REVEALED: Why rent controls have been an utter failure in Scotland

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Scottish Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) have proved so ineffectual that no council has been able to meet the stringent tests giving them the ability to cap rents, according to new research.

Councils currently need to apply to the Scottish Government, proving that rents are rising too fast, that those rises are causing problems for tenants, and that they put pressure on the council to provide housing.

However, the Progressive Policy Research Group says it can take local authorities up to five years just to collate the evidence. “As a result, the pressure that the private rented sector puts on family finances, and the impact it has on child poverty rates, go unmitigated,” it says.

New proposals

It’s come up with new proposals for reforming the sector, suggesting that these zones should apply to individual properties instead of tenancies as a way to incentive landlords to upgrade their properties and to stop them significantly increasing rent when a tenancy ends.

The group says the current system can disincentivise tenants moving, and in worst case scenarios can encourage eviction.

The research group wants the government to devolve responsibility for RPZs to local government and suggests that the Scottish Landlord Register is upgraded to include:

• HMO licence,
• Confirmation of using an approved tenancy deposit scheme,
• Energy Performance Certificate,
• Details on lengths of tenancy and rent levels,
• Verification that all appropriate tax has been paid and deposit information.

It explains: “This upgraded register should become the central data resource of a significantly more powerful and resourced regulatory body, whose purpose will be to ensure that landlords are complying with the law, and to drive up standards in the PRS.”

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on the Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill which would cap rent rises at 1% above inflation and give renters protection against excessive or unfair rent increases.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – REVEALED: Why rent controls have been an utter failure in Scotland | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: REVEALED: Why rent controls have been an utter failure in Scotland

Making Airbnb hosts meet same rental regulations as traditional lets ‘will cost 17,000 jobs’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Airbnb has joined a chorus of calls from Scotland’s short-lets sector urging the government to rethink hard-line plans to regulate its activities.

The hosting platform warns that these could jeopardise 17,000 jobs in the country and take almost £1 million a day out of the Scottish economy.

Holyrood is currently consulting on the plans which include a mandatory licensing scheme to ensure all short-term lets are safe and address issues faced by neighbours.

They would also give more power to local councils to manage pressures created by the sector and, if passed by Parliament, would take effect by April 2021.

Airbnb’s research shows how tourism related to the site boosts the Scottish economy by £677 million a year and supports more than 33,500 Scottish jobs.

It adds that the average Scottish family would need to pay more than £700 to meet the legal and technical requirements of sharing a spare room in their home under the Government’s proposals.

Licence

Before Scots could welcome guests into their homes, hosts would also need to pay for a licence and potentially pay for government mandated renovations such as replacing wooden floors with carpet or vinyl flooring. 

Airbnb director of public policy, Patrick Robinson (left), says: “It can’t be right that hosts need to rip up their floors and hire consultants before they can welcome a guest into their home for the night. We want to find a balanced approach and work with the government to regulate short-term lets while protecting livelihoods.” 

Airbnb wants short-term rentals to be regulated and suggests instead that there should be a national registration system with lighter rules for occasional hosts and more thorough conditions for commercial operators. 

The news comes after 38 prominent figures from the tourism sector wrote to Housing Minister Kevin Stewart, calling on him to delay the licensing plans amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Making Airbnb hosts meet same rental regulations as traditional lets ‘will cost 17,000 jobs’ | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Making Airbnb hosts meet same rental regulations as traditional lets ‘will cost 17,000 jobs’

Back to school? Landlord licensing in England is only a few years away, warns estate agency leader

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlords in England have been warned that they are only a few years off having to be fully registered and licenced as operators, a leading property industry figure has warned.

Mark Hayward, Chief Executive of trade association NAEA Propertymark (left) made the comments during a 45-minute webinar that updated his members about the looming Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) legislation.

This will squeeze out rogue lettings and sales agents by requiring firms to be licenced to operate and for agents to attain compulsory minimum levels of qualification before they can do their jobs.

But Hayward also warned that the cross-sector industry Regulator, once established, is to be given the powers to include landlords within the scheme.

Property managers

He also said that as RoPA stands now, landlords who manage their own properties won’t have to be qualified or licenced even though agents who do the same job will, but that this area of landlord activity would also eventually be ‘professionalised’.

It will take up to three years to get the estate agency sector fully regulated, he said, and that only then this “vast piece of work to identify landlords and work out how they could be regulated” would begin.

Rent-to-rent regulation

Lastly, it was also revealed that ‘rent to rent’ operators – people or companies who landlords sub-let their properties to in return for a guaranteed income – would also be covered by RoPA.

This will be a major departure. Now, anyone can set themselves as a rent-to-rent operator including the many inexperienced people who are urged to do so by so-called ‘property investment guru’ courses.

In only a matter of years they will have to attain a Level 3 NVQ qualification to operate a rent-to-rent scheme, a qualification which would take up to 150 hours to complete and cost between £500 and £600.

Read the RoPA proposals in full.
More about Rent Smart Wales.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Back to school? Landlord licensing in England is only a few years away, warns estate agency leader | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Back to school? Landlord licensing in England is only a few years away, warns estate agency leader

Can I purchase a freehold title AFTER freehold enfranchisement has taken place?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

There may be the potential to do a rooftop development or extension on the top of my building.

Freehold enfranchisement took place a few years ago and 18 lessees (of which I am one) are now all members of the freehold.

The post Can I purchase a freehold title AFTER freehold enfranchisement has taken place? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Can I purchase a freehold title AFTER freehold enfranchisement has taken place?

New Code of Conduct brings in Right to Rent rule changes from 2nd November

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Order 2020 introduces an online service which should make it easier for letting agents and landlords to check potential tenants for residency status.

Under the new rules, which involve relatively minor changes in management practice, new entrants to the UK will have an online page which includes their photograph and details of their right to work and rent. Landlords and agents will then need to verify that the photograph on the web page is of the correct person and also keep a copy of that web page for 12 months after the end of the tenancy.

The government says that,

“Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Immigration Act 2014 (“the Act”) provides a statutory excuse for landlords and their agents from being required to pay a civil penalty if they conduct prescribed eligibility checks on prospective occupiers and those occupiers who are renewing their tenancy agreements.”

“Allowing those without a lawful right to be in the UK to rent property supports people to establish a settled life in the UK, rather than to make provision to return to their home country. This creates a significant cost to the public purse, including through the provision of local authority support, and also reduces the amount of housing stock available to those who are lawfully residing in the UK… The legislation underpinning the Scheme extends across the whole of the UK. However, the legislation currently only applies in England.”

This is the third version of the Code of Practice on right to rent: a civil penalty scheme for landlords and their agents (September 2020). It applies from 2 November 2020.

Landlord and agents should make themselves familiar with this new version of the code which must be applied to all right to rent checks from that date, including where a follow-up check is required to maintain a statutory excuse which was established using a previous version of the code, current at that time.

B5JSSK nationals (those from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the USA) holding a passport, who also have a paper or electronic document (such as a boarding pass) showing entry into the UK within the last six months, have a right to rent. They can also get an approval via the Landlord Checking Service. This will, as normal, give them a 12 month right to rent even though they only get a six-month visa as of right.

From the outset, Right to Rent has received criticism from the landlord community, it’s an added task they don’t see as their responsibility, to be policing the borders, but when all things are considered, who else could do it?

These changes are relatively minor and should make the landlord’s or agent’s task easier. There are likely to be more substantial changes next year as the UK moves towards the proposed “points based immigration system”.

It is then likely that EEA and Swiss nationals will be downgraded to being of similar immigration status to other countries for which the UK normally allows time-limited visa free access (as opposed to unlimited visa free access) with the option to extend in certain circumstances.

Here is a Summary of changes in the new issue of the code of practice:

The new code of practice was updated for the 2 November 2020 and updates the version of the code issued in May 2016. The updates relate to:

• the introduction of online right to rent checks
• the use of the combination of a passport, plus proof of arrival within the last six months (for example a physical or electronic plane/boat/train ticket or boarding pass) for visitor nationals from USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Singapore to demonstrate a right to rent
• an amendment to the lists of acceptable documents set out in the Schedule to include Home Office documents issued to third-country family members of EEA nationals, which show the length of leave granted to such persons (both time limited and indefinite)
• an amendment to the lists of acceptable documents set out in the Schedule to remove the requirement that a UK birth or adoption certificate must be the full (long) certificate. A short or a long birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland are now acceptable documents to demonstrate a right to rent
• further minor amendments and technical changes to the presentation of the lists of acceptable documents set out in the Schedule making it simpler for landlords to conduct the initial and follow-up checks

Agents and landlords should review the new code and keep their eyes on the changing picture for the Right to Rent. There remains a lighter-touch regime in place for Right to Rent during the Covid pandemic as well which agents and landlords should be aware of.

Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Order 2020

Landlords: immigration right to rent checks

LandlordZONE – Government lays new Right to Rent legislation before parliament

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – New Code of Conduct brings in Right to Rent rule changes from 2nd November | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: New Code of Conduct brings in Right to Rent rule changes from 2nd November

Giving Tenants Notice versus Eviction during Covid-19 restrictions?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

So what is the difference with a rolling shorthold tenancy with a two month notice period, versus seeking an eviction notice?

Do I still have to give my tenant six months notice when I wish to end their periodic tenancy with a two month notice clause?

The post Giving Tenants Notice versus Eviction during Covid-19 restrictions? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Giving Tenants Notice versus Eviction during Covid-19 restrictions?

Government’s approach is almost certainly unlawful

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Evidence is emerging that County Court Bailiffs and High Court Sheriffs (HCEOs) are declining to enforce warrants and writs of possession.

Guidance has apparently come from the Lord Chancellor to Bailiffs, and the High Court Enforcement Officers Association has also publicised a letter received from Robert Buckland

The post Government’s approach is almost certainly unlawful appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Government’s approach is almost certainly unlawful

Warwick University refuses to answer key questions after leaving 500 private landlords in the lurch

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hundreds of landlords face trying to find new tenants for their student HMOs after the University of Warwick ditched its property management scheme.

But despite LandlordZONE trying to contact its representatives for two days, no-one at the University of Warwick was available for comment.

Under its Head Lease Scheme, landlords signed-over their houses to the university for years at a time for guaranteed rent, which then did the marketing, management and maintenance via its own letting operation.

More than 500 Coventry and Warwickshire landlords have now been told they’re on their own this term, which means that more than 3,000 HMO rooms will be coming onto the non-student rental market.

Purpose-build blocks

While Covid-19 would have been a factor in its decision, the university has also been working with Coventry City Council and developers in recent years to build thousands of extra student rooms in purpose-built blocks.

However, according to Patrick Sullivan, CEO of Red Brick Lettings in Coventry, this new approach means that many of these landlords may have not stayed on top of current legislation and regulations, particularly HMO licensing.

He tells LandlordZONE: “At least ten landlords have come to us in the last week looking for help, one of whom didn’t have an HMO licence.

Coventry City Council’s additional licensing scheme changed in the summer so that HMOs with three people now need a licence – when it was five people the university sorted the licence for them.”

He adds that there are now thousands of high spec and en-suite purpose-built new rooms available in the city that will be competing for students. Although the university has promised to set up an advertising platform, some of these landlords will now be feeling lost, Sullivan says.

“As they’ve been used to getting less rent, if they start renting the properties out themselves, they could use the extra money to make some improvements,” he advises.

ADVICE: How to rent to student tenants.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Warwick University refuses to answer key questions after leaving 500 private landlords in the lurch | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Warwick University refuses to answer key questions after leaving 500 private landlords in the lurch

Panicky tenants drive demand for ‘joint and several’ rent arrears protection

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Renters feeling more anxious about their financial obligations during the pandemic have pushed up demand for rent arrears protection.

Part of the Housing Hand rent guarantor group, Only My Share reports that demand for its joint and several liability cover increased by 82% between March and September compared to the same time period last year.

It provides rent arrears protection to tenants who rent rooms individually to prevent them from being liable if a housemate defaults on their rent.

With uncertainty around job security and university placements, renters are more cautious while parents don’t want to be potentially liable for thousands of pounds of somebody else’s rent, according to the platform.

And while it primarily serves university students living in HMOs, 44% of its users are in the 25- 44 age bracket, as more Generation Renters have signed up too.

Group MD Jeremy Robinson (left) says that as understanding of rent arrears protection grows, it’s predicting a continuing increase in demand. “The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t yet been fully felt,” he says.

“It’s encouraging that so many more people are protecting themselves from becoming liable for other tenants’ rent arrears before it is.”

Only My Share also provides a bespoke service for landlords and agents looking to guarantee rent, receive contents cover and get help with rent recovery, and is set to launch a new B2B service for them online.

Read more: Everything landlords need to know about Coronavirus.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Panicky tenants drive demand for ‘joint and several’ rent arrears protection | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Panicky tenants drive demand for ‘joint and several’ rent arrears protection

Do I have to accept a Smart Meter?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

My new tenant wants to have a smart meter installed. I’m not so sure as they have been problematic and not always able to give accurate readings plus some suppliers don’t like taking on new customers with these.

I would therefore prefer her not to.

The post Do I have to accept a Smart Meter? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Do I have to accept a Smart Meter?