CIEH should be more concerned about standards in LA and Social housing!

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The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has slammed the Government’s response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s report on the private rented sector, with the Government refusing to take on key recommendations.

CIEH had previously worked with the HCLG Select Committee on their inquiry

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Course of the Month: Law of Agency

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This month’s Course of the Month is Law of Agency, and with over 60% of landlords in the private rented sector using a letting agent, it is crucial to maintain a positive relationship between landlord, agent and tenants. What will I learn? Our brand new e-learning course is the perfect opportunity to learn about the […]

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FCA keen to hear from BoI mortgagees!

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The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), who regulate Banks, are keen to hear from anyone affected by the Bank of Ireland mortgage hike scandal.

The more people report this to the FCA, the stronger their case to take appropriate action against the Bank of Ireland and any other mortgage providers who hiked customers mortgages by altering the differential.

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Japanese Knotweed: a warning

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Landlords are being warned to keep a close eye on the gardens of their rental homes after it was revealed homeowners will be able to sue their neighbours for damages if Japanese Knotweed grows onto their land. In a landmark court ruling neighbours Stephen Williams & Robin Waistell were each awarded £15,000 last year after […]

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GCP launches New free App

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Like many property people I started out part time in between my Corporate career. Evenings and weekends became the times where I would build my property portfolio and was the beginning of what is now Grace Charles Property (GCP).

Making things stream lined and easier for myself meant I could do more with little time.

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Downsizing into our Buy to Let?

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Hi All, we are thinking of downsizing into our buy to let that we have owned for 20 years and selling our residential house.

Initially I mentioned this to our accountant and he just laughed, could anyone please tell me how this would be treated tax wise.

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Heatwave: Top tips for saving water

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As the country continues to experience a heatwave, water companies have been encouraging people to save water in a bid to avoid a hosepipe ban. Water pressure in many parts of the country, including Manchester and Cheshire has been affected by the hot weather, with these places experiencing no or even low pressure. There is […]

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The Fightback – Tories have been woeful

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The regulatory attack on the PRS by Central Government, and Bankrupt Local authorities has been relentless. I don’t need to remind Property 118 readers, but Sect 24, Selective Licensing, and now 3 year tenancies have hammered landlords, both portfolio and small landlords.

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Could landlords be incentivised to offer longer term tenancies?

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The new government consultation into making longer term tenancies the default option in England, ‘Overcoming the Barriers to Longer Tenancies in the Private Rented Sector’, is considering financial and tax incentive for landlords.

Please see the specific section from the consultation below:

“80.

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Telford’s “Better Homes for All� Scheme

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Rogue Landlords:

As part of a country-wide initiative to get on top of the rogue landlord problem in local areas, the government is providing Telford & Wrekin Council with £388,925 to use to improve standards in their private rented sector. Telford has pledged to use the additional funding to target rogue landlords and better protect tenants across the borough.

The funding, which is to be used for Telford’s “Better Homes For All package�, designed to boost conditions in the private rented sector, enabling the council to conduct its “intelligence work to identify and target criminal landlords in the local area, and take enforcement action where necessary.�

Telford & Wrekin Council has pledged to get much tougher on rogue landlords and letting agents who provide substandard accommodation for their tenants.

The Council’s “Better Homes for All� initiative will also include intensifying the battle against littering, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour, and support and enforcement of environmental improvements.

These new measures, the council says, will replace a proposed ‘Selective Licensing’ scheme that the Council widely consulted on last year. Most people in the borough agreed that there were issues that needed addressing, but Selective Licensing was not seen as the best way to do this, and other alternatives were suggested. In that The Council says it has listened.

Telford Council’s Better Homes for All initiative will include:

• A new Rogue Landlord Taskforce. Additional officers are proposed for the Council’s Housing team to work solely on privately rented housing standards across the borough. Their role would be to hold all landlords and letting agents to account and ensure they provide good conditions for tenants.
• Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO). From October, new Government legislation is due to take effect on HMOs. In advance of any Government changes, it is proposed that Telford & Wrekin Council will implement an enhanced set of licensing conditions for mandatory HMOs all of which were consulted upon as part of the selective licensing proposals. These new conditions would give the Council a greater ability to tackle poorly managed HMOs in our borough. The new HMO licensing conditions and fee structure would be implemented and enforced by the Council’s new Rogue Landlord Taskforce.
• New Housing Enforcement Policy. This new policy outlines how Telford & Wrekin Council intends to use its enforcement powers to tackle rogue landlords and poor housing conditions. This would include improvement notices, penalty charge notices and civil penalties.
• Enforcement officers. Since July 2017, Telford & Wrekin Council’s enforcement officers have been focussed on using additional powers in investigating environmental crime resulting in the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices or, in more serious cases, prosecution. Working with West Mercia Police and using information from the Council enforcement officers will target specific areas with the highest levels of environmental crime reports to engage and educate in the first instance and, where applicable, enforce. Since last July, more than 70 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued.
• Environmental Cleaning Team to work across the borough, keeping it clean and looking tidy, tackling problem areas clearing litter and fly-tipping supported by enforcement officers who investigate and deal with the causes of environmental crime. The Council will invest in this team through its ‘Pride in Our Community Fund’ to increase capacity.
• New Landlord Accreditation Scheme. It is proposed that this new enhanced voluntary scheme is delivered with external agencies to offer promotion, advice, training and development for landlords and letting agents who, by signing up, agree to a revised code of conduct. This will include the appointment of a new Landlord Liaison Officer to develop a scheme and work closer with landlords.
• In total the Council will be investing over £300,000 in extra resource and activity to ensure that these policies work. Progress of the work will be reviewed and reported every 12 months.

Cllr Lee Carter, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Commercial Services & Economic Development has said:

“We have listened, we have engaged.

“During our consultation people told us there are issues and problems to address and wanted us to make better use of the powers we have to deal with rogue landlords, litter, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour. We are already doing this through the increased powers given to our enforcement officers last year to investigate environmental crime, issue fixed penalty notices and prosecute. As a result we are already seeing a major increase in penalties for these types of offences.

“People also told us that they wanted better private rented housing conditions. We propose an increase in environmental health officers, a new housing enforcement policy and an improved voluntary landlord accreditation scheme.

“We have pored over all the feedback from the public and we’ve listened. We now have a package of measures designed to give us some real extra muscle to tackle rogue landlords and letting agents. At the same time, we want to support the good landlords and, in doing so, together improve housing standards for tenants.

“We will closely monitor the effectiveness of this new package over the next two years. If there are no improvements, we may be forced to revisit the option of a Selective Licensing scheme; however there are also other factors that we may need to keep an eye on including a fast changing national picture.�

Better Homes for All – Cabinet Report

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