New How to Rent Guide for Landlords and Tenants

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Thursday 10 December 2020 MHCLG has published an updated version of the How to Rent Guide (England). This guide sets outs the rights and responsibilities of both Landlords and Tenants within the private rented sector.

Landlords

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How Bradford’s Simmy Sekhon went from a row of tatty shops to a property empire

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Simmy Sekhon loves to spot development opportunities and bring disused buildings back to life – just as he did when he started out in the property business as a university student.

From spending £21,000 on his first buy-to-let investment – a block of six shops in Bradford which had seen better days – the boss of the Sekhon Group now has £60m worth of residential and commercial properties in the Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield areas.

“I wasn’t keen to buy those shops but my father lent me £9,000, saying, ‘Where’s there’s muck, there’s brass’, so I spent about £3,000 doing them up, then put a sticker in the window advertising them to let for £25 a week – all six were rented within 48 hours,” he tells LandlordZONE. “Three months later the building was valued at £78,000.”

Having caught the property bug, Simmy was soon at the bank asking how much he could borrow and his next investment was another four down-at-heel shops which he put new fascias on and quickly rented out.

Rest is history

By 21, he’d made a £257,000 profit and says brightly: “The rest is history! I carried on using the same formula and not long afterwards bought a former council building, negotiating the price down from £250,000 to £170,000 for re-development. That really launched me.”

After qualifying as a solicitor, Simmy had his own practice for years but carried on investing and now has a staggering 850 tenants.

His ethos is to buy cheap where he knows he can add value, often converting former corporate buildings into apartment blocks.

He continues to focus on Bradford which he reckons is the next property hot-spot, explaining: “You can buy very effectively with the right money – conversion costs are relatively low and there’s a good labour force.”

Having gone from investor to developer he now wants to introduce property to others by providing joint-venture opportunities to high net individuals.

Top tips?

But if that’s out of reach, does he have any tips for other landlords? “Search hard – you’ll eventually find what you’re looking for, even if it takes ten viewings,” he says.

A keen philanthropist and positive person, Simmy doesn’t see any negatives in the Yorkshire property market, although will admit that planning departments can be tricky.

But he advises that even they can be won round: “If you’re transparent, you work hard and show them you’re serious.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – How Bradford’s Simmy Sekhon went from a row of tatty shops to a property empire | LandlordZONE.

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Residential tenancy taken out by my company director who has left?

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Hi there, I have a question regarding a rental lease taken out by my company naming me as the tenant.

The particular director who authorised the lease has since resigned. The rent hasn’t been paid up to date and the Landlords want the house back.

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mydeposits to run ‘The Great Tax Debate’ webinar

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On Thursday 17 December, mydeposits will run ‘The Great Tax Debate’ webinar, aimed at helping landlords prepare for 2021, which it is thought could bring some of the biggest changes to tax in recent years.

England’s Government and its predecessors have clamped down hard on landlords when it comes to tax, despite it not being mentioned in successive manifestos. In April this year, landlords suffered a triple hit as three tax reliefs were axed or scaled back from the start of the new tax year. Mortgage interest tax relief was replaced with a 20 per cent credit, which has been phased in over three years, capital gains tax exemptions for ‘accidental’ landlords – those who held onto homes they once lived in, were reduced, and letting relief was cut.

Most landlords are now facing significantly larger income tax bills than they did 10 years ago and it is thought that there will be more in the pipeline when Rishi Sunak delivers his next Budget.

‘The Great Tax Debate’ webinar will reflect on the recent tax changes which have impacted landlords the most, and the panel will share their views and answer live questions from attendees.

The expert panel, hosted by Head of Property for Hamilton Fraser, Paul Shamplina, will include:

• John Stewart – Deputy Director of Policy and Research for the NRLA
• Mitch Young – Co-Founder of Fusion Consultancy and International Private Client Tax specialist
• David Coughlin – CEO of National Residential; Co-Founder & Board Member at The National Association of Property Buyers
• Nigel Lewis – Property Journalist and Editor

Ahead of the webinar, John Stewart, Deputy Director of Policy and Research for the NRLA, says:

“Residential property investment has become the Conservative’s ‘go-to’ sector for tax take. Over the last few years, we’ve seen restrictions on mortgage interest relief, differential rates of CGT and SDLT and loss of wear and tear and energy savings allowances. Rather than blanket increases and cuts in allowances, there is a need to get smart and use the tax regime to align investor behaviour with the Government’s desired policy outcomes for private renting.”

To register and attend ‘The Great Tax Debate’ webinar, please visit this link.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – mydeposits to run ‘The Great Tax Debate’ webinar | LandlordZONE.

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The business evictions ban is extended until end March 2021

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The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced business owners affected by the pandemic will be protected from eviction until the end of March 2021.

This final extension to protections from the threat of eviction will give landlords and tenants 3 months to come to an agreement on unpaid rent.

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LATEST: Welsh NRLA launches election manifesto demanding fairer treatment of landlords

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Welsh landlords have launched their manifesto ahead of next year’s Senedd national elections calling on its government to treat treat landlords more fairly and for the country to adopt a national property licensing scheme.

The NRLA in Wales says its members are frustrated by the patchwork of different property licencing regulations across Wales and want to see instead a national framework similar to the country’s landlord licensing system, Rent Smart Wales.

Other proposals within the manifesto include a introducing a Welsh Housing Survey, a nationwide Housing Court and abolishing the unpopular 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes paid by landlords.

The NRLA in Wales, which is lead locally by policy officer Tim Thomas, is also calling on Welsh politicians to oppose rent controls and resist attempts any further attempts to introduce a Right to Rent scheme in Wales.

An attempt by Westminster 18 months ago to roll out Right to Rent in Wales and Scotland failed following a High Court decision earlier this year.

Other policies the manifesto calls for include grants and loans to improve energy efficiency and end fuel poverty for private tenants, and using council tax more holistically to tackle empty homes.

Fairer treatment

“We’re very pleased to launch our Welsh manifesto ahead of next Spring’s Senedd election. This provides an opportunity for all parties to build a private rented sector fair to both landlords and tenants. 

“Our proposals will improve the rights of tenants and landlords demonstrating it is perfectly possible to do both, rather than sacrificing one for the other. 

“After four pieces of legislation in six years, the PRS can really use a break from large-scale change and use some assistance in meeting shared goals to the benefit of both landlord and tenant. Our manifesto achieves that.” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Welsh NRLA launches election manifesto demanding fairer treatment of landlords | LandlordZONE.

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How to Rent guide updated by MHCLG

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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has today (10/12/2020) updated the How to Rent guide: Click here to download.

The statutory requirement is for a tenant to be provided with the version of the guide current at the time of the new tenancy and failure to serve the most up to date guide invalidates any future Section 21 action.

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Covid-19 will redraw the UK rental map

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As the government prepares to roll out the first coronavirus vaccines, much of the nation will be anticipating a return to a more ‘normal’ life in 2021, but for London’s housing market there may be no going back to normal.

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Six key calls for parties standing in the 2021 Welsh Parliament elections

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the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) Wales have released their manifesto for the forthcoming election, explaining that only when the private rented sector (PRS) is regarded as part of the solution to the housing crisis can landlords and tenants prosper.

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EXCLUSIVE: New Brexit Visa rules to exclude new overseas landlords

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New immigration rules mean overseas property investors and landlords will find it very difficult to access the UK’s buy-to-let market next year, the Home Office has told LandordZONE.

The Government’s post-Brexit Tier 2 visa programme kicks off on 1st January 2021, with the Skilled Worker visa replacing the Tier 2 (General) work visa.

It awards points for a job offer, with the conditions that arrivals should use English up to a certain level and have a job offer from an approved UK employer.

Landlords are included in the list of eligible jobs but this route is designed for those coming to fill a skilled vacancy that can’t be filled by a resident worker.

That would exclude independent landlords wanting to live here and invest in buy-to-let property.

While EEA nationals who’ve arrived in the UK before 31st December can apply under the EU Settlement Scheme, this is only open for applications until 30^th June 2021. 

£2 million minimum

The Government is also restricting other routes; the former Entrepreneur visa, which allowed businesspeople with between £50,000 and £200,000 in funds to enter the UK to set up or take over a UK business, has been replaced by the Innovator visa, which allows entry only on condition they set up an “innovative business” – which effectively wouldn’t cover property management.

Only those with at least £2 million to invest can come to the UK on an Investor visa, but a Home Office spokesperson tells LandlordZONE: “Whilst investment in property would not satisfy the requirements of the immigration rules, a Tier 1 (investor) may buy property in addition to their permitted investment.”

She adds: “If an individual will remain based overseas, they can come to the UK for the purpose of entering into contracts using the visitor route.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: New Brexit Visa rules to exclude new overseas landlords | LandlordZONE.

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