Location Independence – the lifestyle of Mark and Svetlana Alexander

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This post is far more about lifestyle and mindset than property. Nevertheless, our passion to help others with our knowledge of property, finance tax and law has been the basis upon which we have achieved location independence.

If you ever wanted a sneak peak into our lifestyle

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Camden Council issues landlord with banning order

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A landlord in Camden has been banned from letting property for four years, for a number of health and safety breaches. The banning order will come into effect on 8th March 2020, and will then last for four years. It means that the landlord will not only be barred from renting out property in England […]

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Tory candidate slammed for ‘Tents’ comment!

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BuzzFeed News has reported on a Facebook video post made by Tory MP candidate for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, who said he would force nuisance tenants who make people’s lives a misery to live in a tent if he was voted in.

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Green Manifesto – Rent Controls and Land Value Tax

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The Green Party have released their 2019 general election manifesto. This has been very briefly summarised with the key points of interest for Landlords and the PRS industry. Download the full manifesto here

From the full manifesto there is no detailed economic analysis of how their cuddly wish list of promises will be paid for.

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Rent control calls in Greens’ manifesto

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Rent controls and the abolition of Section 21 repossessions are outlined in the Green Party manifesto, released today.  In relation to housing it calls for:  Rent controls on private tenancies “which reflect average local income rates and the cost of maintenance.” An end to “no-fault evictions”. Measures to make it “easier to set up community-led housing […]

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Regular property visits protect landlords from subletting scams

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Property Visits:

Leading
independent inventory provider, No
Letting Go, Says that
regular property visits are vital to protect landlords and
letting agents from various activities that tenants can get up to,
including the growing risk of subletting scams and cannabis growing.

Stressing the
importance of an independent and professionally compiled inventory to
protect the landlord’s interests, the UK’s largest provider of
inventory services also says that a commitment to the check-out
process helps to provide financial cover in the event of property
damage.

Reporting the
increasing incidence of subletting scams’ No Letting Go says
this occurs particularly when it comes to fraudsters with short-term
lets using popular on-line platforms to rent out their landlord’s
properties without permission.

Quoting a recent
example, which featured on BBC One’s Inside Out programme, the
company says that the programme saw a managing agent discover a
family being checked into a rental property by the existing tenants.
Further research into the matter uncovered a long-running subletting
scam going on with over 70 reviews of the landlord’s property left
on Airbnb.

These tenants were
eventually evicted, but not before they had cost the landlord a
significant amount of stress and money in repairing property damage.

Nick Lyons, CEO and
Founder of No Letting Go says:

“The growth of the short-term lets market heightens the risk of unlawful subletting as the available technology makes it easy for tenants to let properties quickly and easily without the knowledge of landlords and letting agents.”

“If you don’t
put the right steps in place, subletting could be taking place in
your rental property for a long period before you are able to take
any action.”

What problems can
subletting pose?

Tenants subletting a
property unlawfully can cause serious issues for landlords. Not only
is there a heightened risk of property damage and abnormal levels of
wear and tear, but illegal subletting could invalidate a landlord’s
insurance policy.

Subletting can also
breach licensing schemes and a number of health and safety
regulations which could cause a further headache for landlords and
agents.

Nick Lyons explains:

“Subletting
could cost landlords thousands of pounds of a long period of time. As
well as the repair and maintenance costs to consider, there is also
the increased chance of costly void periods while the property is
being brought back to a lettable condition.”

“What’s more,
if you are forced to evict a tenant due to subletting, it could be
costly and time-consuming to repossess the property through the
courts. This issue could be further exacerbated by the government’s
plans to scrap the Section 21 evictions process.”

How can property
visits and inventories reduce risk?

While the risk of
subletting will never completely disappear and has grown as it has
become easier for tenants to let properties via short-lets online
platforms, there are steps agents and landlords can take to minimise
the chances of falling victim to one of these scams.

“Regular
property visits and inspections can help to identify the tell-tale
signs of subletting such as additional rubbish and the presence of
people not named on the tenancy agreement,” adds Lyons.

“By scheduling
regular visits, you will discourage tenants from subletting and in
the event that they are carrying out unlawful activity, you can bring
a stop to it as soon as possible.”

“Professional
inventories and carrying out the check-out process properly can also
offer additional protection.”

“If tenants
have been subletting a property, the presence of an inventory can
provide the required evidence for landlords to recoup some of the
property damage and maintenance costs from the tenant’s security
deposit,” Nick Lyons concludes.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Regular property visits protect landlords from subletting scams | LandlordZONE.

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£51,136 per inspection and hotel tickets!

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In 16 months Nottingham City Council has only managed to issue full licences to fewer than 3% of the applications received and apparently they’ve only done 176 inspections from approximately £9 million+ pounds in.

This equates to over £51,136.00 I repeat FIFTY ONE THOUSAND POUNDS AN INSPECTION.

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MANY TENANTS OWED £100’S BY THEIR LANDLORDS

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The Tenant Fee ban has
caused various unintended consequences since its introduction this summer. 

The Fee Ban means that
agents and landlords cannot charge for admin, key hand overs, inventory reports
and any other miscellaneous costs which now must be paid by the landlords. 

Part of the Fee Ban
covered a cap on tenancy deposits allowed to be requested. 

This meant that any
rental agreement under £50,000 in England can only ask for a maximum of five
weeks rent equivalent as a deposit. For any rental agreement over £50,000 six
weeks can be requested from the tenants. 

Alongside this holding deposits that are taken to secure a property that
a tenant wishes to apply for are allowed at a maximum of one weeks rent. 

It is now apparent that
there are hundreds of tenant’s due refunds on their rental agreement deposits,
some having paid eight weeks and over to abide by
their landlord’s requests in order to win the tenancy agreement from
a landlord. 

One of the tenancy
deposit protection schemes has just stated that since this piece of legislation
was introduced, they have had 2,550 repayment requests amounting to
over £817,000. 

Danny Zane the chair for
The AIIC and MD at My Property Group stated “This is just the tip of the
iceberg as for many years deposit requests had been on the rise in the highly
competitive Private Rented Sector. I am certain there will be many more
requests as many tenants will not even know about this and their rights”. 

The highest payment
released so far has been over £3,300.

Zane stated “This is
exactly as our Government intended with deposit caps coming into force and
renters being given back some of their hard-earned monies. Great news for
tenants all round”.

If you feel you may be
owed money then get in touch with the scheme awarded the safe holding of your
tenancy deposit.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – MANY TENANTS OWED £100’S BY THEIR LANDLORDS | LandlordZONE.

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