Housing Possession Mediation scheme could save on expensive lengthy evictions

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 The pilot of the government’s Housing Possession Mediation Scheme can help letting agencies and landlords recover arrears without lengthy waits for court evictions, according to PayProp. Launched recently by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the free arrears mediation service aims to help parties resolve disputes more quickly without the need for court action.

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New code of practice for assessing cladding

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Residents and building owners are set to benefit from a new code of practice for professionals assessing buildings’ external walls and cladding systems. As part of reform of the building sector, the government has commissioned the British Standards Institution (BSI) to draft a new code of practice for assessors when examining external walls and cladding.

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What does 118 mean?

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I have been asked many times over the last 10 years why we decided to call our website Property118

There have been many wrong guesses, and I have to admit several of them have been absolutely fascinating, so I decided to do a bit more research.

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Student disappointment over ‘useless’ rent repayment orders goes viral

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Students who won a rent repayment order against their rogue landlord are angry that they’re now having to pursue the money in the small claims court.

One of the tenants, Megan Cole, says they left the tribunal feeling overwhelmed and powerless, and has used the experience to write her dissertation, ‘The Power Dynamic in Renting: Rogue Landlords, Vulnerable Tenants and Policy Proposals for Change’, which has since caused a Twitter storm when she posted it online, with more than 117,000 likes in a few days.

After spending a year living in their shoddy and unlicensed HMO in Selly Oak, Birmingham, the eight students were awarded £35,000 by a tribunal.

But their landlord denied all responsibility for the house not being licensed as well as the poor conditions, which included leaky showers, broken boiler and ants’ nests.

After checking with Birmingham City Council, which told them of the landlord’s rogue status, the eight-bedroom property was deemed un-licensable due to its condition and was only suitable for five tenants.

Landlords can pay a rent repayment order in instalments but if they’re reluctant to pay at all, tenants can apply to the county court for permission to reclaim the money as a civil debt.

More money

“We feel stuck in our situation, unsure of how to obtain the money we are entitled to and wary of forking out more money,” says Meghan.

“This anger and frustration fuelled my dissertation. Those suffering in poor quality housing and squalor shouldn’t require power and money to fix their situations. Ultimately, the nature of UK legislation means this is the case.”

Giles Peaker, housing lawyer at Anthony Gold, tells LandlordZONE that their situation is not uncommon. He says: “Plenty of people don’t pay and the court can’t order your bank to pay either.

“If it’s a rogue landlord company they’ll just fold that and it will reappear with a slightly different name, while it’s also more difficult with a rent-to-rent set up.”

Read more about recent rogue landlord cases.

Pic credit: Megan Cole, Twitter

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Student disappointment over ‘useless’ rent repayment orders goes viral | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST TRENDS: Covid boosts demand for medium-term renting

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Business people relocating with their families has increased demand in the emerging medium-term let market.

Relocation rentals giant HomeLike reports rising bookings for its properties as families look for temporary accommodation for relocation and work, or to be closer to relatives.

The global online platform, which rents fully furnished apartments for those needing temporary accommodation for 30 days or more, adds that the increase in digital nomads – capable of working and living anywhere, and the need for UK companies to have an EU office following Brexit, is likely to spark a further increase in bookings.

As more people work from home, the option to travel for work and take the whole family is something HomeLike hopes to capitalise on, says Cherry Wang (pictured), country manager UK & Ireland.

She adds: “Mid-term rentals offer business executives the opportunity to create temporary second homes in their location of work, meaning their families can either live with them or visit more frequently where it feels like their home rather than a temporary living space.

“This need has been highlighted due to the pandemic where people wanted their families with them as we went into local lockdowns.”

In 2020, nearly 70% of its bookings were either for a work relocation or work project, which would normally last three to four months, while 25% of bookings were for temporary accommodation needs, such as to self-isolate, while doing house renovations or in-between house moves. The average length of stay increased by 10% last year.

HomeLike reports that 52% of all bookings for stays of over 30 days are now booked instantly, which shows that temporary home searchers are more comfortable making bigger ticket transactions online and points to a significant shift towards digitisation in the sector. 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST TRENDS: Covid boosts demand for medium-term renting | LandlordZONE.

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HMO clampdown: Leading northern council to tighten planning rules

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A large unitary authority in the NW of England is proposing more restrictive planning rules for landlords who seek to gain permission for HMOs.

Cheshire East Council has published plans within an obscure document detailing various changes to existing planning policies as well as proposed new ones.

The council’s ‘emerging plans’, which detail how it expects to develop planning laws within its borders, says aims to further restrict HMOs.

This says: “The change of use of a dwelling to an HMO will be permitted provided that the number of existing HMOs within a 50 metre radius of an application site does not exceed 10% of all dwellings and proposals must not result in the ‘sandwiching’ of an existing single household (C3).”

Adverse impact

The proposed changes will also require that any development of a property into an HMO must not have an adverse impact upon the character and appearance of the property or the local area; on-street car parking levels; the capacity of local services/facilities and the amenity or the environment of surrounding occupiers.

Cheshire East covers a large swathe of suburban and rural England to the south of Manchester covering affluent towns such as Knutsford, Macclesfield, Congleton and Nantwich (pictured).

Faced by criticisms from local residents that many areas have too many HMOs and that many of them have been converted poorly, councils are reaching for these kinds of planning guidance rules more and more.

The highest profile decision was made by Brighton and Hove Council, which introduced similar restrictions in June last year.

Pic credit: General Views via Flickr

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – HMO clampdown: Leading northern council to tighten planning rules | LandlordZONE.

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Portfolio Landlords: Now is the time to sell your properties for the best price

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By David Coughlin, CEO, National Residential

House prices are predicted to fall following the end of the stamp duty holiday and tax bills are high. If you’re a portfolio landlord, now is the perfect window to sell part or all of your buy-to-lets, from the experts who know exactly how to do it, for the best price.

We’re all in the same boat, having built up a handful of properties in our portfolio, we’re now facing higher tax bills than ever before, and the fear of our portfolios losing their value when the stamp duty holiday ends. As a private landlord myself, I understand all the challenges landlords are facing right now. It’s why I set up the Landlord Sales Agency, and the best team in the business to help, with over 20 years of experience behind us to solve every landlord problem, no matter what the problem. I’ve personally got 2,500 houses over the line and sold, even with tenants still in the properties. There’s no issue myself and my team can’t overcome, delivering win-win solutions for landlords, so they can sit back and relax knowing everything is in hand.

A study conducted by landlord insurance provider Simply Business found that over a quarter of landlords have already made the decision to reduce the size of their property portfolios. That number is set to increase as landlords cash in whilst they can still get the best prices before the 30^st June. You need a company you can trust, who will take away the hassle, and make sure you get the best price, fast. That’s where we come in.

Here at the Landlord Sales Agency, we know exactly what to do, and as it’s founded by landlords for landlords, there’s no better team in the country to solve all your issues. We’ll raise the cash you need by getting the best price for your properties, whether it’s in selling part of your portfolio, or selling the whole portfolio. We’re faster than any other company: all our properties sell within 28 days or less.

What’s more, we’ll go that extra mile to not only solve your tax issues, we can even pay your tax bills for you with cash advances, that’s how confident we are we’ll get the job done.

Recently a landlord approached us with a portfolio of 5 tenanted properties that spanned from Staffordshire all the way up to Newcastle Upon Tyne. Like many landlords who’ve been approaching us recently, he wanted to sell up his portfolio fast, but get a great price. We promised him exactly that. With a mixture of marketing to both investors and first-time buyers to drive up the prices, and Covid-friendly video tours, we went all out to keep that promise.

Recently a landlord approached us with a portfolio of 5 tenanted properties that spanned from Staffordshire all the way up to Newcastle Upon Tyne. Like many landlords who’ve been approaching us recently, he wanted to sell up his portfolio fast, but get a great price. We promised him exactly that. With a mixture of marketing to both investors and first-time buyers to drive up the prices, and Covid-friendly video tours, we went all out to keep that promise.

The first property sold in 2 days. 10 days after that 2 more sold. By day 24 the fourth property had sold in Durham, and by day 26 the last and final small property was sold in Lancashire. The fifth property was sold to a buyer who was so happy with the photos and the video tour we’d got from the tenant, he made an offer without even viewing the property.

The only task the landlord had done throughout the sale was make the decision to contact us to sell. We handled everything else.

It really was that simple. £500,000 made in 26 days with zero hassle, worry or stress.

The landlord was able to sit back and enjoy just over 3 weeks of relaxation knowing he had the best team in the UK solving every single challenge for him.

Whether it’s selling part of your portfolio to release cash to pay the upcoming tax bills, or selling your full portfolio now before house prices fall, Landlord Sales Agency are doing it, solving all your problems in a way that no other company is doing.

So if you’re a Landlord who is considering selling your property portfolio, get in touch today and see for yourself what we can do for you.

Contact Landlord Sales Agency:

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©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Portfolio Landlords: Now is the time to sell your properties for the best price | LandlordZONE.

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Tenant’s accidental damage to bath?

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I have an apartment in a block of flats where the buildings insurance is paid for as part of the management charges.

My tenant has accidentally put a hole into the side of the bath and a replacement bath

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LATEST: High Court favours commercial landlords in Covid rent arrears case

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Tenant protections imposed during the pandemic have meant delays in legal claims and arrears in rent payments, but this does not mean that the rent is not due, says Tom Entwistle

During the present pandemic significant restrictions have been placed on landlords and their ability to recover outstanding rent.

But the law says that landlords in England and Wales still retain the ability ultimately to recover rent and other sums due to them under commercial contracts. Lease agreements signed between landlords and tenants still stand despite coronavirus legislation.

This is despite government guidance and practice directions restrict some of the landlords’ options in England and Wales.

Please note, the options open to landlords in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different.

It all depends on specific circumstances, but landlords’ options on rent recovery could include recovering sums owed from former tenants, guarantors, recovering rent directly from subtenants, or through debt recovery proceedings.

On 19 June 2020, the government published a code of practice for landlords and tenants of commercial property across the UK, but the code is voluntary and is not legally binding.

The main thrust behind the government’s intention in issuing the code was to promote “transparency and collaboration” between the parties and to encourage landlords and tenants to act “reasonably and responsibly”.

Avoiding rent

Perhaps understandably given the present situation tenants have tried to delay or avoid paying rent, but a recent High Court decision held that a shopping centre landlord was entitled to summary judgment against its retailer tenant for non-payment of rent and service charges.

The tenant’s rent arrears were built-up since April 2020 while the government’s COVID-19 measures restricted trading, and the tenant came up with several reasons why they thought rent payment should be avoided.

The Court’s decision in in Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft v TFS Stores (April 2021) has been welcomed by commercial landlords after the tenant put forward several weak legal arguments to avoid paying rent during the Covid pandemic.

The tenant (which trades as The Fragrance Shop) argued that the government’s code of practice for commercial property relationships during the Covid pandemic meant court proceedings had been premature, but the Court refuted that argument making clear that the code is non-binding and does not alter legal relations between landlords and tenants.

In addition, the court was satisfied that the landlord had made significant efforts to engage with the tenant, actions that were in-line with the code and practice directions.

No loophole

Another argument put forward by the tenant was that government measures brought in to restrict enforcement by landlords – restrictions on forfeiture, winding-up and CRAR – meant a landlord is not allowed to exploit “loopholes” to recover rent through a money claim. But the Court held there was no “loophole” being exploited – the legislation does not restrict money claims.

In yet another argument, the tenant argued that the insurance provisions of the lease required the landlord to insure against loss of rent for notifiable disease and/or government action.

The tenant argued that the landlord should claim under their insurance policy to cover the rent arrears, or should there be no policy in place, then the tenant had a damage claim for failure to so insure. However, the court held here that the lease did not place such an obligation on the landlord and even if there were such an obligation, it would not necessarily follow that the insurance policy should cover losses of the tenant (as opposed to those of the landlord). 

Rent suspension clause

Finally, the tenant argued that a rent suspension clause in the lease should be interpreted such that the rent payments were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Court rejected this argument as the wording of the particular rent suspension clause in the lease was considered to apply to physical damage to the property only, not when closed due to legal requirements such as a government ordered lockdown.

This High Court decision will be welcomed by commercial landlords clarifying the position and reminding tenants that whilst the government’s COVID measures restrict many enforcement methods, the overall contractual lease obligations of tenants remain unchanged and tenants can still be pursued through the courts.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: High Court favours commercial landlords in Covid rent arrears case | LandlordZONE.

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Sheriffs to the Aid of Commercial Landlords

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In the last week, there have been a smattering of cases where judges have agreed with Shergroup’s interpretation of the law – and that is commercial landlords can go ahead and sue their tenants for rent arrears and other charges arising under a lease.

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