REFERENCING update: Ombudsman ruling backs landlord over ‘reckless’ tenant checks by agency

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Adjudication published today finds in favour of landlord after it cost her nearly £5,000 to evict a tenant whom her lettings agency had inadequately referenced.

An important ruling has underlined how the financial consequences of inadequate tenant referencing are the responsibility of a letting agent and not their client landlord.

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has today expelled Reading firm Concept Lettings Ltd – trading as Concept Sales & Lettings – from its scheme after it failed to repay an award of £4,704 to one of its landlords.

TPO says the dispute arose when the landlord, who has not been named, asked the company to secure a tenant for her property on a find-only basis.

After moving in, the tenant then stopped paying the rent and refused to leave the property, costing the landlord considerable sums in proven financial loss including unpaid rent, court costs and legal expenses.

After the landlord referred the matter to the ombudsman, it was discovered that the agency had failed to reference the tenant properly and that the ensuing costs were ‘entirely avoidable’, the adjudication says.

Reckless

TPO says the inadequate way in which the tenant and their guarantor were referenced was ‘reckless’.

“There was simply not enough information to determine whether the tenant or the guarantor could afford to pay the rent and the results of the referencing provider’s credit score checks could not reasonably be relied on as the reports lacked sufficient detail,” says TPO.

It also reveals that the landlord was not made aware of the significant risks involved when she accepted the tenant’s rental application and had not been told the full facts.

TPO awarded the landlord £4,704 in compensation but the agency failed to pay her the money and has now been expelled and can no longer trade legally or advertise on any of the property portals.

The filing of its accounts at Companies House are two months overdue, its website is offline and its premises have been taken over by another lettings agency.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – REFERENCING update: Ombudsman ruling backs landlord over ‘reckless’ tenant checks by agency | LandlordZONE.

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Scottish council hikes HMO licensing charges ten-fold for student landlord

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In a worrying development Fife Council has moved its charges from a flat-based fee structure to take into account the number of occupants, increasing its licensing charges from £54,000 to £512,000 for St Andrews University.

Landlords who fear some councils are seeking
to make money from HMO licencing fees should take note from Fife council, which
has hiked its charges for licensing properties to one landlord nearly ten-fold.

Fife Council has recently moved from a
flat-based fee structure for licenses to take into account the number of
occupants in an HMO.

Its new policy includes increasing the fees
charges to St Andrews University from £54,000 every three years to £512,000.

The Student Union says 85% of this fee increase stems from the council’s decision to treat each individual flat, rather than each block, in university student halls’ David Russell Apartments (pictured) as a separate HMO.

Students fear it could lead to them being
priced out of university accommodation and moving into private housing.

The university currently
holds 332 HMO licences, with the council charging a fee for each individual
licence, which should cover administration, visits for inspections and any
other costs.

Last year, it rejected proposals to increase the number
of HMO licenses in St Andrews, in a bid to encourage the university to build
more affordable student accommodation.

Vania Kennedy, housing service manager, told Fife Today: “Fife Council’s fees are in line with those charged by other councils with a high number of HMOs.

“The costs of HMO licensing
represent a small percentage of the income that HMO owners will receive through
rents and there should be no need to pass on the increase in HMO fees to
occupants through rent increases. This is entirely at the discretion of
individual HMO owners.”

No one at Fife Council was available for
comment.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Scottish council hikes HMO licensing charges ten-fold for student landlord | LandlordZONE.

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Rapid eviction of tenants – Q&A

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Following on from the webinar we held on the 20th November 2019, we have compiled some further questions that were asked by attendees. The webinar was presented by Matt Carter here at The Sheriffs Office and Yezdan Isset from Bolt Burdon solicitors.

The post Rapid eviction of tenants – Q&A appeared first on Property118.

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Tenant handed in notice but wants rent refund?

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My live in tenants break clause occurs on the 21st of march 2020, he served 1 month notice 5 days early on the 16th Feb (in writing), stating that he wants to move out on the 16th of March. Although slightly disappointed

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Labour MP presses government on timetable for Renters’ Reform Bill introduction

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Rosie Cooper, Labour MP for West Lancashire has received her response to a written question on the timetable for the introduction of the Renters Reform Bill. It has been two months since Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP announced the Renters Reform Bill as part of the Queens Speech. Responding to Ms Cooper’s question, Junior Minister […]

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Flooding – both a landlord’s and a tenant’s nightmare…

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Storms & Floods:

Given the severity
of the bad weather and floods in some areas of the country recently,
the past weeks have been an extremely anxious time for some tenants
and landlords.

Unfortunately it
appears that these worries are not going to go away anytime soon.
Year on year we’ve seen certain locations at risk of flooding and
it could get worse. According to the Environment Agency there are
over 5 million properties in England alone that are at risk of
flooding.

Not only does it
turn lives up-side-down, if not handled sensitively it puts a
tremendous strain on the landlord tenant relationship. Good landlords
will take the view that the situation is devastating for their
tenants and do all they can to help.

This may involve
personally getting involved in the clearing operation and
establishing weather the home is still fit for habitation while the
necessary repairs are carried out.

Sooner or later
thoughts will turn to who is responsible for doing the repairs, the
cost of any temporary accommodation if the place is uninhabitable,
and whom pays for all the repairs and replacements?

In an areas that
have suffered extensive flooding tradespeople are likely to be very
busy, so getting someone to come quickly, even when the insurance
company has assessed the damage and given the go-ahead, could be
problematic and will probably take some time.

First off, the
tenants’ personal possessions are not the landlord’s
responsibility, so unless the tenants have paid for their own
tenant’s contents insurance they will find themselves forking out
for this. If the tenants don’t have contents insurance the local
council might be able to help them with items of necessity through
local charities and their welfare assistance schemes.

Secondly, assuming
the flood was in no way caused by the tenants, the landlord is pretty
much responsible for everything else: any structural damage to the
property, the supply of water, electricity and gas, and re-instating
any damaged appliances, carpets, furniture etc., supplied with the
property. Effectively the landlord must reinstate the property to as
it was before the flood.

Tenants have the
responsibility of minimising flood damage to the property and its
consents as it occurs, within the limits of personal safety, and
informing the landlord and the authorities about the situation
without delay.

If the property is
habitable and the tenant is willing to “work around” or should we
say “live around” the repair work as it progresses, then
negotiations may be entered into regarding some form of proportionate
rent reduction to compensate for the inconvenience.

If agreement can be
met in these circumstances, the onus is then on the landlord to
progress the work as quickly as possible, or at leat within a
reasonable time, given what was mentioned above, that in severely
flooded areas trades skills may be at a premium and trades people
hard to secure.

If the property is
uninhabitable then the situation is much more complicated. The
landlord’s insurance may cover for temporary accommodation for the
tenants, and if the repairs can be carried out within that period,
then all well and good. As the flood was not the fault of the
landlord and everything else being equal, such as the convenience of
the new accommodation, then no further compensation for the tenants
would necessarily be involved.

Where the landlord’s
insurance does not cover for the temporary accommodation, and whether
the remedial work is going to be long-term, than the tenants would
need to contact the local authority for re-housing. There is no
immediate obligation on the landlord to re-house the tenants.

However, if a flood
in the property was caused by the landlord’s neglect, a breach of
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which states the
property must be kept in a good state of repair, then responsibility
for rehousing the tenants, and paying the costs of rehousing, would
be on the landlord.

The tenants should
be treated as a priority case by the local authority in this sort of
emergency, bearing in mind there could be many others in the same
situation, but it is an emergency. The local council has a legal
responsibility to find the tenants and family suitable temporary
accommodation, and the tenants might have to register as homeless to
get this process moving.

The landlord and
tenant may want to agree a surrender of the tenancy if the repairs
are likely to take a long time, but otherwise where the tenants wish
to return, they should be continuing to pay the rent, albeit at a
mutually agreed reduced rate, given the inconvenience to them.

Alternatively, where
the tenants are prepared to find and pay for temporary accommodation
themselves, then negotiations could be entered into where the
landlord may suspend the rent payments or pay reasonable costs
towards the alternative accommodation.

For those tenants on
housing benefits, they should seek advice as to what payments are
available toward their existing home’s rent, the temporary
accommodation home’s rent, or a contribution towards both.

Landlords should
check their landlord’s Insurance policy to make sure it provides
adequate cover in the event of flooding.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Flooding – both a landlord’s and a tenant’s nightmare… | LandlordZONE.

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Major landlord calls for government to change direction on PRS

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A leading private rented sector player in both London and beyond tells LandlordZONE that he and the fellow landlords are getting fed up with the government’s conflicted and increasingly political approach to renting.

A senior figure from the property world has made an impassioned plea for central government and local councils to change direction and work with landlords instead of increasingly attempting to trip them up.

The landlord, who has asked that his comments are made anonymously for fear of upsetting local politicians in the areas he operates within, says he is becoming increasingly frustrated by the rhetoric coming from the government, and the conflicting messages he receives from local councils.

The industry figure, who is a significant player in the UK rental market, says he is unhappy that all landlords are tarred with the same brush of being ‘rogue’ even though this type makes up a miniscule percentage of the landlord population.

“There are a lot more rogue tenants than there are rogue landlords,” he says.

“But the current climate is political rather than common sense – you have a government which is trying to appeal with its policies to the millions of potential tenant voters, even though these policies will eventually work against the interest of tenants,” he says.

“This has created an atmosphere where the message from on top is that landlords are ripping tenants off and that we are the bad guys.”

He says politicians need to realise, and quickly, that landlords are providing a service that national and local governments are failing to provide themselves through the social and affordable housing routes.

“We are doing them a favour and yet the politicians are bad-mouthing us, are making it increasingly difficult to evict tenants while local authorities too often brief tenants against us and make it difficult to get licences for properties,” he adds.

He also believes the current policies are wrong-headed because the extra costs of paying fees that tenants once bore, and the spread of expensive selective licensing schemes, will push rents up and make it harder for people to afford rented properties.

For example, in one London borough it costs him £50,000 to licence his 100 apartments within its selective licensing scheme every five years.

“It’s just crazy – landlords can’t endlessly subsidise what is going on,” he says.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Major landlord calls for government to change direction on PRS | LandlordZONE.

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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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Durham is latest council to introduce huge new selective licensing scheme | LandlordZONE.

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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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Housing minister reveals plans to shake up ‘unfair’ rentcharge system | LandlordZONE.

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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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