Liverpool – why you should invest in the Northern Powerhouse city

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Famous for its two Premier League football clubs, world-renowned music scene and important industrial history, the city of Liverpool situated in the north-west of England has benefited from a major overhaul triggered largely by its success as the European City of Culture in 2008.

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Local Authority sits by as freehold co. breaks law and LTA?

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One of my rentals is a leasehold flat, there are 18 in the building, which is run by its Co-owners, as a shared Freehold. But one of the Directors and owner of 4 flats is a self elected dictator and megalomaniac

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Yet another charity piles pressure on buy-to-let

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Section 21:

This time its Citizens Advice targeting landlords over section 21 evictions. This follows last week’s attack on letting agents by Shelter and the National Housing Federation (NHF), claiming that agents and landlords are discriminating against Housing Benefit Tenants.

“Complain and you’re out�, says the CA’s latest report entitled “Touch and Go�. The report claims that there’s a 46 per cent chance of private tenants who complain about issues like damp or mould being issued with a no-fault Section 21 eviction notice within six months.

However, their implication belies the latest available figures for landlord possessions produced by the Ministry of Justice which shows that overall claims for possession by private landlords are relatively small in number in relation to the size of the sector; they have in fact been on a downward trend, and are lower number than those for the smaller social housing sector.

“Landlord possession claims … and repossessions by county court bailiffs (9,370) were down 8%, 10%, 9% and 15% respectively (compared to the same quarter last year; Jan-Mar 2016). Continuing the annual downward trend, seen since April to June 2014.� (Ministry of Justice 2017).

The overwhelming reasons for claims for possession in the private rented sector (PRS) are rent arrears, damaging the property and anti-social behaviour, and there’s strong evidence to show that when tenants are in rent arrears complaints to landlords actually increase.

These issues don’t appear to be addressed in the CA report, but it implies that tenants can be just thrown out on a whim, which is impossible. The Ministry of Justice figures show that from a claim to a full repossession the average time taken… [is] 41.0 weeks (Jan-Mar 2017). That’s around 10 months.

It also ignores that fact that the law has been considerably strengthened in this regard so that tenants now have a right of redress should landlords attempt a retaliatory eviction.

The CA wants to see increased security of tenure for private tenants. The timing of the report therefore is rather auspicious given that the Government’s consultation on introducing minimum three-year tenancies in the private rented sector closed at the weekend, and landlords now await a decision with some apprehension.

The charity is backing the government’s minimum 3-year tenancy proposals, but it thinks these don’t go far enough, because of as they see it, potential loopholes which “may undermine protections that longer tenancies provide.â€�

Citizens Advice says it wants:

“3-year tenancies to be written into law, and for these tenancies to include limits on rent rises to prevent landlords from effectively evicting tenants through pricing them out, no break clause at six months, and allowing tenants to leave contracts early if the landlord doesn’t uphold legal responsibilities.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, says:

“The chance of a family being evicted from their home for complaining about a problem shouldn’t carry the same odds as the toss of a coin.

“Those living in substandard properties must have greater protection against eviction when they complain.

“Our report shows that well-intentioned laws created to put an end to revenge evictions have not worked, and a new fix is needed.

“There are serious question marks over the existence of a power that allows landlords to unilaterally evict tenants without reason – known as section 21.

“While Government plans for minimum 3-year tenancies is a step in the right direction, these changes must be strong enough to genuinely prevent revenge evictions once and for all.”

See the full report here

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Yet another charity piles pressure on buy-to-let | LandlordZONE.

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Long term tenancy consultation: The RLA response

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The RLA has submitted it’s response to the Government’s consultation into long term tenancies – and the barriers preventing landlords from offering them. The consultation, overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the private rented sector, closed yesterday (Sunday) with the RLA response outlining both the difficulties faced by landlords and potential solutions. Previous RLA surveys […]

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Act fast and generate 8.6% return on your investment

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We have secured beautiful properties within the St John’s Presbyterian Church conversion, as well as stunning, new-build, semi-detached properties within the grounds.

St John’s Gardens is situated in a highly sought-after area in Runcorn, benefitting from excellent transport links and an abundance of great primary and secondary schools very close by.

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Serving S21 when you have not given tenants right paperwork upfront

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If you are one of slightly lazy landlords like I am at times, who allowed new tenants to move in and had not given your new tenants a copy of a valid Gas safety record , or the new booklet called “Right to Rent”

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Would-be tenants warned about housing scams

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Renting Scams:

A leading Irish housing charity Threshold is warning would-be tenants to “exercise particular caution� when responding to ads for rentals if they are to avoid falling victim to a rental scam.

As reported by Extra.ie, vulnerable tenants, particularly students and young inexperienced tenants, are particularly vulnerable to this type of fraud when attempting to secure suitable rented accommodation. The scammers are playing on the fact that good rental accommodation is in short supply in Ireland as well as the rest of Europe and in the UK.

These scams are a particular problem for foreign students wishing to secure accommodation before arriving in a country. Scammers use false websites and online ads. showing genuine properties they do not own, at very attractive prices, to entice applicants into paying money up-front, only to discover they have been duped when they arrive.

Scamwatch is an initiative set-up by Threshold in collaboration with the Irish Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and agents Daft.ie, to raise awareness for those searching for accommodation to identify potential rental scams before they can fall victim.

As part of the campaign, Threshold is to liaise with student unions throughout the Irish Republic to provide assistance for students who have problems with their rented accommodation during the coming academic year.

The Scamwatch campaign is warning would-be tenents to:

• Be aware of offers that appear to be too good to be true — if rent seems like a bargain, do more research by checking rental rates for similar properties in the area, using Google maps to verify that the property exists, and checking the Register of Landlords on the Residential Tenancies Board website.
• Never agree to rent a property without having properly viewed it and making sure you are happy with the terms and conditions of the letting.
• Avoid paying in cash; and always get a proper receipt.
• Never transfer funds via Western Union, Moneybookers or other Electronic Fund Transfer services to someone claiming to be an agent or landlord of a prospective property without verifying their bona fides.
• Ensure the keys work and you have proper contact details for the landlord/agent.

The chief executive of Threshold, John-Mark McCafferty has said:

People should “exercise particular caution at this time of year, when there is a spike due to a new generation of third-level students looking for somewhere to live.

“We strongly advise people to be cautious of a landlord who claims to be out of the country and can’t show you the property and requests a deposit.

There have been instances where scammers are tenants themselves, living at a property and showing numbers of people around, taking multiple deposits and then disappearing with the money.

Tenants turn-up to find that keys don’t open the door and the so called “landlord� is no longer contactable.

Students should start looking for accommodation early, take along someone with more experience of property if they lack this, check the credentials of private landlords with their university or college, use accredited landlords or agents wherever possible, and always follow the above advice.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Would-be tenants warned about housing scams | LandlordZONE.

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Longer Term Tenancy Consultation closes

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3-Year Tenancies:

The consultation on what could be the biggest change in rental housing tenure in England since the introduction of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AS) in 1988 has now closed (yesterday, 26^th August) and a decision could be just weeks away.

The landlord associations have been saying that in principle landlords would welcome a longer term tenancy. Most landlords want their residential tenants to stay as long as possible, and the average length of an AST is now around 4 years in any case, so no problem if tenants want to sign up.

Following Sajid Javid’s speech at the Conservative Party conference last October, landlords were led to believe that a longer tenancy would be introduced on a voluntary basis. That means it would be offered when a landlord was happy to offer it, and the tenant happy to take it.

Since then the ground seems to have shifted, and in a big way. The Government is now suggesting a mandatory 3-year tenancy, but it would seem on unfavourable terms for landlords. After 6 months the landlord is locked-in for another 2.5 years but the tenant can walk away with a short notice. In addition, the landlord would no longer have a no fault eviction option, should things go wrong, but would have to rely on the expensive, slow and unpredictable Section 8 eviction process.

Industry professionals feel this would considerably increase letting risk for landlords and many industry experts think it could mean an even bigger exodus from buy-to-let than that following the increased landlord tax regime.

The NLA even go so far as to say they feel misled by government on the longer tenancy issue; they did not expect the seemingly rushed change of policy and a short consultation period for such a momentous change.

The NLA has said it strongly objects to a mandatory tenancy model along the lines proposed by government and here below is the outline of its submission to the Government’s consultation on “overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies�:

The NLA says its response outlines:

• the increased risk associated with longer term tenancies for landlords, particularly with regard to removing tenants who breach the terms of their tenancy
• the urgency of reforming court processes so that tenants can be removed where there is a breach of tenancy without undue delay or cost before any longer tenancies can be introduced
• the importance of maintaining Section 21
• the importance of flexibility in lengths of tenure, to account for the needs of different tenants and landlords
• the risk that break clauses and regulated annual increases in rent will lead to landlords changing behaviour to end tenancies before they enter into the longer fixed period and enforce rent increases more regularly than under the current system
• the value of using incentives to encourage behaviour change, rather than enforcing a mandatory approach, which will not be suitable for either landlords or tenants
• the danger that, should a mandatory approach be enforced, landlords will choose to leave the market rather than take on additional risk.

The NLA says it has strongly opposed the Governments latest plans to introduce mandatory three year tenancies since they were announce earlier this year, and NLA Chief Executive Officer Richard Lambert has said:

“In his speech to the Conservative Party conference last October, Sajid Javid announced plans for a consultation on how to encourage longer tenancies. That’s been the tone of the discussion ever since – consultation and encouragement. Frankly, right now, I feel we’ve been misled.

“This is supposed to be about meeting the needs of the consumer. NLA research with tenants finds consistently that around 40% of tenants want longer tenancies, but 40% do not. More than 50% consistently say that they are happy with the tenancy length they were offered, and 20% tell us that when they asked for a longer tenancy, they got it.

“We would accept that the flexibility of the current Assured Shorthold Tenancy isn’t used as effectively as it could be, and that we should be looking to find ways to ensure that tenants are offered the kind of tenancies they need at the time they need them.

“That means thinking about how to modernise a model devised 30 years ago, to take account of the changes in the people who are renting and the way they live their lives. How will that be achieved by moving to a more rigid system, more reminiscent of the regulated model the current system replaced?

“It’s like urging someone to update their 1980s brick-style mobile phone, but instead of giving them a smartphone, offering them a Bakelite dial phone plugged into the wall.

“This is a policy which the Conservatives derided when it was put forward by their opponents in the past two General Election campaigns. It’s hard not to see this as more of a political move aimed at the renter vote than a genuine effort to improve how the rented market works for all those involved.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Longer Term Tenancy Consultation closes | LandlordZONE.

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Banning Section 21 is not the answer

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In response to a report from Citizens Advice on private sector tenants being evicted after making a complaint, the leading landlord body has said that it would condemn any landlord who evicted a tenant solely for this reason. The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) say that this is not the practice of the vast majority of […]

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‘Housing Charity’ Shelter – Clearly a Double Misnomer

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Serious questions were raised by my colleague on P118 ‘Free Advice for Shelter‘, concerning the so-called ‘housing’ charity Shelter. As we know, it is clearly a double misnomer to call this multi-million pound organisation a ‘housing’ charity or ‘Shelter,’ as it provides neither.

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