How do I minimise my losses?

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If a house is let out to a group of 3 people on a signed 10 month contract and one of them is stuck outside uk due to his own fault;
– do the other two pay the full rent?

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New law focuses on housing standards

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Living conditions:

There are only a few days to go before “The Homes (Fitness
for Human Habitation) Act 2018� comes into force on 20 March 2019. The
government has now published detailed guidance notes for landlords, tenants and
local authorities – se below.

The Act covers England and Wales but in practice the changes
apply only to England. The Act amends the existing “fitness for human
habitation� rules in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

The Act covers all tenancies of less than seven years in
length in both the social and private rented sectors and includes periodic
tenancies and the legacy pre-1988 regulated tenancies.

According to the 2015/2016 English Housing survey, the
number of properties with a Category 1 hazard under the Housing
Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which is defined as a “serious and
immediate risk to a person’s health and safetyâ€� are:  Social: 244,122 and Private: 794,600

The Bill updates a clause in the Landlord and Tenant Act
1985 requiring all rented homes to be ‘fit for human habitation’ at the start of
the tenancy and to remain so throughout. The clause was outdated due to its
reference to antiquated rent levels (£80/year in London, £52/year elsewhere).

In determining whether a house is ‘unfit’, the Bill
incorporates the hazards enshrined in the Housing HHSRS and now adds them to
the 9 original fitness categories. The updated “fitness standard� includes some
issues not currently covered by a landlord’s legal repair responsibilities, including
damp caused by design defects (for example lack of ventilation) rather than just
disrepair, and infestation, such as rodents, insects, bed bugs etc.

Recent fire tragedies which have prompted this revision of
the legislation provide a stark reminder of the dangers of unsafe accommodation.
Lack of proper standards and enforcement have clearly demonstrated the terrible
consequences of letting properties which are intrinsically unsafe.

What is Unfit for Human
Habitation?

A rental property will be considered
“unfit for human habitation� if there are serious defects in any of the
following: General Repair, Stability of the building structure, Freedom from
damp; Internal arrangement; Natural lighting; Ventilation; Water supply; Drainage
and sanitary conveniences; Facilities provided for preparation and cooking of
food and for the disposal of waste water.

In almost all circumstances the landlord will be held
responsible for the condition of the rental property, apart from where it can
be shown that damage or disrepair has been caused by the tenants’ behaviour.

Currently many councils across England claim that their
housing and environmental health officers are overstretched. It’s a long and
time consuming process so their efforts to investigate and evidence poor
conditions in all instances often fail to bring all rogue landlords to book – to
take legal action.

Tenant’s Self-help

This legislation therefore is designed to give tenants living
in poor conditions a practical route to improve conditions themselves without
relying on local authority resources. Tenants, both private and social, will be
empowered to take their landlord to court where the property is not fit – they will
be able to apply directly to the court for an injunction to compel a landlord
to carry out works, or for damages (compensation) for the landlord’s failure to
keep the property in good repair.

The legislation is in-line with the government’s consumer
rights agenda and its commitment to intervene in markets that are failing
consumers. To take their own enforcement action tenants may use an independent
surveyor’s report or they may apply directly to the court using their own evidence,
such as photographic evidence or disrepair.

The majority of private landlords who responsibly fulfil their
duties will be unaffected by this new legislation. However, landlords should be
aware that spurious claims can be contentious and without good evidence, such
as an independent inventory at the start of every tenancy, they could find
themselves vulnerable to a false claim.

The government (MHCLG) has published detailed
guidance notes for tenants, landlords and local authorities on the Homes
(Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.

Homes
(Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – New law focuses on housing standards | LandlordZONE.

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Chancellors’s Spring Statement – Landlord Summary

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The Chancellor Philip Hammond has delivered his Spring Statement today. This was not expected to be a significant fiscal event especially given the lack of clarity regarding exiting the European Union.

There was no news regarding any support for landlords in the areas of mortgage interest relief

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Humber Landlords Association lose High Court battle

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The Humber Landlords’ Association (HLA) supported by the RLA and NLA has unfortunately lost its High Court battle with Hull City Council.

Hull City Council is the only authority in the UK to implement a policy scrapping an informal improvement notice procedure

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A new Labour government would introduce indefinite tenancies

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Longer Tenancies:

Labour has changed tack, from previously promising compulsory 3-year tenancies (as well as rent controls) to going the “whole hogâ€� and committing to “indefinite tenanciesâ€�. This would use the German model for residential tenancies in the private rented sector (PRS) in England. But has Labour done its homwork? See below…

Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey has pledged
that a new Labour Government would give extra protection from eviction for private
tenants in England by offering them legally binding “indefinite tenancies�.

The new tenancies according to Mr Healey would be based on the
same rules as those currently operating in Germany.

In an official press release Labour says:

“The change would revolutionise the private rental market.
German tenancies last, on average, 11 years, compared to around 4 years in
England. The German system is also widely seen to act as a brake on rent
increases, given that landlords may use the changeover of tenants as an
opportunity to hike rents. Tenants themselves are still be able to choose to
leave the property after a period of notice.�

Labour claims that in England, landlords or their agents
make the decision to end almost one in five tenancies (18%), a figure disputed
by many experts in the industry who claim that the percentage of tenancies
ended by landlords in less than 10% and most of those for rent arrears.

At present, says Labour, “…tenants can be evicted without
any reason being given, and despite having done nothing wrong. One in three
private renters – 1.6m households – have dependent children. Under the German
system, tenancies are effectively open-ended with a tenant only able to be
evicted on tightly defined grounds, for example if they don’t pay the rent or
commit criminal behaviour in the property.�

Mr Healey says:

“People shouldn’t be living in fear of losing their homes. The
insecurity of renting is a power imbalance at the heart of our broken housing
market, where tenants are afraid to report problems in case they are evicted,
and families with children are forced to move at short notice.

“Many landlords provide decent homes that tenants are happy
with, but the Government is allowing rogue landlords to take advantage of good
tenants. Renters deserve better.�

What Labour does not say:

What Labour does not say, with its ideas for secure
tenancies, is how it would deal effectively and speedily with evictions? so as
not to drive private landlords from the market.

For example, persistent delays in paying rent or serious
arrears, with our existing slow and cumbersome county court system, can take landlords
months and sometimes over a year to evict non-paying tenants, while they run up
thousands of pounds in arrears.

There are major
differences with Germany

The German tenancy system is quite different from England
and Wales, with tenants’ responsibilities being much more onerous.

Yes, German tenants have more security of tenure, but they
also have far more legally binding responsibilities for the condition of the property
in terms of maintenance. In this respect the German residential tenancy is more
akin to an English commercial insuring and repairing lease, where the tenant is
legally obliged to maintain the property in a “tenantable condition� and could
face hefty bills at the end of the period if this is not done.

This is what was said in a 2014 report produced by the London School of Economics (LSE) and commissioned by Camden Council, on international renting comparisons and rent stabilisation:  

Germany: the example
of good practice?

“Germany is currently seen, especially by foreign commentators,
as the best exemplar of rent stabilisation. Nearly 50% of households rent privately.
Most have to make significant investment in the dwelling through bathroom and
kitchen furniture and equipment, making it more obviously their home but also
increasing the costs of moving.

“Rent increases within the tenancy are linked to specified
indices. Initial rents can be set up to 20% above comparable rents in the area
(in some cases up to 50%), giving comfort to the landlord in case of unexpected
changes in costs not covered by the index. Security is indefinite but eviction
procedures are relatively well defined. Importantly, general inflation has been
very low and real house prices had been falling since the 1980s in many areas.

“However, since 2008, and indeed earlier in some cities
(notably Munich), the situation has changed. Landlords have faced unexpected
costs, particularly because of stricter energy efficiency requirements. House
prices have been rising rapidly with commensurate increases in
owner-occupation.

“The atmosphere in terms of eviction has become more toxic.
Most importantly it is becoming increasingly difficult to access private rented
accommodation in cities with buoyant markets. As a result, political pressure
is growing for stronger rent controls in major cities (an important factor in
the latest elections). Concerns are also growing about how any increase in
controls might make it harder for working households to find accommodation and
could constrain investment.�

Has Labour done its homework here, and taken into account the effects on the rental market when strict measures are taken to introduce more control over market forces?  The German experience would tend to support previous evidence and arguments that wherever and whenever strict tenancy controls have been introduced, it tends to work against tenants in the long-run by increasing rents and reducing choice.

Labour commits to indefinite tenancies for private renters

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Support the abolition of Leasehold in favour of Commonhold

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I attended a residents committee meeting with our local MP Friday evening, discussing the problems we are having with our Management Company. Apart from the local issues which are serious, we managed to get buy-in from our MP Ed Vaizey to support the abolition of Leasehold in favour of Commonhold

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Haringey Council additional HMO licensing

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Between 11 December 2017 and 5 March 2018 Haringey consulted on a borough wide Additional Licensing Scheme for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO). As with most other new schemes Landlords will be required to have a licence if they rent to three or more people from two or more households starting 27th May 2019.

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Landlords are worth more than double Tescos in tax

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New research by the National Landlords Association (NLA) has found that the estimated total Income Tax contribution by private landlords exceeds £3.8bn annually, which is more than double Tesco’s entire annual tax bill and 62 times Amazon!

The research found that

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A guide to dealing with mortgage arrears

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If you have missed payments and built up mortgage arrears on your property then it’s important that you act quickly. Too often too many people take the ostrich approach to financial matters. However, this is too important an issue to ignore as not dealing with mortgage debt could result in your home being repossessed.

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All bills included with an asterisk on the electricity?

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We are planning to renovate a 2 bedroom flat with all electric heating (possible wall heaters in each room) and an electric hot water system. Each en-suite would have electric showers so a hot water system would only be required for the taps in the en-suites and kitchen sink.

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