PRS organisations combine to offer tenant support advice

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Amidst concerns about the impact that the virus has had on tenant finances, the NRLA, Chartered Institute of Housing, Property Redress Scheme, My Deposits, Tenancy Deposit Scheme and ARLA Propertymark are launching guidance offering practical ways in which landlords and tenants can work to address arrears that might be building as a result of the pandemic.

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Landlords offered ‘pay as you go’ access to major property portals without need for agent

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A lettings platform is claiming to the latest and only the second ever to offer landlords the ability to advertise their properties on Zoopla and Rightmove directly without the need for a letting agency.

The first was OpenRent, but now PlanetRent has joined the fray offering to manage landlords’ property marketing needs including the creation of a bespoke website, although it although offers its service to letting agents as well.

Services like this have been controversial in the past – it is only recently that the major portals have been accepting hybrid services like OpenRent and PlanetRent, helped by the fragmentation of the estate agency sector into different models.

When most agents were traditional high street operations, unrest among agents forced the portals to eject non-standard players.

For example, NoAgent was persuaded to change its name to Howsy after an agent outcry.

PlanetRent has told LandlordZONE it has clearance from the portals to offer its landlords direct access for their properties to Zoopla’s and Rightmove’s listings on a pay-as-you-go basis.

PlanetRent, which is free to download and use, also enables landlords to create their own website to advertise their properties on, with real-time reporting and updates on when offers are made.

“PlanetRent has been designed to save landlords and agents, time, money and hassle, by automating the majority of the lettings process,” says Mary-Anne Bowring, boss of the Ringley Group, the company behind PlanetRent.

“Now more than ever, landlords need to focus on the correct marketing strategies for their properties and we’re confident that PlanetRent has the perfect offering for landlords of all sizes.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords offered ‘pay as you go’ access to major property portals without need for agent | LandlordZONE.

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EXCLUSIVE: Airbnb’s long-awaited plan for landlord regulation in UK is latest Covid casualty

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Airbnb’s long-awaited ‘white paper’ of recommendations detailing its proposals for a simple statutory registration system for short-term rentals has been delayed until later this year.

The platform had been due to produce the proposals in June after holding a Host Registration Roadshow that started in February and included discussions with hosts, communities and politicians across the UK.

A spokesman tells LandlordZONE: “The roadshow was disrupted because of the lockdown but we will share the output with the Government and all interested stakeholders once complete.”

Although the Government has no plans to ban the use of residential property for short-term lets and has been reluctant to pass further legislation, the sector is waiting for an announcement.

Greater regulation

MPs are still studying a House of Commons Library briefing document discussing calls for greater regulation.

The document highlights a lack of taxation compliance by short-term landlords, the impact on local housing markets, and health and safety issues.

A recent incident in Denmark Hill, London, at an Airbnb property where a woman was stabbed during a large-scale fight at a party shows that short-term lets being used inappropriately remains a concern.

One resident told the local press that complaints to the landlord, Lambeth Council and police had not prevented the landlord from continuing to rent the property out via AirBnB, where large groups of 40 or more gathered and loud music was played.

Other complaints highlighted noise, lockdown restrictions being broken, and trespassing on neighbouring properties in the fortnight before the stabbing.

Read more about the roadshow.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: Airbnb’s long-awaited plan for landlord regulation in UK is latest Covid casualty | LandlordZONE.

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EXCLUSIVE: Success of pioneering Telford scheme shows licensing isn’t always the answer

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Both Telford & Wrekin Council and the area’s local landlord group agree that its model private rented property management scheme has successfully come down hard on bad landlords while raising standards.

The two-year-old scheme – Better Homes for All – has seen officers work with landlords and letting agents using an ‘educate, encourage and enforce’ approach and as a result, 250 HMOs are now licensed and it’s brought two prosecutions for poor HMO standards.

Its council has also chased up 97 referrals from its ‘Report a Rogue’ campaign and issued 425 enforcement notices to landlords, ordering them to bring their properties up to standard.

Telford & Wrekin was also the first council in the country to hand a banning order to a landlord; David Beattie pleaded guilty in 2017 to two charges relating to the unlawful eviction of a tenant and was also ordered to pay more than £7,000 in costs.

The Wrekin Landlord Association fought the introduction of a proposed selective licensing scheme three years ago, which it believed would have been too heavy-handed.

Agreed scheme

Chairman Bernie Lewis tells LandlordZONE that the subsequent scheme agreed between landlords and the council has worked much better.

“While selective licensing wasn’t needed, we recognised that the council had to get rid of the small number of rogue landlords. This scheme makes it easier to target them and the council is doing a good job, particularly by making an example with these high-profile cases.”

Councillor Richard Overton, cabinet member for enforcement, says: “We have achieved so much by working closely with landlords and letting agents.

“When we had to take action, we did. Whether it was an enforcement notice to bring about a repair or improvement, or the banning of a landlord, we will do whatever it takes to make sure we protect and care for our residents.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: Success of pioneering Telford scheme shows licensing isn’t always the answer | LandlordZONE.

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Switching AST to which contract type for tenants with Ltd co?

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I currently have a really good tenant on an AST who would like to pay his rent through his limited company and register his company at the address. I have no problem with this so long as I get it right legally.

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LATEST: No help for landlords left stranded by evictions ban, minister confirms

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The government has confirmed that it will not offer any additional financial help to landlords who had repossessions in progress prior to the Covid evictions ban and who are now ‘in limbo’ through no fault of their own.

As LandlordZONE has reported in recent months, there are thousands of landlords who were in the process of evicting tenants for non-payment of rent or anti-social behaviour but who were unwittingly caught out by the government’s sudden evictions ban on March 18th.

Baroness Altmann yesterday quizzed the government’s Minister of State for housing in the Lords, Lord Greenhalgh, on what plans the government  has to support landlords who, through no fault of their own, face months of financial stress as their tenants continue to avoid paying their rent.

Many who had issued Section 21 or Section 8 notices just prior to March 18^th are unlikely to secure a tenant’s eviction until November as the three-month waiting period kicks in and they await the hearings backlog to be cleared.

Greenhalgh avoided answering her question directly, instead pointing out the government’s support of tenants through the furlough system, the beefed-up Universal Credit system including a higher Local Housing Allowance, and the ongoing ‘mortgage holiday’ arranged for landlords via lenders.

“Landlords should contact their lender at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss if the payment holiday is a suitable option for them,” he said.

Sustain tenancies

Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action, says that in the vast majority of cases landlords and tenants are working hard to sustain tenancies wherever possible.

“It is vital, however, that as courts begin to hear repossession cases again, that they prioritise the most urgent. This includes cases of anti-social behaviour, those where rent arrears were building pre-COVID and cases which were started, but then paused, prior to lockdown,” he says.

“To support this landlords have a vital role to play in telling their MPs about the impact the repossessions ban is having as well as highlighting the ways in which they are supporting their tenants through the current crisis.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: No help for landlords left stranded by evictions ban, minister confirms | LandlordZONE.

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2nd BTL 2 bed Vs 3 bed?

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Hi all! Just hoping for a little advice or even a ‘what you would do not his situation’ approach.

I’m a relatively new landlord and getting my second property, so I have zero experience with decisions like this.

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Out of Town Office Space is in strong Demand

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Agents are seeing an increase in inquiries for out-of-town offices which have adequate car parking and social distancing space within.

Covid-19 is forcing a re-think on the ways people will continue to work in office environments when city centre offices present several difficulties: getting to work on mass public transport, and hundreds or even thousands of staff in high rise blocks where lifts have very limited capacity.

Currently, most office staff are homeworking or working flexibly, with a small core team working in the office. But as things start to move towards normality, and teams need to meet face to face, at least occasionally, the prospect of an out-of-town or regional office becomes more attractive.

If this becomes a trend it will certainly please those landlords who have vacant out-of-town office space, and it will create much sought after demand in what has been a lean time for this type of space of late.

Jonathan Ratcliffe from Office Agency Offices.co.uk says:

“I wouldn’t say people are deserting cities, but what we are seeing is a clear short-term spike in interest in office sites with car parking and smaller private office suites, it’ll be interesting to see if this continues into the medium-term”.

The Post-Covid office market is likely to be quite different to what it was before, depending how long the precautions need to go on. City centres are like ghost towns right now, with not just empty office buildings, but empty sandwich bars, cafes, restaurants, trains, trams and tubes.

Most service industries have adapted well to home and flexible working and are content to allow their staff to continue this flexibility, depending on individual circumstances. For example, at-risk families and those who need to use public transport will be accommodated. It is likely that an element of this may become permanent, but there will still be a need for teams to come together, so a smaller out-of-town office could be just the right solution for some companies.

Out-of-town sites are usually on the outskirts of a town with good transport links, they often enjoy more green space and are ideal for those who can drive to work.

Mr Ratcliffe explains:

“City centres are usually extremely poor for car parking, so if you are travelling by car to work, as we all are currently, you want to a direct commute and a car parking space. People are actively avoiding other people on public transport. Car parking is the key feature tenants are asking for now.”

There is almost certainly going to be a reduction in the demand for large physical office space in town and city centres. Several CEOs of large corporations have already indicated that they will be having a serious re-think about housing thousand of staff in city centre Leviathan offices in the future.

Technology has taken on a new significance, so travel, regionally, nationally and internationally is likely to be in for a huge reduction as people get familiar with the technology of remote working and digital communication. Consequently, the availability of Megabit Broadband will in future be a major determinant of the suitability of out-of-town office space.

Mr Radcliffe cites Manchester as an example, having plenty of choice of city centre office spaces, but it’s the options on the outskirts where the current demand lies, he says. Areas such as Old Trafford and Salford Quays, which both enjoy superb transport links, cheaper desk prices and more open space were the “go-to” areas over the past month.

Conor Shields the Area Manager for IWG plc in Manchester says:

“We’ve closed out June with a record-breaking month for: number of tours, number of enquiries and the number of deals signed for Regus Manchester Trafford Park and Regus Salford Quays Digital World. What we do know is the market is back, businesses are leaning towards more flexible working solutions now more than ever”

In Newcastle, recruitment firm NRG has signed an out of town lease at the Quorum Office Park located 4 miles from Newcastle City Centre, with great transport links to the A1 and A19.

Therese Liddle, CEO at NRG explains,

“The City Centre was a great place for NRG for many years but as we grow and offer clients more agile solutions identified even before the Covid19 crisis a shift in the way businesses recruit. The NEON building perfectly complements our brand and vision, allowing us to drive our business forward and facilitate our next phase of growth, while giving our teams a brilliant vibrant place to work.”

Large corporates are also looking outside of City centres, with trends such as “Hub-and-Spoke” – a city centre HQ with supporting flexible hubs in the suburbs, demonstrating a trend away from busy cities turbo-charged by the Covid panic.

“City centres are in a quandary, we know once a vaccine has been developed and the fear has gone that they will once again thrive, but for now it’s all about cars and smaller private offices for those wanting to get back to work”, concludes Jonathan Ratcliffe.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Out of Town Office Space is in strong Demand | LandlordZONE.

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Are two rent increases within a year possible?

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I increased a rent of a few of my flats in March (pre covid nightmare!) but still to UNDER the LHA rate. Since then the LHA rate has been raised significantly, so can I raise the rent again still under the capped rate?

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Is this a Cunning Plan?

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I own a leasehold flat on a long lease. I have rented to the same tenant for 17 years. She wants to either let two bedrooms or grant licenses to two individuals to occupy those bedrooms. She resides in the third bedroom.

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