Housing supply and demand down but transactions up?

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NAEA Propertymark has issued its April Housing Report1  with the headline – Number of property transactions increases despite fall in supply and demand.

Mark Hayward, said: “Despite a fall in housing supply and demand, it’s encouraging to see an increase

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Landlord Law – Tenancy Deposit Calculator

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The 1st of June is the deadline for the implementation of the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

As of this date the tenancy deposit will be capped to a maximum of five weeks rent where the annual rent is less than £50,000 and six weeks rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or more.

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Tenant Fees Act could cause tenants to miss out on homes …

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Tenant Fees:

The Tenant Fees Act comes into effect on 1 June. It limits
the fees landlords and letting agents can charge tenants. Because of this, many
agents have said they are unlikely to provide the post-tenancy references
required for selective licensing schemes, something agents currently charge
for.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) is concerned the
Tenant Fees Act 2019 may limit access to rented property for tenants in areas
with selective licensing.

Most selective licensing schemes require landlords to
complete reference checks. If tenants are unable to satisfy these checks,
landlords will be unable to let to them without breaching the conditions of
their selective licensing claims the NLA.

Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA, says:

“Tenants are at risk of losing out on the chance to find a
home because letting agents are doing everything they can to minimise workloads
to cut down on costs.

“While landlords who self-manage their portfolios will be
covering many increased in costs, letting agents are looking at any way they
can limit what they have to do on behalf of tenants, now that the costs cannot
be directly recovered.

“The smooth running of the housing market requires a little
give-and-take and, unfortunately, the reaction of some letting agents to the ban
on most charges looks set to throw-up more barriers to moving from one tenancy
to another.

“Just like private landlords, letting agency businesses are
being put under increasing pressure by government regulation. However, they
must realise that penalising outgoing tenants by refusing to provide references
will ultimately cost them more than just the price of a reference as landlords
opt to do without agents altogether.�

Effectively, the Act bans all payments a landlord or letting
agent may take from a tenant except those expressly set out in the Act as “permitted�
payments. These are:

Rent – which will
include an advance payment for the first rent period, which must be the same as
all the subsequent rent payments. In other words, the first period cannot be
loaded to recover costs

Holding Deposit –
refundable, and no more than the equivalent of one week’s rent, with its terms
of refund and retention set-out clearly in writing

Tenancy Deposit,
sometimes referred to as a security or damage deposit, again refundable and
capped at no more than five weeks’ rent, if the total annual rent is less than
£50,000, or a maximum of six weeks’ rent, if the annual rent exceeds £50,000

Amendments,
mid-tenancy, amendments requested by the tenant are capped at £50, unless a
greater cost can be fully justified.

Early Termination,
payments associated with this when requested by the tenant

Provision of
Utilities, such internet services, telephone, TV licence and council tax
when appropriate.

Default Fees,
when the tenant defaults on rent payments or other permitted payments specified
in the tenancy agreement, including such items as replacement of a lost keys,
etc.

There is considerably more detail within the Act itself –
see the link below – so landlords and agents should familiarise themselves with
the detail.

Tenant Fees Act 2019

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Why the best letting agents will take centre stage post-fees ban

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Fees Ban:

Following the introduction of the Tenant Fees Act next
month, landlords and renters will increasingly appreciate the level of service
provided by the country’s best traditional letting agents, according to Tenant
Shop.

The leading utility management service says that due to the
financial pressures the ban on fees will put on letting agents, only the
best-equipped will succeed as we move through the second half of 2019 and into
2020.

The traditional approach is best

In a post-fees market, letting agencies that take a
traditional approach with a focus on high customer service will be of huge
value to landlords.

With tenants no longer paying upfront fees, it will be vital
that agents help landlords to properly vet prospective renters and ensure that
all aspects of the move-in/move-out process – including notifying local
councils and utility companies about tenancy changeovers and dealing with stray
bills – are handled professionally and efficiently.

“The introduction of the Tenant Fees Act is the most
significant change to the private rental sector in recent years and landlords
will need full service traditional letting agents they can rely on,” says
Glenn Seddington, managing director of Tenant Shop, an Inchora company.

“Having the right tenant referencing, contractual and
deposit systems in place will become even more important, as will remaining
compliant with the new legislation.”

“Letting agents can also prove their worth to consumers
by providing a comprehensive, knowledgeable and personal service at a time of
huge industry change when people will need reassurance and expert advice,”
he says.

Building an offering for the future

As many landlords consider their options following
management fee increases brought about by the fees ban, agencies can make their
offering stand out by showing clearly the range of expert services they provide
for their fee.

“It’s this kind of approach with an emphasis on full
service and demonstrating the value for money available to landlords which will
see the very best traditional agents take centre stage once the fees ban
becomes law,” Seddington continues.

He says that while in some cases management fee increases
may be justified, agents don’t necessarily need to hike fees to remain
profitable from June onwards.

“It’s about finding a balance between charging a fair
fee for what you offer while remaining transparent and cost-effective.”

“Many agents have also been looking to build additional
revenue streams to replace lost fee income,” he explains.

“Working with the best suppliers can help agents to
earn referral fees and subsequently keep clients’ costs down.”

“Meanwhile, providing access to leading utilities
services such as Virgin, Sky and Scottish Power can also help to keep tenants
happy, encourage them to stay for longer and therefore reduce void periods for
landlords,” concludes Seddington.

Tenant Shop works with thousands of letting agents across
the UK, reducing workload, increasing profitability and providing additional
routes to revenue. As well as dealing with notifications and stray bills, they
provide services to tenants including media, energy and insurance packages all
from the leading providers.

They have a team of dedicated account managers to provide
comprehensive support and a dedicated technology platform to help agents manage
tenancies.

Tenant Shop has been
working with letting agents for over ten years. They help reduce workload and
improve profitability, providing an award-winning utility management service:
streamlining the notification process, resolving billing queries and offering
referencing and a unique void solution. 

https://www.tenantshop.co.uk/

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Council Tax discounts and exemptions – Practical guide

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For the first time the government has produced a practical guide highlighting all the Council Tax discounts and exemptions to ensure families aren’t paying more than their fair share of Council Tax.

Local Government Minister Rishi Sunak MP

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Street throws party celebrating “Tenant from Hell� Eviction

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Section 21:

Relieved neighbours clubbed together to throw a street party
to celebrate getting their street back after a nightmare “tenant from hell� was
evicted.

Tenant and mother of five, Katie Bentley, it was claimed,
did £25,000 worth of damage to her rented house in Bransholme, Hull, before the
landlord managed to secure an eviction.

Landlord Phil Withnall fought for months to get Bentley evicted
from his property which he claims had smashed windows, holes in the walls, ripped
up floorboards and mounds of rubbish in multiple rooms and the rear yard.

Mr Withnall eventually had to escalate the legal process to
the High Court before he could successfully evict.

The episode rather gives the lie to claims that tenants can
be thrown out on their ear, with little or no notice. According to the two main
landlord associations, The RLA & NLA, landlords will face even longer
delays if the Section 21 eviction process is abolished. Both are arguing vigorously
to retain the Section 21 accelerated eviction process, currently under threat
of abolition by the Conservative Government.

Bentley had become the bane of her neighbours’ lives, who had
complained bitterly about her raucous behaviour for months, on a weekly basis, about
the noise and the state of the surroundings of her rented home.

Bentley was finally evicted in March after a lengthy battle
with her landlord, supported by the neighbours who had pledged to throw the
party if the landlord ever managed to get shut of her.

The “Getting Our Street Back Party� as reported by Hull news, shows the strength of feeling
against Bentley and her disruptive behaviour which was making the street residents’
lives a misery.

And they all kept their promise by getting the whole
community together for the celebration, collecting £85 from neighbours to fund
a community barbecue, bouncy castle and games for the kids.

One neighbour told Hull
News:

“It has been absolutely great. It’s lovely – we can
sleep on a night and it’s just great. Everyone is so relieved and it means the
kids can play out in the street with no backlash off her.”

Bentley commented:

“I went to jail in October for a week for failing to
surrender because I didn’t want to hand myself in to the police.

“While I was in prison my windows got smashed by
smackheads. All the loud noises the neighbours hear is me getting beaten up.
It’s me shouting for help…â€�

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Is purchase Stamp duty exempt due to being uninhabitable?

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I purchased property which had many defects in its condition outlined below.

I was wondering if after the recent ruling where a property was considered uninhabitable if this property I have purchased would be stamp duty exempt?

Could this be claimed back now or does it have to be done at time of purchase?

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Scottish Labour propose further rent controls…

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Rent Control:

The Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Pauline McNeill MSP, is under consultation until the 6^th of August.

The Bill, known as the ‘Mary Barbour Bill’ is proposing to enforce
fair rents on a points-based system which links local rents to average local
wages.

Mary Barbour was a socialist campaigner and political
activist, a heroine of the Scottish Labour movement who was the main organiser
of the women of Govan who took part in the rent strikes of 1915, and she actively
opposed evictions.

Scotland appears to have set the direction of travel for the rest of the United Kingdom on many issues concerning housing tenure when it introduced the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, in which controversially “no-fault� eviction was abolished. It also included measures to control rents in designated Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs), but Pauline McNeill wants to go much further.

The new bill aims to controls rents such that, according to
Scottish Labour, would ensure that ‘no one is forced to rent a home that pushes
them into poverty’.

Labour Leader, Richard Leonard, has said:

“We have seen the return of private landlordism
and rents have soared whilst wages have stagnated… We think that private rent rises should be
capped and controlled. So, Nicola Sturgeon has a choice, will she take the side
of rogue landlords and a broken housing market? Or she can back Labour’s plans
and back our Mary Barbour Bill.�

Rent controls have been rejected by Westminster, but Corbyn’s
Labour in England support them and have pledged to introduce them south of the
border if elected.

After the comprehensive changes to the letting laws in
Scotland introduced in 2017, as predicted by landlord groups, rents in Scotland
have been rising steadily, hence Labour’s response in this bill to look at ways
to limit rent increases. The main proposals in the Bill include:

• enforced fair rents based on a points system
• rents linked to average wages to ensure
  affordability
• tenants given powers to challenge rents and seek
  reductions
• more effective enforcement of private rented
  property health and safety and energy efficiency standards
• amendment to the existing landlord registration
  scheme to include rents being charged by every landlord.

Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill

The Threat of Rent Control

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Tenant fees act – Renewal with higher rent £50?

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The act states that a payment is permitted, if a landlord makes a Variation, Assignment or Novation to a tenancy at the tenants request to allow a pet or another person to stay at the dwelling.

So if I draw up a renewal with higher rent

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Small Claims permitted after DPS award?

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I’d particularly welcome comments from those within the letting business’ or especially those 118 members with legal qualification please.

Last year my tenant abandoned the property half way into a fixed term tenancy, leaving rent arrears and many items damaged and lost.

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