“Factually incorrect, misleading and just plain wrong”

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Claims that landlords’ use of section 21 “no fault� eviction notices is the leading cause of homelessness in the UK are “factually incorrect, misleading and just plain wrong�, says the National Landlords Association (NLA) as they take their case to No.

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NLA research reveals full extent of low landlord confidence

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PRS Prospects:

A recent survey* of its membership by the National Landlords Association (NLA) reveals that landlords’ confidence in their own lettings business is at a record a low.

Despite constant assurances that the government values the small-scale landlord and the work that they do in providing value-for-money accommodation for a large section of the population, the agony keeps being piled on: the tax and regulatory regime is proving challenging to say the least, and now what landlords have always seen as their safety net, Section 21 is being taken away.

The NLA’s Q2 2019 membership survey found that only 29
percent of its landlords said their business expectations for the next three
months were good or very good, the lowest level since the survey began in Q4
2006.

Confidence levels were seen to drop significantly in the
second half of 2015 after the then Chancellor George Osborne announced changes
to buy-to-let landlord taxation, but confidence had until now remained above 35
percent in the NLA’s quarterly surveys.

The drop represents a marked shift in confidence since the
Government announced its proposal to abolish section 21 no-fault evictions,
says the NLA.

Across the regions, confidence remains highest in the East
Midlands and in Yorkshire and the Humber (both 34 percent), and lowest in the
North East (18 percent) and Central London (19 percent).

Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA, says:

“With the amount of change that has occurred over the last
four years and now the proposal to abolish no-fault evictions without any
certainty that the courts will be able to cope with the increase in cases this
will create, it’s no wonder that landlords are pessimistic about their future.

“Landlords need to be confident in their own businesses for
the private rented sector to function properly. Given that it’s expected to
compensate for the lack of social housing, it is vital that this confidence is
restored.�

Landlord Rosy Hopkins is one landlord considering leaving
the market, saying:

“We are currently experiencing difficulties with a hostile
tenant, who regularly calls us at silly hours, swears at us, and generally
swears at and is abusive towards other tenants. We are again issuing a Section
21 to evict him.

“Without recourse to Section 21 we would undoubtedly have
lost several decent tenants and would be stuck. I appreciate they are in
contravention of their leases, but also understand how difficult it could be to
prove that.

“We are actively considering selling our properties, which
is no doubt what the government is trying to achieve.  After the new tax burdens, which may well
cripple us, and steal our hard-earned retirement income, and all the
new/threatened legislation, we have just about had enough.�

*NLA Landlord Panel Survey Q2 2019 (738 respondents)

Have your say in the government’s Section 21 Consultation exercise – A new deal for renting: resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants – here

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The cost of evicting a rogue tenant can really set you back

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Research by independent letting and sales agent Benham and Reeves has looked at the unfortunate cost of landing a bad tenant and how much this can reach during the gruelling process of having them evicted from the property.

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Surely there must be a more tax efficient way?

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In a nutshell; my wife and I own a trading company which produces profits of circa £200,000 a year. We each draw a salary of £12,500 based on advice from our accountants (which is tax free). We then declare £37,500 each of dividends

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Work harder to solve the housing crisis

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A recent IPSOS Mori survey for the Chartered Institute of Housing has shown the public don’t think their politicians are working hard enough to solve the housing crisis.

Renters are particularly concerned with the survey showing:

–

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Must I tell the Local Authority?

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Penultimate sale completed just over a week ago. I am no longer providing social, educational and interest free loan services; the Gov’t can do it now. A muted hooraaah.

Being the belt and braces type, I follow up all loose ends.

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Don’t worry Boris – Fergus will give you a home

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You need not worry Boris, because if you are Evicted from No 10 after the end of October when you have a general election Fergus will give you a home, but only on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy in leafy Ashford on Park Farm!

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Landlords in the Doldrums since Section 21 ban announced

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Landlord confidence in their own lettings business has reached a record low, according to research* by the NLA. In their survey for Q2 2019, only 29% of landlords said their business expectations for the next three months were good or very good

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Government Corrects Form 6A, again!

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Section 21 Notice:

With all the legal changes in the PRS that have been
implemented recently, the knock on effect can become too complex for most of
us, and it seems for the lawmakers too.

The changes have necessitated several changes to notices and
the “How to Rent Guide�, which landlords must now provide to their tenants.

The Section 21 notice (Form 6A) is an important notice which
must be correct at the time of service, otherwise it could be deemed an invalid
notice and landlords would be obliged to start the notice period over again –
two months plus is a long time to lose.

So when the government (MHCLG) updated the Form 6A the
errors in it were flagged up by an article written by lawyer Giles Peaker writing
for the Nearly Legal blog.

Nearly Legal writes:

“After this post (and some substantial behind the scenes
contacts from others), MHCLG have acknowledged that the amended Form 6A that
had been put up on the gov.uk site should indeed not have been put up.

“The form 6A has been replaced with the version in the May
2019 the Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England)
(Amendment) Regulations 2019 (or rather that version has been re-instated).

“The form 6A on gov.uk is again safe to use. There is a note
on the page, as follows (which is slightly confusing, as the 8 August ‘update’
was the amended form, which it now appears was apparently uploaded silently on
30 July.)

“So there we are. Both the ‘How to Rent guide and Form 6A snafus have been corrected. It really shouldn’t be down to eagle eyed watchers like Rich Greenhill and David Smith to have to spot these things, though.�

The National Landlords’ Association write:

“This replication was spotted by NLA staff, who alerted MHCLG to the error. This has now been corrected…” 

Meera Chindooroy, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at
the NLA, says: 

“It’s of vital importance to all landlords that government
departments get forms such as this right. Incorrect forms may impact on
landlords’ ability to regain possession of their properties, regardless of
who is at fault. 

“We advise all landlords to ensure they serve the correct,
up-to-date documents as and when they are obligated to do so. MHCLG needs to
work with landlords to ensure they can do this.â€� 

So anyone down who downloaded Form 6A recently should check that they have the latest corrected version.

See all the relevant property related forms here

How to Rent Guide

LandlordZONE Forum post

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Landlords – what would YOU like to see in a training course?

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One of the main concerns landlords have is keeping up with the myriad new laws and regulations that keep coming out. Not to mention getting a grip on the laws we already have!

I am in the process of developing a major new training course to help landlords with this. 

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