Exclusive: leading letting agency calls for Right to Rent reform

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London firm Chestertons tells LandordZONE that the system is causing major problems for agents, landlords and tenants and should be enforced by the government, not private citizens.

A leading letting agency has called for major reform of the contentious Right to Rent scheme.

Guy Gittins, managing director of
global firm Chestertons believes the Government – not landlords – should be
responsible for checking would-be tenants’ immigration status.

Says Gittins:
“We would like to see the responsibility for Right to Rents checks – the cost
of which is also passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent – removed from
landlords and their managing agents and handed over to the Home Office.”

Richard Davies, Chestertons’ head of lettings, tells LandlordZONE that Right to Rent can cause issues for new
tenancies, especially when two tenants arrive at different times and only one
of them is present for the start date of the tenancy.

“Additional paperwork needs to
be actioned to accommodate such scenarios,” he says. “This is something that we
often see, on a weekly basis.” 

He adds that last summer, nationals arriving
from the USA or Australia didn’t receive a stamp in their passport on arrival,
and entry was held digitally, however, agents were still checking for stamps. “It
took a whole month for us to be informed by the Home Office about the change.”

Currently,
any landlord found to have rented to someone who doesn’t have the required
immigration status will face a fine of up to £3,000 or a criminal sentence.

The Joint
Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) believes
the Right to Rent scheme should be scrapped immediately.

“This
sort of discrimination is caused by the government’s decision to turn private
individuals, including landlords…into border guards,” Chai Patel, legal policy director,
tells LandlordZONE.

“It’s
wrong that private individuals are being conscripted into immigration
enforcement in this way, and we welcome all those who join the campaign for the
‘hostile environment’ to be scrapped.”

Last year, it bought a case
against the Home Office in the High Court, which
agreed that Right to Rent causes racial discrimination. As
a result, the Government was forced to halt its plans to roll the scheme out to
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. After the Government appealed, it’s now
waiting to hear whether the Court of Appeal will rule in its favour.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Exclusive: leading letting agency calls for Right to Rent reform | LandlordZONE.

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Budget 2020: Little for landlords as focus on Coronavirus

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New chancellor Rishi Sunak didn’t have much to offer landlords when he delivered his first budget in the Commons today.  The RLA was disappointed the Chancellor did not take positive action to help reverse the fall in the supply of homes to let by reviewing the tax system as outlined in the association’s submission. Its […]

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INSIGHT: Here’s why tenants shouldn’t complain about paying a deposit in the UK

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Research within the 15 largest rental markets around the world has found that some tenants are asked to put down 10 months’ rent or £6,145 as a deposit.

The UK is one of the most affordable places to begin a tenancy,
research among the world’s 15 largest private rental housing markets has
discovered.

As well as the first month’s rent, tenants in the UK must pay an
average deposit of £811 or a maximum of five weeks’ rent, as the law now
requires.

Only New Zealand and Turkey have lower deposits, although in Sweden
there are no renting deposits at all but, instead tenants must register with a
central national database which holds their rental payment track record.

But elsewhere it’s a different story. In Japan tenants must pay a
deposit equivalent to ten months’ rent or £6,145 and similarly South Korean
renters must also pay ten month’s rent as a deposit, or £4,360, the research by
alternative deposits provider Ome reveals.

In Denmark it’s three month’s rent or £4,432 while in the US tenants
pay three-and-a-half months’ rents or £3,547. And Swiss tenants are required to
pay as much as three months’ rent to secure a rental property, coming in at an
average cost of £3,542.

But in 24 of the 51 states in the US, there is no statutory limit on
security deposits and in these states, landlords and agents can legally charge
whatever they see fit.

Only a handful of countries have average deposits similar to ours
including Germany, Austria, Israel, Canada, Australia and France.

Co-founder of Ome,
Matthew Hooker, says: “Landlords need security to feel comfortable letting someone else
live in one of their largest assets.

“That’s why we’re focusing on how we can provide the landlord with the
exact same financial protection as a cash deposit, whilst reducing the upfront
costs to tenants when moving home to improve their day-to-day cash flow and
rental wellbeing.” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – INSIGHT: Here’s why tenants shouldn’t complain about paying a deposit in the UK | LandlordZONE.

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Breaking: Rent rises continue as property shortage bites

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Latest rental index shows rents up by 1.2% over the past year across the UK, but by much more in several regions.

Rents are still
rising across the UK with the average tenancy costing £955 a month, up 1.6% in
the last year.

Nine of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet
showed an increase in rental values between February 2019 and February 2020,
with two of those regions seeing a rise of more than 5%.

The North-West has
seen the largest jump, with renters there now
having to fork out £755 a month, up 6.8%.

The new HomeLet
Rental Index figures – which analyse brand new tenancies signed in February – show average rents in London are now a
whopping £1,650, up by 3.2% on last year, although South-East rents have bucked the national trend,
falling by 2.7% to £1,018 in the same period.

ARLA Propertymark recently
warned that a rise in rents was inevitable as fewer properties are available
for long-term rent, partly because thousands of landlords faced with burdensome regulations are quitting the private rented sector to offer short-term lets instead. 

Its survey of 1,000 landlords found that 2.7%
had moved from having long-term tenants; it says if this was applied across the
country, it would equate to 46,000 properties being made unavailable for local
people looking for a home.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Breaking: Rent rises continue as property shortage bites | LandlordZONE.

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RLA Wales addresses Senedd over proposed law to extend notice periods

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Landlords in Wales should be able to serve notice under Section 173 after four months, with this taking effect after the six month fixed term says the RLA. The association’s vice chair and director for Wales Douglas Haig addressed the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee at the Senedd today, and said this tweak to […]

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Jenricks’ planning rules shake up to get Britain building

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Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has set out proposals to bring Britain’s planning system into the 21st century as part of plans to get the country building.

Councils will be encouraged to take a more innovative approach to home building by ensuring redevelopment of high streets is housing led

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The DLR, Met and Piccadilly lines offer the best value for London renters

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The latest research by the international rental marketplace, Spotahome, has revealed the current cost of renting across the London Underground by line, zone and station, to show the capital’s renters where it’s best to look to find a tube stop bargain.

Spotahome
crunched the numbers looking at the average rent for property surrounding every
station’s postcode on the world-famous map so that renters moving to and within
London can keep costs down without moving miles from a handy tube transport
link.

The data includes all rental
properties located within the immediate outcode area of each station (the first
half of the postcode), to show just how much it costs to rent within a short
walking distance of each stop.

By Line

The DLR currently offers the
best value with the average rental cost across the line coming in at £1,769,
closely followed by the Metropolitan line (£1,857) and the Piccadilly Line
(£1,946).

Surprisingly the Central line
also ranks high for affordability with the average rent along the route
currently £1,996, along with the Jubilee line (£2,048).

Despite running between just
two stops, the central locations of Bank and Waterloo mean rents are high along
the Waterloo and City line at an average of £3,489, with the Circle line the
only other route to see the average rent exceed the £3,000 mark. 

By Zone

The London Underground purist
probably doesn’t count anything past Zone 6 as the official tube network, but
probably due to its external reaches, Zone 9 ranks as the most affordable on
average with rental prices at £1,225. Although again, it consists of just two
tube stops.  

Perhaps more surprisingly,
Zone 5 and 6 rank as the next most affordable as a whole with rents averaging
£1,399 and £1,417.  

Less surprisingly, Zone 1
takes the top spot for the most expensive zone with rents averaging £3,094. In
fact, Zone 1 alone is 58% more expensive to rent in than Zone 2, whilst Zone 2
is 11% less affordable than Zone 3. This demonstrates how looking just a few
stops further out can save you a huge amount in rent each month while remaining
within touching distance of the city centre.

By Station

The most affordable station to
rent around across the entire tube network at the moment is Watford at £1,057.
While rents remain low due to Watford’s position on the far peripherals of the
city, the town offers great value for money, a more relaxed feel, plenty of
green space and good transport links into the heart of London with commutes of
just 23 minutes direct to London Euston. All of which makes it popular amongst
homebuyers and renters alike.  

Aldgate East (£2,076) is the
most affordable rental tube stop in Zone 1, with nearby Mile End the cheapest
in Zone 2 (£1,309).

In Zone 3 it’s Turn Pike Lane
(£1,244), with Hounslow East and West the most affordable in Zones 4 and 5
(£1,135).  

At £1,173, Elm Park comes in
as the best bet for London renters looking for a bargain in Zone 6.  

James Kirimy, GM for Spotahome UK
and Ireland, commented:

“At Spotahome our goal is to
help people find and secure their new home fully digitally in just a few
clicks, without having to go through the traditionally painful and lengthy
physical viewing process.  

We do this with a mix of great
people and great tech. Our community of Homecheckers visit and verify the
properties published on our platform, take photos, record high-definition
videos of the property, create detailed floor plans and write property and
neighbourhood descriptions so that potential renters have everything they need
online to book online with peace of mind.

However, one thing in
particular that every tenant wants to know when it comes to renting in London
is ‘how close am I to the nearest tube stop?’  

The London Underground network
is the lifeline that connects the city and so finding that perfect balance of
affordability and easy access is critical.” 

Average rental data based on
the station outcode (first half of the station postcode) to show current rental
prices in the immediate area surrounding each stop. Current average rent
relates to all property types and sizes in each area. Source: PropertyData 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – The DLR, Met and Piccadilly lines offer the best value for London renters | LandlordZONE.

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Budget 2020 – What it means For property investors and UK property market

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I give my analysis in the video below on what the first UK budget of 2020 means for property investors and property entrepreneurs and considers any impact on the UK property market.

The key budget highlights for property investors and entrepreneurs are:
Temporary relief on business rates which will also help property developers converting commercial building.

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Shelter Seem To Be Abusing Their Financial Muscle, AGAIN!!!

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This weekend we heard that another landlord and their letting agency business are being bullied by Shelter, who are backing a Court case bought against both the landlord and agent jointly by a benefits claimant who was turned down down after viewing a property.

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