Selective Licencing – 1 room is 10cm too small?

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Hello fellow landlords, I have a small portfolio of properties in Tower Hamlets. They introduced an Additional Licencing scheme throughout the borough in April. I’m just now starting to get the notices back and find that 3 of my 3-bed properties are only licence-able as 2-bed properties.

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Not just private landlords that go rogue…

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Rogue landlords:

Private landlords are often seen as the “bad guys” when it comes to operating a rogue lettings business, but all too often, social landlords are just as bad, if not more so. In fact surveys show that private landlords often fair better than social landlords when it comes to looking after their tenants. It has to be said though, that rogue landlords are a small minority in both cases.

A Galashiels widower
is a case in point: suffering in appalling conditions after
repeatedly reporting his problems to his social landlord. 12 months
after reporting a water leak from the roof, Gordon McLean is now
suffering the effects of this in his damp and mould-infested flat.

Not only that, the 61-year-old widower is having “salt rubbed into his wounds” when he finds his social landlord is increasing the rent, and has even sent him a threatening reminder for £12 of arrears.

The Selkirk-based housing association had announced in November that the rent would be going up from £88 to almost £94 per week, prompting Mr McLean to comment “who would pay £94 a week to live like this?”

Mr McLean’s problems started when a down-pipe at his rented property sprang a leak. He promptly reported the problem to his landlord on December 12^th last year but inaction on the part of the landlord has resulted in his present predicament.

Dampness ensued and
wallpaper began peeling off his walls, which finally prompted action
from his social landlord. They issued him with a dehumidifier but the
former gamekeeper’s home still shows signs of damp and mould in
several rooms.

Mr Mclean told The
Border Telegraph:

“I first
noticed water leaking off the roof and an outside pipe and coming
into the walls.

“The water had
to be coming into the walls, but the workmen didn’t think there was
anything wrong.

“They did
repairs to my taps inside but they wouldn’t believe me that there was
a problem with water getting into the walls.

“After the new
bathroom was fitted the dampness smell became more noticeable, and
within a few weeks my wallpaper began falling off.

“After I lost
my wife two years ago I took a real pride in my flat and decorated
every room.

“I had the
place beautiful, but look at it now.

“There’s mould
growing through the carpets, mould on the walls, the wallpaper has
come off – how is someone meant to live in a house like this?”

Electrical testing
carried out at the property also showed that several sockets were
dangerous due to the excessive damp, and Mr Mclean’s health is
beginning to suffer.

The spokeswoman for
the Selkirk based housing association said, with regard to the rent
increase:

“In November
2019, we carried out a consultation on the proposed rent levels for
the following year, giving all 5,600 tenants the opportunity to
provide feedback, via a wide variety of consultation methods,
including paper survey, community roadshows and telephone surveys.

Photo courtesy of:
The Border Telegraph

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Not just private landlords that go rogue… | LandlordZONE.

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Tips for Overseas investor partnership?

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Hello everyone. My name’s Riccardo and I’d love to ask a few questions and hopefully get some good guidelines! A little introduction of me (better say us)

We are 4 newbies on our early 30′ sharing the dream and goal of running our own business and become entrepreneurs on the property business.We def want to step out the “rat race”

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Scotland is home to the highest rental yields

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Lettings management platform, Howsy, has revealed the most appealing markets for UK landlords based on the annual rental return available as a percentage of the property investment cost.

Across the UK the current annual rent of £11,436 accounts for 4.9% of the average UK house price (£234,370).

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Landlord fined over £150,000 for letting with safety hazards…

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Rogue landlord:

A Dudley, Birmingham
landlord have been fined a total of £151,070 by Wolverhampton
Magistrates Court for three breaches of an Emergency Prohibition
Order, served on him in relation to a house of multiple occupation
(HMO).

Landlord Latif
Rehman of Lordswood Road, Birmingham, who has a chequered history
when it comes to letting property, failed to respond to several
notices requiring him to attend to safety defects in his HMO
property.

Council officials
had originally inspected the three-storey, four-bedroom property in
Cole Street, Netherton, after one of Mr Rehman’s tenants complained
to the Council last February.

The official visit
revealed numerous hazards relating to the general security of the
building from intruders, and fire and electrical safety risks. The
officers deemed that these defects posed an imminent risk to the
safety of the building’s occupants.

Notice was served
following the visits, but a re-inspection in April found that
whatever works had been carried out were insufficient to rectify the
safety risks. Fire doors in the property still failed to comply with
regulations, access to the property was not secure and damp was still
present in parts of the property.

Dudley Council’s
private sector housing team pursued the case to court with support
from the Council’s legal services team.

On November 7 Mr
Rehman was fined £50,000 for each offence and ordered to pay £1,000
in costs and £170 victim surcharge.

Alan Lunt, deputy
chief executive at Dudley Council, told Hereford Times:

“Landlords are
not above the law. They must comply with standards to fulfil their
legal responsibility to protect the safety of their tenants.

“This case
demonstrates that we take these cases very seriously and will take
action against anyone failing to fulfil their obligation.”

Dudley Council are
now now considering applying for a rent repayment order and a banning
order against Rehman, who two years ago was ordered to pay in excess
of £340,000 after illegally converting houses into bedsits.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord fined over £150,000 for letting with safety hazards… | LandlordZONE.

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Christmas is not the time to find New Build bargains

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The latest research by new homes specialist, Stone Real Estate, has revealed that the level of new build properties being sold accelerates as we head into December, while sales across the regular market drop a gear in the run-up to Christmas.

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Call of the Week-dealing with condensation

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The festive season is upon us and the past week the weather has felt particularly cold. With this in mind, it is important to think about how this might impact your rental property. We spoke with one of our members about some issues they were facing that could well be as a result of the […]

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2019 Property Investors Awards recognise sector’s most outstanding individuals

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The Property Investors Awards is delighted to announce the winners for 2019. The annual event, celebrating excellence in property investing, included a glittering evening of fine dining and entertainment, with the winners receiving the much coveted awards themselves.

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Future Renting Wales 2019: Photo gallery and highlights

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The RLA’s Future Renting Wales conference took place in Cardiff last week. More than 150 delegates heard an update on the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, the fees ban and what’s in store for private landlords in Wales. Speakers on the day included Emma Williams, deputy director of housing policy at the Welsh Government, Kate Faulkner, […]

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Join Shelter’s Facebook page and be polite?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I would suggest it is a good idea to join Shelter’s Facebook page. It gives us the chance to comment and question them. Please be polite and ask simple questions like how many homes do they provide?

How much cash reserves do they hold?

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