Brent licensing bid rejected

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Brent Council’s application to extend its selective licensing scheme in the wards of Willesden Green, Harlesden and Wembley Central have been rejected by Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP. The council had also hoped to extend the scheme to 10 new wards in the borough, following a consultation last year.  However, the government has said today more evidence […]

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Dampness, Condensation and Mould

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Damp:

It’s that time of
year landlords dread: their tenant complains about dampness in their
home and expect the landlord to do something about it, but what?

Nobody wants to live
in a damp home. It causes mould on walls, furniture, bedding and
clothes and it creates an unhealthy environment.

There are three
main causes of damp:

(1) rising damp
which emanates from the foundations up and shows itself on the lower
parts of ground floor walls , skirting, floorboards etc. and if left
unchecked can lead to wet and dry rot in floor timbers.

(2) penetrating
damp which result from faults in the structure of the building,
leaking roofs, gutters, downpipes, window frames etc. This can also
damage the fabric of the building if left unchecked and again can
result is wet and dry rot.

(3) condensation,
perhaps the most common cause of black mould and mildew on fabrics,
clothes and wallpaper.

Points one and two
are problems for the landlord to see to without delay. The landlord
is under a legal obligation to maintain the fabric of the building
which provides a safe, warm and dry home.

Condensation is
slightly different because although it can be caused by problems with
the building it is also something which may be caused by the actions
of the occupants – the tenants. That’s why it is so difficult to
deal with for landlords.

Older buildings with
limited insulation are more susceptible to condensation than modern
fully insulated buildings, but any building can be affected if the
conditions are right, even newly built ones. In fact new-builds are
often more like an air tight box, so poorly ventilated and new
plaster takes some time to fully dry out.

Condensation occurs
when moist air comes into contact with a cold surface like a wall,
window, mirror, wallpaper, clothing and fabrics etc. Warm air rises
so it is more often the tops of walls and ceilings which are
affected, usually in upstairs rooms like bathrooms and bedrooms.

The warm
moisture-holding air can’t hold the moisture when it hits cold
surfaces and it deposits tiny drops of water. When there is still
air, like the corners of rooms, behind furniture or inside wardrobes
the problem will be worse.

The usual causes are
when steam is produced from cooking, drying clothes on radiators,
baths and showers, where the steam produced is not immediate vented
to the outside.

Condensation and
black mould is unsightly and can cause health problems, so tenants
may need to be “educated” as to methods of preventing
condensation:

How to reduce
damp and condensation in the home, what the tenant can do:

(1) Produce
less moisture and make sure
it is vented to the outside.

Simple things will
make a big difference, like opening a window when cooking and
showering, keeping the doors closed to prevent moisture spread
throughout the house, keeping the lids on pans when cooking and using
cooker extractor fans, drying clothes outside (and especially not on
radiators), venting tumble dryers to the outside. Paraffin heaters or
flue-less bottled gas heaters produce a lot of excess moisture.
Landlords can help here by providing automatic ventilation fans in
kitchens and bathrooms. These come on automatically when they sense
steam / moisture.

(2) Maintain a
reasonable level of heat. A cold house leads to cold surfaces which
absorb moisture. By maintaining a good level of heating in the home
the surfaces will not absorb the moisture and therefore there will be
little on no condensation. Heating, coupled with good ventilation at
the source of the moisture will cure most cases of condensation
completely.

Invariably, in bad
cases of condensation the tenant is scrimping on heating and because
the house is so cold is reluctant to ventilate. I’ve even seen
cases where ventilation ducts and trickle vents are blocked to
prevent drafts because the house is so cold. This coupled with drying
clothes indoors and all the other sources of moisture generation
leads to a vicious circle of more cold, more moisture penetration and
more condensation.

Once this cycle is
started the fabric of the building absorbs the moisture and in
extreme cases timber, plaster and masonry are damaged permanently.
Also, once the spores are established the mould will quickly return
every time the right condition are present even when deep cleaning
has occurred.

How to reduce
damp and condensation in the home, what the landlord can do:

(1) Make sure the
building is free from external defects, rising and penetration damp.

(2) Make sure the
home is insulated to modern standards meeting the latest Energy
Efficiency Standard of E or above.

(3) Make sure the
heating system is up to standard and is reasonably efficient to run –
tenants will avoid using energy if it is costing them too much.

(4) Provide
extractor fans which are an effective way to get rid of moist air and
steam so that less condensation forms. Some very modern homes have
extractor fans which are automatic or run continuously, fitted in the
ceilings of kitchen, bath and shower rooms.

(5) Provide door
closers to keep moisture confined to where it is generated.

(6) In extreme cases
think about a fully forced ventilation system where an air pump in
the attic continually circulates the air.

(7) Provide written
information to educate tenants as to how they can minimise the
problem.

How to get rid of
black mould

If the home is
already affected by black mould after a long period of condensation
build-up, it needs to be properly cleaned with a spray containing
bleach. Wear a mask to prevent inhaling mould spores which are
dangerous to health. After the area is dry it should be sprayed with
an anti-fungal wash and allow that to dry again – follow the
manufacturer’s instructions.

You can also treat
the affected areas with mould-resistant paint, available from most
major hardware stores, but this should not be necessary if the
problem is properly cured.

Images of black and
unsightly mould in the corners of rooms are always the focus of TV
documentaries and reports on the housing conditions that tenants are
living in, and almost always the blame for this is put at the
landlord’s door. A proper understanding of condensation and mould
and its causes shows that very often it’s caused by the lifestyle
of the tenants, and its only they who can do something about it.

A typical
scenario goes like this:

“I have noticed
black patches on the wall paper, mould on my clothes in the wardrobe
and a damp musty smell throughout the house but particularly
upstairs. Landlord, what are you going to do about it, are you going
to compensate me for the damage to my clothes?

“I’ve asked a
damp specialist who tells me there’s definitely damp in here, so
it’s not just me saying this, can we get someone in to deal with
it?”

A few points to
consider if you are faced with this:

Condensation, damp
and mould is a very complex issue and it’s not always obvious what
the cause is and who should be held responsible, so you should avoid
jumping to conclusions as to whose fault it really is.

Also, it must be
born in mind that advisors on damp often have a vested interest in
finding a problem, which they can then be contracted to “cure”.

If it comes to legal
action and blame, enforcement has just as often been against the
tenant as it has against the landlord when with expert witnesses
cases have come to court.

Unless a specific
cause can be identified for the dampness such as leaking roof, walls,
gutters, drains, water pipes or rising damp, the black mould is more
often than not caused by condensation – air born water vapour.

Condensation in turn
is sometimes caused be inadequacies in the building construction,
such as poor ventilation, insulation and inadequate heating systems
and older properties are more susceptible because they generally
require more heating and suffer greater heat loss.

A full investigation
should be carried out and if necessary a temperature monitor can be
installed to check the average level of heating which should not fall
below 18 degrees minimum.

If the issue results
in a dispute it is useful if landlords have a record of the history
of the property; have previous occupants experienced the same
problem, or is this down to one tenancy?

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Dampness, Condensation and Mould | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Dampness, Condensation and Mould

SHORT-LETS: Beware ‘guaranteed rent’ schemes, warn undercover blogger and evictions specialist

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Increasing numbers of landlords are being left out of pocket and facing the wrath of local authorities, building managers and lenders when short-let based guaranteed rent schemes go wrong.

An anonymous blogger has spilled the beans on
the growing but shadowy world of companies who persuade landlords to let them
sub-let properties to corporates and holiday makers in return for ‘guaranteed
rent’ schemes.

The blog, written by an un-named London
letting agent, warns landlords on two fronts.

Firstly, managing agents who look after large
blocks of leasehold apartments are wising up to the practice, which is often in
breach of the head lease, as are mortgage companies who often exclude
short-lets within their terms and conditions.

The anonymous blogger, who is believed to be the
boss of a London letting agency, says he recommends to his landlords that they
turn down these ‘corporate let’ offers because, all too often, the intermediate
companies disappear, leaving the landlord out of pocket.

“We recently took on and rented an apartment that had been let
to a short let company on a ‘guaranteed rent’,” they say.

“Unfortunately
the short let company was struggling and by the time we re-let the apartment, the
Landlord was owed several months of rent.”
Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action says this kind of activity has increased
ten-fold in recent years because, with rent rising dramatically, companies
operating in the ‘sub-letting with consent’ market – as it is also known – are
aware that there are huge profits to be made.
“There are some professional companies that do it
correctly, but mostly it’s the wild west,” says Shamplina.

“At Landlord Action we see it at
the other end, when the landlord is not being passed on the rent, or their
property is overcrowded and breaching so many regulations…but they are on the
hook for any action the authorities decide to bring. 

“It’s a multi-million pound business, that
will keep growing and will not be controlled, unless there is stiffer
regulation and much more resource needed for stiffer enforcement”.Read
the blog in full.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – SHORT-LETS: Beware ‘guaranteed rent’ schemes, warn undercover blogger and evictions specialist | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: SHORT-LETS: Beware ‘guaranteed rent’ schemes, warn undercover blogger and evictions specialist

Extra £112m funding for councils to help get people off the streets

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More rough sleepers are to be helped off the streets and into safe accommodation after an extra £112 million funding for councils, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick.

This funding is a 30% increase this year and will be used by local authorities

The post Extra £112m funding for councils to help get people off the streets appeared first on Property118.

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Differences of opinion – What do you think?

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In embedded video below there are two answers given by the presenters (Mark Smith and Andrew Roberts) that I disagree with.

The first is in regards to the pricing on Limited Company Buy-to-Let mortgages vs individual Buy-to-let mortgages.

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LATEST: Insurance policies to feature ‘Airbnb clauses’ reveals leading provider

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Specialist broker and underwriter PIKL says property owners will soon be asked whether they intend to rent out their properties via short-let platforms when applying for insurance.

A recently-launched initiative
to introduce new questions for property owners to answer when applying for property
insurance will be a ‘game changer’, LandlordZONE has been told.

This means that, soon, home
owners and landlords will no longer be able to use short-term let platforms
like Airbnb without knowingly breaching the terms of their policy.

“This development is
significant because one of the biggest challenges is identifying who is doing
short-lets rentals and making sure they get the correct kind of insurance,”
says Louise Birritteri (pictured) of specialist insurer PIKL.

Birritteri says she doesn’t
believe anyone deliberately tries to avoid getting short-lets insurance, but
rather than many don’t realise that renting out a property or room via Airbnb,
for example, could void their existing cover.

She says the questions, which
may take some time to become standards, were developed in partnership with Polaris,
one of the main standards setters within the insurance industry.

“We found that insurance companies, brokers and price
comparison websites were not determining, in their traditional customer
journeys, whether those taking out cover were short term letting,” says
Birritteri.

“Without collecting this information, customers are at risk of
unintentionally taking out cover that may be inappropriate for them or could be
voided by their sharing activity.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Insurance policies to feature ‘Airbnb clauses’ reveals leading provider | LandlordZONE.

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EXCLUSIVE: Large fine over improvement notice exposes risks of buying rental properties

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Following a £15,000 fine a landlord in Harrogate, RLA legal expert David Smith warns landlords to work with local authorities if properties they purchase are sub-standard… or risk a fine.

Landlords are being urged to tread carefully when buying
properties with improvement notices, after one was fined £15,000 for failing to
make repairs that were flagged up when it bought the house.

Kingspark Limited lost its appeal
against the fine at tribunal after its property on Electric Avenue, Harrogate
(pictured), was found to have fire and gas hazards, as well as mould and
structural issues. ​

An improvement notice had been
served on a previous owner who failed to carry out repairs, which meant
Kingspark became responsible for the problems when it bought the property in
September 2018. ​

David Smith, policy director at the Residential Landlords
Association, warns landlords to be cautious about buying properties with
notices and engage actively with local authorities if they do.

He tells LandlordZONE: “At the same time, local
authorities should look to work with landlords buying properties that need work
as they are potentially there to sort things out and so they must engage
positively with them.”

An investigation by Harrogate
Council landed Kingspark with the fine; it had given the company three months
to comply with the notice, but repairs were made after the deadline. ​

Kingspark then appealed the
penalty but the tribunal concluded that its delay in agreeing to carry out the
works was unjustifiable. It did not admit its culpability but continued to
blame the tenant for the condition of the property, according to the tribunal.
​

The council says its policy is in line with legislation. Councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer
communities, says:
“Even after being served with an improvement notice this landlord failed to act
responsibly.

“This
is an important reminder for landlords that as the housing authority we have
the powers, and where necessary, will use them to protect tenants and residents.”​

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: Large fine over improvement notice exposes risks of buying rental properties | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Activists call landlords ‘parasites’ and picket TV presenter’s buy-to-let workshop

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Living Rent claims rent rises are ‘out of control’ in some parts of Scotland and that Martin Roberts’ event in Edinburgh is encouraging market speculation.

Scotland’s
tenants’ union has branded landlords “parasites” and is picketing an Edinburgh
event tomorrow aimed at helping them maximise profits.

At least 50 Living Rent supporters
are poised to join a demonstration outside the free workshop, described as a
free two-hour preview for Homes Under The
Hammer presenter Martin Roberts’ property investment course.

Although Roberts himself
won’t be at the event at the city’s Hilton hotel, aspiring landlords will be
given tips about
how to acquire finance, beat the
competition, and calculate their maximum price – complete with training videos
and e-books.

Rent controls

Living Rent is repeating
calls for the Scottish Government to introduce more effective rent control
measures, with a call to action on its Facebook
page: “Join us to say homes should be for people, not for profit – and demand
the government introduce proper, strong rent controls to stop property
parasites from driving tenants into poverty.”

So far, 52
people have promised to take part in the protest with more than 300 people
interested in the event.

The group says the costs of renting in Scotland’s capital
continue to rise at eye-watering levels, and that between 2010 and 2019, the
Lothians saw the average price rent for a two-bedroom property rise from £665 a
month to £972, a 46.3% increase.

Eleanor White, from Living Rent, says: “Scotland’s
housing market is deeply broken. People simply won’t forgive the government if
it continues to stand by and watch as people are driven further into poverty by
this kind of parasitic approach to housing.”Pauline
McNeill MSP’s Proposed Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill or ‘Mary Barbour Bill’ is currently hoping to win
approval in the Scottish Parliament; it aims to radically reform the sector by
linking rents to average wages and providing more information about rent
levels.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Activists call landlords ‘parasites’ and picket TV presenter’s buy-to-let workshop | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: LATEST: Activists call landlords ‘parasites’ and picket TV presenter’s buy-to-let workshop

How are you feeling about being a landlord? Well, that depends on your location and portfolio size!

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Research by buy-to-let mortgage firm Paragon rising optimism among landlords but with surprisingly wide regional and business sector differences.

Landlords in the South West and East Midlands are most likely to be feeling good about their business and predicted yields over the next three months, while those in central London and the North West most downbeat about their balance sheet.

In its quarterly market overview, buy-to-let mortgage provider Paragon reports that it’s not all doom and gloom in the sector, with those renting out 11 or more properties the most positive about their prospects.

Interviewing
nearly 800 landlords, it found 42% in the South West rated business
expectations as good or very good in the next three months compared with 23% in
the North West.

Boris
bounce

The
Boris Bounce seems to be filtering down into the private rented sector generally,
as Paragon found a big jump in landlord confidence in the UK financial market,
with 24% rating its prospects as good or very good compared to just 9% in Q3.

And
although they’re less optimistic about the prospects for yields, landlords
still believe both rents and property prices will increase as a direct result
of the election; a quarter of respondents said rents would rise, compared to 1%
who predicted a fall.

Richard Rowntree, Paragon managing director of mortgages,
welcomed the green shoots of recovery in confidence after several quarters of declining
optimism.

“Although
still low compared to historic levels, a more certain political and economic
landscape will hopefully provide the platform for confidence to continue to
grow,” he says.

“Although
tenant demand has remained strong, landlords have had to weather a myriad of
regulatory and tax changes over the past five years, so they will be looking
for Government to allow those changes to fully bed in and for a period of
consistency.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – How are you feeling about being a landlord? Well, that depends on your location and portfolio size! | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: How are you feeling about being a landlord? Well, that depends on your location and portfolio size!

ARLA report – Huge blow for tenants

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ARLA’s latest PRS report, click here, shows tenant demand reaching a record high in January, with an average of 88 prospective tenants registered per member branch. Annual demand for rental accommodation has increased by 21%, rising from 73 in January 2019.

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