Landlords must get ready for a ‘pets-friendly PRS’ or risk huge bills

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Mishandled pet tenancies could cost landlords thousands of pounds in repairs, warns inventory services provider No Letting Go, whose CEO Nick Lyons says ‘blanket bans’ on pets will soon be a thing of the past.

Those who allow pets in their properties should get good insurance, compile a detailed inventory and make regular inspections to avoid being caught out, he says.

As well as the obvious need for extra cleaning and banishing animal smells, they need to be vigilant in identifying property damage caused by pets; claw marks on doors, torn and frayed carpets at the bottom of stairs and pet hairs on the back of curtains and blinds are often found by inventory clerks carrying out property visits.

Landlords also might have to deal with the expensive and destructive problem of pet urine on carpets.

MP Andrew Rosindell’s Dogs and Domestic Animals Accommodation Protection Bill was recently stalled at its second reading due to Covid issues, and although the government has rewritten its model standard tenancy agreement to include more pet-friendly elements, its new terms and conditions are voluntary.

Property damage

Despite this, as tenant demand for pets rises, landlords must have the measures in place to deal with the increased risk of property damage says Lyons (pictured), founder and CEO of No Letting Go, who believes we’re moving towards a scenario where blanket bans on pets are no longer an option.

He adds: “With this in mind, it’s time for letting agents and landlords to start preparing for a more pet-friendly PRS by making sure they have the right insurance in place, compile a detailed inventory and monitor damage through regular property inspections.”

Adds Lyons: “Having the necessary records and evidence of damage can make it easier for repairs and maintenance costs to be recouped from a tenant’s deposit at the end of a tenancy.”

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Telegraph requesting landlord feedback on Budget corporation tax increases

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Hello incorporated landlords!

I have had a request from a journalist at the Telegraph, Melissa Lawford, to find portfolio landlords (with profits of over £50k a year) who will be affected by the corporation tax rises in the Budget.

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Nice budget Rishi but shame about the lack of help for landlords and tenants

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Property experts have largely welcomed yesterday’s budget for not being the raid on the buy-to-let market that many had expected, however, Rishi Sunak has come under fire from those who believe he ignored the private rental sector.

Propertymark says he should have announced details to tackle Covid-related rent arrears.

According to policy and campaigns manager, Timothy Douglas (pictured, the extension to the temporary £20 per week increase to Universal Credit for a further six months doesn’t tackle the fundamental issues that continue to make the benefit inadequate and ineffective.

He says: “The government should give tenants choice over whether the housing element is paid direct to their landlord…and to tackle rent arrears the Universal Credit advance should be turned into a non-repayable grant from the first day of the claim.”

Generation Rent agrees that the Chancellor ignored the rent debt crisis.

Director Alicia Kennedy says his announcement of 95% mortgages is completely out of touch when 60% of private renters had no savings at the start of the pandemic and another 18% have had to use savings to pay their rent in the past year.

She adds: “Stoking demand with more lending and extending the stamp duty holiday will not fix the underlying shortage of homes available to buy.” 

Out in the cold

Cem Savas, CEO and co-founder of Plentific also believes renters have been left out in the cold while home-buyers get all the incentives. “It remains only a small section of society who have these options,” he says.

“At a time when many are struggling, the government should be considering how it can improve the quality of the UK’s rented homes and not solely focus on those fortunate enough to buy.”

David Alexander (pictured), joint CEO of apropos, reckons the delayed 6% increase in Corporation Tax (set to happen in April 2023) is a worry for landlords.

“For those businesses with a large portfolio of properties and substantial profits this will be a concern,” says Alexander. “The two-year delay may also put off many large-scale property investors who will see the substantial hike in Corporation Tax rates as unduly punitive when other international options are available. However, I welcome the fact that he has not gone after Capital Gains Tax at the moment.”

The lack of an announcement on Capital Gains Tax is a positive, agrees co-founder of UniHomes, Phil Greaves, who says: “It’s great news to see that for once, the government has decided to ease the pressure placed on the throats of hard-pressed landlords in recent years.

“Deterring landlords will only ever reduce the level of rental stock available to satisfy the huge number of people reliant on the sector in order to live.”

Read more about stamp duty.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Nice budget Rishi but shame about the lack of help for landlords and tenants | LandlordZONE.

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The Housing Crisis, Who’s to blame – Studio Interview Thursday (today) 8pm

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There are too few houses for tenants to rent and even those available for first-time buyers are too expensive. It’s all Landlords fault, or so the government and everyone else jumping on the bandwagon would have you believe.

Apparently

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