Cladding Remediation: Cost of alternative accommodation?

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Sometime in the near future, the remediation of cladding issues will need to take place in several developments in which I own apartments. It is possible that complete external walls may have to be removed, such that my tenants would have to relocate for a period of time.

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No confidence in legal advice from property experts?

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I own the freehold of a property consisting of two self-contained flats. I bought it at auction. There is no other title and there are no common areas in the property. I live in one flat and rent out the other.

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PICS: ‘Investment flat’ panned on social media for strange internal scaffolding

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Fans of Bristol’s famous Suspension Bridge can recreate the architectural achievement in their own living room by snapping up an ‘investment flat’ in the city.

The apartment is a snip at £140,000 when the average house price tops £300,000, but potential landlords should be warned that its unorthodox room layout features a bed suspended above the sofa using metal scaffolding, in what looks to be the kitchen.

The double-decker sleeping arrangements might suit professional pole-vaulters keen to fit in some practice, as it doesn’t appear to have a ladder.

Its strange set-up has caused a stir in local media and on Twitter with user @lucyvharrison posting: “One-hundred-and-forty thousand Great British Pounds to have your bed suspended above your sofa in your kitchen. I didn’t think Bristol had reached London levels of madness but here we are.”

Mopping up

Meanwhile, @Candiwrites: “Classic Bristol landlord vibe with the hoover and mop more expensive than the bed. They’d replace a single slab of laminate before replacing your hip when you’ve fallen out of a bed hanging from the ceiling on silly string.”

Local agent Connells believes it’s “a truly unique opportunity to own a stylish studio apartment in the heart of Bristol City Centre”, adding that the Baldwin Street studio flat has, “a sociable open-plan living space which is the perfect place to relax in the evenings” – as long as you’re comfortable with a large bed hovering above your head.

The agent euphemistically labels the room, “incredibly low-maintenance living space” but evidently hasn’t convinced any landlords to snap it up; although the flat came on the market in January priced at £160,000, its price has been reduced twice since then.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – PICS: ‘Investment flat’ panned on social media for strange internal scaffolding | LandlordZONE.

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Ministers consult commercial landlords on how to end Covid restrictions – have your say!

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Commercial landlords have been invited to have their say on how the government should wind-down the evictions ban and restrictions on recovering rent arrears.

The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation to understand how landlords and tenants are responding to the build-up of rent arrears, prompted by firms being unable to trade normally during the pandemic.

It wants to assess the risk to economic recovery posed by remaining rent debts and to understand how landlords and tenants are adjusting existing lease terms to reflect the period of recovery that many tenant businesses will need once trading restrictions are lifted.

Views gathered will shape government policy and help it plan a “carefully managed exit” to preserve tenant businesses and the jobs they support.

Stark warning

Temporary measures, which also include restrictions on the use of winding-up petitions and statutory demands, are in place until 30^th June, but the department warns: “If there is evidence that productive discussions between landlords and tenants are not taking place, and that this represents a substantial and ongoing threat to jobs and livelihoods, the government will not hesitate to intervene further.”

It adds that although many landlords have raised concerns about tenant businesses using Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs) to alter lease terms and disclaim leases of unprofitable locations, particularly after the landlord has agreed rent concessions with the tenant, their use doesn’t form part of this call for evidence.

Instead, the government will separately continue to monitor CVAs and the impact that these recent developments are having on landlords. 

Landlords can take the online survey until 4th May.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Ministers consult commercial landlords on how to end Covid restrictions – have your say! | LandlordZONE.

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BREAKING: Court fees for stranded landlords waived by government

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The government has listened to industry lobbying and confirmed that it is waiving renewal fees for landlords whose possession warrants have run out of time due to the ongoing evictions ban, and now have to be re-run through the courts.

This change is contained within detailed guidance issued yesterday by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for landlords and tenants.

Now, the thousands of landlords who have an outstanding warrant possession that has expired or is about to expire have a three-month window from 1^st June to 31^st August 2021 to re-apply for a 12-month extension.

They will not be required to pay the usual £100 or £255 warrant extension fee. This applies to properties both in England and Wales.

The fee waiver will only be applicable to possession warrants issued after the start of the first lockdown on 16^th March 2020.

“Possession warrants which were issued or expired prior to this date will require an application and fee to extend the life of the warrant,” the advice says.

The announcement has been made ahead of 1^st June, when the current evictions ban ends and bailiff warrants can be enforced.

The updated guidance also makes one other change to the evictions process, allowing tenants and landlords to use the government’s new mediation service during the review hearing stage, should both parties wish to.

“The guidance says that cases could get allocated to mediation at the review hearings stage,” says Tim Frome of Landlord Action (pictured).

Read the detailed guidance.

“We’ll have to wait and see if that happens and if judges start contacting the parties at the review hearing to ask them.
“Both parties need to agree to mediation, but by the time it’s got that far it is unlikely a landlord would want mediation.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Court fees for stranded landlords waived by government | LandlordZONE.

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Silence costs absentee landlord £10,000 in fines and court costs

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A rogue landlord who refused to make safety improvements at two of her properties has been fined more than £9,500.

Madeleine Scott, 51, of Allfarthing Lane in London, was found guilty of ignoring three housing improvement notices issued by Folkestone & Hythe District Council after officers found serious problems at the homes in Pavilion Road and Wiltie Gardens, Folkestone.

Maidstone Magistrates Court heard that concerns included the risk of falling on stairs, falling between levels and fire safety, while officers also found electrical problems and excess cold in the properties.

However, despite repeated reminders from the council and numerous attempts to make contact, Scott ignored the notices.

An exasperated Folkestone & Hythe District Council explains that it had no other option but to bring legal proceedings.

Criminal

A spokesman says: “Our private sector housing team does not prosecute lightly – in fact, the last trial it was involved in before this was back in 2016 – and only considers this action as a last resort.

But when a landlord refuses to work with us to ensure standards are met, we will not hesitate in bringing about criminal proceedings.”

One of Scott’s properties has since been sold and is due to undergo extensive refurbishment, while the other has outstanding issues and is currently unoccupied. The council spokesman adds: “We are working actively to ensure the remaining remedial works are carried out as the health and safety of our residents remains one of our top priorities.”

Scott was fined a total of £4,500 for the offences and ordered to pay £5,000 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Silence costs absentee landlord £10,000 in fines and court costs | LandlordZONE.

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EVICTIONS: Review hearings ‘have just cost landlords more money’ – claim

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Review hearings, one of the key evictions measures introduced by the government during the pandemic, have been a waste of time and cost landlords money unnecessarily, an online gathering of legal experts has heard.

The procedural tool was introduced by the government late last year to help courts prioritise the most pressing cases including extreme arrears.

But the online gathering of users at a county court in Essex heard from several speakers who highlighted how government under-funding of the court service is leading to judges feeling unappreciated, over-worked and under-paid.

The meeting also heard how court users including some of the 400 judges polled for the research felt that the review hearings system is not working the way it should and ‘has not been effective’ in helping manage the evictions caseload.

LandlordZONE also understands that two thirds of cases going through review hearings are going on to a full or substantive hearing.

This indicates that review hearings are not necessary and instead heap extra cost and create longer lead times for landlords seeking possession of a property.

“We employ someone full-time at the moment to do all the paperwork and get ready for review hearings on our landlords’ behalf but all too often the tenant won’t log-in or dial into to the meetings even though all the different parties will be waiting for them,” says Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action (pictured).

Also, the hearing heard that judges who are making decisions on evictions, many of whom are working virtually from home are not being sent paperwork in time which is in turn delaying everything even further.

“There is a pressing need for significant investment in the courts system and this was true before Covid struck,” says Shamplina.

“In particularly the courts’ online capabilities need to be upgraded, otherwise we are going to face major problems as judges attempt to clear the huge backlog once the eviction ban ends on May 31^st.”

Find out more about evictions.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EVICTIONS: Review hearings ‘have just cost landlords more money’ – claim | LandlordZONE.

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Bill bundling tech platform for landlord portfolios raises £1.6m

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The appetite for investing in property start-ups among tech investors has not dimmed if the latest round of funding for PRS bills platform One Utility Bill is anything to go by.

It has announced a further £1.6 million raised from existing and new investors to help fund its expansion, taking the total ploughed into the company to nearly £4 million.

Launched by CEO Chris Dawson and CTO Dale Knight (pictured) in 2014, One Utility Bill unifies households bills into a single monthly payment for tenants but also offers landlords and letting agents referral fees if they recommend its services, as well as an ‘all inclusive’ rent and bills payments platform.

The company has some 4,200 customers, 30 staff based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and claims to have processed bills worth £15 million so far for thousands of households.

This latest round of investment has been led by existing investor and venture capital firm DSW Ventures alongside the North East Innovation Fund and Northstar Ventures.

Previous rounds included a £650,000 seed investment in 2018, £1.7 million in April last year. Dawson and Knight started up the platform when still students at Newcastle University via its incubator programme.

“We’re delighted to raise this follow-on round from our investors, our second investment in a challenging but very rewarding 12-month period,” says Dawson.

“This is a huge vote of confidence in our business and reflects the incredible progress that the One Utility Bill team has achieved over the last 12 months. We’ll be using the funds to further accelerate our customer growth and invest in our technology.”

Read more about the North East.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Bill bundling tech platform for landlord portfolios raises £1.6m | LandlordZONE.

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Stop bashing landlords or rents will rocket this summer, referencing boss warns Ministers

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Rents will rocket this summer without a change in government policy, the boss of tenant referencing firm HomeLet has warned.

CEO Andy Halstead says the government risks continuing to alienate landlords with its prolonged assault through policies that disincentivise property investment and drive up rental prices.

HomeLet’s Rental Index for March reveals the UK’s average rent is now at a record high of £992 – after the fourth increase in as many months. When London is excluded, average rent is £847, an increase of 1% on last month.

Halstead says that with almost one in five people living in the private rented sector, it’s fitting that the government should focus on it, with an informed policy that strives to achieve a balance between letting agents, landlords and their tenants. “Unfortunately, that isn’t the case at the moment,” he adds.

“The continued increase in rents above the rate of inflation is a symptom of current policy.”

Halstead (pictured) believes the narrative that landlords and letting agents are driving up rental costs simply isn’t true. “Professional letting agents and landlords welcome initiatives that improve standards in the sector,” he says Halstead.

“As demand increases, the UK needs more rental stock for tenants, not less. Without policy informed fully by property professionals, rents will rocket to record levels this summer.”

Nine of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet showed a monthly increase in rental values between February and March, with Northern Ireland seeing the most significant rise of 2.9%.

However, London’s rents continue to fall year-on-year, showing a 5% drop between March 2020 and March 2021 – the tenth fall in annual variance over the year.

Read more about the government’s landlord bashing.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Stop bashing landlords or rents will rocket this summer, referencing boss warns Ministers | LandlordZONE.

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How much will it cost to solve my tax problem?

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My answer to this question is that a solution should save you money, not cost you money!

Do you agree?

Let’s look at this by way of an example.

Just suppose that Mr &

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