Call of the Week: Deposits and the tenant fees ban in England

admin    Uncategorized     agents

This week the advice team were able to assist one of our members with a matter relating to their tenancy deposits. They had deposits that were protected in schemes for some of their tenancies that were above 5 weeks’ worth of rent, and wanted to know if and when they should go about refunding the […]

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Freeholder charging £36k for a new roof for my BTL Flat!?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I am extremely ill informed as to what to do next. If someone could point me in the right direction, whether it be advice on here, or which professional I should be taking to about this  – I am happy to pay for a solicitor if that’s what’s needed

The building is a 2 story Edwardian house that was converted into 2 flats in the 70’s I believe.

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LATEST: Landlords do not have to return deposits for ongoing tenancies signed BEFORE June 1st last year

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The tenant fees ban and its five-week cap on deposits does not come in fully for all tenancies until later this year, landlords should note.

Government authorised tenancy deposit protection
provider mydeposits
has reported a rise in calls from landlords and agents who mistakenly believe
all deposits must comply with the cap by the end of the Tenant Fees Act
transition period on 1 June 2020.

Some of this confusion could be due to an article
from the DPS, which incorrectly states that all three of the Government
authorised tenancy deposit schemes advise that deposits over the cap amount
should be returned to the tenant, including
for tenancies entered into before 1 June 2019.

The deposit cap, which was introduced under the
tenant fee ban last June, set a cap on the amount that can be taken as a
security deposit (five week’s rent for tenancies where the total annual rent
for the property is less than £50,000 per year, six week’s rent where the total
annual rent for the property is between £50,000 and £100,000 per year).

Rental cap

But the cap does not
apply to on-going tenancy agreements signed before 1 June 2019.

If the tenancy agreement was signed before that date
and rolls into a statutory periodic tenancy, then the deposit does not need to
be reduced until it ends or is renewed, and a new tenancy agreement is signed.

At this point the deposit cap will apply and any
excess deposit must be refunded.

This wasn’t clear in the Government guidance on the
transition period, which came out quite late, but has now been clarified in the
Government’s updated Tenant
Fees Act 2019: Guidance for landlords and agents.

Head of Dispute Resolution at mydeposits, Suzy
Hershman, explains: “We’re advising our landlords and agents that if the
deposit was taken before 1 June 2019, and the tenancy is ongoing, the deposit
cap does not apply.”

Hamilton Fraser’s new helpline for letting agents, HF Assist,
has also received several calls from letting agents, confused about whether
they have returned all surplus deposits in advance of the impending transition deadline
of 1 June 2020.

HF Assist Project Consultant, Mike Morgan, comments:
“While it’s encouraging that so many agents are getting organised, we have been
surprised by the calls we are getting on this.

“We’re advising agents that, as well as checking
which deposits are over the cap, they need to make sure they check the history
of the tenancy too. Knowing when the tenancy started and is ending is key.”

In a nutshell

By reducing the cap and refunding a proportion of
the deposit to their tenants unnecessarily, landlords and agents are leaving
themselves with less protection than they would have had against bad tenants.

Pet point

Any landlords and agents who took a pet deposit before the tenant fee ban came into force will have to refund the deposit when a new tenancy agreement is signed, as this is no longer permitted under the tenant fee ban. For more information, read the Government’s guidance on the Tenant Fee Act, or you can access mydeposits guidance here . Please note this advice applies to England only.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Landlords do not have to return deposits for ongoing tenancies signed BEFORE June 1st last year | LandlordZONE.

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Stamp duty overhaul could be put on ice in Budget

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The property industry will be hoping that housing is a top priority in the upcoming Budget, set to be delivered by new Chancellor Rishi Sunak on March 11. It is the first Budget from the new government elected in December and although it could be a quiet day for the private rented sector

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West Midlands landlord is first in UK to be slapped with Slavery & Trafficking Risk Order

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Kashmir Binning ignored official warnings that his properties were being used by a Polish ‘slave gang’ and must now pay fines totalling £14,000 and adhere to strict rules.

A
rogue landlord who ignored the plight of hundreds of Polish slaves housed in
his three Birmingham properties has had a landmark court order made against
him.

Kashmir
Singh Binning leased the houses to a Polish gang that trafficked up to 400
vulnerable people in houses across the West Midlands, forcing them to work on
farms and rubbish recycling centres.

The
victims endured squalid conditions, slept on dumped mattresses and had no
working toilets, heating, furniture or hot water in some of the properties.

A
judge granted a Slavery & Trafficking Risk Order against Binning – the
first of its kind ever secured under Modern Slavery legislation – which runs
until 2025 and binds him by various conditions: not to accept cash payments
from tenants, to agree to property inspections every three months, and to
provide the local authority with signed tenancy agreements containing details
of all occupants.

Detectives
investigating the trafficking ring had advised Binning, from Kirkham Way in
Tipton, in August 2016 that his properties were being used to house slavery
victims. Despite this, he continued to rent them out.

His
Queen’s Head Road property was largely gutted by a fire in December 2015. A
fire safety report revealed the house had no smoke detectors or fire doors and
was home to several Polish nationals, despite tenancy documents showing it was
leased to one person with no scope for sub-letting. 

Binning
didn’t co-operate with Birmingham Council’s enquiry and also failed to act on
anti-social behaviour concerns at his properties or carry out remedial work
when inspectors found widespread mould and damp.

Detective
Sergeant Mike Wright says: “Binning’s role was pivotal to the group being able
to house victims easily, quickly and at affordable cost. He was friends with
some of the suspects and willing to turn a blind eye.”

Binning was also ordered to pay £14,000 in court
costs.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – West Midlands landlord is first in UK to be slapped with Slavery & Trafficking Risk Order | LandlordZONE.

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Is the no-deposit scheme correct?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I would appreciate your views on the following. I had a new tenant sign up for a 12 month (fixed-term) AST for a room at £550 pcm.

I gave the tenant the option of providing a deposit equal to 5 months’ rent or for him to set up an arrangement with a no-deposit scheme equal to the value of 8 weeks rent.

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Protestors force TV star’s property seminar to be called off

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Organiser tells LandlordZONE that it sympathises with protestors but says its courses promote professionalism and the provision of quality properties.

Scottish protestors have picketed and shut down a property investment seminar run by TV star Martin Roberts in Scotland.

The country’s tenants’ union Living Rent surrounded the entrance to the Making Money from Property event at Edinburgh’s Hilton Hotel, which aimed to show attendees how to maximise profits, calling for rent controls.

One of a
series of events organised by Martin Roberts from BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer, it was called off after 50 protestors gathered
outside and challenged organisers.

A
spokeswoman for Asset Academy, which runs the events, told LandlordZONE: “We
appreciate that high rents in city centres are causing issues, and have
sympathy with the concerns of tenants in these places and any groups
representing them. 

“However,
the property training courses that Martin Roberts has co-developed with Asset
Academy are designed to show people how to do things correctly. We teach how to
be a proper, professional landlord, who abides by regulations and offers
quality properties in the much-needed private rental sector.”

Although Roberts himself wasn’t at the
Edinburgh event, aspiring landlords were expecting tips about how to acquire
finance, beat the competition, and calculate their maximum price – complete
with training videos and e-books.

Despite the setback, the Martin Roberts roadshow continues its journey around
the UK, hitting Luton and Taunton on Wednesday and Northampton and Exeter on
Thursday, with more locations planned throughout March. The free two-hour
sessions are a taster of the presenter’s three-day property training workshops
which will set you back £997.

Living Rent
says these seminars underline the need for the Scottish Government to introduce
rent controls, so that tenants aren’t forced into poverty by high rents. Living
Rent member Claire Thomson says: “The fortunes these people promise don’t come
out of nowhere, they come from tenants who are already desperately struggling
to make ends meet. It has to stop.”

One of the
protest organisers, Gordon Maloney, adds: “This action showed that tenants
aren’t going to just sit back and allow rents to continue going through the
roof if the Government doesn’t act.”

The group says the costs of renting in
Scotland’s capital continues 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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Protestors force TV star’s property seminar to be called off | LandlordZONE.

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Minister criticised after letting agents given another year to comply with client money protection law

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Extension of grace period to April 1^st 2021 was voted through in parliament last night but Labour says this means landlord are at risk for longer.

The new housing minister
Chris Pincher has been criticised by Labour for giving letting agents another
year to get ready for the now legal requirement to comply with Client Money
Protection (CMP) regulations.

During a debate in
Parliament last night, shadow housing minister Alex Cunningham said the CMP
regulations were ‘vital to give landlords confidence that they money is safe’
but that allowing letting agents to have a further a further year’s grace to
comply left landlords unnecessarily at risk of fraud.

Last night MPs unanimously voted
through the government’s proposal to extend the grace period until 1^st
April 2021.

But letting agents were told
that this is their last chance to comply with the CMP regulations, which have
been a legal requirement for nearly a year now.

Compliance was then delayed
to give letting agents more time to set up ‘pooled’ client accounts for their
landlord and vendor customers to keep this cash separate from the turnover of
their business.

Most agents are now members
of a government-approved scheme but 251 say they are struggling to set up these
pooled client accounts and have now been given another year to do so.
As well as joining a CMP scheme, letting agents must display a certificate of
membership in their branch and on their website, produce a copy for a landlord
if requested to do so, notify clients within two weeks if their membership is
cancelled and tell clients the name and address of their CMP provider.

Agents face fines of £30,000
if they are not a member of a CMP scheme and can be fined £5,000 if they don’t
display their membership properly.

The regulations were
introduced to stop the small minority of agents who use landlords’ rental
income or deposits to prop up failing businesses, or simply steal it for
personal gain.

One recent example was
Premier Property Management in Truro, whose owners were jailed after defrauding
landlords and tenants to the tune of £266,000 over an eight-year period.Read
more about client money protection and what it means for landlords.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Minister criticised after letting agents given another year to comply with client money protection law | LandlordZONE.

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Today in politics: Client Money Protection and HMO rules

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Today we look at government plans to extend the deadline for mandatory CMP for agents by 12 months and a question on whether local authorities can introduce their own minimum room sizes in HMOs. Commons to give final approval to CMP rules Plans to extend the grace period for the introduction of Client Money Protection […]

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Rent controls might appear attractive but they would be a disaster

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Residential Landlords Association and the National Landlords Association is warning rent controls in London would be a disaster for aspiring tenants as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, puts calls to introduce them at the heart of his re-election bid.

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