Selective Licensing improves landlords behaviour, claims council

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Peterborough Council is preparing to repeat its extensive selective licensing scheme covering nine areas of the city, for another five years.

Its first scheme, introduced in December 2016, runs out on 31^st October and has won the support of councillors who look set to approve a 10-week consultation at the next cabinet meeting in February.

The council report said housing officers had noted a significant improvement in compliance from landlords and agents since the scheme was introduced, reducing the number of enforcement actions and complaints from tenants about their housing conditions.

Improved property standards had meant that breaches were, “instead resolved through advice, guidance and action via the civil penalties procedure where necessary”.

Drifting along

Its report added: “Landlords who had been happily drifting along with substandard accommodation were now keen to engage and make improvements to their properties without waiting for the council to tell them to do it. This now happens more often than not.”

Selective licensing was initially criticised by Peterborough landlords who warned they would be forced to sell up – leading to evictions – or would see increased costs passed onto tenants.

The council report highlighted concerns that these landlords would sell up and move out of the licensing areas rather than be subject to further regulation, leading to a shortage of rental properties.

But local letting agents’ data showed that while these areas had lost a small number of properties from their books (5% on average), the reasons for selling were more around broader factors than selective licensing.

The scheme currently covers all privately rented properties in parts, or all of: Central, North, East, Park, Fletton, Bretton North, Stanground Central, Walton and Orton Longueville wards. Its large size means a new scheme will also need government approval.

Read an opposing view – why selective licensing doesn’t work.

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Russian Speaking UK Landlord Tax Planning Consultant

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Property118 is delighted to congratulate Gular Nuriyeva on her recent promotion within our tax team, having previously worked as an Executive Assistant to Nicky Kita.

Gular was born in the former Soviet Union Country of Azerbaijan in 1983 and also speaks fluent Azerbaijani

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Council issues highest ever fine of £50,500 to HMO landlord over slum property

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A borough council has issued its highest ever fine to a landlord after he refused to get a licence for his HMO and was later found to have committed 33 offences.

Zaheer Uddin Babar, who owns a property at 60 Colwyn Road in Northampton (main pic), was initially contacted by the city’s private sector housing enforcement team in March 2015 and told to apply for an HMO licence.

But Babar unwisely ignored the requests and the property inspected under warrant in June 2019 where multiple breaches of regulations were uncovered.

Among the most serious hazards found at the property in Colwyn Road were missing handrails and banisters on staircases, a partially collapsed and waterlogged ceiling (pictured, above), a faulty fire alarm and fire door and exposed electrical wires.

Damp and mould

Other included broken external door locks, faulty windows, along with damp and mould, while the kitchen and bathroom were filthy and in a poor state of repair.

Councillor Stephen Hibbert, Cabinet member for housing and wellbeing at Northampton Borough Council (pictured, below), said: “The conditions in this property were squalid and hazardous, and posed a real danger to the tenants living there.

“Landlords have a legal responsibility to ensure that properties are clean, safe and in working order for their tenants, and our Housing Enforcement Team will continue to take action against such failings, through their extensive surveillance work and information received from local residents.”

Babar appealed to the First Tier Tribunal which upheld his £50,500 penalties, which he now has a month to pay. Failure to pay will result in the Council taking action to recoup the debt, which may include enforced sale of his property.

Read more: Renting HMO properties.

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FCA to give landlords facing repossession more time to solve financial problems

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Landlords struggling with mortgage payments look set to get more breathing space after lenders backed plans to extend a moratorium on home repossessions.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is consulting on whether to hold off on both home and buy-to-let property mortgage possessions until 1^st April – a move UK Finance said was necessary to prevent people losing their homes during the pandemic – and by then will mean the measures will have been in effect for 12 months.

The current ban ends on 31st January but the FCA is proposing it should be extended to take account of the worsening coronavirus situation and tighter restrictions.

The only exceptional circumstances would be a customer requesting proceedings to continue or when the property is in vacant measures.

Eric Leenders (pictured) MD of personal finance at UK Finance, says: “The industry is fully supportive of a moratorium…to ensure customers do not lose their home at this difficult time.

“This is part of a package of support provided by lenders for those who need it, including payment deferrals and tailored assistance.” 

Mortgage lenders have also extended the provision of mortgage payment deferrals of up to a maximum of six months until 31st July.

A spokeswoman at the FCA tells LandlordZONE that the protection from repossession is intended for homeowners, while most buy-to-let and business loans were likely to be unregulated.

But, she adds: “We currently anticipate that authorised lenders will voluntarily extend these further payment deferrals to customers who have unregulated buy-to-let loans, and if they do not do so this could have an adverse effect on satisfying the threshold conditions.”

Read the FCA consultation in full.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – FCA to give landlords facing repossession more time to solve financial problems | LandlordZONE.

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New parliamentary voice for commercial property to launch – but will Ministers be listening?

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Landlords with commercial property now have a new voice in government following the launch of an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Regeneration & Development.

Established by Hertfordshire rebel Conservative MP Gagan Mohindra (pictured), who has a family background in property, it will seek to “transform the prospects of the commercial property sector in the same way that the housing market has been transformed,” he says.

Mohindra says the commercial property industry is vulnerable to social change, fluctuations in business confidence, and adjustments of government policy.

The APPG aims to forge closer relations between the industry and government so that government is closer to the reality of the industry, aware of the value it delivers, but also the vulnerabilities which it suffers from.

Lockdown changes

“Commercial property is changing and the national lockdown is accelerating the rate of change. All sectors of the UK’s property market are under pressure. And yet the one thing that doesn’t change is the importance of the sector,” he says.

Mohindra says the group, whose other members have yet to be revealed, will champion mixed-use development, urge debate about what to do with unused office space, enable high street and online retailers to compete on a level playing field and free up planning to enable unused retail to be changed into homes re warehousing.

“But although the high street is the most visible challenge, there are plenty of other issues, including challenges relating to warehousing, office space, leisure facilities, student accommodation, transport connections, medical facilities, schools and manufacturing plant,” he says.

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Develop with Cash or Mortgage (Stress test)?

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Hi all. I have developed property in the past and want to return to the profession as my full-time job. I am stuck on whether to sell my current BTL and start developing small with zero debt OR raise as much money as I can ie.

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Benefit tenants – This is why Landlords aren’t taking You!

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DWP aren’t listening to Landlords, but if you contact your MP, they may listen to you. Benefit Landlords, keep complaining, there must be someone intelligent within DWP to finally see sense. This homelessness can be reduced.

TWO years to get a complaint looked at where the Landlord has ZERO rent coming in is unacceptable &

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