Westminster Council launches snooping tool for private tenants

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The London borough’s initiative is designed to help it identify rogue landlords and gives its housing standards taskforce more clout to enforce the mandatory HMO licensing scheme.

Westiminster’s new rent repayment checker lets renters input their details online to instantly find out if they’re eligible.

It first verifies if the property has a licence by asking them to provide details about their situation and address; the council will then contact them to discuss their case and give advice on how to apply for a rent repayment order.

It promises to refer tenants to Safer Renting, a charity which will guide them through the process of applying to the property tribunal. 

A council spokesman tells LandlordZONE: “We don’t know exactly how many HMOs are in the borough, nor how many are licensed – part of the reason for the checker is that it will allow us to build a much more complete database of this.”

Rules

Councillor Heather Acton, cabinet member for public protection and licensing, adds that the tool will help tenants be aware of their rights and check whether their landlords are abiding by the rules.

“We would encourage all landlords letting homes of multiple occupation to ensure they are being responsible and meeting their full legal obligations or face the consequences.”

Rent repayment orders allow tenants to claw back up to 12 months’ rent if a landlord has committed an offence, although they don’t need to have been convicted.

While local authorities around the UK are latching onto the enforcement and deterrent possibilities afforded by rent repayment orders, the National Residential Landlords Association has questioned how workable or effective they really are.

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Third of landlords have experienced rent arrears during COVID, says poll

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One in three landlords have had to endure rental arrears as a result of COVID-19 while the same number have been asked for either a rent reduction or payment holiday, according to new figures from rental property sales platform Vesta.

Although the findings are based on a relatively small survey of 157 landlords representing more than 1,300 properties in the three months between March and June, it believes this indicates a much higher level of rental arrears than other studies have found.

This includes the Shelter survey which estimated that just 3% of private renters had fallen into rental arrears since the start of the pandemic.

Vesta says 87% of landlords who were asked by their tenant for a rent reduction or payment holiday due to COVID-19 agreed to a concession.

By extrapolating the figure, it’s worked out that UK landlords have so far given at least £722 million worth of financial support to their tenants.

This is based on 2.66 million landlords in the UK, an average monthly rent of £888 and assuming that each landlord provided one month’s rent.

Russell Gould, Vesta’s chief executive, says the findings show how the vast majority of landlords have worked with, empathised with, and have supported their tenants during the pandemic.

“Many landlords are retired and rely on rent as their major source of income so many have taken a significant financial hit to help their tenants impacted by COVID-19,” says Gould.

Confidence returning

Vesta also says that confidence appears to be returning to the market, with landlords more positive than economists when it comes to expectations for medium-term tenancy demand and house price growth.

It found that 65% of landlords believe that property prices will increase or stay about the same over the next 12 months, while half of the landlords surveyed plan to buy at least one property during that time.

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Can I charge for a woof?

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We let as standard no pets, but I received a request from the Council to house an older lady with a Jack Russell pet

Is there anything I can do to protect myself from potential damage and extra cleaning required etc?

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Stop hitting landlords over the head with a stick, industry leaders urge Ministers

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Four of the private rental market’s key figures have taken the government to task over its ‘landlord bashing’.

Ben Beadle of the NRLA, John Blackwood of the Scottish Association of Landlords, Eddie Hooker of MyDeposits and Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action debated the ‘future of landlording’ during which a range of high profile topics were discussed.

Several clear messages were delivered, including how extra regulation is frightening new landlords away and forcing many larger portfolio landlords to quit the sector.

Key to this problem has been the Section 24 tax changes, tenant fees ban, selective licensing, the proposed changes to Section 21 notices and now the evictions ban.

All agreed that government policy is baffling. Private landlords have been forced to take up the slack from the affordable and council home sectors, a role they are often ill-equipped to provide, but at the same time disincentived to invest.

“The constant attack on landlords really annoys me because the government doesn’t seem to have thought about where else are the tenants are going to live,” said Hooker.

Beadle added: “It’s creating a market bubble too, forcing up rents in many areas and going against their aim of making renting more affordable.”

Pressure off

Blackwood said the lack of affordable social housing remains the key problem, and that if government invested in that properly, it would take the pressure off the private rented sector.

“A lot of landlords are telling me the sector isn’t worth it any longer – so if more landlords quit, what will happen? People need somewhere to live,” he says.

“Instead of hitting us over the heads with a stick, they should be encouraging us to invest more.”

The group agreed that Covid has intensified these problems and that the ongoing eviction ban is a product of the government’s lack of investment in affordable and council housing.

These sectors are unable to take up the slack during Covid, and so an evictions ban is the only path left open to ministers.

Worst to come

“The worst is still to come,” says Beadle. “Landlords are now expected to pay the debts of others and suck up not being able to take possession of their property – after years of filing in for government. We can’t carry the can for ever.”

Blackwood added: “Landlords cannot expect to have tenants in their properties for over a year without paying a penny in rent.

“If the government doesn’t want anyone to be evicted then they should pay everyone’s rent – it’s a simple as that.”

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Any mortgage lenders out there if I have a CBILs application outstanding?

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We took a Business Bounce Back Loan (BBL) for legitimate COVID-19 related reasons and would benefit greatly from a CBILS which is now made available for bridging and asset finance to re-finance the BBL + bridging loan which we had to utilise to re-finance an investor when our mortgage offer was withdrawn due to covid/lockdown.

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Taking Guarantor to Small Claims Court?

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My tenants have been evicted and are refusing to pay outstanding expenses, neither of them work, but they provided a guarantor who can pay the outstanding expenses. The guarantor owns his own business with 2 outlets and appears on the company website.

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Stop slamming landlords and give them some help, says leading Conservative

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Many landlords feel that every politician in the land is clamouring for the tenant vote at the moment, including many senior Conservative ministers, following last weeks’ evictions ban extension in England and Wales.

But at least they can count on the support of at one Tory – Mark Isherwood, Conservative Welsh Member of the Senedd for North Wales, who is also the country’s shadow spokesperson for Local Government, Communities and North Wales Growth Deal.

He has today called for greater understanding by the Welsh Labour-led government of the need to protect both tenants and landlords – particularly in light of the increasing dependency of people on the private-rented sector for housing and the damaging effect Covid-19 and the pandemic have had on the sector.

“The overwhelming majority of tenants who have approached their landlord or letting agent for support during the coronavirus pandemic – such as for a rent deferral, a rent reduction or some other assistance – have received a positive response,” he says.

“However, landlords have – in some cases during the pandemic – been left without rent for their properties for months not because the tenants couldn’t pay, but because they wouldn’t.

“Unlike other groups, there are no direct financial measures to help landlords carry the burden brought about by the Welsh Government’s decision of an extension of notice period for repossession of a property.

“The Welsh Labour-led Government must end its prejudice again private landlords and help them to maintain a good number of quality rental properties.”

Isherwood suggests:

• Taking up the NRLA’s proposal to introduce a low-cost or interest-free tenant-loan scheme for Covid-19 related arrears, where payment is made to the landlord.

• Setting up a mechanism for landlords to access grants, where renters are unwilling to engage or make an application themselves, and which would be particularly relevant for landlords whose possession cases started before the stay and for those where arrears have accrued unrelated to Covid.

“These landlords have faced at least six additional months without rent because of the restrictions placed upon them even though the tenancy had failed before the crisis began,” he says.

“There is a fine balance that must be struck to protect both parties in these arrangements. Tenants of course need the security of a good home and a responsible landlord, but landlords need responsible tenants who pay their rent.

“The majority of landlords are individuals who let out one or two properties. Many of these rely on that income for their day to day living expenses or to provide pensions.

“To drive decent landlords out of the sector and reduce the housing stock available for rent would be detrimental to tenants in the long run.”

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