TikTok ‘property gurus’ warned by regulator to be clear about sponsorship links

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A TikTok celebrity couple from Rugby have been reminded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that their posts must be labelled as sponsored content if they are paid to produce them.

Twenty-somethings Summer Newman and her partner Matt Mellor have attracted a 200,000+ following on the social media platform using a familiar sales patter.

The pair, whose business has received glowing reviews from several UK tabloids including the Daily Mail, describe themselves as property deal sourcers for ‘cash rich, time poor’ investors.

The pair are also landlords, and say they have a portfolio in their home town, Rugby.

Newman has now begun using her sizeable social media following to promote their £797 ‘Mastermind’ property investment club, while also keeping their followers entertained with tours of super-luxe properties for sale including a prime newbuild development in Nottingham called The Knoll.

Her other main social media outlet, an Instagram account, was set up in 2013 when Summer was in her early teens featuring pictures of Lamborghini cars and multiple trips to Asian and other exotic destinations. She and her boyfriend also have a popular joint YouTube channel.

Get rich quick

Their shtick is not a new one, but has a ‘get rich quick’ ring to it that appeals to their Millennial followers and who they say, like them, can enjoy an apparently luxe lifestyle by purchasing under-valued properties off ‘motivated’ vendors and then, on behalf of investors, refurbishing and selling them on for a 20-25% profit.

The couple say they then charge a £2,000 to £10,000 fee depending on the property value.

ASA rules say that if a TikTok creator has been paid to post content, it must be labelled as such. But in the past it has not been clear whether the couple’s property tours have been sponsored or not.

They have told The Times that estate agents and developers are happy to let them film their property tours for free, and only pay the couple expenses such as parking charges. This is somewhat puzzling – very few if any of their young followers on TikTok are likely to be target buyers for such expensive properties. The Knoll is currently for sale at £4.5 million.

Pic credits: GuyPhoenix.com and Summer Newman/TikTok

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – TikTok ‘property gurus’ warned by regulator to be clear about sponsorship links | LandlordZONE.

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Charity asks public to donate £10 to help ‘depressed and anxious’ private tenants

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Housing charity Shelter has launched a fund raising campaign to help it deal with struggling renters as research shows one in four (27%) fear becoming homeless due to the pandemic.

The charity’s latest poll of 551 private renters in England reveals they have fared particularly badly during the last year, with nearly half (47%) reporting that they are more depressed and anxious in light of the pandemic – almost double the rate of the general public.

It points to a quarter of private renters who have seen their income drop in the last six months; 24% of private renters have had to borrow money to pay their rent, while 18% have cut back on food or skipped meals.

The charity reports that two-thirds (63%) of calls answered by its emergency helpline in the last year were from people already homeless or at risk of homelessness.

It has hired 26 new housing advisers, doubled the number of calls answered by its free helpline and has now launched an urgent appeal for public support, Lives on the Line, asking for donations of between £10 and £80.

Chief executive Polly Neate (pictured) says: “Through our helpline we have seen just how scared people are about their homes and their futures. People’s lives are literally on the line. They are desperately struggling and the threat of homelessness is very real.” 

Franz Doerr, CEO at rental tech firm flatfair (pictured, below), believes the ban on bailiff evictions has not properly addressed the crisis engulfing the rental market.

“Mountains of arrears are piling up at the feet of landlords who are effectively being asked to prop up the market, yet the government has offered next to nothing by way of support for them,” he says.

“The government must urgently provide clarity to both landlords and tenants on how it proposes to help struggling renters repay their debt. Failure to do so will ultimately lead to landlords exiting the market, meaning there will be fewer affordable homes for rent.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Charity asks public to donate £10 to help ‘depressed and anxious’ private tenants | LandlordZONE.

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SHOCKING PIX: Slum landlord pair fined £300k over squalid and overcrowded HMO

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Two rogue landlords and their companies have been fined more than £300,000 after being found guilty of housing 18 tenants in a squalid Bristol HMO.

Adam Habane, 51, of Dove Street, and Lloyd Beckford, 60, of Lower Ashley Road, split the building in Lower Ashley Road into seven poorly converted flats, where families, including six children, were forced to use cramped filthy bathrooms and inadequate damaged kitchens (pictured).

When Bristol City Council’s private housing team visited in September 2019 there were no operating fire alarm systems; their concern for the residents’ safety was so great that they immediately provided battery operated smoke detectors.

The property also had holes in the ceilings and hallways which meant fire and smoke could easily pass within the flats, as well as obstructed fire escapes, doors that didn’t shut or lock and electrical systems in poor repair.

After the visit, some of the families were moved on or rehoused and the council continued enforcement action, but in March 2020 they returned to the property after tenants complained there was no hot water or heating.

Requests ignored

This time they found similar conditions along with a broken boiler. A request for gas and electricity safety certificates was ignored.

At Bristol Magistrates Court, the pair were convicted of poor management of an HMO and failure to provide information about the property.

The companies managing the property, Ashley Marketing Services and Eunicareltd Ltd, and their directors Habane and Beckford were handed fines and costs of £334,500.

Councillor Helen Godwin (pictured), cabinet member for women, children and homes, says: “We are committed to protecting people in private housing against the risks posed by poor property management and unacceptable conditions.

“This case illustrates clearly that we will use appropriate powers to prosecute those who put tenants in danger through their own neglect or sub-standard practices.”

Read more: Bristol HMO regulation ‘a mess’.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – SHOCKING PIX: Slum landlord pair fined £300k over squalid and overcrowded HMO | LandlordZONE.

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How to find Shops & Tops for commercial to residential conversion

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I take a stroll down the high street and share what to look for when searching for retail property to convert to residential use under Permitted Development Rights.

Watch this video to find out for yourself, and join us this Sunday for a FREE live 90-minute masterclass where you can learn more on the subject!

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Trading standards probe agency that collapsed owing landlords £466,000

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The financial mess left by the collapse of a West Midlands estate agency in February has prompted local trading standards to investigate how the company came to owe £1.3 million to over 300 creditors including £460,000 in missing rent owed to landlords.

As we reported in February, Homepoint Estate Agents Ltd, which until recently traded as Home Point run by Sutton Coldfield businessman Ajit Singh Pooni, is now being put into liquidation.

Trading standards officers in Dudley, where the firm also had a branch, are now looking into how deposits paid by tenants to the value of £118,145 were not put into a government-backed scheme, or that rents totalling £459,553 were not passed to landlords.

A report from the insolvency practice dealing with the company says that, although some rental deposits were lodged with a government-recognised scheme, a significant number were not.

Client money

Both of these creditor groups are lucky that Home Point was signed up to client money protection scheme CMP, which so far has received claims from 14 landlords and six tenants, LandlordZONE can reveal.

Local councillor Ian Kettle has taken up the case of the tenants, revealing that many are fuming that Pooni failed to lodge their deposits with an approved scheme as he was required by law to do.

Councillor Nicolas Barlow of Dudley Council told the Express & Star that his trading standards officers were currently investigating concerns “raised in regards to this company and we are therefore unable to add anything further at this stage”.

Pooni has been contacted for comment by the paper but has not responded.

His former company’s remaining clients have now been transferred to a new company run by his wife with a similar name operating out of the same premises, leaving behind several major creditor including £72,078 in unpaid VAT, £160,347 owed to his bank Lloyds, and a £50,000 Bounce Back loan.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Trading standards probe agency that collapsed owing landlords £466,000 | LandlordZONE.

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How secure are classified sites? Another tenant scammed by fake landlord via Gumtree

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A tenant has been scammed by a Gumtree advertiser who stole more than £2,000, leaving her facing homelessness.

Mum-of-four, Shirley Jones, from Coventry, fell for the flat rental scam after answering the advert for a three-bedroom home in Nuneaton that was available to rent on the classified site.

But after forking out £2,250 as a deposit and moving in, she found out her new landlord was a tenant at the property and had no right to lease it to her. The 46-year-old has now been left without enough savings to get a new home.

Shirley claims she contacted the purported owner of the property and after a few conversations agreed to pay £2,250 to secure it. She says: “I don’t know what’s going to happen now. I could be kicked out and made homeless. I’ve spent ages saving up to move and found this one on Gumtree and thought it would be perfect. Now I’ve been scammed.”

Fraud

Gumtree says it takes all allegations of fraud extremely seriously. A spokesman tells LandlordZONE that it requires property ads on the site to comply with government regulations for property advertising.

He says: “We also list safety advice for prospective tenants on our website, which recommends that all potential tenants check the relevant paperwork, ask to see proof of ownership, and ensure a tenancy agreement is in place before paying deposits or holding fees.”

He adds: “Whilst fraudulent adverts are uncommon, we urge anyone who thinks they may have come across a scam to report it to us immediately via the ‘Report this ad’ button so that our dedicated trust and safety team can take necessary action. This could include removing adverts and blocking offending users, as well as supporting law enforcement in their investigations.”

It is almost exactly a year to the day since another high profile scam was uncovered; when a young couple lost £800 in almost identical circumstances.

West Midlands Police are investigating the case. 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – How secure are classified sites? Another tenant scammed by fake landlord via Gumtree | LandlordZONE.

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REVEALED: Why not all EPCs are created equally

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Getting a good EPC rating is important for rentals to meet the MEES regulations, and in future even higher ratings will be demanded, but this can be a challenge for some landlords…

Since October 2008, rental properties in England and Wales have been required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).  On April 1^st 2018, the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) came into force. This required all rental properties of new tenancies and renewals to have a minimum EPC rating of ‘E’ or above. In the future this requirement is likely to may move to a “C”.

But for various reasons rental properties in particular may fail to meet these standards.

Ask any Domestic Energy Assessor dealing with rental properties and they will tell you that in most cases when doing an assessment, they find the property empty.

Because the owner (landlord) is usually not available to answer any queries the assessor must make certain assumptions and these will always assume the worst-case scenario.

For example, it is usually not possible to determine major structural features such as if cavity wall insulation is installed. If rendering or external cladding is insulated, if insulation has been installed through removing bricks as opposed to drilled holes. If under floor insulations exists etc.

Where the assessor cannot be sure that insulation techniques have been applied, either from the build time, which assigns the insulation and standards set out in the building regs at the time the property was built, or retrospectively. Any rating applied will be assigned “As built”. This same approach will be taken on several other aspects of a building.

Whatever work has been done to improve the property’s rating can easily be negated simply because there was no one there to explain to the assessor exactly what has been done. Providing photographic evidence and invoices to so show what has been done is advisable when it is impossible to see improvements, or exactly what work was carried out.

Cooking on gas

Another vital piece of information, and this problem occurs most in rural situations, is when non-standard fuel such as LPG is used for heating and cooking etc.

By some quirk of the standard assessment protocol used by the energy assessment computer algorithm, mains gas gets a high score, whereas oil will be marked down and LPG even more so.

LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) which is used in many rural locations where mains gas is not available is a hydrocarbon gas that exists in a liquefied form. LPG is a colourless, low carbon and an efficient fuel, but it is more expensive and fuel cost is a factor taken into consideration by the energy assessment.  

Supplied in two main forms, propane (C3H8) and butane (C₄H₁₀), LPG has a range of uses – from providing fuel for leisure parks, crop-drying, BBQs, heating homes and much more.

If in doubt about the detail of assumptions made during an EPC assessment, take a look and the “summary of this homes energy performance related features” table on page 2 of the EPC. This will indicate a star rating given to the main energy features.  In general LPG will automatically be rated as “poor”.

Longstanding concerns

UKLPG, the trade association for the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry has raised longstanding concerns about the EPC calculation methodology used to measure energy efficiency, as it argues this places disproportionate focus on the cost of the input fuel rather than the building fabric.

The association showed to a BEIS Select Committee as part of their recent inquiry into Energy Efficiency that this policy directly impacts off-grid homeowners and the effective implementation of decarbonisation policy, with an unintended consequence being that homeowners are moving away from low carbon fuels such as LPG to higher carbon alternatives simply in order to gain a higher EPC rating on their property.

The EPC rating is supposed to be a measure of the energy efficiency of a building, but in reality argues UKLPG , the rating is actually a measure of energy cost per m2. This method is particularly distorting when comparing various fuel types between similar properties and creates a particular problem for off-gas grid properties where all fuel options (heating oil, electricity, solid fuel or LPG) are more expensive than natural gas, UKLPG says.

Off-grid properties are instantly disadvantaged as their location dictates their fuel options, which automatically results in lower EPC ratings than their mains gas counterparts. For example, an identical property built to the exact same standards will receive a much lower rating if it happens to be situated outside the coverage area of mains gas.

So no matter what efforts are made on the insulation from, heating fuels can bring down the rating and often there’s not a lot can be done about that.

Find out more about EPCs.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – REVEALED: Why not all EPCs are created equally | LandlordZONE.

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Greatest excess of demand over supply in the last ten years

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The latest Rightmove House Price Index shows the Greatest excess of demand over supply over the past ten years, pushing up the average price of property coming to market by 0.8% (+£2,484) this month.

The Number of potential buyers enquiring about each available property on Rightmove in the month is at a record 34% higher than the same period a year ago

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Communal “garden grab”?

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Like many leaseholders up and down the land, the development I live in has a few parking issues (albeit manageable ones). These are caused by leaseholders owning more than X vehicles (contrary to the terms of the lease), and is a bit more of an issue currently due to the increase in people working from home.

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Sheffield to consider city-wide selective licensing after pressure from campaigners

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Sheffield council is to consider a city-wide selective licensing scheme, a move that has been hailed as a victory by fast-growing tenant advocacy organisation Acorn.

The campaign group has presented a list of 50 rogue landlords to council officers and also begun campaigning on the streets to highlight its calls for a city-wide scheme.

Like many other metropolitan areas around the UK, this would see all landlords required to register and licence their properties, usually for a fee of between £500 and £750 payable every five years.

The undertaking from the council was made by neighbourhoods and communities councillor Paul Wood following a question by an Acorn representative during the most recent full meeting of the council.

She said: “We believe this is a crisis that requires urgent action. We have seen landlords refusing to fix mould, not lodging deposits and executing revenge evictions. Acorn is calling on the council to introduce city-wide licensing for rental properties.”

Wood replied, saying that the council takes PRS landlords and the quality of their housing very seriously, and that his department had recently introduced a council-accredited landlord scheme and was about to invest heavily in enforcement after years of under-funding.

He said a working group was looking at extending the city’s selective licensing scheme, and would consider both the additional costs and establish which areas most needed selective licensing.

The promise by Sheffield to examine a city-wide scheme is an example of the growing influence of Acorn, which has expanded rapidly both geographically and in influence in recent years, moving from tackling individual cases of rogue landlord activity to wider policy-driven campaigning.

“After years of fighting for a crackdown on Sheffield’s rogue landlords, union power is finally getting big results from the council,” it said on Twitter.

Sheffield already has selective licensing in three areas of the city which were introduced in late 2018. Last year its landlords association was disbanded and became a district of the NRLA.

Predictably, Acorn make no mention of a recent survey of tenants in the UK published in January. It revealed that landlords in Sheffield were among some of the best in the UK.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Sheffield to consider city-wide selective licensing after pressure from campaigners | LandlordZONE.

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