Leasehold reform recommendations published

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The Law Commission of England and Wales has published recommendations to transform home ownership. It has been estimated there are at least 4.3 million leasehold homes in England alone. If enacted our reforms would help those owners and pave the way for a system where flats are sold with freehold title (as part of a commonhold).

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How to Source Bargain Property Post-Covid – Wednesday 29th July

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This Month’s Theme – Online Networking Event
How To Find Bargain Property Deals: Direct From Vendor & Through Auctions

Live Stream with: Our Four Property Experts

Jay Howard, Claire Norwood, Hanif Khan
& host Ranjan Bhattacharya

Don’t miss out.

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Leading inventory service says get ready for a surge in tenant moves

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Agents and landlords will need to strike a balance between managing the ongoing impact of Covid-19 while at the same time preparing for tenant moves and new tenancies.

No Letting Go, the UK’s largest provider of inventory services is predicting a surge of tenant moves in the coming weeks as lock-down eases.

There are positive signs of a recovery in the rental market which inevitably will result in a suge given the pent-up desire for moves as lockdown measures are eased and the market’s recent recovery continues.

Letting agents and landlords are therefore being advised by No Letting Go to get prepared for a wave of new tenancies while still managing the ongoing impact of Covid-19.

The UK’s largest provider of inventory services says, “an efficiently executed pre-tenancy process can pave the way for a smooth tenancy and increase satisfaction for all stakeholders.”

Following the reopening of the property market on May 13, evidence from numerous sources suggests that rental activity has rebounded impressively and at a faster rate even than the sales market, which has also been positive.

According to digital lettings platform Goodlord, the number of completed lets was above the 2019 average for all but six days in June, while new tenancy applications remained 90% above 2019 levels last month.

London estate agents Chestertons the number of new tenants registering for a new property was up 43% in June compared to May, with figures for viewings, offers and agreed tenancies all significantly higher over the same period.

“It’s clear that tenants have been buoyed by the recovery of the rental market and that due to the extraordinary circumstances, activity in recent weeks has been significantly higher than the annual average,” says Nick Lyons, CEO and Founder of No Letting Go.

“The combination of those tenants whose contracts are expiring and need to move, those who wanted to move before or during lockdown but couldn’t and those that decided they want to move during lockdown, means the next few weeks and months are likely to be extremely busy for agents and landlords.”

Landlords and agents need to keep battling virus impact while remaining on top of everything while maintaining high levels of service and compliance will be a big challenge for property professionals,” says Lyons.

“First and foremost, agents and landlords need to ensure all safety precautions are taken and government guidance is followed. This in itself has been a steep learning curve for the industry.”

“The balancing act of achieving this while continuing to stay on top of all the administrative processes required to grant a new tenancy marks the next step for agents and landlords to negotiate.”

He cites the raft of legislation that now governs the private rental sector with landlords needing to comply with over 150 pieces of legislation, up from 118 (32%) in 2010, according to the Residential Landlords Association. This increasing pressure is demonstrated by the introduction of mandatory electricity checks for new lets this month, as well as changes to the Tenant Fees Act in June.

“We know from experience that getting all the ducks in a row at the start of a tenancy can help to reduce the chances of disputes or the potential need for eviction. It also increases the chance of a happy tenancy and the subsequent prospects of a long-term residency which benefits all parties,” explains Lyons.

“As well as meeting all regulations and carrying out the relevant health and safety checks, it’s important that processes such as referencing tenants, carrying out a thorough inventory check-in and monitoring properties through mid-term inspections are given due care and attention.”

“Landlords and agents should never take the risk of accepting potentially problematic tenants or not having the necessary records in place to protect against property damage or rent arrears. However, during a time of such uncertainty and financial instability, protecting investments is vital,” says Lyons.

He acknowledges that the workload of agents and landlords who self-manage is likely to be considerably higher for many months to come as they aim to overcome numerous obstacles.

“For letting agents, having an adaptable and dedicated staff will be more crucial than ever. Meanwhile, all stakeholders will need to make sure they work with the best industry suppliers and use technology to increase efficiency to meet compliance obligations while a quality service,” Lyons concludes.

No Letting Go is the UK’s largest provider of inventory services with over 65 offices across the country, offering a range of pre-tenancy, check-in, property management and end of tenancy services.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Leading inventory service says get ready for a surge in tenant moves | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Radical overhaul of private renting needed says new report

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Tenants get more consumer protection when buying a fridge-freezer than when renting a house, according to a radical new report on the private rented sector.

Left-wing think-tank The Smith Institute says these rights should be bolstered and that those taken for granted in sectors such as utilities and financial services should be applied to renting.

As moving home is such a stressful and dislocating experience, it believes tenants can be less reluctant to exercise their consumer sovereignty by ‘switching’.

A plethora of Acts of Parliament and regulations can be confusing, with a real lack of clarity for both tenants and landlords around rights and obligations.

Landlord register

Its report criticises the lack of basic information on important safety issues for tenants and the lack of an accessible public register so they can check to see if they are dealing with a landlord who has a good track record of treating renters fairly.

The Smith Institute is also calling on the Government to protect and empower renters with a raft of measures including a new Private Rented Sector Regulator to ensure consumers are treated fairly and the introduction of an open-ended Private Residential Tenancy, including removing no-fault evictions and increasing notice periods for longer term tenants.

It suggests reforming redress and dispute resolution by introducing mandatory membership of the Housing Ombudsman Service for landlords and lettings agents, along with an independent Private Renters Panel to represent the interests of renters and to help shape Government policy.

It also proposes that all landlords should provide better information for tenants, setting out terms of the tenancy, information about the property, information about the landlord and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.

A review of mandatory third-party deposit schemes is also advised, with a new National Tenancy Deposit Scheme if these aren’t robust enough.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Radical overhaul of private renting needed says new report | LandlordZONE.

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Fast track to add 2 more storeys

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New laws laid in Parliament (21 July 2020) will deliver much-needed new homes and revitalise town centres across England, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced.

The new rules, which will come into effect by September, will mean full planning applications will not be required to demolish and rebuild unused buildings as homes and commercial and retail properties can be quickly repurposed to help revive our high streets and town centres.

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Electric meters for tenants – card pre-pay or smart?

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I’m renovating a five-bed, three-story flat into three separate flats (a floor each).

I now need to determine what to fit in each flat:

Prepay card meter – tenants know how much they have, top-ups when need to

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BREAKING: Most radical shake-up of leasehold in a generation proposed by Law Commission

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Landlords could be forced to absorb greater legal costs if the takes on board the Law Commission’s most significant proposals for leasehold reform in a generation.

Its three new reports published today on leasehold enfranchisement, the right to manage and commonhold, propose reforms of the leasehold system and its replacement with a revived commonhold tenure.

It calls for an overhaul of the right to manage process and says landlords’ legal costs should not be passed to leaseholders, blaming costs as the prime reason why applications fail.

Under the proposals, leasehold houses would also be able to opt for right to manage, removing imposed management by the freeholder.

Campaigning group Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, says: “Coupled with the Government’s commitment to set new ground rents to zero and to ban leasehold houses, the proposals demonstrate in compelling detail why the leasehold system needs reform and how it could be done.

“It is a blueprint for a Government to reform this entire sector, if it so chooses.”

The Law Commission suggests that all new lease extensions would be 990 years, instead of the current 90 (flats) and 50 (houses), and that there should be no ongoing ground rent.

Under its reforms, landlords would not be able to pass on their legal costs during the enfranchisement process. In its commonhold report, it makes recommendations that would make it not just a workable alternative to residential leasehold, but the preferred alternative.

LKP adds that these reports are a, “nail in the coffin for predatory commercial interests seeking to exploit the feudal leasehold system”. But it adds that they depend on the Government choosing to bring them in.

The Government tasked the Law Commission to study the sector which it said, “has far too many problems including disproportionate costs to extend leases; poor value property management; and a slow and costly sales process”.

Read more about leasehold reform and what it could mean for landlords.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Most radical shake-up of leasehold in a generation proposed by Law Commission | LandlordZONE.

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Rogue landlords too easily flouting tenancy deposit laws, says campaigning group

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Rogue landlords are still flouting deposit laws, forcing tenants to take enforcement action into their own hands as weak policing of the system become more evident, it has been claimed.

In a recent incident, one group of tenants from Sheffield took their protest to their landlord’s house to force him to repay £800 after he failed to use an authorised deposit scheme.

The three tenants said they’d thoroughly cleaned the house before the end of their tenancy, but the landlord refused to return it and accused them of “trashing the house”.

But the housemates said the claims were mostly related to problems which were there when they moved in, or down to ordinary wear-and-tear.

They later found out that the previous tenants had also experienced difficulties in getting their deposits back.

After joining the ACORN tenants’ union, group members gathered outside the landlord’s house and successfully demanded their deposits back.

A spokesman for ACORN says: “We let the landlord know that we would not be intimidated…he caved in and massively reduced the amount they were claiming from the deposit, down to about £30 per tenant. Deposit theft is all too common, but no one should have to accept it.”

However, all this can be avoided if landlords use an approved deposit protection scheme, as mediation on the claimed costs would go through a redress organisation such as Property Redress Scheme (PRS).

Sean Hooker, PRS head of redress, says there is still a job to do to educate tenants and that if a deposit wasn’t protected then the advice should have been for them to take legal action. 

He says: “The tenants would have been able to get their deposit back plus one to three times the amount back. There are loads of landlords flouting the law – this is because the enforcement is effectively down to the tenants.” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Rogue landlords too easily flouting tenancy deposit laws, says campaigning group | LandlordZONE.

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Tenant jailed after attacking landlord over eviction notice

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An abusive tenant has been jailed for 14 months for attacking his landlord with a knife sharpener after he was given notice to quit.

Michael Bennett, 52, of Freeman Street, Grimsby (pictured), admitted assaulting the landlord, causing actual bodily harm and leaving him permanently scarred.

Grimsby Crown Court heard that he was angry about being asked to leave after not paying his rent, so first phoned the landlord to hurl abuse, and later threatened to kill him.

Bennett objected to being accused of damaging a window at the property, but the landlord was convinced that he was responsible for the damage and blamed him for it.

Relations between the two men deteriorated, but Bennett denied causing the damage and they later got into an argument.

Further threats

When the landlord turned around to walk away, fearing that he was about to be attacked, Bennett hit him with a knife sharpener then kicked him in the ribs and back. Bennett even called the landlord in hospital where he was being treated and made further threats.

Judge Mark Bury told Bennett: “There was plainly an issue, your relationship was non-existent. There was some damage to his property. He blamed you for it. You denied it. You and he got into an argument.”

Bennett, who had been previously convicted of assault, was jailed for 14 months but because he had been in custody for about six months, was not expected to be kept behind bars for much longer.

Read more about tenants from hell.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Tenant jailed after attacking landlord over eviction notice | LandlordZONE.

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Government pumps £105m into helping homeless move into privately rented sector

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Housing secretary Robert Jenrick is to offer an additional £105 million to help homeless people move into private rental market homes as well as other accommodation types.

The money, which is available until March 2021, is part of his department’s existing efforts to offer a wide range of accommodation providers financial help via local authorities to give 15,000 rough sleepers more permanent homes that are ‘good value for money’ and ‘safe’.

During the Covid lockdown homeless people were offered accommodation in hostels and hotels but the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is now seeking to give them a leg up into more secure but interim accommodation by supporting new tenancies within the private sector.

Landlords who take on tenants funded by the scheme will receive deposits and rent paid directly to them by local authorities and will be offered mediation services and cash incentives as sweeteners to be part of the scheme.

Called the Next Steps Accommodation Programme, it is part of the government’s wider rough sleeping initiative coordinated by Dame Louise Casey.

“We now have a landmark opportunity to break the cycle of rough sleeping and ensure that people do not return to a life on the streets,” says Jenrick.

“Today I am launching the funding to ensure that vulnerable people and rough sleepers continue to have a roof over their heads and are helped into longer term accommodation, enabling them to start to rebuild their lives.”

The Next Steps Accommodation Programme is part of a two-pronged approach to offer homeless people both interim accommodation and also more longer-term properties.

Read the Next Steps Accommodation Programme in full.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Government pumps £105m into helping homeless move into privately rented sector | LandlordZONE.

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