Interview: Leading figure Slams fast-spreading HMO and Selective Licensing schemes as ‘insane’

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Estate agent Steve Wayne says both landlords and lettings agents believe licensing schemes

Leading London estate agent Steve Wayne has said
what many in the private rental sector think but are usually too afraid to say
– that Selective and HMO licensing is a ‘a ridiculous joke’.

Wayne runs multi-branch agency Benjamin Stevens
with a head office in Edgware, a second branch in Bushey but it’s a business that
also covers Luton and Camden. Wayne runs a large portfolio on behalf of his
landlord clients.

His biggest gripe about Selective Licensing and
HMO regualtions is that they all feature different regulations depending on
location which, if you’re a landlord or agent looking after multiple
properties, make the paperwork a nightmare.

“For example, where I’m sat here in our head office,
we’re surrounded by the London Borough of Barnet, Brent and Harrow and they all
have different policies on HMOs, while some do Selective Licensing and some
don’t,” he says.

“It’s insane when you think about the
practicalities of it; we have identical properties that are only a road apart
and yet the rules and price of paying to register can be very different.

“For example, you end up having one long
road, a third of which is in Harrow, a third of which is Brent, and the other
bit is in Barnet.”

Wayne says it was a mistake for the
government to give boroughs individual control over how the different licensing
schemes work because it then becomes a bureaucratic nightmare.

“If we had one set of rules that were applied nationally then it would
be easier to enforce and easier for tenants and landlords to understand what levels
of property and tenancy management are expected.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Interview: Leading figure Slams fast-spreading HMO and Selective Licensing schemes as ‘insane’ | LandlordZONE.

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EXCLUSIVE: London councils have fined landlords £4.5 million since rogue database went live

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Figures from licensing consultancy shown to LandlordZONE reveal the staggering level of fines paid by rogue landlords in the capital.

Landlords and other property
managers in the Capital have been fined a total of £4.5 million since the Mayor
of London’s ‘name and shame’ rogue database was established three and a half
years ago, LandlordZONE can reveal.

The figures, which also show
an average fine of £12,857, come from London-based property licensing compliance
consultancy Kamma
Data, which tracks the fines levied on individuals and companies
mentioned in the register.

“Approximately 70% of these fines
relate to the Selective Licensing schemes being operated within London,” says
its CEO Orla Shields.

A look through the Mayor of
London’s register, which is backed by the NLA, Generation Rent, Shelter and
eight London councils, reveals that landlords are fined for a wide variety of
reasons.

These include failing to
provide council enforcement officers with information or documentation about a property,
HMO management and licensing offences and operating an unlicensed premise.

The database covers both criminal
and civil penalties and includes three elements; a public database for tenants
to check a prospective landlord to see if they have ever been prosecuted or
fined, a private database for councils to share more detailed information on
landlords, and a tool that enables tenants to report problem landlords.

Explore
the Rogue Landlord
and Agent Checker

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: London councils have fined landlords £4.5 million since rogue database went live | LandlordZONE.

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Halifax House Price Index up 4.1% on last year

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Surprisingly after all the instability last year the Halifax House Price index is showing growth of 4.1% on January 2019 with the overall average house priced at £240,054.

On a monthly basis, house prices rose by 0.4% and in the latest quarter (November to January) house prices were 2.3% higher than in the preceding three months.

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Exclusive: Enforcement against landlords rises as selective licensing schemes spread

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Extra cash from government for enforcement and an until-now undisclosed increase in licensing schemes has helped ramp up prosecutions and fines.

The government’s
clampdown on rogue landlords is bearing fruit with a record number of
individuals being prosecuted since the beginning of the year.

This is a nearly 25%
increase in enforcement activity compared to the same time last year when 11
landlords were prosecuted and fined during the first five weeks of 2019.

The fines levied on
these landlords totals £235,966 but this figure is likely to be substantially
larger because it does not include civil penalty notices, which not all
councils reveal.

Such an
enthusiastic start to the year by local authority teams is likely to be in part
down to the additional £4 million funding offered to 100 councils in November
last year to tackle criminal behaviour among landlords and letting agents.

But there is another
factor: the number of Selective Licensing and HMO schemes in the UK has
increased dramatically over the past 12 months. Many of these prosecutions and
fines would be difficult without Selective Licensing schemes in place.

For example, data given exclusively to LandlordZONE by consultancy Kamma Data shows that the number of selective licensing schemes in the UK increased by 60% from 44 to 70 schemes over the past 12 months.

As our research shows, enforcement action is increasing as central government prioritises a ‘fairer and more transparent’ private rental market.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Exclusive: Enforcement against landlords rises as selective licensing schemes spread | LandlordZONE.

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CGT payment deadline changes!

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New tax deadline for property sales. I read this this morning (I think I may have heard about it before, but this time it registered):

6 April 2020 will see a change in the deadline for UK residents who sell a residential property as to when Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the sale is due.

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Landlord fined and told he has ‘no excuse’ for not licensing houses

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Nottingham city council took Sakiib Khan to court over unlicensed properties and he has now been fined £12,000 by magistrates.

A Nottingham landlord
has been fined more than £12,000 for failing to licence his three properties in
the city.

Sakiib Khan, 34, of The
Meadows, admitted the offences under the council’s selective licensing scheme,
which has been running in Nottingham since 2018.

Nottingham Magistrates
Court ordered Khan to pay a fine and legal costs totalling £12,141 for the
unlicensed properties in Woolmer Road, Lamcote Street and Glapton Road, which
bring in total rental income amounts of about £2,080 per month. 

Councillor Linda
Woodings, portfolio holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage, says: “The
Selective Licencing scheme has been active in the city for 18 months now, so
there really is no excuse for not licensing properties. 

“I
hope this puts out a message to other property agents, companies and landlords
that if they don’t work with us to licence their properties, then they could
face prosecution.” 

Nottingham’s scheme, which covers 90% of homes in the
private rental sector, costs landlords £780 for each five-year licence and
aims to raise standards.

In its first year, the
council received nearly 17,000 applications, issued 22 civil penalty notices
and bought five prosecutions.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord fined and told he has ‘no excuse’ for not licensing houses | LandlordZONE.

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LBTT for sole owner landlord incorporation in Scotland

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If you are a landlord in Scotland and you own properties in your own name, you might be considering transferring your rental property business into a legal company.

GOOD NEWS – the LBTT is likely to be a LOT less than you might imagine.

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£795,000 HMO purchase Stamp Duty was only 1% – WHY?

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The SDLT on a £795,000 investment property would ordinarily be £53,600 after factoring in the 3% additional rate.

However, in this instance the SDLT was advertised by an agent at £7,950.

Our client, who was extremely interested in buying the property

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Combustible Electrical consumer unit

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Hello All at 118 Property, I have a question, I’m in the process of buying a house to let. The Electrical safety report done in 2017 highlights the Electrical enclosure of the power unit to be of flammable material. the report shows C3

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CGT on selling a Buy to Let property after divorce

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Hi, I am after a bit of advice. I purchased a Buy to Let property in 1998 for £14550 on a mortgage in my name only. I married in 1999 and we then went on to buy a couple more BTLs.

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