I have started a petition on 38 Degrees

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We demand an urgent Government re-think on how a vibrant UK housing market can be encouraged and supported.

Government housing policy appears to be focused almost exclusively on helping first time buyers. However, the UK needs more housing of all tenures

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Where can landlords pay £1.85pw to Nottingham Licensing?

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Come on who’s telling you to write these letters below? A few tenants have asked Licensing for proof of where the Landlord can pay £1.85pw. We all know that’s codswallop and those landlords that talk to their tenants have told them the same.

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Council want to strangle the high street along with the PRS

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Every reader will be all too familiar with the carnage on our high streets. Major chains going under and shutters down across the land in Towns and cities everywhere. Without doubt retail is changing as a result of online shopping.

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Liverpool landlady receives prison sentence

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Unlawful Eviction:

Liverpool landlady, Violet Musoke, has been given a 3-month prison sentence for unlawful eviction and failing to respond to improvement notices for a flat she rented out.

Described as a “cruel, heartless and selfish� landlord, Musoke tried to force her long-term tenant, Dennis Adderley, 79, out of his home.

The daughters of the tenant, a vulnerable man, said she had orchestrated a cruel campaign of harassment along with other members of her family.

The disabled 79-year-old tenant who was suffering from cancer, requiring specialist equipment to live, was left living in an unsafe “barely habitable� property by his landlady Violet Musoke.

Mr Adderley’s flat in Picton Road, Wavertree, Liverpool, had a garden which was overrun with rats and had piles of rubbish strewn, while the flat’s interior was said to be damp, cold, riddled with dangerous electrics and non-existent fire safety measures.

Musoke was jailed for failing to respond properly to the council’s improvement notices as well as her protracted campaign of harassment against her tenant. She had tried to unlawfully evict Mr Adderley, a tenant of 34 years in the property, on a protected tenancy.

Protected our regulated tenancies are a throw-back to pre-shorthold tenancy days, when tenants had lifelong security of tenancy. The 1988 Housing Act introduced the Shorthold Tenancy, but did not repeal the older tenancies, many hundreds of which still exist.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Musoke’s harassment campaign culminated in a bizarre scene where landlady Musoke, and several of her family members, had duped their way into the flat and refused to leave. They even brought inflatable furniture and other furniture items with them.

The situation the flat was in was first brought to the attention of the council by the fire service. When the council officers inspected the flat they found a catalogue of health and safety issues, including:

• Floorboards missing from a second floor landing and second floor front bedroom.
• Inadequate and inappropriate fire detection and alarm system and emergency lighting.
• Front door key operated mortise which could potentially prevent a safe and rapid exit from building in the event of a fire.
• An unsafe electrical system missing a dedicated electricity consumer unit with no means of re-setting tripped fuses.
• Handrail is missing from rear yard steps.
• No effective loft insulation in the roof space.
• UPVC window frames missing handles and is allowing water penetration, damp and vegetation to grow on internal wall.
• Poorly sited cooker next to door increases the risk of scalds and burns.
• Bare timber floor kitchen surface which could not be easily cleaned.
• Rear entrance door is missing a suitable mortise lock.

Liverpool Magistrates Court were told that despite numerous warnings, Musoke remedied only one of the hazards listed and she continued to allow Mr Adderley to “live in squalor�.

Jailing Musoke for three months, and ordering her to pay £500 compensation to Mr Adderley, District Judge Andrew Shaw said:

“Dennis Adderley had brought his family up here – it was his home, his sanctuary and in recent years when his health has been seriously compromised, a place where he needed a peaceful environment.

“You allowed him to suffer, It was damp and cold – the property must have been barely habitable.

[Image shows the Liverpool skyline]

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Liverpool landlady receives prison sentence | LandlordZONE.

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Unwanted visitors: Household pests

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Wasps, flies, rats, mice – it is the phone call every landlords dreads. Here, in an article first published in RPI magazine we look at the most common household pests, how to get rid of them and who picks up the bill.  Summer is now well and truly upon us. The bees are buzzing and […]

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Media Coverage 23rd-27th July 2018

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Click the links below to have a read of the media coverage for the RLA this week. Half of renters forced into debt to start new tenancies The Telegraph Wishes for welfare Welsh Housing Quarterly  Tickets now on sale for the RLA’s next Future Renting Conference Landlord Today  Trade body says council’s licensing proposals are unlawful Letting Agent Today […]

The post Media Coverage 23rd-27th July 2018 appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

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Government launches EPC consultation

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The Government has launched a consultation on energy performance certificates in buildings. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are seeking evidence on how EPCs are currently performing against three attributes, including quality, availability and encouraging action to improve energy efficiency. The consultation, which can be accessed on the Government’s website here, is inviting […]

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17 week wait to evict problem tenants

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Eviction Time:

A Simple Landlord’ Insurance study has found that it takes an average of 118 days (almost 4 months) before court-appointed bailiffs can remove problem tenants from a private landlords’ property, after bringing a claim to court.

Landlords in London are the most likely to have to evict, while those in the South West, North East and West Midlands were least likely to have to go all the way to court to secure their evictions. Landlords can see at a glance how their region fares here.

New analysis of government figures by Simple Landlords Insurance shows it took an average of 16.9 weeks from claim to bailiff eviction in the first quarter of 2018. A total of 21,429 possession claims were brought to court last year, of which 6,260 ended in eviction by bailiff.

It’s the first time that the length of time it takes for private landlords to evict through the court system has been made public – and it’s been broken down by region and population density so landlords – and tenants – can find out exactly what level of risk they face in each area of England and Wales.

Tom Cooper, Director of Underwriting at Simple Landlords Insurance, says:

“The good news for everyone is that in 2017 only 0.5% of landlords made a possession claim in court. And only a third of those had to go through to the bitter bailiff end. The bad news is that if it does happen to you, it can cost a lot of money – and not just the average £1,700- £2,000 in legal fees.

“We wanted to get a more realistic idea of the impact of the process in terms of lost income, inconvenience, and ongoing legal fees in the worst and longest case scenarios. Just looking at lost rent, there are few landlords who can afford to lose up to 6 months’ worth –  the time it takes for a tenant to go into arrears, for them to issue a Section 21 notice, and then for them wait 17 weeks to see the court process through,â€� said Mr Cooper.

Key findings

The headlines for landlords include:

• During 2017, private landlords brought 21,439 possession claims to courts in England and Wales.
• 27% of claims didn’t receive a court order. Many claims are rejected for failing to follow the correct eviction proceedings.
• The average insurance payment made for eviction support is £4,341.22, which includes legal expenses and lost rent.
• Landlords in London are more likely to have to evict a tenant, the figures show. Buy-to-let investors in the capital brought 3 claims per 100,000 households last year.
• Landlords in the South West of England were least likely to bring eviction proceedings to court, with 58.9 claims registered per 100,00 households, followed by the North East and West Midlands.
• It took longer for social housing providers to evict tenants, with an average claim-to-repossession time of 27.9 weeks vs 16.9 for private landlords.

The eviction timeline

The Ministry of Justice figures revealed it took an average of 6.9 weeks for a private landlord’s claim to result in the issue of an order requiring a tenant to leave the property. For those whose tenants stayed past the date given on the notice, it took an additional 3.2 weeks from the initial order to the granting of a possession warrant, and a further 6.8 weeks for a bailiff to take possession of the home if the claim went to the final stage making the total 16.9 weeks.

Rent arrears and legal expenses

Landlords can mitigate the risk of lost income, time and property damage if they have to bring possession proceedings to court with legal expenses insurance and rent guarantee insurance.

Tom Cooper added:

“We know that rent arrears are high up on the list of landlord worries. Possession claims by private landlords have risen by 3.5% in the last two years. Over the same period we’ve seen a 61% increase in take-up of rent guarantee insurance in addition to legal expenses cover as landlords feeling the pinch from tax and regulatory changes try to mitigate the risk of repossession.�

More detail on the analysis can be found here.

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LBC’s Clive Bull to host RLA’s Future Renting conference

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LBC presenter Clive Bull has been confirmed as the host of the RLA’s next Future Renting Conference. Clive, who presents The Property Hour, has had a radio career spanning three decades and is one of LBC’s longest-serving and best-loved presenters. The Property Hour sees Clive and his panel of experts guide callers through all aspects of […]

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SIX hot weather problems landlords may not be aware of

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The current heatwave that the UK is experiencing is the longest in 42 years, and for now the blazing hot sunshine looks set to continue, but thunderstorms also look to be on the horizon. Here, we take a look at some of the problems that landlords could find themselves facing because of the very hot […]

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