Welsh government increases eviction notice from 3 to 6 months

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The Welsh government has announced a temporary increase in the notice period for eviction in private rented and housing association accommodation in Wales. The change means that unless a tenant is being evicted on the grounds of anti-social behaviour, they will be entitled to six months’ notice instead of three.

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Rishi’s moment of madness? Chancellor considers charging business rates to landlords

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering introducing a new ‘Capital Values Tax’ to replace the business rates system, official documents show.

The proposed new levy would shift the burden from the tenant to the landlord, seeing the owners of non-domestic properties having to pay a new tax based on the value of their property instead.

In a Business Rates Review recently published by HM Treasury, the new tax is described as “a recurrent property tax based on capital values”. A consultation on the measures is now open but due to close on 18th September.

The benefits of this new proposed tax are claimed to be the fact that it would be more stable, more predictable and less harmful to economic growth than the current system.

Bombshell

The move would obviously be a bombshell for commercial landlords, with the business rates currently being paid by their tenants effectively becoming part of their tax bill.

The consultation document states: “The government will need to strike the right balance between continuing to raise the revenue necessary to fund essential public services and supporting the economic recovery.

“Therefore, the government is again seeking views on the case for the introduction of alternative taxes to either replace or complement the business rates system.”

Referring specifically to the proposed Capital Values Tax, the document continues: “This change in the liability for the tax, from occupant to owner, is put forward as a significant benefit of a capital values tax in that this would ensure that the incidence of the tax falls directly on the property owner, rather than indirectly as with the business rates system.”

Read our taxation guide for landlords.

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Live in half a house and rent the other half as an HMO?

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I have 2 properties I share ownership of and both of which are run as HMO’s. It does take more work and I have become something of a social worker, but as a business, it definitely has its good points re yield even with a small turnover of tenants.

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Incorporating into our Ltd co and Higher Stamp Duty refund?

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Hi, We are looking at incorporating our buy to let property (purchased in 2016 as our primary residence and has been let out since 2019) into our Ltd company (set up in March 2020).

The house we currently live in was purchased in Nov 2019 at a higher stamp duty and I was wondering if we would be able to claim the higher stamp duty back if we sold our buy to let property to our limited company.

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Landlords face renewed Airbnb clampdown by Scottish government

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The Scottish Government is set to resume its plan to crackdown on short-term Airbnb rentals following a temporary halt to the proposed new regulations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart has announced that the new rules will now be fast-tracked to ensure they are in place by next summer to help ease the pressure on Scotland’s housing market.

The new licencing scheme aims to regulate the short-term let sector which is being blamed for contributing to a housing crisis in Scottish cities.

In Edinburgh in particular, a surge in Airbnb listings has led to a significant reduction in the availability of homes for rent.

Having paused the implementation of the licencing proposals due to the pandemic, the Scottish Government will now fast-track the new regulations with a view to them being in place before Holyrood is dissolved for the 2021 election.

In a letter to the Local Government Committee, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “Having paused work on the regulation of short-term lets to deal with the pandemic, we have now resumed our work on the measures that I announced on 8 January.”

The letter continues: “We aim to lay the regulations giving local authorities powers to license short-term lets and introduce control areas in December so that they can be in force by spring 2021. As part of preparation to do this, we will be engaging stakeholders on our detailed proposals in autumn.

“The delay caused by Covid-19 necessitates that this will be a shorter period of engagement than originally planned but we will make sure that the process is effective in refining our proposals and finalising the statutory instruments.”

Read more about Airbnb and Scotland.

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MyDeposits wins second term running Jersey’s tenancy deposits protection scheme

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Following a competitive tender process, mydeposits has been reappointed as the approved administrator for Jersey’s tenancy deposit protection scheme.

After originally secured the contract in November 2015 when the scheme first launched, mydeposits will now continue to act as the administrator for Jersey’s tenancy deposit scheme.

The reappointment will take effect from 31 October this year, lasting for a maximum of five years.

Jersey’s Minister for Children and Housing, Senator Sam Mézec, comments: “I am pleased to extend the agreement with mydesposits for a second time.

“The scheme provides an effective way to manage deposits and to resolve any disputes between landlords and tenants. I will continue working to improve standards in Jersey’s rental sector and I am confident that mydeposits Jersey will be a key partner in this work.”

Eddie Hooker, the CEO of mydeposits, adds: “This extension is a testament to the hard work and commitment the team has put in over the past few years.

“This decision by the Minister will enable us to continue investing in the scheme and enhancing the service we provide to our customers in Jersey.

“We are passionate about raising standards across the rental sector in Jersey and supporting landlords and tenants to adopt good practice in the handling of deposit money. We will continue to work closely with the Government of Jersey to support them in their valuable work.”

Read more about Jersey.

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New Permitted Development rights do not create worse quality homes

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The Government have announced great news this week regarding new permitted development (PD) rights for repurposing defunct commercial buildings.

However, some leftie University Academics have put out a report (published in mainstream media) on how permitted development has resulted in worse quality housing.

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NRLA website goes live as NLA and RLA disappear

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The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has been fully launched following several months of gestation, and its new website is now live.

This means that the National Landlords Association and Residential Landlords Association no longer exist and both their former websites now redirect visitors to the new NRLA site.

The merger was announced in August last year, and brought together both associations into the one organisations including all membership and activities.

“A message on the old websites now reads: “You should have received an email with your brand new membership number,” it says. “Your login details remain unchanged so you can easily log into your account using your existing email address and password.”

The NRLA how includes some 80,000 mainly smaller landlords who between them own 500,000 properties within the private rental market.

Friendly competition

“After more than 20 years of friendly competition the time is right to create a single organisation to represent and campaign for landlords,” a joint statement from NLA and RLA said.

“With so much of our work done in parallel there are major benefits to be gained for our landlord members.”

The NLA was founded in 1988 and the RLA in 1973 but in recent years had been pursuing almost identical roles.

After the changes were voted through by members, the chief executives of both organisations (Richard Lambert and Andrew Dixon) stepped aside and Ben Beadle was revealed as the new Chief Executive of the combined organisation.

Counsel coup

The NRLA has also announced that leading housing lawyer and former RLA policy director David Smith has been announced as legal counsel for the National Residential Landlords Association.

David is a partner at JMW Solicitors in London, specialising in landlord and tenant and property litigation in the residential sector.

He will use his specialist legal knowledge to help the NRLA scrutinise legislation and the ways in which it will impact the PRS and private landlords and will advise the association when it comes to raising legal challenges, on seeking amendments to legislation, and on its approach to the future of the PRS.

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LATEST: Rental properties housing ‘shielding’ tenants can now be visited for repairs and maintenance

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Updated government guidance has given the green light for landlords to resume maintenance and repairs at properties where tenants are shielding – or to use the technical term ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ people.

Civil servants have updated the official Covid guidance for landlords and tenants, which now says that from 1 August 2020, “following the relaxation of the guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable groups, clinically vulnerable or shielding households, it is advised they may permit landlords and contractors to carry out routine repairs and inspections providing that the latest guidance on social distancing is followed.

“We have also updated our local authority guidance with advice clarifying that local authorities may now resume routine inspections in people’s homes dependent on their individual priorities and enforcement policies.”

More relaxed

This more relaxed approach also now applies to viewings, which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says can be completed at properties where people are shielding, but that they should be as short as possible and respect social distancing rules and – ideally – those who are shielding remain outside the property.

But the guidance also remains constant in most other areas – including that landlords and letting agents should not conduct viewings in properties where tenants are symptomatic or self-isolating, and that viewings should be conducted ‘virtually’ first – assuming the property was photographed or a virtual tour created beforehand.

“Tenants’ safety should be the first priority of letting agents and landlords,” the guidance says.

Read the updated guidance in full.

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Landlord launches ‘five-star’ private rental market reviews website

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A landlord has launched a private rental market reviews platform that seeks to enable good tenants and landlords to promote themselves to each other, for free, and give each other star-based score.

Former RAF helicopter pilot turned Oldham landlord Jon Maumy says his Tenancy Trust platform does not – like other reviews sites – concentrate on tenants and their complaints.

He says the service prompts landlords to ask tenants to give them reviews and also tenants to ask landlords for feedback.

And Tenancy Trust allows both landlords and other service providers to promote their properties and services to tenants free of charge.
Maumy says he came up with the idea while researching the property market as part of a post-graduate business course at the University of Northampton.

“Property rentals are like a blind date where both parties have to make a rapid commitment,” he says.

“Landlords entrust their costly properties to tenants they have never met who in turn agree to hand over a significant part of their income.

Horror stories

“While there are horror stories on both sides, the majority of landlords and tenants are decent but they need a better way to show it.

“Tenancy Trust allows them to use reviews in a pro-active way to build trust. It also plays a useful role in the referencing process.”

Maumy claims his service also enables tenants build a track record to help secure the best properties just as they might use their CV to get the right jobs.

“This is particularly important now competition is getting tougher and people are renting for longer before they buy,” he says.

Visit Tenancy Trust.

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