Hear about what ANOTHER six-week bailiff evictions ban means for landlords

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On Tuesday 23 February, PRS Mediation and Landlord Action will run ‘Rent Arrears, Courts and Evictions – the latest for property professionals’ FREE webinar, aimed at helping landlords and property professionals with alternative solutions to help with rent arrears, possession claims and evictions, given the recent government announcement of extending the ban on bailiff for a further 6 weeks.

The private rented sector is still in crisis when it comes to rent arrears, possession claims and evictions – and it is set to get worse before it gets better.  Although the courts are open for business, they are facing a huge backlog of cases with some landlords reporting a wait of up to 12 months before possession orders are made. Evictions are still not taking place until at least 21 February 2021 – and new ‘Breathing Space’ legislation is due to come into effect in May 2021, given tenants circumstances in which they can claim respite from debts being enforced against them.

In this webinar, Paul Shamplina will meet with leading legal experts to look at the latest news, and the alternatives available to landlords to regain possession of their properties and recover rent arrears, without the delay and cost of legal proceedings.

Our speakers, hosted by Head of Property for Hamilton Fraser, Paul Shamplina, will include:

• Mike Morgan – Legal Division Manager, Head of HF Assist.  Mike leads HF Assist and the PRS Mediation. A qualified solicitor and previously the Director of Dispute Resolution at the Tenancy Deposit Scheme for over 13 years.

• Julie Ford – PRS Mediator with over 25 years’ experience with working in the private rented sector. Julie now works as a consultant, supporting landlords and letting agents who have problem tenants, especially those with rent arrears.

Ahead of the webinar, Mike Morgan, Legal Division Manager, Head of HF Assist, says:

“All is far from well in the private rented sector, with fears about increasing rent arrears and eviction claims swamping the courts being just the tip of the iceberg. Watch this webinar to find all the latest news – including the good news about alternatives available to landlords to regain possession of their properties, and recover rent arrears, without the delay and cost of legal proceedings. “

To register and attend ‘Rent Arrears, Courts and Evictions – the latest for property professionals’ webinar, please visit this link.

Brought to you by Landlord Action, one of the UK’s best-known eviction and housing law specialists, winner of Property Report Awards for ‘Best landlord legal service provider 2020’ (www.landlordaction.co.uk)

and

PRS Mediation, a tenancy mediation service endorsed by the National Residential Landlord Association (www.tenancymediation.theprs.co.uk)

Organised by LandlordZONE.

Webinar recording will be sent to you, if you can’t make the day. Sign up here.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Hear about what ANOTHER six-week bailiff evictions ban means for landlords | LandlordZONE.

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Leading private landlord moves entire portfolio to Ltd company and saves £10 million

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One of Britain’s biggest private landlords is encouraging others to follow his lead by shifting property from their own name into a company structure.

In what is thought to be the country’s largest ever mortgage transaction, Alastair Kerr (pictured) has transferred ownership of his 330 rental homes in west London, saving him more than £10m in tax and mortgage interest.

Kerr had to re-mortgage his properties on a single day to take advantage of incorporation relief rules, or face a capital gains tax bill for tens of millions of pounds.

It was a move that should also save him more than £1m in mortgage interest in the next five years, according to SPF Private Clients, which arranged the transaction.

Stamp duty saving

Stamp duty was still payable, albeit at a much lower rate thanks to the current tax break. As he completed before the 31^st March deadline, he paid tax on just the amount over £500,000 for each applicable property, plus the three percentage point surcharge.

Landlords are often criticised for owning properties that could otherwise house first-time buyers, but Kerr blames mortgage lenders for their woes.

“The market is tilted against them,” he tells The Telegraph. “In London you’ll have people comfortably paying £1,500 a month in rent but then the bank will say they can only afford a mortgage with £600 repayments. It’s quite clear that people can afford more than that.”

As well as urging landlords to re-examine their business, Kerr advises them to always have a plan B and to have enough time set aside to complete a purchase.

“Some transactions can take much longer than expected. You might think it’ll all be sorted in two or three months but you should set aside six,” he adds.

Read more about tax and limited companies.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Leading private landlord moves entire portfolio to Ltd company and saves £10 million | LandlordZONE.

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National Landlord Investment show goes online-only for THIRD time

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As a measure of long Covid has lasted now, the National Landlord Investment show has announced that it’s to stage its third event online-only event next week.

Taking place on Wednesday 24^th February, the virtual pow-wow will include 30 online seminars kicked off by a debate chaired by Paul Shamplina (pictured, below) of Landlord Action and TV show Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords.

He and a host of other property experts will be discussing what they think 2021 has in store for landlords including legal issues, political outlook, market forecast plus the positives and negatives facing the housing market.

Others debating these issues with Shamplina include Ben Beadle, CEO of the NRLA; property analysist and commentator Kate Faulkner and landlord Jonathan Schuman (pictured, below), MD of Magnet Properties.

The rest of the day will include back-to-back speakers and seminars offering expert advice on taxation, legal, finance, HMOs, training, management, proptech as well as investment opportunities in emerging UK property hotspots.

This event will help both seasoned investors and aspiring landlords wishing to enter the UK buy-to-let market.

“We have successfully delivered 69 live events throughout the UK and now have diversified into online,” says show founder Tracey Hanbury (pictured).

“It remains a challenging time, but we are thankful we moved into online events last year. It’s quite a departure from delivering live exhibitions, with its own unique challenges, but having already delivered two hugely successful online shows in 2020, we are in an excellent position to face whatever 2021 has in store.”

Register for free to attend the show.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – National Landlord Investment show goes online-only for THIRD time | LandlordZONE.

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When will workers return to the office?

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Brookfield, a Canadian-owned investment group, claims to have 75% of its employees are in the office in its US headquarters in Manhattan, and they apparently have been back in the office since November.

Its a pattern other companies are expected to follow, but it’s a far cry from the situation in most offices today: surveys of commercial property occupancy in the US and London show that at best only around 10% of city offices are being staffed to anywhere near that level.

According to Brookfield, regular Covid-19 testing is the answer. It is central to its strategy to get staff back into work, coupled with deep cleaning, efficient ventilation and helping staff deal with their concerns about using public transport.

Brian Kingston, chief executive of Brookfield’s real estate group has said:

“It was important to demonstrate to our tenants that it was possible to bring people to the office. It is possible to do this and do it safely.”

Whilst currently the majority of office workers remain at home, expectations are that by the summer around 50% will be back at their desks, helped by the increasing efficacy and rollout of vaccines.

But surveys show that the real estate industry, particularity in America, are being the most aggressive in bringing employees back.

Brookfield has produce a white paper to help tenants of Brookfield-owned buildings to start making preparations, now that vaccines are being distributed. Brookfield partnered with Carbon Health, a healthcare provider, to open a Covid testing facility in their head office last summer. The testing centre has been running 2 hours a day, seven days a week, since then, providing Covid tests for workers every two weeks, paid for by the company.

Workers are told to log into the Carbon Health app to go through a self-assessment process and should they exhibit any symptoms, are told not to come to the office and a doctor will contact them for a diagnosis.

Similar to the NHS app, the Carbon Health one is linked to each employee’s badge. They will not be allowed entry to the office unless that they have completed their self assessments and had their regular tests. Temperature screening devices then check them as they enter the building and the lifts.

Since June last year, Brookfield’s system has identified 42 positive Covid cases out of 750 employees, a rate of 5.6%. Immediately, nearby workers are isolated, sent home and then put through a testing regime. Brookfield says there have been no cases of community spread.

Other measures such as mandatory mask wavering unless at a desk, providing separate work cubicles in open plan offices, providing a ride-sharing system, expanding car parking spaces and developing a one-way system for the use of lifts have all worked successfully.

Ventilation and air filtration systems are being upgraded throughout the Brookfield estate incorporating technology typically used in hospitals.

It is increasingly likely that ventilation in buildings, both public and private, will be the pre-requisite technology to combat Covid in the future: a continuous upward flow of air, harmlessly taking out any virus particles with the air flow, from floor level vents to ceiling outlets, will be a major plank in the armoury against the disease.

Ventilation specialists, companies like Volution PLC, owners of brands such as VentAxia, Airtech, BreathingBuildings, are likely to be huge beneficiaries.

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EXCLUSIVE BLOG: Rental supply crisis looming without support

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It has been a tough year for us all, but as the vaccine rollout continues and the Government prepares to reopen the country, we look at the positive steps that we believe could make a huge difference to the landlords providing vital homes to let –  and the tenants living in them.

The NRLA has used its submission to Government ahead of the budget to call for a comprehensive package of financial support for landlords and tenants to avoid a rental arrears crisis.

We will continue to lobby for this and to make the case for this to help landlords and tenants through this crisis.

Landlords have gone above and beyond to support tenants through the Covid-19 crisis, but this is not sustainable long-term.

Urgent package of support needed

A package of interest-free hardship loans and grants is needed as a matter of urgency. To expect landlords and tenants simply to muddle through is not acceptable.

Research shows 840,000 private renters in England and Wales have built arrears since lockdown measures started in March last year and we need to help these people continue to pay their rent and stay in their homes.

If the pandemic has taught us anything it is the value of home and, with that in mind, we at the NRLA have joined forces with other landlord and tenants’ groups to amplify this call for help.

This includes proposals for interest free loans for tenants affected by Covid-19, to allow them to continue to pay their rent and remain in the home that they love.

This has widespread sector support, from groups including Shelter, The Big Issue, Crisis, Citizens Advice, Propertymark and debt charity StepChange.

We also need the sector to get back on its feet, moving away from the emergency measures introduced by the Government to start function as normal as the country reopens, promoting confidence in the rental market.

Rising rents

RICS has already warned rents will start to rise because of the increasing demand for properties at a time when new instructions from landlords are dwindling.

And Rightmove revealed that outside London asking rents increased in the fourth quarter for 2020 for the first time since 2011, to a record average of £972 a month.

In the increasingly popular suburbs, towns and villages, the level of available housing is lower than normal for this time of year, whilst demand is higher.

This situation could become more acute, with our own research showing a third of landlords are looking to sell some or all of their rental homes, with 56% losing cash as a result of the pandemic.

“If we are to ensure there are sufficient homes to rent we want to see positive action by the Government.”

To this end we believe landlords should be exempt from the 3% stamp duty surcharge on additional homes if the property they are buying will add to the net supply of housing. 

This new exemption would apply to landlords developing new housing, converting large properties into affordable units, changing the use of a property from commercial to residential or bringing one of the almost 650,000 empty homes in England back into use and would be a real shot in the arm when it comes to supply.

When there is a desperate need for more homes to rent the last thing we need is to have a tax on developing new homes. It makes little sense and we have made our case to the government.

Where capital gains tax is concerned we believe the Government must resist calls to make changes or risk diminishing confidence and supply even further.

It is our belief that the Chancellor should use tax more smartly to create a healthy rental market.

We hope he will support these proposals which we believe offer sensible, workable solutions to help us create a vibrant and dynamic PRS that we can all be proud of.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE BLOG: Rental supply crisis looming without support | LandlordZONE.

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Samuel Leeds slammed for ‘irresponsible’ property investment video

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Property ‘guru’ Samuel Leeds has been slammed for posting irresponsible videos that show him creeping around back gardens in the dark and flouting social distancing rules.

Another YouTuber picks apart Leeds’ proposal for a potential development and attacks him for condoning property investment meet-ups during the pandemic.

Posted by Mark Howe – a member of the Facebook group, The Truth About Samuel Leeds and Those That Use Similar Methods – it calls out Leeds for his latest ‘financial freedom challenge’ which he’s been posting while his live coaching events are banned.

In the challenge, Leeds sets out to teach Lawton Hopwood (both pictured) how to become a property developer and claims they’ll add £100,000 in value by extending the back of a bungalow.

However, Howe says it appears that neither of them have any knowledge about site finding or property development.

He adds: “If Samuel Leeds and Lawton followed [this advice] they wouldn’t have had to waste time and effort sneaking around the property in the rain, at night, without permission, causing distress to the neighbours.

Covid risk

“They would also not have had to put their families in danger by increasing the risk of contracting Covid-19.”

Howe points out that the site was refused planning permission in 2018 and says the vendor is the same developer who bought the neighbouring bungalow before extending it. He asks: “Is he stupid? Or, having failed to get planning, is he smart [enough] to sell it on to a pair who think they’re property developers?”

He adds that the bungalow went under offer three weeks before the challenge was even filmed.

The video also shows Leeds and his wife embracing and shaking hands with Lawton. Says Howe: “We are still in the middle of a pandemic, yet Samuel Leeds and his associates think that it’s okay to ignore government advice intended to save lives and protect the NHS – all for a pointless challenge.”

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Targeted financial package to help renters pay off arrears required

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Joint statement by The Big Issue Ride Out Recession Alliance, Crisis, Citizens Advice, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Money Advice Trust, The Mortgage Works, National Residential Landlords Association, Nationwide Building Society, Propertymark, StepChange Debt Charity and Shelter:

At least half a million private renters are in arrears due to the economic impact of Covid-19.

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What is the definition for an Urgent Repair?

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Hi, I am trying to find a definition for what would constitute an urgent (or emergency) repair in legislation, regulations, etc

Which repairs would be considered urgent for a landlord to undertake immediately? Can anybody advise if such definition or explanation exists and where I can find it

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