Luton licensing problems rumble on: ‘How did the borough council get into this mess?’

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A row over Luton Council’s failure to launch its selective licensing plans rumbles on, with opposition councillors labelling it “a mess”.

The authority was thwarted in its attempt to introduce a scheme after landlords and letting agents launched a legal challenge in July against decisions made by its executive committee.

It has also admitted that mistakes made in its implementation and decision-making have held up plans that were first introduced back in April 2018.

“Some landlords are complaining that, as it includes more than 20% of the private rented homes in the town, the council needs Government consent to introduce it,” Barnfield councillor David Franks (pictured) tells Luton Today.

“If local landlords know the way it’s being organised doesn’t comply with the regulations, why did it come as a surprise to the local authority?” he asks. “How did the borough council get into this mess?”

In the summer, a leading member of the private rental market community spoke to LandlordZONE about a range of failings including the council’s poor communication and consultation, how it exaggerated problems and its reluctance to fully explain the reasons behind the scheme.

He also revealed the council didn’t have the authority to make a designation and bring in the scheme at all.

A council spokesman says the authority is committed to getting its licensing plans approved.

He says: “Work continues to provide a strong updated evidence base for any project we bring forward to ensure we’ve a strong and vibrant rented sector, which offers security, stability and decent homes.

“The decision not to go ahead in August was because of a technical error which the council has acknowledged already. To have progressed when we were aware of this would have been even worse,” he adds.

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Fenland Landlord fined for serious HMO safety breaches

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Following the landlord’s appeal to the Eastern Residential Property First-tier Tribunal, the original penality imposed by Fenland District Council was upheld.

Using new powers granted under 2017 legislation, allowing Councils to issue penalties up to a maximum of £30,000 for certain housing offences, as an alternative to prosecution, the council successfully defended its position at the tribunal.

The landlord, not named by the council, was fined for various housing offences which included: having a non-working fire alarm system; defective fire doors to his flats; building defects including damp; severely worn carpets on the stairs; insufficient heating, inadequate security and defective, warped and rotting windows.

The council served five civil penalty notices in total on the landlord earlier this year for failing to rectify the numerous safety hazards found at his block of flats.

The landlord had appealed one of the penalty notices relating to defective windows, which was heard in September by the Eastern Residential Property First-tier Tribunal.

The tribunal dismissed the appeal. Upholding the council’s action, the tribunal said the evidence was clear and the penalty imposed by the council was confirmed.

The defects in the property first came to light in early 2018 when Fenland District Council’s private sector housing team inspected the block of three flats in Wisbech. At the time a number of serious defects were found and the landlord was issued with improvement notices requiring remedial works to be carried out. However, the work was not completed within the specified time scale or not to the standard required.

Subsequently Fenland District Council issued five civil penalty notices for failing to comply with the improvement notices and breaching houses in multiple occupation (HMO) regulations. This included failing to licence a licensable HMO. The penalties imposed totalled £8,852.

Fenland District Council reports that it has served 29 civil penalties on landlords, ranging from fines of £500 to £30,000 and more recently tenants have also been fined for illegally sub-letting to others. The income received from these fines goes to improving the management and condition of housing in the Fenland district.

Cllr Samantha Hoy, Fenland District Council’s portfolio holder for housing, is reported as saying:

“Fenland District Council is committed to protecting residents from substandard and dangerous living conditions, supporting good and improving landlords and taking a robust stance against criminal landlords.

“We will not hesitate to use legal powers to improve standards in the private rented sector and landlords who place the health and safety of tenants at risk can expect enforcement action to be taken against them.

“It’s also a warning to tenants that if they sublet, we can and will serve penalties on them as they are in effect the landlord.”

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Westminster Council launches HMO licensing consultation

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The proposed Additional Licensing Scheme for HMOs will focus on the 9000+ properties in the City of Westminster where private renters live in multi-occupant homes including flat shares, bedsits, and buildings converted into flats.

The scheme billed as part of the council’s wider ‘private rented sector strategy’

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Leading letting agency claims build-to-rent has only 1% rent arrears during Covid

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Build-to-rent (BTR) specialist lettings agency Ascend has collected an impressive 99% of its rent during the coronavirus crisis on behalf of its landlords.

The Manchester-based company beat the industry average of 95% between January and September by offering its 8,000 tenants flexible repayment plans.

Its claim echoes recent comments by build-to-rent pioneer Gatehouse Bank, whose Chief Commercial Officer Paul Stockwell recently said that its BTR arrears peaked at 8% in April but had reduced to 2% in July.

“Careful management and helping tenants through payment plans has brought arrears in line with long run averages, with only a fraction written-off as bad debt,” he said.

Ascend says it worked closely with them to ease their concerns and offer flexible terms if needed. These, the company says, have been mainly small, short-term deferred rental payments with payment plans to bring rent back up to date quickly while the team also directed some tenants towards funding sources such as self-employed grants.

Up to 15% of its residents had problems paying rent at the peak of the crisis, so the company agreed payment plans with those worst affected and then helped them get their payments back up to date.

MD Ged McPartlin (pictured) says he knows how tough this year has been for many people, without adding housing worries into the mix.

“We understand just how vital it is to provide high quality rental homes in the areas where they’re most needed – and to protect those renters who might require extra support from time to time,” says McPartlin.

“By putting our residents’ individual circumstances first and being flexible in our approach, we’ve worked hard to collect almost all invoiced rent.

“This is testament to our track record as a leading build to rent specialist, our knowledge of the sector and what people need from an agent, especially at difficult times.”

Ascend rents two to four-bedroom apartments and houses in developments ranging from 50–100 properties and has offices in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Wolverhampton and London.

Read more: How to deal with rent arrears during Covid.

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Sadiq Khan launches Property Licence Checker for tenants

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has launched a new online tool to search if a landlord has licensed a rental property and announcing tenants could be owed thousands of pounds in rent repayments if their landlord has failed to obtain the correct licence.

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Top 8 most common new build snagging issues

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Snag solving expert, HouseScan has revealed which are the top eight most common snags found when it comes to new build homes in the UK. They’ve revealed just which are the most common defects being found across new build inspections and the potential cost of rectifying these issues.

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