Abolishing ‘Section 21’ will radically change how this landlord operates. What about you?

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South East London landlord Terry Reeves has been considering how to reorganise his portfolio after the government announced its plans to get rid of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. Here’s what’s he’s planning to do.

A landlord for more than 40 years, Terry Reeves owns more than 100 mainly one- and two-bedroom flats in South East London.

But he says that as soon as the properties become vacant, he’ll either sell the bulk of them or let them to local authorities.

“If Section 21 goes, I’ll have no option but to sell some of my
flats,” he tells LandlordZONE. “It’s the right time to do it because of all
this legislation and red tape which just creates more work in everything you
have to do – and with evictions, it can take many months.”

Terry hopes to try and hold onto all his good tenants, some of
whom have been with him for 20 years.

But all to often he has to evict people for all sorts of reasons
including not paying rent on time or bad behaviour towards other tenants. He’s
currently sorting through a pile of Section 21s which should go to court as
soon as they re-open in May or June.

Terry aims to only privately rent between 10 and 20 properties with the rest offered to the councils on a three-year lease with guaranteed rent. If they don’t want them, he’ll put them up for auction but believes local authorities will be keen to take on most of the stock.

“They’re going to be inundated with requests for housing from tenants who’ve been evicted after the crisis, so they’ll be wanting lots of properties.”

He already rents some of his flats to councils and says they
generate the same amount of revenue as his privately rented ones. Adds Terry: “They
take care of all the expenses and the only disadvantage is you don’t know who
they’re renting them to.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Abolishing ‘Section 21’ will radically change how this landlord operates. What about you? | LandlordZONE.

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Today in politics: Coronavirus, from Universal Credit payment to student lets

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As expected, coronavirus continues to dominate the headlines – we look at todays news, from benefits payments to the latest on student lets Reports say DWP has suspended payback process Inside Housing is today reporting that the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that the process for paying back rent arrears through Universal Credit deductions has […]

The post Today in politics: Coronavirus, from Universal Credit payment to student lets appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

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Covid-19: Write to your MP and share your experiences with us

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We are living in unusal times. The country has been in lockdown for nearly six weeks, and the NRLA has been keeping its online coronavirus webpages up to date with the very latest information for members. This includes creating template letters for landlords to download and send to tenants to check they’re ok at this […]

The post Covid-19: Write to your MP and share your experiences with us appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

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Exclusive: Brighton says new HMO rules will be among the ‘toughest in the UK’

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After a consultation and a green light from the Secretary of State, the city’s new property licensing net is set to get much tighter on June 6th.

Brighton and Hove Council is
set to hit landlords with some of the toughest licensing rules in the country.

The new regulations will prevent family homes
from being sandwiched between two HMOs and prevent three properties in a row
from being turned into shared houses.

The council already
rejects
HMO applications near its universities when there are more than 10% of HMOs
within a 50-metre radius, but it now aims
to limit the number to 20% across more of the city.

Brighton and Hove contains some
5,000 licenced HMOs, serving the city’s large student population and young
professionals, and has seen increasing numbers of family dwellings converted to
HMOs.

As a result, many residents are concerned about the numbers and concentration in some areas.

Planning permission

Current licensing rules limit the
number of family homes being converted into shared houses in areas closest to
the two universities, but now new HMO developments will require planning
permission anywhere in the city.

The tougher rules are among a
package of measures in a ten-year city plan that aims to tackle some of the
indirect effects of HMOs, such as reduced demand for school places.

Councillor Tracey Hill, chair of
the city’s planning committee, says: “The new policies will be some of the
toughest approaches to HMO development in the country. 

“We know HMOs provide essential
low-cost accommodation for people living and working in a city where rents are
high. Our policies are not designed to stop all HMO conversions, but to limit
over-concentration in a particular area.”

The new rules take effect on 3^rd June.

Read more about property licensing in Brighton.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Exclusive: Brighton says new HMO rules will be among the ‘toughest in the UK’ | LandlordZONE.

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BREAKING: DWP gives tenants a ‘rent arrears holiday’ as it suspends third party payment collections from Universal Credit

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Department of Work and Pensions says latest change will help streamline the overloaded benefits system as it faces unprecedented demand from claimants, but landlords say this will delay how long it takes to recoup unpaid rent.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that third party deductions from Universal Credit (UC) payments are to be suspended until May 10^th as Ministers attempt to streamline the system.

This, the DWP claims, is designed to free up civil servants to process the hundreds of thousands of additional benefit applications received during the Coronavirus crisis.

Third party deductions are usually taken from payments to pay rent and other bill arrears, including council tax.

But the change will mean thousands of landlords who are owed back-rent by tenants in receipt of Universal Credit will now have to wait longer to get their money back.

Although housing associations have been told about the change, private landlords are left to fend for themselves when significant decisions like this are taken by the DWP.

No communications

“Private landlords get no direct communication about UC in any shape or form from the DWP and, for example I’ve had four of my tenants lose their jobs and begin receiving benefits recently but no one from the DWP has been in contact to tell me about when I’m going to get the housing element of those payments,” HMO landlord Nick Sturgeon tells LandlordZONE.

“I find it frustrating that tenants are having the personal element of their UC payment fast-tracked d during the crisis, but landlords are being ignored.

“Coronavirus has exposed the weaknesses in the UC system and makes people like me wish yet again that Housing Benefit was still in place.”

Disappointed

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations has said that it was disappointed that landlords had not been give more warning about the changes, “which would have allowed landlords to engage with those affected and to make voluntary arrangements wherever possible”.

LandlordZONE has approached the NRLA for comment.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: DWP gives tenants a ‘rent arrears holiday’ as it suspends third party payment collections from Universal Credit | LandlordZONE.

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Labour want ‘Triple Lock’ for tenants

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A new Covid-19 Housing Delivery Taskforce to tackle the challenges Covid-19 poses to the London housing sector has met for the first time and is chaired by Labour’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, Tom Copley.

The group will consider how the sector can adapt and maintain resilience and also look at specific support needed from Government that would be effective in maintaining housing supply and providing confidence in the market.

The post Labour want ‘Triple Lock’ for tenants appeared first on Property118.

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LATEST: 10% of tenants entered into rent payment plans during March, research reveals

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Lettings platform Goodlord says its research among 124 agents and 20,000 tenancies last month reveals that the impact of the lockdown on the private rental market was limited.

As many campaigning groups predict a rent payment meltdown among struggling tenants during the Coronavirus crisis, a leading lettings firm has reported that late payments have increased by just 2% and that only 10% of tenants have entered into payment plans so far.

Proptech firm Goodlord examined 20,000 tenancies run by 124 lettings agencies across the UK last month to produce the figure, which it says shows that the vast majority of renters are so far keeping up with their rent, although the figures do not cover April.

Goodlord also say that few of the landlords registered on its platform made rental insurance claims on their policies, again suggesting that rent defaulting has yet to become a serious issue.

Since March 11^th there has been a ‘modest’ increase in late payment behaviour, Goodlord says, increasing by 2% more properties than usual still owing rent after seven days, or an increase from 4% to 6%. 

Among
the lettings agents surveyed, 70% said that they have agreed payment plans with
less than 10% of tenants so far, further indicating that the financial impact
of the pandemic has yet to impact most tenants.

“Despite only being a month since lockdown began, the late payment figures for the rental industry are so far fairly steady, “ says Goodlord’s COO Tom Mundy.

“At the same time, agents and landlords are gearing up to offer more support in the months to come. “Many agents, along with their landlords, are thinking about how they can offer flexibility, support, and guidance to tenants who might start to struggle.”

Read more articles about rent payment.

Advice: How to stop tenants falling into arrears.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: 10% of tenants entered into rent payment plans during March, research reveals | LandlordZONE.

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