Council takes responsibility? Guess again!

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In January 2021, Reigate and Banstead Council declared a property to be a House in Multiple Occupation and served a Section 255 Notice under The Housing Act 2004, against one property. The Council correctly advised the Landlord that any appeal against the HMO Declaration must be made through an application to the First-tier Tribunal and not directly to the Council.

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BREAKING: ‘Half of tenants would take out pet insurance against damage’, says expert

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Half of all tenants who want to rent a home with their pet would be prepared to take out specialist insurance to cover their landlord against damage, a leading campaigner has revealed.

Jennifer Berezai of AdvoCATS has researched an in-depth report into whether there is an appetite among financial firms and tenants to embrace insurance as the ‘silver bullet’ to settle the pet debate within the sector once and for all.

Quoting a YouGov polled completed just a few weeks ago, Berezai says 53% of pet owners, including 57% among dog owners and 55% among cat owners respectively, indicated that they would be willing to pay for specialised pet insurance, if priced reasonably to them and required by a landlord.

Berezai says there are several insurers currently interested in this kind of product but whose policies are either lightly marketed, limited in scope or in the case of Just Landlords, yet to be launched.

These include Endsleigh, the Alan Boswell Group, Just Landlords, One Broker and My Urban Jungle. 

One other insurance provider, Hamilton Fraser, is also considering a move into this market once its insurance partners have been consulted.

“As a specialist insurance broker we recognise that landlords may need added protection in the event of damage caused by pets whether this be by additional insurance cover or legislation being amended to allow pet deposits,” says spokesperson Terri Dune.

Commenting on MP Andrew Rosindell’s attempts to get a bill through parliament that would establish a tenant’s right to have a pet, Berezai (pictured below) says: “The absolute cornerstone of the bill is responsible pet ownership, so as you would a car or a business, taking out appropriate insurance against pet damage to a property you don’t own can only help underline responsibility.

“Enshrining the right for a landlord to request that such a policy is held in order to allow pets in their property in law – by amending the Tenant Fees Act to make this a Permitted Payment – will go a very long way to achieving the ultimate goal of #APetInEveryHome.”
 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: ‘Half of tenants would take out pet insurance against damage’, says expert | LandlordZONE.

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BREAKING: ‘Half of tenants would take out pet insurance against damage, says expert

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Half of all tenants who want to rent a home with their pet would be prepared to take out specialist insurance to cover their landlord against damage, a leading campaigner has revealed.

Jennifer Berezai of AdvoCATS has researched an in-depth report into whether there is an appetite among financial firms and tenants to embrace insurance as the ‘silver bullet’ to settle the pet debate within the sector once and for all.

Quoting a YouGov polled completed just a few weeks ago, Berezai says 53% of pet owners, including 57% among dog owners and 55% among cat owners respectively, indicated that they would be willing to pay for specialised pet insurance, if priced reasonably to them and required by a landlord.

Berezai says there are four insurers currently offering products but they are either poorly marketed or limited in scope and therefore unpopular with tenants.

These include Endsleigh, the Alan Boswell Group, Just Landlords and My Urban Jungle. 

A fifth insruance provider, Hamilton Fraser, is also considering a move into this market once its insurance partners have been consulted.

“As a specialist insurance broker we recognise that landlords may need added protection in the event of damage caused by pets whether this be by additional insurance cover or legislation being amended to allow pet deposits,” says spokesperson Terri Dune.

Commenting on MP Andrew Rosindell’s attempts to get a bill through parliament that would establish a tenant’s right to have a pet, Berezai (pictured below) says: “The absolute cornerstone of the bill is responsible pet ownership, so as you would a car or a business, taking out appropriate insurance against pet damage to a property you don’t own can only help underline responsibility.

“Enshrining the right for a landlord to request that such a policy is held in order to allow pets in their property in law – by amending the Tenant Fees Act to make this a Permitted Payment – will go a very long way to achieving the ultimate goal of #APetInEveryHome.”
 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: ‘Half of tenants would take out pet insurance against damage, says expert | LandlordZONE.

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BTL for Limited companies in Northern Ireland

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Finding a mortgage lender who lends to Limited Companies for properties in Northern Ireland has always been a tricky one.  With the limited amount of advertising lenders do for each of their lending criteria, it means that advisers/brokers need to be on the ball and find solutions for their clients even if it’s a simple case.

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90% of landlords and agents say government has abandoned them

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Government ministers hoping for the landlord vote at the next election in 2024 may be disappointed, new research among some 14,000 people suggests.

The major new survey has found that 90% of landlords and letting agents believe the government is not supporting the private rental sector, and that a quarter believe Ministers are anti-landlord and pro-tenant.

Also, a fifth are concerned by the increase in regulations, legislation and tax in recent years and months.

These results are from the latest joint MyDeposit/Ome industry polling, which also highlighted legislation, rent reliability and the impact of Covid as key concerns for those operating within the private rental market.

Professional approach

The research also throws up some interesting insights into this sector, revealing that 40% of landlords rent to professionals, 28% to families, 9% to those on Universal Credit, 7% to students while 6% are ‘others’.

Two other key are revealed by the research – that the UK is now a majority apartment rental market with 47% of all properties in this category, and that 67% of those polled said they had long-term plans to buy their own home.

“In spite of challenges faced including legislation, rent arrears, and evicting tenants, it is evident that the majority of landlords want to remain in the sector because it provides a good source of income and an investment for retirement, making it a worthwhile endeavour,” says Suzy Hershman, Head of Dispute Resolution at mydeposits.

Matthew Hooker, Co-founder of Ome, says: “The results of the survey have highlighted the strengths of market and reinforces that the vast majority of tenant-landlord relationships remain positive.

Read the research in full.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – 90% of landlords and agents say government has abandoned them | LandlordZONE.

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London council helps tenants claim £200,000 off landlords via aggressive RRO initiative

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Tower Hamlets Council has reclaimed more than £200,000 for tenants in the last two years as part of a tough crackdown on badly behaved landlords.

The London borough has won 67 tenants £201,965 since its Rent Repayment Order (RRO) project began in April 2019, holding landlords to account if they fail to licence their property or commit other offences such as using or threatening violence to secure entry into premises, illegal eviction or harassment, or failing to comply with an improvement notice or prohibition order.

The largest amount secured for one tenant was £9,000, while the largest amount claimed was £55,000 for nine tenants who lived at a property which didn’t have a mandatory HMO licence.

Rent repayment orders can claim up to 12 months’ rent back for tenants from landlords who have committed an offence, although they don’t need to have been convicted.

Tower Hamlets runs two borough-wide property licensing schemes – a mandatory scheme for HMOs with five renters or more and an additional scheme covering flats or houses with three or more renters – along with a selective scheme covering all rented properties within the Weavers, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Banglatown areas.

All the properties for which claims were made have since applied for HMO licences.

Mayor John Biggs (pictured) says: ‘’As a council we want to do everything we can to make sure tenants are not exploited by unscrupulous landlords. I’m pleased we brought in this scheme and that’s its already made a real difference to residents in the private rented sector.”

The project was initially funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, but following its success the council has decided to stump up the cash itself.

Read a guide to rent repayment orders.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – London council helps tenants claim £200,000 off landlords via aggressive RRO initiative | LandlordZONE.

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Councils teaching tenants how to reclaim rent from landlords

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A London council is running what it describes as “an innovative project” to help private tenants reclaim rent from landlords who fall foul of licensing rules.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets council claims that over £200,000 has been reclaimed for tenants under the Rent Repayment Order project

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