Rent control alert! Scotland poised to vote through bill legalising ‘rent cap’ system

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Opponents fear the concept of regulating rents could be exported to England and Wales if it can be made to work north of the border.

Scotland’s rented sector could be in for a big
shake-up if a Private Member’s Bill wins approval as it enters the final few
legs of its progress through the country’s parliament.

After
being introduced in May last year and subsequently winning enough support to proceed
to the scrutiny process, Pauline McNeill MSP’s Proposed Fair Rents
(Scotland) Bill or ‘Mary Barbour Bill’ aims to
radically reform the sector by linking rents to average wages and providing
more information about rent levels.

The Bill stands a good chance of making it into
law and would cap annual private sector rent increases across Scotland at one
percentage point above inflation. Also, landlords would have to update the nation’s
landlord register to include changes in rental charges, to build up a picture
of market rates.

But it would usher in rent controls across Scotland in everything
but name, opponents have claimed.

The bill would also overhaul rent appeals; when a tenant appeals
the amount, officers and members of the tribunal could either lower or maintain
the rent, depending on their assessment but, unlike the current system, not
raise costs.

The Scottish Labour MSP says private renting should be fairer and
more affordable.

Rent pressure zones

“The relationship between ever increasing rents and poverty is
clear,” says McNeill. “Rent pressure zones have failed. The Scottish
Government have missed an opportunity in this Parliament to tackle high rents –
with this Bill I hope to correct that mistake.”

Her Bill is inspired by Scottish political activist Mary Barbour,
who led a strike over increased rent prices in Glasgow in 1915.

Mike Dailly, a solicitor advocate at Govan Law Centre, helped to draw up
the Bill and says
about 15% of households in Scotland are now in the private rented
sector, which has trebled in size in the last 20 years.

Says Dailly:
“Rents in our biggest cities have been rising at double the rate of inflation
year-on-year with a 40% hike in the last nine years.

“The Scottish Government introduced some rent control measures in the 2016 Private Tenancies (Housing) (Scotland) Act. Yet not one local authority in Scotland has ever applied for a rent pressure zone. The legislation isn’t fit for purpose.” The bill has won support from homeless charities and some councils, but groups such as ARLA Propertymark have already come out in opposition.

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LATEST: Revolving door at Ministry of Housing tipped to keep on spinning this week

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Political gossips say both Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick and Housing Minister Esther McVey stand a good chance of clearing their desks this week.

Although a Valentine’s Day massacre looks unlikely, Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle on Thursday is
expected to see housing department staff bidding a fond farewell to either Esther
McVey or Robert Jenrick.

If either do get shunted from their posts, the new
minister will be the 19th in 21 years – a churn rate to rival managers in the
Premier League.

This revolving door reflects how housing is still seen as a secondary area of importance, with
ministers having to fight for influence and funding alongside other priorities.

Dominic Raab, with a seven-month tenure, was the shortest
serving minister in recent times.

High-flyer Jenrick, who won his Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government post as part of Johnson’s previous cabinet
reshuffle last summer, has been tipped for a promotion – particularly because
of his high-profile role in the election
campaign.

His successor will have their
hands full of housing priorities promised by the Conservatives during the
election campaign, including the ‘top to bottom’ review of dangerous cladding
and shepherding through ‘new deals’ for both renters and first-time buyers.

Housing Minister McVey,
meanwhile, looks set for the chop; a few weeks ago, the two were
reported to be in dispute over the broad direction of government housing
policy. 

Like Jenrick, she won her role last June and although the
former GMTV presenter gets invited to attend Cabinet meetings, she is not a
formal Cabinet member.

McVey is currently
overseeing the proposed reform of the house buying process and proposals to
introduce mandatory qualifications for agents. But for how long?

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Revolving door at Ministry of Housing tipped to keep on spinning this week | LandlordZONE.

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Today in politics: Energy efficiency, fire safety and tax

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We look at calls for changes to fuel poverty legislation, the continuing debate over who should pay for fire safety work on tower blocks, the latest landlord data and a call for new landlords to be subject to tax changes in a bid to boost home ownership. Government to consult on energy efficiency Peers have […]

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Title restriction – Could Bank pull the plug?

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I am in the process of the purchase of a traditionally built 3 bed house freehold title. I Am using a new solicitor on this banks panel. We are near the end of the conveyance with mortgage offer, searches done etc.

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Four-legged fail! Our poll shows less than half of landlords accept pets

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The government is preparing to make its model tenancy more pet friendly, but will landlords pay any attention?

As the government
prepares to reveal its revised model tenancy agreement to an expectant landlord
community, a poll by LandlordZONE reveals less than half are prepared to accept
pets.

During a poll of
landlords conducted across social media over the weekend, just 48.3% said
they’d rent properties to tenants with moggies and doggies.

Such a low acceptance
level may be shocking to campaigners and pet-owning tenants alike, but it’s an
improvement on the current private rental market, where research among listings
shows that, at best, 90% of properties advertised to rent say ‘no pets
allowed’.

Lettings agency
Benham & Reeves recently revealed that its research showed just 7% of
landlords actively welcomed pets even though 44% of households in the UK have
them.

The company also
warns that it believes more landlords will say no to pets despite the expected
changes to the model tenancy.

“Since the government
banned tenant fees capping deposits at no more than five weeks’ rent, landlords
have been left with no wiggle room when it comes to the potential damage caused
by pets,” says boss Marc von Grundherr.

“As a result, 90% of
our landlords are now saying no to pets with many of those already within a
rental property being notified they will have to leave once they reach the
renewal stage.”

As
LandlordZone reported
last week, the updated model tenancy is expected to be published at
any moment and will ask landlords to consider tenants with pets much more
strongly within its guidance.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Four-legged fail! Our poll shows less than half of landlords accept pets | LandlordZONE.

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Fines totalling £120,000 follow fatal fire at unlicenced HMO

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Landlord, two agents and letting agency each fined £30,000 highlighting tragic and expensive consequences of ignoring local HMO rules.

Agents and a
landlord who showed callous
disregard for their tenants’ safety have each been handed a maximum fine of
£30,000 after a fatal fire at their unlicensed property.

Agents Narinder and Joginder Singh, their company Homeseekers Ltd
and the landlord, failed to licence the property in Saxon Road, Southall, as an
HMO.

Serious safety
failings there led to the death of 17-year-old Nancy Kaur, who died from smoke
inhalation during a fire in January 2019.

The property,
built as a three-bedroom semi-detached house, but illegally converted into a
five-bedroom HMO, was home to ten people at the time of the fire, including a
family of five who were all sleeping in one room.

After the fire, Ealing council officers discovered the house lacked even basic fire safety measures, had no fire alarm or fire doors, smoke seals on the doors or emergency lighting. 

Fire spread

This had caused smoke to spread rapidly through the house, affecting the tenants, including the teenager and her mother, who remains hospitalised. Two other children were also seriously injured but have since recovered.

Ealing Council says if the owner and agents had applied for the council license, it would have required them to immediately install basic fire safety measures such as smoke alarms. 

The landlord decided to accept and pay his penalty but Homeseekers Ltd and the two agents, who are directors of the company, appealed. However, a residential property tribunal has upheld all three maximum penalties.

Councillor Joanna Camadoo-Rothwell, Ealing Council’s lead member for community safety and inclusion, says: “The harm that arose stemmed directly from the owner and agent’s failure to licence the property, which they deliberately avoided doing because they knew the house was unfit. The landlord and agents showed callous disregard for the safety of their tenants.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Fines totalling £120,000 follow fatal fire at unlicenced HMO | LandlordZONE.

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Wales: 12-month contracts, the Minister’s statement in full

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Twelve-month contracts are set to become mandatory in Wales under a new law announced today. The RLA has warned many landlords could leave the market, for fear of being stuck with  whose tenants are not paying the rent, are making neighbours lives a misery or wilfully damaging the property.  Julie James AM , the Minister for […]

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Meet Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) at NPN’s first event of 2020

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Norfolk Property Network’s first meeting of 2020 will be Wednesday 19th February at the Oaklands Hotel Norwich. I will be joined by Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) Hon legal Counsel to Property118 and the co-designer of a range of solutions for business structures wherever you are on your property career.

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Should letting agents be paid to refer services to landlords?

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Two key regulators ask estate agents to give their thoughts as industry faces ‘last chance saloon’ on referral fees.

A ban on referral fees paid
by third parties to estate agents for recommending services to landlords has
taken a step closer towards reality following an update from the Trading
Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team and the Property Ombudsman published
late on Friday.

The two organisations have
asked estate agents to consider whether they would prefer partial or total
disclosure of fees to landlords when doing business, and whether a total ban
would be appropriate.

The current Trading Standards
guidance issued last year only warns agents that they must reveal referral fees
or ‘risk prosecution’, but any government proposals on future legislation have
yet to be revealed.

But tackling the shady world
of referral fees has become a government priority as it bids to bring greater
transparency and fairness to the housing market.

The government wants
landlords to be able to shop around for services based on an unbiased
recommendation or, at the very least, for the referral fees earned by the agent
to be made clear.

This is alongside other
measures being considered including whether to regulate sales and lettings
agencies, how to reform the leasehold system and plans to force landlords to
join a national register in England, as they are already required to do in
Wales and Scotland.

Fees are earned by letting
agencies in a variety of ways across both sales and lettings.

This includes fees for referring landlords to conveyancers, inventory
companies, referencing agencies, mortgage providers and maintenance and repairs
firms.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Should letting agents be paid to refer services to landlords? | LandlordZONE.

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Proposed EPC band C by 2024 for Scottish homeowners

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Scottish Government have issued a further consultation to mandate EPC Band C on all homeowner’s properties offered for sale or which undergo major renovation by 2024, 6 years ahead of the previous target of 2030.

The current average rating in Scotland is D61

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