Millennials stumble on the Property Ladder

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With the average semi-detached house costing £225,674 in the UK, the housing crisis has left many of those within the younger generations short of an opportunity to own their own home. As the UK experiences a widening generational wealth gap

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Deed Poll name change eviction?

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I have a tenant I would like to evict. However, I have recently been informed that the tenant changed their name by deed poll, but the tenancy is still in their old name.

Can I still evict them and what is the process?

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Panorama: rent arrears double for Universal Credit claimants

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Universal Credit:

There are calls to scrap direct payments as Panorama reveals rent arrears double for Universal Credit claimants.

On Monday 12^th November, BBCs latest Panorama investigation focused on the impact of the controversial Universal Credit, and most crucially the housing element. The programme revealed the extent of the rent arrears problem as a result of changes to the benefits system.

Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, together with Mick Roberts, one of the UK’s largest Housing Benefit landlords, join other industry experts in calling on the government to act now and scrap direct payments to tenants of the housing element of Universal Credit, before the situation worsens.

Under the old system, housing allowance was paid direct to councils or private landlords. Now, in order to mirror the world of work and encourage people to be more independent, Universal Credit (UC) payments are made direct to claimants.

However, when combined with the cuts in benefits, tenants are under increasing financial pressure, evidenced by the 55% rise in evictions of council tenants compared to the same time last year. Panorama revealed the average rent arrears for UC claimants across the UK stands at £663 versus £263 on the old system, nearly two and half times more*.

According to Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, the changes are exacerbating the housing shortage by forcing private landlords to move away from letting to tenants in receipt of Universal Credit. In the last year, 61% of private landlords with tenants on UC have seen them go into arrears**.

“It’s a deal breaker for landlords and yet the councils don’t have enough houses to house homeless people� says Paul. “We saw on Panorama that, in the last year, Flintshire Council alone has seen an 85% reduction in the number of private landlords on their books willing to rent to UC tenants.

“When you roll that out across the rest of the country you can see why we have such a desperate housing shortage. The system used to benefit tenants, by providing more accommodation, as well as landlords, who were guaranteed timely rent with no void periods. Now it benefits no-one. The most vulnerable tenants are being left behind, forced to use an online system which many can’t access, and landlords are having to start eviction proceedings as a last resort.â€�

Mick Roberts, 40, has been a private landlord for more than 20 years. He has always let his properties to Housing Benefit tenants but is now having to consider only letting to private tenants. He comments:

“I have loved letting to housing benefit tenants over the years and formed great relationship with many of my tenants.  But I’m sad to say I can no longer do it as a direct result of Universal Credit. As an example, I have four tenants in Nottingham in receipt of housing benefit who have rented from me for over 16 years. They have NEVER had arrears.  They have all been moved to Universal Credit, and now they are all in arrears! That’s 100% failure rate.  I believe sorting the housing element would solve a large proportion of problems.�

Panorama’s investigation appeared to echo what many industry experts has been saying for some time – the majority of tenants do not want direct payments because they openly admit they are not good at budgeting.

Alok Sharma MP, Minister of State for Employment, argued that UC is working well, that there have been lessons in the process but that “we have is a simpler system which people understand and ultimately makes sure they get into work fast, stay in work longer and earn more.�

Mick Roberts vehemently disagrees with this: “UC has to be applied for online.  My tenant doesn’t even know how to go online.  They are not coming out to see the people at ground level.  If they spoke to the tenants that are affected by this, as I have, they would realise.�

Paul Shamplina adds: “I’ve raised my concerns over the increasing complexity of the scheme which means even staff assessing Universal Credit claims are making mistakes on an all too regular basis to the detriment of tenants and lanldords.

“Over the next few years, thousands more families will move across to UC as the Full Service rollout expands, bringin with it even more complicated cases and further challenges for DWP staff. 

“Unless changes are made now, housing stock will decrease further, and homelessness will increase.  At present, direct payments to landlords are only considered in certain crisis situations. This needs to change and tenants and landlords need the option to have the housing element paid direct to the landlord.â€�

*(Source: FOI Freedom of Information: 129 out of 195 councils with housing stock, September 2018).

** Residential Landlords Association, September 2018

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Can Lenders help with S24 – High fees Low rates?

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I have not seen this discussed before, but was wondering why there aren’t more BTL lending products where there is an much larger arrangement fee and much reduced interest rate as the fee is tax deductible, but the interest is not and would help get around S24 for those who are unincorporated.

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Urgent need to review Section 8

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The National Landlords Association (NLA) is calling for the Government to review the section 8 possession process.

The section 8 possession process requires landlords to seek a court order to gain possession of their property where the tenant has breached the terms of their tenancy agreement.

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Government pledges £2m more to tackle rogue landlords

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Rogue Landlords:

The government has said that new funding will be provided to councils to support them in a range of projects designed to “ramp up� action against criminal landlords. This move follows a host of new legislation issued in 2018 to help councils in England tackle rogue landlords.

The extra £2m funding is to be provided as it became increasingly clear that English councils are not using new regulations effectively enough to tackle rogue landlords. It follows a Guardian and ITV News investigation which revealed how convicted property owners are continuing to collect rents – often funded by the taxpayer – despite being ruled unfit to let out a property.

The move is the second response on the issue by government in 2-weeks following the ruling on a previous investigation which will allow tenants access to the government’s new rogue landlord database. The investigation again by The Guardian and ITV News had revealed that not a single name had been entered into the new system in more than six months since it was launch, and previous, even when a landlord’s name was listed, the public could not see them.

This new money, which works out just £6,000 per English council, housing minister Heather Wheeler said:

“This funding will help further strengthen councils’ powers to tackle rogue landlords and ensure that poor-quality homes in their area are improved, making the housing market fairer for everyone. The funding would be used to support a range of projects that “councils have said will help them to ramp up action against criminal landlords – for example, to build relationships with external organisations such as the emergency services, legal services and local housing advocates�.

According to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), the funding will be used for:

• Building relationships with external organisations such as the emergency services, legal services and local housing advocates.
• Some councils will support tenants take action against poor standards, for example through rent repayment orders, and develop digital solutions which will help officers to report back and make decisions quicker.
• The new funding will also be used to encourage councils to share best practice of enforcement action and examples of innovative approaches that are self-sustaining and can be easily adapted to other parts of the country.

Through existing and recently introduced legislation, councils already have a significant tool bag of measures they can use to root out criminal landlords, including:

• Civil Penalties are an alternative to prosecution for a wide variety of offences under the Housing Act 2004. Previously local authorities would have to bring a criminal prosecution, but now for the listed offences, local authorities are able to summarily fine landlords up to £30,000 per Civil Penalty. This includes failure to comply with an improvement notice and offences in relation to the licensing of a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)
• Banning orders introduced in April this year mean that the landlords who are convicted of specific offences may be banned from renting out accommodation for a period of time. This could range from 12 months to life, with those landlords who receive a banning order being recorded on a national database. Ignoring the order could mean a criminal conviction, up to six months in prison or an unlimited fine.
• Rent Repayment Orders are a means by which a tenant or local authority can seek to have up to 12 months of rent, Housing Benefit, or Universal Credit repaid, usually in addition to other fines.
• Rogue landlord database. This is a nationwide landlord database and is in addition to the London 33 boroughs landlord database.

£2 million for councils to crackdown on rogue landlords

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