Law Society backs government’s controversial eviction law reforms

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Main organisation representing lawyers in the UK says plans will increase tenant security but makes no mention of likely backlogs it will create within court system.

The Law Society has backed the government’s controversial plans to significantly reform evictions laws in England.

Despite howls of protest from landlord and many industry organisations pointing out that banning Section 21 notice evictions will lead to huge backlogs as more evictions are pushed into the court system, The Law Society has said the proposals will ‘improve security of tenure’.

The announcement it its response to the government’s A New Deal for Renting consultation on ending assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) and revoking section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

The Law Society’s views echo many of the government’s arguments for abolishing ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions.

“Section 21 is one of the leading causes of family homelessness in the UK,” says Simon Davis, president of the Law Society.

“In addition, because of the absence of legal aid support, many are unable to obtain the legal advice they need to enforce their rights.

“This creates an inequity of power between landlords and tenants. The rule of law should be available equally to both sides.”

But Paul Shamplina of evictions
specialist Landlord Action, says although increased tenant security is to be
welcomed, the reforms must be backed up by additional funding for the court system.

“It’s very important that tenants have more security in their tenancies, and clearly when section 21 is abolished, there will be major amendments to a Section 8 notice, with extra grounds added to the current 17, which are out date in my opinion.

“But we have still not heard anything from the Ministry of Justice that there will be extra resource put in the court system.

This must include employing more judges, bailiffs and more online tools to assist landlords and tenants, along with a new mediation service, to prevent cases going to hearing/eviction stage.

“Without extra
resource to deal with all these extra hearings from the switch of Section 21,
it falls down. 

“We still see
horrendous delays on cases at present at Landlord Action.

“’ve said it once
and I will say it again, if landlords feel they cannot obtain possession within
a reasonable time period, they will have no confidence in new ‘Housing Court’
and you will see landlords exit the market, which will result in more
homelessness and reduced stock in the PRS.

“It needs to be
joined up and not rushed.”

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RLA opposes plans to renew an additional licensing scheme in Swansea

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The RLA has opposed plans to renew and expand an additional HMO licensing scheme in the Castle, Uplands and St Thomas wards of Swansea. Currently, an additional licensing scheme is already in place in the Castle and Uplands wards, meaning landlords with HMOs in these areas have to pay for a licence in order to […]

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Waltham Forest wins green light for another five years of Select Licensing

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Landlords in the area will once more have to pay a registration fee of £650 per property if it’s within 18 of the borough’s 20 wards.

Private landlords in Waltham Forest face
selective licencing regulation until 2025 after its council gained government approval
to renew its selective licensing scheme.

This means they will have
once more register their property and pay a
registration fee every five years from May 1^st onwards.

With more
than a third of residents in the area renting privately and with over 8,000
rented homes containing ‘significant hazards’, the council hopes licensing will
also help it to deal with landlords who exploit vulnerable tenants by letting
out overcrowded, unsuitable, and dangerous properties.

The current
selective licencing scheme, which has been running since 2015, incensed many
landlords when it raised its registration free from £500 to £650 in 2016 making
it, at the time, one of the most expensive in the UK.

Councillor
Louise Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness Prevention, says: “Our
message to these rogue landlords is clear: If you want to rent property out in
Waltham Forest, your property must meet the licensing scheme’s standards and
you must ensure that your tenants are safe. If you don’t, we will find out and
take action against you.”

The selective licensing
scheme ensures landlords meet licence conditions such as taking fire safety precautions,
ensuring properties aren’t dangerous and that they are properly managed. The
licence also makes landlords responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour
quickly, with fines of up to £30,000 for failing to
comply.

Since the select licensing began, Waltham Forest Council has issued more than 27,000 property licences, 149 civil penalties, 50 interim management orders.

It has
also improved 3,100 privately rented properties and pursued 94 successful
prosecutions. Its new selective licensing scheme will cover 18 out of 20 wards
(excluding Hatch Lane and Endlebury) and starts on 1 May 2020.

Other local councils have been less successful in
winning government approval, as this week Liverpool City Council’s plans to continue its private landlord licensing scheme for
another five years were rejected.

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Scottish landlord anger builds over delayed energy efficiency guidance

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Rural landlords are particularly worried as Scots government drags its feet over vital guidance.

Scots
landlords are fuming over delayed energy efficient guidance which they fear could lead to some rural private rented homes being sold or
becoming holiday homes.

While their counterparts
in England and Wales have guidance on rules introduced last year to improve the
energy efficiency of homes, Scotland’s private rental sector is still in the
dark.

Rural membership body, Scottish
Land & Estates (SLE), has written an open letter to the Scottish Government, calling for the
immediate publication of the finalised regulations and guidance for the Energy
Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (Scotland) Regulations 2019, which aims to
help landlords make changes to their properties.

Although draft regulations were published
last year, it wants the finalised guidance to be published well before the
regulations come into force in Scotland on 1 April.

Marcelina Hamilton,
SLE’s policy adviser (rural business & property), says landlords are being left in limbo.

“The longer we wait for the
guidance to be published, the more difficult it will be for landlords to make
the required changes on time,” says Hamilton.

“It’s unreasonable to expect
landlords to undertake significant energy improvement works before the
regulations and guidance have even been published.

“We’re extremely
concerned that this delay could lead to some of rural Scotland’s vital private
rented homes being sold or becoming holiday homes.”

The SLE believes the age
and build of many homes in rural Scottish areas can make them more difficult
and expensive to alter.

“Access to skilled
labour and the challenges of carrying out work in parts of remote, rural
Scotland can mean landlords making the necessary changes will be a long,
difficult process,” she adds.

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Evicted but when should we enforce £20,000 debt?

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We managed to evict our tenant after she was many months in arrears. We got a CCJ for eviction and a money demand for about £20,000. She did a moonlight flip but we traced her through a tracing agency. The CCJ was not registered with the Registry-Trust but by continuously chasing the Court we got the CCJ registered.

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There’s been a rash of councils applying for new licensing schemes

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Landlord licensing:

New Government funding and a crack-down on rogue operators is resulting in a whole host of new licensing scheme proposals being introduced throughout the country.

If this improves safety and drives out more rogue landlords then most landlords will say so much to the good, but this comes at a cost to individual landlords – it means licensing fees for every letting, the actual amount depending on that set by their local authority, but they range from in the region of £400 to £800 per property every five years.

There are two main
types of licensing schemes: selective and additional, as well as
mandatory HMO licensing.

In areas where
selective licensing applies, and as the name implies, it may affect
part or the whole of a district of borough, landlords must apply for
a licence if they want to rent out a property.

This means the
council can check whether the landlord is a “fit or proper person”
to be a landlord, and will be making other stipulations about the
management of the property and safety measures.

Additional licensing comes under Part II of the Housing Act 2004 and applies to certain types of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) that fall outside the scope of the mandatory HMO licensing scheme. To decide if you have an HMO you can read the legislation itself (Sections 254 – 260 Housing Act 2004), though a simpler guide is on the houses in multiple occupation gov.uk website.

As a general rule an
HMO is any property (house or flat) occupied by three or more people
comprising two or more households (friends or strangers, not
families) who share facilities (kitchen, bathroom and/or toilet) and
occupy the property as their only or main residence. If in doubt you
should seek a determination from your local council.

The penalties for
non-compliance are very high, and it is thought that since a recent
change in legislation there are many thousands of otherwise
law-abiding landlords unaware they have an HMO, or they are operating
in a selective licensing area.

Councils are
introducing landlord licensing schemes at an alarming rate and not
just the mandatory HMO schemes but selective and additional ones as
well. With new Government funding, many councils are now clamping
down on rogue landlords by introducing new selective and additional
licensing schemes, so landlords need to keep an eye on their
council’s website for information on this.

A local authority
may designate either the whole or a part of its district as subject
to selective licensing of residential accommodation. Before making
any decision to introduce licensing the local authority must consult
with those who are likely to be affected, including those who live,
work or operate businesses in adjoining local authority and all areas
where they will be affected.

A decision to
designate an area subject to selective licensing may need approval
from the Secretary of State for Housing, unless a minimum 10-week
consultation period has been allowed after it produced a draft
proposal identifying what is to be designated and its consequences.
Selective licensing can then come into force no earlier than three
months after the designation has been approved.

Here is a sample of
councils currently in consultation or introducing schemes include:

Oadby and Wigston
Borough Council is consulting on selective licensing in one of
its wards which will close 30 January 2020.

Oxford City
Council has confirmed that it plans to publish a consultation
this summer setting out the case for introducing borough-wide
licensing covering an estimated 20,000 private rented homes in
Oxford. Currently the city council requires all HMOs to be licensed.

Bournemouth,
Christchurch and Poole Council has started a
consultation on proposals setting out the introduction of selective
and additional licensing schemes in the borough. The consultation is
to close on 6 April 2020 and will affect Southbourne, Boscombe,
Pokesdown, East Cliff & Springbourne, Westhill, Westbourne and
Bournemouth Town Centre, Poole Town, Winton and Charminster.

Coventry City
Council has confirmed it will progress a selective licensing
scheme following the outcome of its consultation, and the housing
cabinet confirmed that additional licensing will also be implemented.
The city-wide additional licensing scheme is due to take effect on 4
May 2020.

In addition,
Birmingham City Council plans to introduce a city-wide Article
4 Direction from 8 June 2020. This means that landlords in
Birmingham have until 7 June 2020 to undertake developments to change
the use of a house / dwelling to a small HMO under permitted
development rights. Landlords with existing small Houses in Multiple
Occupation (HMO) should declare these to the Council before the
direction takes effect. They will need evidence of their existing use
as an HMO letting.

Elsewhere, Liverpool City Council have been refused the renewal of their city-wide licensing scheme. The new housing secretary Robert Jenrick has turned down an application by the Council to extend Liverpool’s city-wide selective licensing scheme for private sector landlords for another five years.

An Independent Review of the Use and Effectiveness of Selective Licensing

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Serving Section 21 during fixed term – right or wrong?

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A friend has been in touch. She rents in London and signed a new 12 months fixed term AST wef from 1st September 2019. The paperwork was signed on the 16th July 2019.

Her Landlord has served her 2 months notice on the basis that they have a new buyer for the property who wants vacant possession.

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Give landlords a break, pleads leading property industry boss

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David Alexander says the March 11 budget should be used to encourage landlords to stay or enter the market, not leave it.

The Boris Johnson government’s first budget since the General Election is now less than seven weeks away and leading industry figure David Alexander has urged the Chancellor to give landlords a break as increasing numbers of them exit the market.
“With the final phase of George Osbornes’ policy of decreasing tax relief on borrowing coming into force on April 6^th many landlords find themselves at a crossroads on whether to continue in the sector or leave,” says Alexander.

His company DJ Alexander is the largest estate agency of its kid in and around Edinburgh and has also launched a lettings platform, Apropos.
“This is occurring at a time when the need for the Private Rented Sector has never been greater and this demand will continue for decades to come which should mean this is a market to be encouraged as an integral part of the housing sector.”

Alexander suggests landlords across the UK should encouraged to stay in the market, and new ones encouraged to enter with tax breaks and inducements.

“Governments always wishes to tax businesses to provide them with income but, at present, this appears to be detrimental to the long-term survival of the PRS,” he says.

“Given that almost two thirds (61%) of landlords earn less than £20,000 per annum this is not a group which deserves punitive taxation.”

“It should also be noted that the more punitive the financial regime for landlords the more likely higher costs need to be passed on to the tenant.”

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Today in politics: English Housing Survey, Europe, broadband, Rented Homes and tenancy agreements

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Today’s update looks at latest PRS figures, commons activity and new bills to affect landlords and tenants. English Housing Survey A total of 19% of households in England are now living in the private rented sector, according to figures from the English Housing survey, out today. In 2018-19, the average rent was £200 per week […]

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3% rent increase reasonable?

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We currently let 3 properties, all of the tenants have been our tenants since we purchased them in early 2017. We haven’t increased the rent since, however we would like to do so this year.

All of the tenants are on a periodic tenancy agreement and the AST has provision for a rent increase –

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