Plans to outlaw landlords who refuse to rent to tenants with children

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Jersey has launched a consultation over plans to outlaw landlords who refuse to rent to tenants with children.

Social security minister deputy Judy Martin hopes to amend the Discrimination Law 2013 to protect families looking for homes on the island, which currently doesn’t protect people on the basis of age in relation to renting or buying property. Unlike the rest of the UK, a prospective or existing tenant can be discriminated against by a landlord based on whether they have a child or children under 18 living with them.

Says Martin: “I want to hear from everybody who may have been affected in the last few years. We do have a shortage of homes, so obviously if you then put conditions on those homes it will be worse for families and we don’t want anybody, hard-working Jersey families to not be able to get good, decent accommodation.”

Jersey Landlords Association (JLA) tells LandlordZONE that it’s in the process of putting together a response. The issue previously gained backbench support from members of the States Assembly when the law change was suggested three years ago, banning landlords from refusing to let to families unless they had proof the property was unsuitable. At the time, the JLA said the move was simply more legislation for a problem that barely existed, as only a very small minority of property owners didn’t let to tenants with children.

The new proposal would exclude some types of property such as accommodation reserved for people of a certain age, those in residential care homes, or registered providers of holiday accommodation. Landlords would also be able to take account of health and safety issues when considering new tenants.

The consultation is open until 30th April.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Plans to outlaw landlords who refuse to rent to tenants with children | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Plans to outlaw landlords who refuse to rent to tenants with children

39 rogue landlords and agents have been handed banning orders

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Only 39 rogue landlords and agents have been handed banning orders since local councils gained powers to report the worst offenders – 14 of these in the last year.

Offenders are added to the government’s rogue database and prevented from renting out properties, engaging in property management or letting agency work. However, despite declaring that there were 10,500 rogue landlords operating in the property market and that it expected more than 600 to make it to the database when the scheme launched back in April 2018, its target has fallen far short.

Many rogue landlords avoid banning orders despite having terrible track records. Earlier this year, Stanley Rodgers, 78, of Market Road Place in Great Yarmouth – who served a prison sentence during the early noughties over the deaths of two tenants – was in court again for a string of housing offences that put tenants at risk. Despite this, he was fined just £20,000.

Unlike London’s Landlord and Agent checker, which allows Londoners renting in the private sector to avoid firms and individuals, the national database is only a local council enforcement tool. To date, 25 local authorities have issued the orders and tenants’ groups say the low number of entries proves how ineffective it is. Advice service Tenants Voice adds that local authorities are too under-resourced to prosecute landlords who have issued unlawful evictions and that the police are usually reluctant to take action.

Shelter has called on the government to create an accessible national register of all landlords to help hold the sector to account and wants it to use the upcoming Renters Reform Bill to tackle problems. The government has promised to widen access to the database when the worst of the pandemic has passed.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – 39 rogue landlords and agents have been handed banning orders | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: 39 rogue landlords and agents have been handed banning orders

MP Andrew Rosindell has vowed to carry on his fight for tenants to keep their pets in rental properties

admin    Uncategorized     agents

MP Andrew Rosindell has vowed to carry on his fight for tenants to keep their pets in rental properties, even if his Bill doesn’t get time in Parliament.

Rosindell’s Dogs and Domestic Animals (Accommodation and Protection) Bill aims to give renters the right to live with their pet – provided they can prove they are responsible and caring. However, there may not be enough time to pass the law because the pandemic has led to a reduction in the number of parliamentary sittings; although it had its first reading in the Commons with cross-party support last year, no date has been set for a second reading.

The Romford MP says his Bill gives tenants and their pets the justice they deserve: an end to cruel and unnecessary separation, while protecting landlords from irresponsible owners. Rosindell vows he won’t give up on the issue if his proposals fail to become law and adds: “I will continue the fight for all the pets unnecessarily separated from their owners by ‘no-pets’ clauses.”

In January, the government updated its model tenancy agreement, aiming to end blanket bans on pets in rental properties. However, the agreement is voluntary and last month it hardened its position on the hurdles that tenants will have to clear before a landlord needs to allow pets into their property. Housing Minister Christopher Pincher explained: “A good reason for a landlord to decline a pet ownership request would be where a pet is demonstrably poorly behaved or unsuited for the premises in question, for example, a large dog in a small flat, or where other tenants have allergies to animals.”

The National Residential Landlords Association has called for the government to enable the level at which deposits are set to be more flexible to reflect greater risk.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – MP Andrew Rosindell has vowed to carry on his fight for tenants to keep their pets in rental properties | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: MP Andrew Rosindell has vowed to carry on his fight for tenants to keep their pets in rental properties

Staycations drive Holiday BTL choice

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The impact of the lockdown and lack of opportunity for international travel may well have incited consumers to consider staycations and, for those who are able to invest, a holiday let could seem appealing. The latest analysis by Moneyfacts.co.uk reveals a notable rise in the number of buy-to-let options for holiday let over the past six months

The post Staycations drive Holiday BTL choice appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Staycations drive Holiday BTL choice

Returning expat CGT liability on selling main residence?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Having lived in our main residence for three years my family relocated and moved abroad for my husband’s work.

We are now back living in the UK and have been living in the previous main residence for the last twelve months.

The post Returning expat CGT liability on selling main residence? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Returning expat CGT liability on selling main residence?