The Doves have it the Doves have it

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The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee have voted unanimously to hold the Bank Base Rate at 0.75% for another month.

From the meeting notes below this seems to be a holding pattern due to uncertainty around how

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Reasons for rent rise above normal this year?

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I am looking for help please with suggestions for best wording to explain a larger rent rise than normal for my tenants this year.

I have 2 properties, a house that I rent for £998 and a 2 bed flat for £650.

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Emotive and meaningless words ‘no fault’ referring to s.21 notices

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Last year, Property118 contributor Dr Ros Beck wrote a critique, under the banner of The Landlords Union, of a Richard Bilton/BBC Panorama programme in which he was calling for the removal of S.21 altogether, that questioned and strongly criticised the use of the term ‘no fault’ when describing S.21 Notices.

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Fergus Wilson’s response to BBC Panorama

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The Remit of the Programme was:

What happens to the Tenants when the Landlord Retires or Dies!

Why are Private Sector Landlords (PSL) leaving in droves, because of the punitive tax regime!

Unfortunately Panorama sacrificed an informative explanation of the reasons for the PSL exit in favour of two “non stories� from tenants and thereby bringing Panorama into disrepute.

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Dividends And Other Tax Perks For Landlords Who Incorporate

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I hear a lot of talk about double taxation for private landlords who decide to incorporate. However, when I explain that a husband and wife could withdraw £100,000 a year between them from their company and pay less than half the amount of tax as individual landlords that tends to get people thinking a bit more.

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BBC Panorama spotlights Fergus Wilson sell-off

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Private Landlords:

A BBC panorama programme aired on Monday (18^th
March) and available on BBC iPlayer shows a less than flattering picture of the
methods used by of Britain’s most controversial private landlord.

The programme states that hundreds Mr Wilson’s tenants face
eviction as one of Britain’s biggest landlords decides to liquidate his property
empire.

The Wilsons, husband and wife, both former teachers, built-up
one of Britain’s biggest private landlord portfolios throughout the 1990s and naughtiest,
until they eventually owned around 1,000 houses in Kent.

Having sold a large proportion of their portfolio a couple
of years ago to foreign investors, they were still left with a large chunk to
manage, often finding themselves in deep controversy when they were taken to
court for various matters, including discrimination.

Using the section 21 “no-fault� eviction process on such a large
scale to evict tenants en-masss, it is argued, is bringing the procedure, and
private landlording into disrepute. This is especially so when currently this
right for landlords to be able to evict tenants without giving a reason is
being questioned in many quarters.

True to form, and highly controversially, Fergus Wilson says
in the programme there are two types of tenant: “those who agree with me
and ex-tenants”

Hundreds of his tenants now face eviction after Wilson decided
to sell his entire property portfolio, looking to retire from the business after
the series of court battles over the way he has treated his tenants.

Mr Wilson and wife Judith still own around 300 properties in
Kent, having made millions from their buy-to-let empire over a 20 year period
or so, and they became infamous for their Draconian letting rules. Mr Wilson
appears to have developed a particular disdain for plumbers.

A total of 90 Section 21 notices are reputedly being
delivered to tenants, allowing two months to vacate, and Mr Wilson commented on
their plight by saying:

“I do feel sad for people who are going to be homeless, it
will be hardest for parents with young children, because most landlords won’t
accept them.

“I also feel sad selling the houses. We have built them up
over the years but we can’t take them to the grave with us.

“We haven’t thought about what we will do with the money
yet, I’m not going to buy a Rolls-Royce or anything like that.

“I could do that now – it is money down the drain,â€� he told Kentonline.co.uk.

Mr Wilson had indicated that he is in sale discussions with several
investors and some from India and Nigeria.

Councillor Gerald White of Ashford Borough Council said that
the authority would be helping evicted tenants “as much as we can�, and that “Mr
Wilson is a landlord, he is well within his legal rights to do what he wants
with his properties whether that’s to sell or rent them.�

Previously, under their strict guidelines, the Wilson’s have
refused to take people on zero-hours contracts, single parents, some ethnic
minorities and those on benefits.

Wilson, who had spent weeks filming with Panorama, said he
wanted to give a landlord’s perspective on the UK’s housing market and believes
there is an urgent need to build more housing.

There are now more than 10 million people living in private
rented accommodation according to the programme, but Mr Wilson said private
landlords cannot cater for all of them.

Mr Wilson thought that housing benefit tenants were not getting
paid enough to keep up with their rent payments and therefore were going into arrears.

Having purchased their first rental property in 1991 the
Wilsons estimate that they have provided housing for around 10,000 tenants.

Although the couple expect to sell many of their properties
to large-scale investors, hoping the tenants will be retained, he is
unapologetic for issuing 90 eviction notices with some more to follow.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BBC Panorama spotlights Fergus Wilson sell-off | LandlordZONE.

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Newly launched luxury Manchester apartments

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We are delighted to launch a brand new, off plan investment opportunity in Manchester called Greenwood Place.  Prices for a 2 bed apartment with parking start from only £135,000.

Greenwood Place is ideally situated on the outskirts of Manchester and is only a 20 minute drive to the city centre. 

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Bank managers are a virtually extinct species

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Many years ago, property investors and developers knew their local bank manager and would simply arrange a meeting with them to discuss the various finance options. However, today, bank managers are a virtually extinct species and where they do exist

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Laws on overcrowding in rental properties

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Alexandra Morris, Managing Director of MakeUrMove, shares details on what landlords need to know on the laws of overcrowding in rental properties.  At the end of 2018, the government introduced details of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act, which is to replace the Landlord and Tenant Act. 

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Agents – time running out to register for CMP

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Client Money
Protection:

Client Money Protection (CMP) is an insurance product for letting agents.

CMP protects the rental money that a tenant pays their letting agent to pass on to a landlord. Many landlords and tenants are unaware of CMP and how it can safeguard rental money should an agent go into administration or attempt to use client funds fraudulently.

CMP is becoming available through several providers and policies will be in place well before the deadline of 1^st April 2019. Agents that belong to an industry trade body may already be covered under their membership schemes. The following trade bodies offer comprehensive CMP cover to their members: RICS, ARLA, UKALA and NALS.

From 1^st April 2019 all agents managing lettings
in England must belong to an approved CMP scheme and must:

• Display a certificate confirming membership of
  an approved CMP scheme in each branch and on the firm’s website.
• Give a copy of the agency certificate to anyone
  who reasonably requires it, free of charge
• Notify all clients within 14 days if their CMP
  membership is revoked, or they change to a different approved CMP scheme
• Provide clients with the name and address of the
  scheme to which they become a member

The agent must ensure the level of CMP membership provides
sufficient cover to compensate clients for the maximum amount of client money
being held.

Local authorities will have the power to impose fines of up
to £30,000 for failure to belong to a scheme and up to £5,000 for failure to display
the correct scheme membership details on the business premises and on websites.

There are currently 4 schemes to choose from and more are
expected:

Client Money Protect

Money Shield

NALS

UKALA

To avoid heavy fines, agents must have CMP in place by April
1st 2019, so time is running out.

Here is the enacting legislation:

The Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2018

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Agents – time running out to register for CMP | LandlordZONE.

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