BREAKING: Scots reveal eviction ban extension – but will England and Wales follow?

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The Scottish government is to extend its evictions ban for another two months after the current temporary ban finishes on 22^nd January.

Regulations are to be laid before its parliament next week and the extended ban will apply to Level 3 and Level 4 Covid restriction areas, with the only exceptions being cases of serious anti-social behaviour, including domestic abuse.

But as no areas of Scotland are at less than Level 3, the ban extension is in effect a national one.

The new ban will be reviewed every three weeks to “ensure it remains necessary to protect against the spread of coronavirus” but will carry on until March 31^st.

Ministers say the extended ban is to provide renters with safe homes during the pandemic but also reduce the burden on local authorities, who have a duty to rehouse people made homeless through evictions, and will also make it easier for people to follow the guidelines during the current lockdown.

“In the case of serious anti-social or criminal behaviour – including domestic abuse – eviction orders can still be enforced,” says Housing Minister Kevin Stewart.

“We have been clear that no landlord should evict a tenant because they have suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic. Tenants in difficulty should engage with their landlord and seek advice on the options open to them.”

The announcement for Scotland will worry English and Welsh landlords, whose governments have in the past followed Scotland’s lead during the pandemic on evictions and other housing measures.

Read more about previous scots eviction bans.

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Short-lets landlords should get Covid relief as ‘hospitality’ businesses

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Short-term rental companies should be explicitly included in the latest lockdown grant scheme for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses, after many lost out on compensation for losing bookings last time due to technicalities over whether they could be classified as hospitality businesses.

The UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA) believes with the prospect of several weeks or months without an income, many small firms need grant funding to enable them to survive until the market can open up again.

It argues any business that derives the bulk of its revenue from managing short-term rentals should be considered a hospitality business and qualify for the grant scheme.

Eligibility was previously determined on the basis of what business rates are paid on the property where a guest stays, which meant professional operators were excluded; many property management companies were refused grants designed for hospitality companies because their premises aren’t listed as ‘hospitality and retail’ premises.

STAA chair Merilee Karr (pictured, below) says it’s imperative that legitimate businesses don’t miss out again on funding.

“The government has issued clarification regarding hotels and B&Bs but hasn’t included short-term rental properties in that and, because the grants are awarded at the discretion of local authorities, it can lead to a situation where short-term rental companies could struggle to access grant funding,” says Karr.

“All we are asking for is a level playing field across the whole of the hospitality sector.” 

It’s estimated that short-term rental businesses make up around 10% of the UK’s accommodation supply.

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Is new Government-funded mediation scheme for evictions ‘too little too late’?

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A government-funded national mediation service is due to begin that, it is claimed, will reduce the number of landlords and tenants fighting it out in court over evictions.

A tender has been out since late last year seeking a supplier able to provide the service, which will offer an online local court mediation service across the UK.

The multi-million pound contract is to last for six months as a pilot and, although expected to start next week, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson was only able to confirm to LandlordZONE that it would be ‘soon’ and that discussion between it and the housing ministry, which is involved in planning the initiative, ‘are ongoing’.

Their mediation service is designed to help landlords and tenants come to an out-of-court agreement between the initial exploratory hearing and their subsequent, ‘substantive’ possession hearing.

This, the government hopes, will help the courts reduce the volume of cases going through the full hearing process and help prioritise the most urgent and serious cases.

Organisations within the industry have been asked to tender but many have baulked at the short lead times required to organise a national service and the relatively low budget of £50 per mediation.

And one leading lawyer has registered her disquiet at the scheme. Diane Astin of Deighton Pierce Glynn (pictured) told the Legal Action Group website that the looming new mediation service “shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of possession proceedings and what happens at the hearing,” she said.

Astin said lawyers and advice agencies already strive to achieve settlement and that the money being expended on the new government service would be better spent on legal aid for tenants in arrears, so they get early advice and avoid the claims being issued in the first place.

Mike Morgan (pictured) of the Property Redress Scheme says: “While we were aware of the tender, we did not bid as we have invested in our early intervention resolution service, which is achieving effective payment plans and negotiated vacation of properties by tenants without the courts needing to be involved.

“We wish the successful bidder the very best and offer our expert help if needed.”

The new service is likely to be used in approximately a quarter of the possession cases that come to court each month.

Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action says the government’s mediation service may be ‘too little too late’ because many landlords who come to court with possession claims are already facing many months of rent arrears which in many cases began before the pandemic started.

Morgan adds: “Mediation is highly successful but only if it is undertaken at the earliest opportunity possible. The longer you leave it the less efficacious it is.”

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To extend or not to extend, that is the question?

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The moratorium on stamp duty, with no duty payable in England for homes up to the value of £500,000, would save a buyer £15,000 on a £500,000 home, with a reduced rate above that price.

Despite the government’s previous announcement that there would be no extension to the Stamp Duty (SDLT) holiday beyond March, industry experts have been speculating that the new lockdown may just change everything.

Fortunately, this time the property sale and rental business has been allowed to function as normally is it’s possible to do, in the circumstances, allowing viewings, sales and lettings to proceed, at least until the situation is reviewed again in mid February.

There is always the possibility, according to comments made by the cabinet office minister Michael Gove, that this latest lockdown may not be lifted until March, just days before the amnesty is lifted.

The cliff-edge cut-off date this situation has created has resulted in a conveyancing scramble, where solicitors and town hall searchers are being overwhelmed with work and anxious property buyers and sellers.

Although buyers are still able to agree deals, and arrange house moves, they cannot be sure that completions will go through before the 31^st of March because of these backlogs and delays in the system.

Agents, surveyors and solicitors were lobbying government to extend the holiday by up to six months at the end of last year. This was when it could be argued their case was weak, with what appeared to be an improving Covid situation. Now the tables have been turned and many are optimistic that their case is strengthened.

A letter has been sent to the government on behalf of several property industry bodies by the big players in the industry, citing the compelling reasons why an extension to the moratorium would benefit the industry, the economy as a whole and importantly those people who are committed in the process of purchasing a property.

Andrew Montlake, managing director of mortgage broker, Coreco, told Property Industry Eye:

“Though the property market remains technically open, there will now be considerably more logistical issues for the simple reason that a lot of people will be working from home.

“Lenders, valuers and conveyancers are already experiencing bottlenecks and delays given the sheer amount of applications going through and the administrative upheaval caused by the latest lockdown will only serve to accentuate them.

“We would not be surprised if the Treasury makes an announcement this week about extending the Stamp Duty deadline to keep demand alive and give the property industry some much needed wiggle room.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – To extend or not to extend, that is the question? | LandlordZONE.

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Cross-sector alliance calls for Govt action on rent arrears crisis

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An alliance of the sector’s key landlord, letting agency and tenant advocacy groups has warned the government that the nation faces a mounting rent arrears crisis.

The National Residential Landlords Association, The Big Issue and Ride Out Recession Alliance, Shelter, ARLA Propertymark, the Nationwide Foundation, and StepChange the Debt Charity have jointly said that Ministers need to play their part in offsetting the affects of the pandemic on the sector.

“Many thousands of tenants and landlords across the country now face rent arrears due to the impact of the pandemic,” the statement says.

“Ministers have failed to address the core problem of debts which have built despite the financial package put in place so far. Indeed, the Chancellor confirmed that housing benefit will not be linked to the cost of renting for future years.

Muddle through

“Renters, landlords and letting agents cannot be expected simply to muddle through indefinitely where they face these financial difficulties. “The Government needs to develop an urgent package to help renters in paying off arrears built since March last year.

“Without further action, debts will continue to mount, making it far more difficult to sustain tenancies and keep renters in their homes after the pandemic.”

The six organisations may need to be careful what they wish for – to date the government’s reaction to calls such as this one has been to extend or tighten the existing eviction restrictions while dismissing calls for the kind of tenant or landlord rent arrears loans already in operation within Scotland and Wales.

Only yesterday Boris Johnson said the government was reviewing the current evictions rules, hinting at an extension to the bailiff action suspension in place until Monday 11^th January.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Cross-sector alliance calls for Govt action on rent arrears crisis | LandlordZONE.

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Data Protection Trauma?

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Has anyone had any dealings with Birmingham City Council in regard to the use of Registered Providers?

I have been trying to determine with BCC directly of the RP’s they use, how they rate and assess them. A very simple email was sent from me highlighting that while the list is in the public domain

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Jarndyce v Jarndyce?

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Over the past 20 years of buying and selling houses, I’ve always tried to do my own conveyancing, unless a mortgage was involved. I do this to keep in close contact with the sale and because I tend to be far quicker and (dare I add) at least as efficient as most solicitors.

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How to purchase with tenants in situ?

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As a novice, I was wondering what steps do you take to secure a property at Below Market Value (BMV) when the property is being sold with the tenants in situ?

I’m sure lenders prefer the security of houses to be bought with vacant possession?

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Leaseholders will be given right to extend leases by 990 years at zero ground rent

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The Housing Secretary, Robert  Jenrick, has announced that millions of leaseholders will be given the right to extend their lease by a maximum term of 990 years at zero ground rent.

Today’s measures come as part of the biggest reforms to English property  law  for  forty years

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BREAKING: Government to make sweeping changes to leasehold including extension costs

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Landlords with leasehold properties will soon enjoy both substantially lower costs and bureaucracy when seeking to extend their leases, the government has announced today.

The new measures include that owners of leasehold houses will be able to extend their leaseholds by 990 years at a zero ground rent, removing the much-publicised attempts by some freeholders and developers to sell properties with escalating ground rents and restricting extensions to 50 years.

This will put leasehold house owners on a par with most apartment owners.

Ministers are also to make it fairer and cheaper to extend leases or convert them to freehold or commonhold status, including capping ground rent costs, abolishing the concept of ‘marriage value’ that often costs landlords tens of thousands of pounds when extending a lease, and establishing a Commonhold Council.

“The issue of escalating ground rent on leasehold homes has been a long-term scandal which has left many owners trapped and unable to sell their houses,” says Mark Hayward, Chief Policy Adviser at Propertymark (left).

“Over a million home in the UK are sold through a leasehold, and this new legislation will go a long way to help thousands of homeowners caught in a leasehold trap.

The Law Commission’s Commissioner for Property, Nick Hopkins, says: “We are pleased to see Government taking its first decisive step towards the implementation of [our] recommendations to make enfranchisement cheaper and simpler.

“The creation of the Commonhold Council should help to reinvigorate commonhold, ensuring homeowners will be able to call their homes their own.”

Housing minister Robert Jenrick says: “We want to reinforce the security that home ownership brings by changing forever the way we own homes and end some of the worst practices faced by homeowners.”

Read the Law Commission’s full report into leasehold enfranchisement, which has informed the government’s decision today, which was revealed in July last year.

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