HMRC Stamp Duty receipts rise 27% over the last quarter!

admin    Uncategorized     agents

HMRC’s Q3 2020 SDLT receipts shows Stamp Duty income rose 27% over the last quarter, increasing to £1.9bn in Q3 2020, up from £1.5bn in Q2 20201

The Number of property transactions liable for Stamp Duty jumps 68% over the last quarter

The post HMRC Stamp Duty receipts rise 27% over the last quarter! appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: HMRC Stamp Duty receipts rise 27% over the last quarter!

Success for landlord against bully-boy council

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A client Of Landlord Licensing & Defence who has lived in abject terror for months due to bullying and ridiculous Local Council action had a successful outcome at Court! Terrified by Council Enforcement; a client who had been summoned to court by an overly aggressive North West council for housing offences got a fantastic result.

The post Success for landlord against bully-boy council appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Success for landlord against bully-boy council

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

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Luton licensing problems rumble on: ‘How did the borough council get into this mess?’ | LandlordZONE.

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

Fenland Landlord fined for serious HMO safety breaches

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Fenland Landlord fined for serious HMO safety breaches | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Fenland Landlord fined for serious HMO safety breaches

Westminster Council launches HMO licensing consultation

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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’

The post Westminster Council launches HMO licensing consultation appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Westminster Council launches HMO licensing consultation

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

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Leading letting agency claims build-to-rent has only 1% rent arrears during Covid | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Leading letting agency claims build-to-rent has only 1% rent arrears during Covid

Sadiq Khan launches Property Licence Checker for tenants

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.

The post Sadiq Khan launches Property Licence Checker for tenants appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Sadiq Khan launches Property Licence Checker for tenants

Top 8 most common new build snagging issues

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.

The post Top 8 most common new build snagging issues appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Top 8 most common new build snagging issues

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

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Prime Minster gives landlords 12 months more to complete Green Homes Grant work | LandlordZONE.

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

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

admin    Uncategorized     agents

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.

The post Even Martin Lewis money saving champion of the UK is having a go at landlords! appeared first on Property118.

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