Get a grip! Tenants dumb-struck by dumb-bell banning email

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A property management firm in Dublin has made headlines after asking its house-bound tenants to refrain from ‘high impact’ activity with their homes.

The Coronavirus crisis has created uncertainty, stress and financial problems for many landlords, but also moments of joy as many of them have rallied around the NHS to offer nurses free accommodation.

But today the crisis has also prompted mirth after an email sent out by a lettings agency in Dublin asked its tenants to stop exercising at home with dumbbells because it’s causing the properties they live in to start falling apart.

Belgrave Property Management, which manages hundreds of apartments across the city on behalf of many different landlords, has written to its tenants to ask them not to engage in ‘high impact’ exercise.

The agency says it decided to contact the tenants after the Coronavirus crisis lockdown forced many of them, who live in the small, period studio and one-bedroom apartments the agency specialises in, to do their gym workouts at home.

“Please be aware that the period buildings cannot sustain sudden high-impact movements which may cause damage to old ornate plaster work, ceiling roses, cornices and in some instances could cause the ceiling to collapse,” the email, which was leaked to The Times, says

“We advise to refrain from doing heavy impact workouts or using items such as dumbbells/kettlebells in their flats.

“Please feel free to do non-impact exercises like yoga, push-ups, sit ups, etc in your flat. If you wish to do more strenuous activities with weights, then we suggest doing them at the back of the premises or at your local park. Thank you for your co-operation.”

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Supported living in HMO advice please?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hi all, We have an empty HMO and have been approached by a care company who house service users with learning difficulties through the local council. They’re looking for HMO type properties to place service users with live in carers.

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REVEALED: How landlords will be forced to let broadband operators into their properties

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More details of the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill have been released to parliament including a new streamlined system for broadband providers to gain access to apartment blocks.

Landlords could soon be forced to allow
broadband providers into their buildings under planned legislation.

The Telecommunications Infrastructure
(Leasehold Property) Bill aims to address the issue that about 40% of requests
to access apartment blocks to install updates are currently ignored.

It should ensure tenants living in blocks of
flats and apartments get access to the latest generation of broadband and is
going through the Lords on its way to becoming law.

Speaking in The House, Baroness Barran, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “We understand from the likes of Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre, Gigaclear and other major telecoms providers that around 40% of their requests for access in such situations receive no response.”

Four million missing out

She said it was unacceptable that operators
were forced to bypass these properties which left some four million people missing
out.

The new Bill would give operators a new
streamline process through the courts to gain rights to install their
infrastructure; under the current court system it can cost about £14,000 per
application and take six or seven months to gain access.

Under the new system, once a tenant requests
a service, the operator must have issued three notices to the landlord
requesting access over 28 days, plus a final notice explicitly referencing the
fact that the court may be used to gain access.

Only after that can the operator apply to a
court for rights to access the property. A landlord can stop the process at any
point by responding to one of the notices.

Baroness Barran added: “This application
process is intended to be a last resort for operators. We hope that through the
passing and implementation of this legislation, landowner response rates will
increase, and this new court process will, over time, not even need to be
used.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – REVEALED: How landlords will be forced to let broadband operators into their properties | LandlordZONE.

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Property firms offer NHS staff discounted rather than free accommodation

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Two lettings firms in London say they are prioritising NHS staff and making rooms available near hospitals to rent at a partial discount.

Two accommodation providers are
plugging their services for keyworkers needing to relocate in the capital – but
are only giving them a 40% discount.

Despite legions of private landlords
around the country generously handing over the keys to flats and waiving rent
for hardworking NHS staff, Dali Relocation Services and CloudRooms Lettings say
they’re giving keyworkers priority and discounted rooms, which now start from
£450 a month.

Dali Relocation Services has
properties in South West London within walking distance of Chelsea &
Westminster Hospital, while CloudRooms Lettings is offering properties in East
London within walking distance of Royal London Hospital.

It encourages health workers to book
through online room sharing platform www.badi.com.

In a statement release to media, a
spokesman said: “As you know, as COVID-19 continues to affect the UK lots of
businesses are evaluating how they can contribute and adapt.

“In London, some property managers
are coming together to ensure that any key workers that have been re-located to
help support with the pandemic are given priority and discounted rooms of up to
40% which now start from £450 a month.”

LandlordZONE approached both Dali
Relocation Services and ClourRooms Lettings but no one was available for further
comment.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Property firms offer NHS staff discounted rather than free accommodation | LandlordZONE.

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‘We are listening to criticism of the Right to Rent scheme’ reveals minister

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Home Office under-secretary Chris Philp has told Parliament that the government intends act following after three Court of Appeal judges yesterday said the scheme was being used by some landlords to be discriminatory.

The government has responded to yesterday’s Court of Appeal decision to overturn a previous High Court ruling and endorse the government’s Right to Rent scheme, deciding that it is both legal and does not breach human rights law.

But the three judges did note that the system is being used by a small minority of landlords to discriminate against ethnic minority and foreign tenants.

In a written statement, Home Office minister Chris Philp has confirmed to parliament that although he is happy yesterday’s Court of Appeal judgement went the Home Office’s way, his department will be reporting in six months’ time on how to improve Right to Rent following consultations with landlords, letting agents and tenants.

He
also confirmed that a full evaluation of the Right to Rent scheme is under way
and that the Home Office is busy surveying landlords directly.

Philp
also warned landlords that a large mystery shopping exercise is under way to
ascertain how many of them are being discriminatory when completing their
obligations under the scheme.

“The
Government is committed to tackling discrimination in all its forms and to
having an immigration system which provides control, but which is also fair,
humane and fully compliant with the law,” said Philp, who is MP for Croydon
South.

“The Court of Appeal has found that the Right to Rent Scheme is capable of being operated in a lawful way by landlords in all [but a few] individual cases. We will continue to work with landlords and lettings agents to ensure that this continues to be the case.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘We are listening to criticism of the Right to Rent scheme’ reveals minister | LandlordZONE.

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Listen again to NRLA Covid-19 webinars for landlords

admin    Uncategorized     agents

This month the NRLA is running a series of webinars for landlords on managing their lettings business during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have already run interactive webinars on financial support and a webinar specifically for HMO landlords, as well as several regional webinars. Now, these recordings are available to listen back to online. Details of […]

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Wading through ‘info-overload’ amidst the pandemic

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We understand that amidst these uncertain times, there is an enormous amount of new information being released every day. One of the things we are hearing is that, because every individual’s circumstances are different, landlords are finding it difficult to cut through all of the information in order to access what is relevant to them.

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Tax payable on return of director’s loan?

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My wife and I own buy to let properties both personally and through our limited company.

Following a sizeable development within the company, we were owed £300000 in directors’ loans. We had financed the project with personal money lent to the company.

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Jersey parliament bans evictions during Coronavirus and stops rent rises

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Island’s States Assembly has voted to introduce the wide-ranging changes to private rental market but local landlords are hurt by implied lack of trust.

The Jersey Landlords Association says guidance to help
ensure fewer renters become homeless during the crisis give the impression that
landlords cannot be trusted to do the right thing.

Regulations passed by the States Assembly mean tenants in
financial hardship due to COVID-19 can’t be evicted for failing to pay rent or
other bills.

This includes preventing landlords from increasing rents,
even if they have issued notice of a rent increase before the regulations came
into force, while tenants can extend their tenancies if they’re due to end
before 1st October.

Also, landlords will be able to deal with rent arrears in
the usual way after 30th September when the regulations end.

Tenants struggling to pay rent are being asked to write
to their landlord with evidence of financial hardship so they can agree how to
manage rent arrears.

However, the association had already issued similar guidance to its members, advising against evictions, but believes the Government’s approach may complicate difficult conversations between landlords and tenants.

Compassion

Chairman Peter Lucas tells LandlordZONE it reduces
flexibility. “The vast majority of landlords are behaving with compassion,” he
says. “There are vulnerable landlords as well as vulnerable tenants. Some
tenants are working and capable of paying a rent increase.”

Minister for Housing Senator Sam Mézec says that with
housing costs in Jersey being so high the law aims to ensure that Islanders
facing financial hardship don’t have to move house or become homeless during
the outbreak.

“Throughout this difficult time, we expect landlords and
tenants to be honest, transparent and reasonable in how they communicate.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Jersey parliament bans evictions during Coronavirus and stops rent rises | LandlordZONE.

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Use of carried forward company losses

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hi Mark

I have used the services of Property118 previously for tax planning advice.

I have a company that is no longer trading (but still active) that is sitting on a £20,000 of losses and I was wondering if the losses of this company could be set against any potential future gains if I was to change this company to a property rental business?

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