Exclusive: Airbnb prepares to publish its reaction to growing anger over ‘party houses’ and other short-lets challenges

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Following reports of problems of a party house in Bolton this week, Airbnb has told LandlordZone it is about to reveal how it will tackle the growing criticism with the short-lets boom.

Airbnb is set to announce its
findings from a six-month roadshow to key cities around the UK to discuss local
concerns and possible licensing systems.

The platform has promised to
collaborate on proposals for a clear, modern and simple registration system for
short-term rentals in UK cities and will put together proposals in a white
paper due to be published this year. It has promised an update soon. 

It follows reports of an Airbnb property in Bolton – the latest in a
long line of ‘party houses’ – angering neighbours, who say dozens of noisy teenagers pile into the
terraced home at weekends.

Fed-up residents often find litter in the street and report that music is played
so loudly that the house, in Blackburn Road, shakes.

Airbnb has
told LandlordZone it has “zero tolerance” for this behaviour. Adds a spokesman:
“The guest is no longer on the platform, and we’re providing the host with our
support. We prohibit unauthorised events and take action when issues are
brought to our attention.”

With many local authorities calling for
more controls, Scotland will be the first in the UK to take action.

From Spring 2021, councils north of the
border can run their own licensing schemes to introduce measures if it’s in the
interest of local communities.

Airbnb is also trialling a noise detector system in
Edinburgh properties to help reassure neighbours over visitors’ anti-social
behaviour. Once alerted via an app, the host can
choose to contact the guest directly about the noise level or despatch an
‘agent’ to visit the property on their behalf. 

The Residential Landlords Association has told LandlordZone that problems arise when local authorities lack the resources to use the powers already in place to tackle properties causing disruption.

“The problem is not about there not being enough regulation,
but ensuring the rules already in place are properly enforced,” says policy
director David Smith.

“At a time when Ministers want to enable tenants
to access long term homes to rent, tax and other legislative changes have the
perverse incentive of making renting holiday accommodation more appealing.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Exclusive: Airbnb prepares to publish its reaction to growing anger over ‘party houses’ and other short-lets challenges | LandlordZONE.

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Boxing clever: ‘Rumble with the Agents’ to raise funds for disability charity

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Boxing clever: ‘Rumble with the Agents’ to raise funds for disability charity

This year ‘Rumble with the Agents’, the annual white-collar charity boxing event hosted by Landlord Action and sponsored by Hamilton Fraser, will be fundraising for Inclusion Barnet, a charity which provides vital support for people with disability, including mental health issues and/or long-term health conditions.

Paul Shamplina, who set up the event six years ago and runs it alongside his wife Rita, is looking for ten individuals from the property sector, who would like the opportunity to try their hand at boxing, to sign up by 7^th February.

A free, fully structured and supervised boxing
training program to ensure optimum physical fitness and teach participants the
correct techniques will be provided by JA Boxing in north London. 

Participants are not required to have any previous
experience, just a desire to learn a new skill, get fit in three months and
support an excellent local charity.

Inclusion Barnet is a Deaf and Disabled People’s
Organisation (DDPO), which means that their staff and trustees have lived
experience of disability, including mental health issues and long-term
conditions.  

They use their lived experience to raise awareness
and educate society about the barriers faced by disabled people and how people
can work together to remove those barriers. 

Those living with disability often find it very hard
to access to the services and resources they need to help them live the life
they want to live, which is where Inclusion Barnet provides vital support.

“As many people know, I’ve been a keen boxer for many years. Boxing not only
helps me keep fit, it’s a stress reliever, motivator, confidence builder and
has taught me discipline. 

“I know an increasing number of boxing clubs are doing an outstanding job to ensure that the experiences they offer are fully inclusive, and that is why we feel that this year’s charity is a perfect fit for Rumble with the Agents 2020.”

As before, the evening will consist of five fights,
which will be three two-minute rounds each, a sit down three-course meal,
charity auction and raffle. 

The event, which so far has raised a total of
£93,000 for various charities, is open to agents, property professionals,
suppliers and landlords and will take place on Thursday 21st May 2020, at
Holiday Inn, Avenue Banqueting, 58 Regents Park Road, London, N3 3JN.

To find out more, volunteer to take part, buy
tickets or donate something for the raffle/ auction please email Rita Shamplina
on info@rumblewiththeagents.co.uk or call 07790 569501. 

Tickets to attend ‘Rumble with the Agents’ are now
on sale (www.rumblewiththeagents.co.uk).

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Boxing clever: ‘Rumble with the Agents’ to raise funds for disability charity | LandlordZONE.

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Whirlpool: New washing machine recall

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlords are being warned three new models of washing machines are being recalled by Whirlpool due to fire risk. An overheating door mechanism means that hundreds of thousands of machines are at risk of catching fire – many of which may be installed in privately rented properties. About 20% of the Hotpoint and Indesit washing […]

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Landlords face clampdown over fire safety standards following Grenfell, warns Housing Minister

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Speaking in Parliament today, Esther McVey confirmed that landlords face tougher enforcement as she set out the governments’ latest response to the tragedy.

The Government has vowed to hold
private landlords to account when enforcing new fire safety regulations.

“At the end of the day, homes need to
be safe and people need to sleep safely at night,” Housing Minister Esther
McVey told MPs at a Commons debate.

“Enforcement is key and we will be
holding landlords to account to ensure this.”

The Government has announced
the introduction of a Fire Safety Bill to implement recommendations from the
Grenfell Phase 1 Report and “put beyond doubt that the Fire Safety Order will
require building owners and managers of multi-occupied residential premises of
any height to fully consider and mitigate the risks of any external wall
systems and fire doors”.

A Building Safety
Bill was also announced in the Queen’s Speech, to “put in place new and
enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety and construction products, and
ensure residents have a stronger voice in the system”.

Neither Bill has
been revealed, but the Government said this week that the Fire Safety Bill
would be published ‘very shortly’.

Other
new safety moves announced include the establishment of a new building safety
regulator, likely proposals to change sprinkler requirements, and updated and
consolidated advice for building owners.

The new set of guidance covers issues
such as the general approach owners should be taking with regard to fire risk, as
well as specific advice on Grenfell-like cladding, High Pressure Laminate
panels, balconies and ensuring all fire escapes are clear.

The government has said building owners who had not taken action to make their buildings safe will be named from next month. In the week that phase two of the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry opened, Esther McVey told MPs: “It’s never been the case that because a building is below 18m the owners are exempt from ensuring the safety of residents – we expect owners to act responsibly.”

She added that it was considering lowering the height for buildings needing sprinkler systems and would set out altered proposals on this in the full technical review of fire guidance due out in February.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords face clampdown over fire safety standards following Grenfell, warns Housing Minister | LandlordZONE.

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Am I visiting my daughter as Mum or Landlord?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

My daughter and her flatmate are my tenants. Not that my daughter pays any rent lol.

The flatmate has now demanded, after living there 16 months, that I give her 24 hours notice of visiting my daughter as her mum/guest/visitor.

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Daily politics update: Fire and electrical safety, homelessness, benefits and housebuilding

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new fire safety debate, support for the homeless and the latest benefits and housebuilding statistics are on the agenda in today’s daily politics update. Housing minister ‘will hold landlords to account’ on fire safety Matt Rodda MP (Labour, Reading East) yesterday initiated a Westminster Hall debate on fire risks in flats and shared housing. Of note: Kate Green MP (Labour, […]

The post Daily politics update: Fire and electrical safety, homelessness, benefits and housebuilding appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

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Wales fees ban: regulations on default fees laid

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Welsh Government has laid regulations on the maximum permitted level of default fees landlords in Wales will be able to charge, when a tenant requires keys to be replaced, locks to be changed, or is late paying the rent. Draft Regulations around ‘default’ fees were laid by the Welsh Government on Tuesday and are […]

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Isn’t it time the UK’s cowboy ‘property academies’ are chased out of town?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A BBC investigation into one company following the suicide of a ‘student’ who sank £13,000 into debt after attending one of its courses, may be the tipping point for government and industry action.

For many years property investment training ‘academies’ have
been busy touting themselves as a quick-fix solution for those either looking
to pay off debts, ‘get rich quick’, or invest in property with very little cash.

But while many property ‘bootcamps’
and “masterminds” offer legitimate courses for wannabe landlords and
buy-to-let investors, too many are thinly disguised scams that tread a thin
line between legality and fraud, aided by a total lack of industry regulation
or oversight.

For over a decade some industry
communicators such as propertytribes.com, Paul Shamplina and more recently
Cyril Thomas’s Property
Investors Bureau (PIB) have been putting the activities of
the “wealth creation” industry under the spotlight.

Property Tribes has fended off numerous legal challenges
over the years for allowing substantiated commentary within its
forums, thereby creating a community-generated due diligence resource.
 

Meanwhile PIB is attempting to bring
together the legitimate operators into one organisation and freeze out the
cowboys.

And then, on 18^th January,
the BBC’s Inside Out investigation team broadcast a programme looking at
property trainer Samuel Leeds.

About three years ago Leeds struck out by himself and has gathered
a 100,000-fan following on YouTube, promising to ‘change people’s financial
lives forever’ via his Property Investors website, books, videos and courses.

But the BBC programme highlighted the tragic case of Danny Butcher, a former soldier who killed himself after trying to clear his debts by enrolling on a £13,000 course run by Property Investors.
Although his story of deepening debt and despair is saddening, it is not unusual, and Property Tribes has told LandlordZone that they are constantly contacted by people seeking redress.

Often, they have paid significant sums to trainers and
mentors and then find that they have nothing to show for it and/or the training
promises have not been fulfilled.

Property Tribes community started raising concerns about
Samuel Leeds back in mid-2017 and there is a thread over 90 pages (with over
950 comments) about him.  

These document the experiences of former mentees along with
other due diligence based insights as to the credentials of Samuel Leeds to be
offering property training.

But the industry also has a dark side – anyone, including journalists,
commentators and former clients of companies like Property Investors, have
faced aggressive and both legitimate and illegitimate attempts to frighten them
into silence or get negative social media commentary removed.

“Their industry is in a mess and, because of the high
transactional nature of property, it will always attract ego-driven sharks,”
says Nick Tadd, the co-founder of Property Tribes.

“The problem is that these courses can be ramped up very
quickly and draw 1,000 people into a room and then convert 100 to courses at
£10,000 – £15,000 each, but it’s very hard to then deliver the training needed
for mentees to succeed, and see it through.

“Furthermore, many of the mentees do
not actually have the financial position to get involved in property in the
first place, either not having deposits and/or not being able to access BTL
finance,” says Tadd.

Time is running out as the Government now has the ‘wealth
creation’ industry on its radar. For the legitimate ones, there is now an
opportunity to shine and address the issues with their industry and agree to
work to more professional standards.  

Meanwhile, hundreds of people are losing fortunes to the
rogues and are suffering with few if any routes of redress.  

Paul Shamplina, who has been involved in
setting up the PIB, says: “This
property education industry now has to take a hard look at itself and the good
ethical trainers separate themselves from the ‘self-confessed gurus’, who are
hard selling to people, some vulnerable but who should not be sold a course in
the first place.

“Property
education is essential, but only if it’s taught properly. At the moment there
is no redress for the public and I’m delighted the Property Redress Scheme is stepping
in to offer it.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Isn’t it time the UK’s cowboy ‘property academies’ are chased out of town? | LandlordZONE.

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Bridging Finance – is this a good deal for me?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hello all, I’m new to this business and working on setting up my first HMO and have another post running elsewhere on the forum about legal aspect and would also appreciate some advice about bridging finance, in short my thirty plus years pristine credit history was shot to pieces when my marriage went into disarray and mortgage payments were missed giving me an Experian score of around 622.

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It took the average home seller 256 days to sell in 2019 – here’s where the best and worst spots were across the nation

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The latest research by leading estate agent
comparison website, GetAgent.co.uk, has
looked at the time it took to sell a home in 2019 and where was home to the
longest home selling process in the midst of Brexit induced market uncertainty.
 

GetAgent.co.uk pulls
data from all of the major portals which they then cross-reference with the
Land Registry using proprietary algorithms to create a comprehensive record of
what is selling, where, for how much and how long it’s taking.  

The latest data looks at the total average time
to sell a home throughout 2019, from the first day it was listed on the
property portals until the day it is marked sold by the Land Registry.  

The research shows that on average across the
nation, homesellers were seeing their home take 256 days to sell from first
listing it online, until the point the sale completed, climbing to 295 in the
capital.  

This average time increased throughout the
year, with it taking 250 days during the first quarter of 2019, having
increased 8.5% to 271 days by the final quarter, up 3.3% between Q3 and Q4
alone.  

The pocket of the nation that endured the
biggest market slowdown was Eden, where the average property sale took 393 days
to complete! Westminster was home to the second-longest selling time and worst
in London, taking 390 days to complete.

Ceredigion ranks as the slowest market in Wales
with the average sale dragging out for 388 days, while homeowners in Islington
(373), Camden (333), Copeland (332) and Richmond (331) also saw their sale take
longer than 330 days.  

Other areas to make the list of top 20 longest
house sales of 2019 include Gwynedd, Kensington and Chelsea, Bournemouth,
Lambeth and Malvern Hills.

But it’s not all bad news for UK homeowners and
as always, some areas of the market defied wider market conditions to enjoy
much shorter selling times.  

The best in the nation was Nuneaton and
Bedworth, where the average property took just 191 days from first listing
online to complete. Torfaen was the best performing market in Wales with homes
selling in 193 days on average, while Bromsgrove in the Midlands ranked third
at 197 days.

Other areas to see the time to sell sit below
210 days include Trafford, Bolsover, North East Lincolnshire, Stockport,
Walsall, Charnwood, Wellingborough, Mansfield, Redditch and Coventry.  

In London, Bexley (230), Barking and Dagenham
(235) and Newham (247) were home to the quickest home sales of 2019.  

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk,
Colby Short, commented:

“It’s clear that the ongoing market uncertainty
surrounding Brexit had a direct impact on selling times across the nation over
2019, increasing almost consistently throughout the year and culminating with
the longest selling times seen all year, due to a combination of pre-election
angst and a seasonal market slowdown in the final quarter of the year.

However, as always, the UK property market is a
patchwork quilt constructed of many different markets, all acting independently
with their own levels of demand and rates of house price growth. So while the
average home seller had no choice but to twiddle their thumbs for almost eight
and a half months before completing, for many, this happened much quicker.
 

Looking ahead, it’s now clear that December’s
election result has spurred an almost immediate market revival and with high
levels of activity returning on both the buyer and seller side of the fence,
growing momentum should see the time taking to sell reduce substantially over
the coming year.” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – It took the average home seller 256 days to sell in 2019 – here’s where the best and worst spots were across the nation | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: It took the average home seller 256 days to sell in 2019 – here’s where the best and worst spots were across the nation