis of the tax receipts by NFU Mutual, the financial advice firm, show the taxman is set to collect around £0.4bn (5%) more than in 2016-17.

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I might be late to the HMRC party!

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I might be late to the party with this one. Yesterday I received from HMRC a letter/notice under Paragraph 1, Schedule 23 to the Finance Act 2011 from HMRC requiring me (as a letting agent) – a ‘relevant data holder’- to provide ‘relevant data’ about the landlords I manage for and the payments that have been made to them.

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Who is on the hook for flood damage to tenants’ possessions?

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A water pipe has burst in a brand new property rented by a family member of mine. Lots of the tenants possessions are water damaged.

The landlord (a big corporate London agency) is doing the right thing and paying for alternative accommodation –

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BBC Panorama to debate Section 21

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Section 21 evictions:

The future of the no-fault eviction process, mainstay of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy since its inception in 1988, is to be debated on a BBC Panorama programme this evening, Wednesday 21 February at 8:30 pm.

The programme, with an interview featuring Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina, will investigate the widely debated Section 21 no-fault eviction procedure, and the programme questions whether tenants deserve more protection, or whether new rules would make the housing crisis even worse.

Paul Shamplina puts forward the case for retaining the process, arguing from his own experience, gained over many years running a leading national eviction company, what he claims are the real reasons why landlords turn to Section 21.

Instances of what have come to be known as `no-fault evictions’ are reported to have trebled in the last eight years. BBC’s investigative journalist, Richard Bilton, claims to shed light on the difficulties faced by many private tenants in the UK, who have no long-term right to stay in their homes, and can be ordered to leave with “little by the way of notice or explanation”.

Richard meets some of the people whose lives have been plunged into chaos by their landlords but also talks to landlords who feel Section 21 is their only option. Britain depends on the private rented sector (PRS), and ‘no fault evictions’ feel like a lifeline for Britain’s millions of landlords, and the main reason why they stay in the business.

Panorama interviewed Paul Shamplina, who Founded Landlord Action in 1999, and their senior solicitor, Emma Philips, about the rise of section 21 no-fault evictions.  Commenting on the program, Mr Shamplina says:

“When asked to appear on Panorama, I felt a necessity to present the landlords’ side on why so many use no-fault Section 21.  The term ‘no fault’ is really a bit of a red herring.  There is always a reason why a landlord ends a tenancy, but it’s a far cry from the headlines showing that landlords use it just to throw tenants out.

“If a landlord has a good tenant, the last thing they want to do is get rid of a them. However, in our experience, the main reasons for serving Section 21 notices are for rent arrears, tenants requesting to be evicted so they can be re-housed or, most recently, because landlords wish to sell their property owing to impending tax liabilities.”

New tenancy rules introduced in December 2017 ended the practice of no-fault evictions in Scotland. It introduced a time limitless tenancy for the PRS, with 18 grounds on which the landlord, providing sufficient evidence is put forward to a property tribunal, can argue for re-possession. Rather than having an automatic right to the property back, landlords in Scotland will place themselves in the hands of a tribunal.

Following this, Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn said his party’s next manifesto will include a pledge to scrap no-fault evictions in England.

Shamplina adds: “There are some very good tenants out there.  Sadly in some cases, they are being evicted through no fault of their own but rather because of their landlords’ circumstances, which must be very upsetting.  However, in my opinion, the abolition of Section 21 in England would compound the housing shortage.”

The average time taken for a landlord to evict a tenant using Section 21 is between 3 and 9 months, and more evictions are carried out by the smaller social landlord sector (councils and housing associations) than in the PRS.

Watch Panorama on BBC One, Wednesday 21st February, 8:30 pm.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BBC Panorama to debate Section 21 | LandlordZONE.

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