Durham is latest council to introduce huge new selective licensing scheme

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Landlords now have five weeks to let the council know their views on the schemes which will cover 65% of the county and 51,000 private rented properties.

Landlords are being given the chance to share
their views on a proposed large-scale selective licensing scheme across County
Durham.

Covering
43 of its 66 areas – 65% of the county – it would include 51,000 private rented
properties, as part of the county council’s bid to crack down on anti-social
behaviour, low demand and deprivation.

Durham County Council has already run three
selective licensing schemes in Dean Bank, Ferryhill, Chilton West and Wembley
in Easington Colliery, that ended in 2019.

It says
these made a positive impact, with a drop in reported crime and anti-social
behaviour and positive improvements in both the condition and management of
private rented properties.

It
hopes the new five-year scheme will prompt better managed and maintained
housing through the scheme and result in fewer empty properties, improve the
health and wellbeing of tenants and reduce anti-social behaviour, while
providing support and training to landlords.

Councillor
Kevin Shaw, cabinet member for strategic housing and assets, says: “Through the
selective licensing scheme, we will be able to work closely with landlords to
provide information, advice, guidance and tenancy support.

“We
will also be able to work with tenants themselves to help improve the standards
of housing and with our communities to reduce anti-social behaviour.”

This proposed areas include:
Consett West and Castleside, Hutton Henry and Wingate, Langley Park, Cornsay
and Satley, Crook South and Willington North and Cassop and Coxhoe. A council
consultation ends on 27^th April.

Find out more
from the council website.

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Housing minister reveals plans to shake up ‘unfair’ rentcharge system

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Landlords facing unreasonable estate charges for their properties may soon have reason to celebrate as the government says it will repeal the key legislation and standardise the system.

New Housing Minister Christopher Pincher has
promised to begin the process of shaking up the rentcharge
system in England.

In his first foray into housing, Esther McVey’s replacement said he was now
considering the Regulation
of Property Agents working group report and would announce the next steps, “in
due course”.

But he has
confirmed today that the government will repeal the much-maligned Law of
Property Act 1925 and its Section 121 provisions, which enable rentcharges to
be levied.

Said Pincher: “Where people pay estate rentcharges, it is
not right that these property owners have limited rights to challenge these
costs.

“That is why
the Government intends to legislate to give freeholders on private and mixed-tenure
estates equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness
of estate rent charges.”

A written question from Shadow Secretary of State
for Housing, John Healey, asked Pincher when he planned to bring forward
legislative proposals to protect freeholders against service charges and other
fees.

In reply, he said the Government had asked the working group to
look at how service charges for leaseholders – and estate rent charges for
resident freehold homeowners – could be made more transparent.

The group also considered if other fees and
charges, such as administration charges or permission fees, are justified or
whether they should be capped or banned.

The report, published last summer, was
prompted by accusations that management charges within estates are unfair, not
transparent and difficult to manage.

It suggested the Government looks into a ‘mandatory standardised charges’
form for both leaseholders and freeholders.

Pincher
added: “The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for
homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor
service.”

Join in the
latest debate about rentcharges on the LandlordZONE
forum.

Read
the RoPA report in full.

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Today in politics: ONS data, HMOs and Liverpool licensing

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Today we examine the latest ONS statistics, MP questions on HMO planning rules and Liverpool licensing. ONS: PRS rents up by less than inflation The Office for National Statistics has published the latest Index of Private Housing Rental Prices for the UK for January 2020.  It says:  Private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose […]

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Call of the Week-Responsibility for repairs

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The UK has been battered by some Storm Dennis this week, with many parts of the country experiencing incredibly strong winds. One RLA member gave our advice team a call this week, because heavy rainfall had meant that several things needed repairing at his rental property. He had several properties in his portfolio, and his […]

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LATEST: ITV Tonight news team to investigate Airbnb’s growing power

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Presenter Jonathan Maitland will look at how the platform has revolutionised travel accommodation, helped landlords increase revenue but also reveal downsides for communities.

ITV’s flagship news programme Tonight is to
broadcast an in-depth and critical look at Airbnb five years after it took hold
in the UK.

To be aired tomorrow (Thursday 20^th
February) at 7.30pm and presented by Jonathan Maitland, the programme will look
at how Airbnb has grown into a multimillion dollar behemoth revolutionising
both the way people book holidays and business accommodation, and how
increasing numbers of landlords make money from their properties.

“It’s been reported that 7% of residential
landlords have moved their properties to the short-stay market,” says Paul
Shamplina of Landlord Action.

The programme will also look at the downsides
of Airbnb’s success and examine two neighbourhoods where it’s impacting the
traditional housing market negatively.

This includes hollowing out areas as tourist
ghettos, driving up rents for longer-term tenants as supply to the traditional
market is squeezed, and encouraging the spread of ‘party houses’ used by stag
and hen-do organisers as a cheaper alternative to hiring a venue or hotel.

This final problem is one that LandlordZONE
has been reporting on for some time including last week when Airbnb told us
that it was preparing to take measures to ban these kinds of bookings, which
can lead to localised anti-social behaviour.

The Tonight team will also reveal how platforms such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Booking.com are being used by rogue tenants to sub-let properties they have rented via long-term contracts, for a profit. Two weeks ago, industry association ARLA Propertymark published a withering report on Airbnb, which the platform subsequently said featured ‘flawed conclusions’.

Watch Paul Shamplina’s video about the programme

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Consultation launched on extending minimum notice period for Section 21 in Wales

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The Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee has launched a consultation on plans announced by the Welsh Government last week to extend the minimum notice period for serving a Section 21 in Wales from two to six months. Under plans announced last week, landlords in Wales would be unable to gain possession of their property […]

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Estimated number of Landlords falls to 7 year low

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Hamptons International’s monthly lettings index shows that the number of landlords in the private rental sector (PRS) has fallen to a seven-year low. Over the last two years the rental sector in Great Britain has shrunk with the total number of privately rented homes falling by 156,410 since its peak in 2017.

The post Estimated number of Landlords falls to 7 year low appeared first on Property118.

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70th National Landlord Investment Show returns to Olympia

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The National Landlord Investment Show are celebrating their 70th show to date with a return to Olympia, London on 19th March 2020 with Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo. 

FROM kickstarting their journey at their very first show in Croydon

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Cash buyers quids in vs mortgage

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The latest research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has found that cash is still king when it comes to securing the best price on a property looking at the average price paid by cash buyers over the last 12 months and how this compared to that paid by buyers funded via a mortgage to see what the difference was and how this varied regionally across the UK.

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Council stands by its decision to expand selective licensing despite landlord protests

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Rotherham officials dismiss criticisms, telling LandlordZONE that landlords just want to stop the expanded scheme ‘negatively impacting their profit margins’.

Rotherham
Council is going ahead with a renewed five-year selective licensing scheme despite
protests that it will be an unnecessary financial burden on landlords.

Landlords
in the Eastwood/Town Centre, Masbrough, Maltby South East, Dinnington,
Thurcroft and Parkgate areas will have to stump up £521 to rent out their
property from 1^st May.

During a consultation, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) told the council that the fees were too high, meaning that landlords would have to pay for an expensive licence while criminal landlords continued to operate below the radar. It believes the scheme will put pressure on non-selective licensing areas.

Most landlords who responded were also unhappy,
with 65% against the proposals, a finding which the council says, “correlates
to a lower perception of relevant problems within proposed areas and an
opposition to licensing fees and other proposed terms, which may negatively
impact their profit margins”. In contrast, 58% of private tenants agreed with
the proposal.

A council spokesman says: “Often tenants are
reluctant to come forward for help fearing eviction. The policy will support
tenants in ensuring that their housing is improved where necessary without them
making a complaint and putting their tenancy at risk.”

However, after the consultation, Rotherham Council decided to adjust the proposed boundary of the Masbrough designation (to remove several dwellings which weren’t considered suitable for selective licensing) and also to postpone the declaration of the Little London area in Maltby. Any landlord who already has a licence which covers the period prior to May 1st 2020 will need to re-apply for a new licence so they can continue to be licensed.

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