Labour reveals new shadow housing minister, but will party change direction on landlords?

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New minister is Thangam Debbonaire who has a short track record on housing and has yet to reveal whether she backs her party’s line on ‘rogue landlords’ and rent controls.

The Labour Party’s new line-up including leader Keir Starmer and his more moderate front bench team have been revealed, including a new shadow Housing Secretary.

She is 53-year-old Bristol MP Thangham Debbonaire and is one of half a dozen shadow ministers announced by Starmer during what commentators have described as a ‘purge’ of Jeremy Corbyn’s former front bench team.

But landlords hoping for a more balanced approach to the private rental market from Labour’s new housing team are likely to be disappointed.

Debbonaire has said her focus will be – among other things – focused on tenants. In a message to fellow Labour activists, she said: “I look forward to working closely with you to end the housing crisis.

“Good quality social housing and good treatment of tenants in private rented sector are priorities – as well as housing for domestic violence victims, refugees and others at risk of homelessness.”

Uncompromising

Labour had been uncompromising in its approach to the private rental market under Corbyn, backing the government on Section 21 eviction reform, proposing greater rights for tenants with pets, campaigning for rent controls and frequently being pro-tenant and anti-landlord.

Also, Starmer is a member of the Labour Housing Group. Its most recent manifesto says: “Too many people are living in dangerous accommodation at the mercy of rogue landlords.

“When housing has become a site of speculation for a wealthy few, leaving the many unable to access a decent, secure home, something has gone seriously wrong. We need to restore the principle that a decent home is a right owed to all, not a privilege for the few.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Labour reveals new shadow housing minister, but will party change direction on landlords? | LandlordZONE.

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Coronavirus – Government intervention for Landlords and Tenants

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I have written a detailed article on the Governments intervention for Landlords and Tenants and provided  links to various references and articles including the recent discussion. Click here

Most landlords will know by now that the government has suspended all current possession claims in the legal system (thought to be around 20,000) and imposed a THREE Month Notice period on Section 21

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Coronavirus: Template letters for landlords

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The NRLA has six template letters exclusive for members to download and send to tenants during the coronavirus pandemic. The template letters for landlords can be accessed online here and within the Property Management and Financial Support guidance section of our website. They include: General Coronavirus template letter for tenants This letter outlines what tenants can […]

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Save The Date – 29th April 2020 @ 7pm

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Join me, Shaf Rasul from Dragons Den, Simon Zutshi and Ranjan Bhattacharya live for an online Baker Street Property Meet at 7pm on 29th April 2020.

REGISTER HERE IT’S FREE!

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to be o the same panel as a real life Dragon!

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Airbnb landlords step up to the mark as councils plead for homeless accommodation

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Landlords with short-term let accommodation face a difficult choice as booking dry up and the sales and long-term lettings market stay frozen. So why not help out local councils?

Airbnb
landlords in Edinburgh who have seen business slump are doing their bit by
offering vacant properties to homeless families affected by the crisis.

It
follows an urgent call by councils around the country to second homeowners,
hoteliers, B&Bs, Airbnb owners and student housing providers to come
forward with offers of help so homeless people and rough sleepers can
self-isolate.

Thanks to them, 65 flats – as well as 120 hotel rooms in Edinburgh – have been taken over to house homeless families with children who were stuck in unsuitable bed and breakfasts.

Council leader Adam McVey says: “We’ve worked
hard to find safe places to stay for everyone who is or becomes homeless during
this pandemic.

“We’ve successfully moved the families we
care for into suitable flats – including properties sourced from the private
sector. We’re also determined that this will remain the case for as long as the
coronavirus crisis continues.”

The council tells LandlordZONE that it currently has enough homes to meet demand, but that its Additional Accommodation Needs Team is still focused on finding options.

“It’s a mixture of us sourcing the right
places for people to stay and offers coming in which we sift through,” says a spokeswoman.
“We negotiate on a case-by-case basis with each landlord
on this, but we will pay.”

Meanwhile, Airbnb hosts are offering NHS and
other frontline medical staff free places to stay while they carry out their
critical work, with Airbnb waiving all fees for the stays. So far nearly
1,500 places have been offered by UK hosts.

If any Edinburgh landlords are interested in
helping, contact Jillian.cunningham-edwards@edinburgh.gov.uk

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Airbnb landlords step up to the mark as councils plead for homeless accommodation | LandlordZONE.

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Happy New Tax Year!

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For those property rental business owners we have helped to restructure over recent months and years, they will know exactly what we mean when we say “Happy New Tax Year!”

For others, those who have buried their heads in the sand or failed to seek advice and/or take action

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Liverpool fights ministers over Selective Licensing ban with Judicial Review

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After having an application to renew its city-wide scheme refused by Housing secretary Robert Jenrick last month, Liverpool councillors say they have a ‘moral obligation’ to regain its powers.

Liverpool Council is to fight a Government
decision to block the renewal of its controversial selective licensing scheme.

It has applied for a judicial review after
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick turned down its application earlier
this year to keep the city-wide scheme going until 2025.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson says the council
has a moral obligation to tens of thousands of residents living within the
city’s private rented sector to ensure the scheme continues.

“Over the last five years our officers have
come across people whose landlords are happy to take their rent while allowing
them to live in appalling conditions with unsafe electrics, gas supply and no
fire doors to protect them in the event that a blaze breaks out,” says
Anderson.

The previous five-year scheme ended on 1^st
April, during which time there were 51,764 property licences in force, issued
to 10,074 licence holders.

The council’s team conducted over 34,000
compliance checks of properties and identified 65% as not being fully compliant
with licence conditions on their first visit.

It made more than 300 successful prosecutions
that led to fines and says all current cases with the legal team will continue
to be processed and taken to court where necessary.

However,
the Residential Landlords Association opposes the city-wide licensing scheme
and says Liverpool’s running of the current scheme left much to be desired,
with long waits for licences and a focus on minor, often administrative
breaches, rather than tackling the worst property management and conditions.

Alongside
the review, Liverpool Council is also looking at submitting another application to the Government for a
substantial landlord licensing scheme.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Liverpool fights ministers over Selective Licensing ban with Judicial Review | LandlordZONE.

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Covid-19: Everything landlords need to know

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In times of uncertainty, one of the best ways, as a landlord or agent, that you can protect yourselves and your tenants is to make sure that you have all the information you need. This post by Hamilton Fraser wraps up everything that landlords and agents need to know about coronavirus.

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Today in politics: New Labour leader, Flood Re, new documents and benefits

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We look at the new Labour leader’s former comments on housing, plans for a review of flooding insurance, the news benefits claimants that are currently repaying overpayments will have a three month break due to coronavirus and more. Starmer has backed rent control calls  Sir Keir Starmer MP was elected the new Leader of the Labour […]

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Double whammy threatens landlords with cash-flow issues…

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Rent payments:

The Coronavirus Act
introduced a ban on private tenant evictions, and this, coupled with
the general media message abroad that tenants should have a rent
reduction, a rent holiday or even pay no rent, creates major issues
for some buy-to-let landlords.

The eviction ban is
in for at least the next three months, which means the suspension of
all eviction proceedings going through the courts for 90 days. It
exposes landlords to a risk not encountered before, of an extended
and lengthy period of rental losses.

It’s very
unfortunate for those landlords who were in the process of evicting
tenants when the crisis came along, possibly with large existing rent
arrears losses when trials were halted and the county courts closed
down.

So, landlords now
needing to evict a tenant for any reason, including rent
arrears, is required to
give a minimum of three months’
notice, until at least the 30^th of September. The
extension of the legal notice might add only one month to the usual
S21 two-month notice period, but this is just the start of the
process. Obtaining a court possession order to evict those tenants
who are unwilling to move will inevitably eventually face long delays
due to the backlog of suspended cases, and possibly a more lenient
approach taken by the courts.

The message seems to
have been lost in translation over rent payments, or is it just
wishful thinking on behalf of some tenants or their campaigning
groups? Government has not asked landlords to stop requesting rent
payments, and tenants need to be reminded they should continue to pay
rent and that they will still be liable for any arrears that
build-up.

Landlords are
advised to get in touch with all their tenants to determine their
financial situation and deal with their situation on a case by case
basis, bearing in mind the social distancing measures in place. Some
landlords are voluntarily offering a 20% reduction where tenants are
on an 80% wage reduction furlough, a rescheduling of payments where
there are real difficulties, such as job losses or suspensions, or a
combination of the two. Tenants should be able to apply for financial
assistance when they are in real difficulties.

Landlords themselves
should be able to apply for financial support through the benefits
system if they too find themselves in personal financial
difficulties, and bearing in mind those landlords with mortgages on
their rental properties are able to request a three-month payment
holiday from their lender.

Landlords with tax
due on account, the second HRMC payment due on 31^st of
July, can defer these self-assessment payments until the 31^st
January 2021 under the special measures introduced by the government.

However, it is very
unlikely that landlords will be offered any further direct help from
the government, similar to that being offered to the self-employed.
This is because letting property on a personal basis (outside a
limited company) is classed as investment, not a business. The
trade-off is that earnings from lettings are not subject to Class 2
or Class 4 National Insurance contributions.

In the case of
commercial landlords, again they are not expected to bring eviction
proceeding against their business tenants for at least 3 months, for
rent arrears. These landlords have an additional business judgement
to consider: if they press their tenants too hard and drive them into
administration for incorporated tenants, or bankruptcy for personal
tenants, then they risk having to take on, for an indefinite period,
business rates, insurance and other liabilities which go with a
vacant unit.

The National Landlords’ Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA), now combined as the NRLA, say they recognise the need for tenants to be able to remain in their homes given that they might be adversely affected by coronavirus and by the government lock-down restric­tions. However, they are not happy with a blanket suspension of all evictions which they think is “too wide reaching” and that the government should do more to protect tenants’ incomes.

In addition the NRLA has called for a temporary scrapping of the five-week wait for the first payment of Universal Credit, to help tenants over this payment gap.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Double whammy threatens landlords with cash-flow issues… | LandlordZONE.

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