Liverpool makes new push to license its landlords again

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Councillors say it’s “unthinkable” that the city doesn’t have a licensing scheme and they’re determined not to take no for an answer

Liverpool Council is making another bid to bring in a landlord licensing scheme after the Government turned down its application to keep a citywide scheme going.

It applied for a judicial review following the rejection in January, and while it is still considering whether to pursue this, is now trying to launch a comprehensive scheme which would cover about 80% of privately rented properties in the city. Next week, the council’s cabinet will be asked to approve a plan to start consultation on a new preferred scheme, based on poor property conditions, which would target the 16 wards in the city where at least one in five homes is owned by a private landlord; this means 45,000 of the 55,000 properties in the original scheme would still be covered.

Two alternatives with slightly fewer wards will also be looked at as part of a 12-week consultation which would run from August, with a submission made to the Government at the end of the year.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson says: “It’s unthinkable for us not to have a landlord licensing scheme in Liverpool. All the evidence over the last five years shows that it has made a tremendous difference to the lives of our most vulnerable residents. It has forced rogue landlords to take action to improve electrical and fire safety standards, as well as dealing with issues such as damp and anti-social behaviour.

“This scheme we are proposing would still be one of the largest in the country and cover the vast majority of properties that came under the original programme, and we are confident that it would meet all of the tests to be approved by the Government.” 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. However, the National Residential Landlords Association says Liverpool’s running of its previous 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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Liverpool makes new push to license its landlords again | LandlordZONE.

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Scots landlords miss out on summer tax holiday

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Scottish landlords haven’t been handed a similar bonus to their English counterparts in a new package aimed at boosting property deals north of the border

Scotland’s housing market has received a boost with tax reforms on property purchases – although those buying second properties won’t benefit.

Holyrood’s finance secretary Kate Forbes announced a package of measures following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s summer statement, including raising the Land and Buildings Transaction tax (LBTT) threshold from £145,000 to £250,000 – a move she claimed would help eight out of 10 property deals in Scotland.

Earlier this week, the UK Government raised the Stamp Duty threshold to £500,000 on transactions in England and Northern Ireland, including second properties. Although property investors and second homeowners must continue to pay a 3% stamp duty surcharge on purchases, they won’t pay any further duty on the first £500,000 of the property’s value. 

In Scotland, buyers of second homes and buy-to-let properties have to pay an extra 4% in LBTT on top of current rates for each band on properties costing more than £40,000.

John Blackwood, chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords, tells LandlordZONE that the region’s government could have gone further. He says: “With continued and likely longer-term economic uncertainty, many people will want to have a high-quality home without the need for a large deposit which allows them the flexibility to move for employment. Only the private rented sector can provide that option and an additional dwelling supplement holiday would have increased supply of rented accommodation to fulfil that demand.” Forbes said that because of the time required to prepare legislation, and for Revenue Scotland to be ready to collect and manage the tax, the change wouldn’t take effect immediately, although it would be introduced as soon as possible. Tory MSPs have now warned that the Scottish housing market could stall without a firm date and MSP Graham Simpson pointed to a significant disparity in the housing market between Scotland and England.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Scots landlords miss out on summer tax holiday | LandlordZONE.

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LANDLORDS TAX PLANNING PAGE UPDATE

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Several video interviews have been added to our Landlord Tax Planning page for your viewing pleasure and to improve your landlord tax planning knowledge generally.

Our mission is to facilitate the sharing of best practice, so please feel free to share this page on Social Media for the benefit of other landlords and their professional advisers.

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Deposit disputes – a new world – or is it?

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In normal times and, depending on what the issue is, deposit disputes differ from season to season, tenant to tenant and case to case. Gardens in the winter, versus gardens in the summer; students predominantly moving out between June and August, have been known to leave properties dirty and in need of some redecoration; young children like to draw on walls. Whoever knew that walls weren’t for crayons! You get the idea.

Welcome to the ‘new normal’.

Because of the lockdown and the property industry being put on hold, we have seen a quieter period than usual when it comes to disputes being raised and the need for our expertise in early resolution and adjudication.

The number of dispute notifications has taken a 17% tumble on the same period last year and those in need of adjudication a massive 25% drop.

The question is, are we seeing the same claims being made or are there new trends?

The classic themes

What is clear is that the usual claims for cleaning, damage, redecoration etc remain the same, but with these cases we are seeing one difference. The evidence.

There is a noticeable absence of invoices and estimates for work that needs doing or has been done which is unavailable due to the lockdown. Contractors are, understandably, have been reluctant or simply unable to give estimates for work they haven’t seen.

The good news for landlords is that, as long as the comparative evidence; check-in and check-out reports show the level of deterioration, an adjudicator will make an award. The only down side, is that where a claim is considered high and unjustified by the evidence, the award may be less than the amount claimed.  

What’s different?

The issue that has noticeably increased is due to the pandemic itself, which has led many tenants asking to end their tenancies early; far more than normal. On many levels this makes sense; students couldn’t attend university, so wished to move home; workers were furloughed or made redundant and couldn’t afford to pay all, or any of their rent. This has led to an increased flow of rent claims and a good deal of confusion.

Each scenario varies and each case rests on its own merits. A lack of understanding by tenants and the minority of landlords not willing, or able, to offer a compromise or rent payment plan to resolve the problem is where we find ourselves adjudicating. In many ways it is heart-breaking but the law is the law and at the end of the day, tenants are responsible for paying rent until the end of their contract. https://www.mydeposits.co.uk/resourcess/signed-sealed-and-delivered/?categorytype=resources-landlords

The crux comes when landlords have been considerate and negotiated an early exit plan with their tenant, and then reneged, or the tenant’s keys don’t arrive on the date agreed, even though they were posted by the tenant at the right time, but the postal delays during the peak of lockdown were severely delayed. I, personally, had to wait a week for post send first class! Claims, in these cases range from rent until the keys were received, to rent for the remainder of the month or to the end of the contract. This leaves tenants confused and unclear on where they stand, which in turn, has led to an increase in spilt decisions after reviewing the evidence and looking at the actual intention of the parties.

Remember:

Evidence needs to be as clear as possible. In these challenging times, where it has been difficult to provide the evidence you usually would, make sure you have recorded as much as possible in writing and don’t confuse the issue. Keep the tenant informed and when negotiating, lay out the detail clearly for everyone. I am a clear advocate of managing everyone’s expectations which is why our adjudications will always look at the evidence in detail to see what is reasonable in the circumstances, and these are very peculiar circumstances! We know from the industry as a whole that the market is slowly picking up, so it follows that the level of disputes may increase too, as tenancies can now end. It remains to be seen how soon, or if, the new normal becomes the old normal.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Deposit disputes – a new world – or is it? | LandlordZONE.

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Get your next property project funded and appear on TV!

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The hit TV show Property Elevator, will be back on Property TV, Sky Channel 192 in the Autumn.

In last years series, budding property investors & developers pitched for backing from the Angels and some walked away being able to make their property development dream a reality.

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Initiatives government could take to support landlords and the market

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Jack Bertolone, Operations Director at Brooklands Commercial Finance, discusses with Kate Faulkner the impact of the pandemic on the UK housing market and what other initiatives the government could take to support the property market and landlords.

Kate Faulkner is a UK property analyst and a regular commentator on BBC

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Rental values reflect UK’s mixed economic picture

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Rents dipped slightly last month across the UK, although figures are still higher than this time last year, according to the latest Rental Index data

The average rental price for a new tenancy in June was £951 a month – up 1.1% on last year, but down on £959 achieved in May – with eight of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet showing an increase in rental values during the last 12 months.

While June was an encouraging month for lettings, according to Homelet, which received more applications for tenant reference checks this month than in the same month last year, chief executive Martin Totty says looking at trends by region offers the greatest insight into how variations will affect landlords and tenants across the country over the coming months. Over the last year, the North West recorded a 6.6% increase in rents while they fell 1.8% in Northern Ireland. 

Says Totty: “With demand for new tenancies still strong, rents overall may well hold up at the national level, whilst regional variations could continue to fluctuate, reflecting how any potential economic downturn will likely not fall evenly across the UK.”

While Homelet found that average rents in London are now £1,583, down by 1.7% on last year, they’re still 60% higher than the rest of the UK. The latest research by Spotahome, looking at the financial cost of renting in the capital, shows that the average 22-29-year-old has to fork out as much as 57% of their net monthly salary on renting a one-bed apartment. *Private renters are feeling happier than their social counterparts, according to the latest English Housing Survey data on attitudes and satisfaction, which found that 84% of private renters were satisfied with their accommodation in 2018/19 – up one percentage point from the year before – compared with 81% of social renters, while 73% of private renters were happy with the way their landlord carries out repairs and maintenance compared with 67% of social renters.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Rental values reflect UK’s mixed economic picture | LandlordZONE.

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BTL brokers showing increased confidence

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Four out of 10 Buy to Let brokers expect to write more business in the next 12 months, Paragon Bank’s Financial Adviser Confidence Tracker (FACT) Index has revealed.

The survey of more than 200 intermediaries showed that 41% of advisors said they expect more buy-to-let business

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I told the police they were not allowed back to the property?

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I recently rented my property to my partners husband and children. My daughter passed away last year and we let the property over a 10 year period to them.

The relationship has broken down between us and he has not paid rent for 4 months.

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Freehold issues and leaseholds not paying service charge?

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I wonder if someone could give me some advice, I’m a leaseholder of a flat that I purchased some 17 years ago in a block of 155.

The service charge was around £2,500 per year, now gone up by another £1,200 for a reserve fund as there is no funds.

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