BREAKING: Prime Minster gives landlords 12 months more to complete Green Homes Grant work

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Boris Johnson has extended his government’s Green Homes Grant scheme for a further 12 months after complaints in recent weeks that a lack of Trustmark qualified builders meant completing projects by the original deadline of March next year would be difficult.

In some areas of the UK, landlords seeking Trustmark-registered builders have faced long waits to start work as qualified tradespeople have become booked up far in advance.

Instead, the Prime Minister has said today that home owners and landlords will have until March 2022 to get their projects completed through the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, which was originally announced in September.

But although landlords now have more time to get the builders in, the original budget has not been extended, remaining at £1.5 billion with a cap of 600,000 properties.

The scheme funds up to two-thirds of the cost of property improvements with a cap of £5,000.

Work covered by the scheme includes insulation of walls, floors and roofs, upgrading single window glazing to triple, and installing low-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps.

The announcement was made by Johnson today during his ‘Ten point plan for a green industry revolution’ presentation.

“The Green Homes Grant scheme gives homeowners and landlords right across the country a cheaper way to make their homes more energy efficient and cut their bills – all while making their contribution to tackling climate change,” says climate change minister Lord Callanan.

“Today’s announcement means an extra year to take advantage of this new scheme, helping households and tradespeople who can plan their workload and create new jobs in their communities.”

Landlord can apply for a Green Homes Grant here.

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Even Martin Lewis money saving champion of the UK is having a go at landlords!

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I realise there might be the occasional rogue Landlord caught with this, but I would imagine there will be plenty of decent Landlords about to be clobbered because they have fallen foul of some minor licensing detail.

More ammunition for the rogue tenants of this world as the council has their back and our taxes to fund their court cases.

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When does a tenancy start?

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A tenancy agreement between the landlord and the tenant is just like any other contract, it is legally binding on both parties.

And like all contracts under Eglish law, an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) agreement, for example, becomes legally binding when the parties – the landlord, tenant and guarantor (if there is one) sign the contract document. If either party fails to perform their obligations: supplying the accommodation as agreed, paying the rent and sticking to the terms of the agreement, then it is enforceable at law – through the court system.

Generally, and advisably, the parties sign an agreement – though it is possible to have a binding tenancy agreement when there is no written document, then determined by the action of the parties, i.e., landlord offers the property up and hands over the keys, the tenant takes up residence and pays the rent – bingo, all the elements now exists for a legally binding contract.

It’s important that both parties understand their obligations under the agreement and therefore landlords / agents should always allow tenants and guarantors time to read and query any items in the contract before signing it. There is usually a clause in the contract to the effect that “I have read and understood this agreement before signing”.

The simplest arrangement is for the parties to sign the agreement as the tenancy commences, at the property and while the inventory is checked off and agreed. In the case of a AST there are now several other important documents which should accompany the agreement and these should be signed and attached to the agreement document itself: gas and electric certificates, deposit protection details, the EPC, the How-to-Rent guide etc.

However, sometimes it’s not possible to meet together at the property, or the tenancy is to commence at a later date. Signing the contract in advance provides surety for both landlord and tenant in this situation, but having signed it will be very difficult for either party to withdraw.

It’s important that the agreement states clearly the date the tenancy will commence, which is the date the keys will be handed over so that occupation can begin. Usually, the landlord will collect the deposit (which must be protected in a government approved scheme within 28 days) and one month’s rent in advance.

One example of where the date of commencement of a tenancy was very important was in the case of Lynch v Kirby. An appeal court ruling against a judgement made September 2009 regarding an order for possession reversed the original judge’s decision.

The landlord had agreed to let a room in his premises to the tenant if he could obtain housing benefit. The tenant had entered into occupation on the 20^th February 1997, but did not obtained housing benefit until six weeks later, backdated to the start of the tenancy.

The landlord had contended that the tenancy did not actually start until housing benefit was obtained and paid. The tenant argued that the tenancy had commenced upon occupation.

This was important at the time due to the fact that prior to the 28 of February 1997, granting a AST depended on the landlord serving on the tenant a notice under section 20(2) of the Housing Act 1988 – the Section 20 notice as it was then known. This had to be done before the tenancy was entered into, otherwise the tenancy became a fully Assured Tenancy with security of tenure.

For all AST’s entered into after the 28 February 1997 the section 20 notice was no longer required, hence the importance to both parties of establishing the date when the tenancy legally commenced.

The first judge had awarded a possession order to the landlord.

The appeal court judge found for the tenant, agreeing that the tenancy had commenced on the day occupation commences, the 20^th February 1997, giving him a fully assured tenancy. Under this tenancy the landlord would only be able to gain possession if the tenant was in breach of his contract of on some other limited grounds, pretty much the situation that will pertain when Section 21 is abolished, as promised.

Can important documents like tenancy contracts be signed electronically?

Legal Issues – signing an agreement as a deed

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Tenant referencing revolution is now ‘very close’, says leading tech CEO

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Tenant referencing is on the brink of a major breakthrough that will significantly alter the way landlords and letting agents vet tenants, it has been claimed.

It’s been brewing for over two years since the EU’s Open Banking regulations went live, but 2021 is likely to be the year when the tech, and tenants’ acceptance of its principles, breaks through, says Freddy Kelly (pictured, above), founder of Credit Kudos.

“More and more data is becoming available about people that enables platforms like ours to understand people’s debt, rent, pensions and other payment commitments,” he says.

Also, lockdown, and people’s greater use of online banking as traditional banking and referencing have become more difficult, means millions of tenants are now getting to grips with the concept of Open Banking.

Rental payments

This is tech that enables tenants to let platforms like Credit Kudos to anonymously read their bank accounts and record their rental payments, among other things.

Live since January 2018, anyone who has an account with the leading high street banks can choose to share their personal finance track record with a tech provider.

Landlords, who in the past have had to rely on references from credit ratings agencies, banks, employers and previous landlords, can now see if a prospective tenant has paid their rent on time and in full in the past.

Kelly, whose firm recently signed a major deal with lettings platform Goodlord, says his tech means Credit Kudos can gauge both a tenant’s ability to pay the rent for a property, but also their likelihood of paying it in the future.

Visit Credit Kudos.
Advice: What are the ten key referencing checks?

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Would you? How deposits can help homeless into privately rented homes

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Last week Crisis wrote exclusively for LandlordZONE about its pioneering scheme to help private landlords rent their properties to vulnerable tenants.

Called the Edinburgh Skylight scheme, it is being watched by councils, landlords and homelessness charities around the UK as a new housing model.

The trickiest aspect of it is that few – if any – of the homeless people involved have the ability to afford a deposit.

But one of the city’s deposit protection schemes has been involved in Skylight since early this year and now offers those seeking accommodation through the scheme a ‘leg up’.

David Gibb, of MyDeposits Scotland, says he came across Skylight programme while working as a letting agent in Edinburgh (pictured).

When he joined MyDeposits, Crisis then approached him because, although the charity was providing deposit bonds for homeless people, they had significant issues helping them repay their deposits or understanding how much they had paid off.

“I discovered that we already ran a deposits scheme for a council in Cheshire and that we could use it in Edinburgh, enabling tenants to pay us the money until they have built up a deposit to replace the Crisis bond,” says Gibb. “We can then track their payments.”

“I feel it’s a fair solution, and it has helped widen the range of landlords who feel reassured enough to get involved, including corporate landlords.”

The sorts of people the deposits scheme helps includes victims of domestic violence who, after fleeing their homes, have no way to rent within the private sector because they have no access to money or even a bank account.

“In these circumstances paying a deposit and the first month’s rent is completely out of their reach,” he says. “I thought if we can do something to help here, then ‘let’s do it’.”

Find out more about Crisis’ Skylights programme in Edinburgh.

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Commercial property – EPC clarity required?

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I have commercial premises currently let to a tenant, and they use it as a dance school. Current lease comes to an end in December (we purchased the property with her as a sitting tenant and this original lease has an end date of Dec 2020)

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ARLA wants requirement for repeat Right to Rent checks to be abandoned

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ARLA Propertymark have written an open letter to Kevin Foster, Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, warning him that their agents will struggle when restrictions are lifted to repeat Right to Rent checks in person that were carried out remotely during the lockdown period.

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