Fraudulent attempts to rent properties surge as criminals warm to illegal sub-letting

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A rise in tenant fraud and unchecked fraudulent rental applications are having a devastating impact on landlords, warns tenant due diligence and guarantee firm Homeppl.

Rising unemployment and affordability among renters are adding to the problem, according to Homeppl, which points to a 71% increase in the number of fraudulent applications between the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021 – meaning that one in 50 rental applications are now fraudulent, rising to one in 20 in London.

Its report Are you prepared for an increase in tenancy fraud? finds that legal costs and lost rent mean each fraudulent tenant costs more than £30,000 while the tenant themselves are at very little risk.

CEO and founder Alexander Siedes says: “The consequences for landlords of inadvertently approving a fraudulent application are dire – up to £30,000 in lost income and legal costs and fines of up to £3,000 for renting to a tenant with no legal right to rent in the UK.

“In a worst-case scenario, scammers will lose their holding deposit, but there is little to de-incentivise them from making further fraudulent applications.”

He adds that the fact there are no consequences for fraudulent tenants means they will simply keep trying and, due to the sophistication of most fraudulent applications, many will succeed.

“When you add to that the softening of eviction regulations which means landlords have less power to evict fraudulent tenants, increasingly, scammers are renting properties with the intention of illegally subletting them to make easy money, at a huge cost and risk to the landlord.”

Fraudsters try to trick agents and landlords with a range of strategies, including using fake ID, employer references, or references from former landlords.

Read more: How to deal with rogue or criminal tenants.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Fraudulent attempts to rent properties surge as criminals warm to illegal sub-letting | LandlordZONE.

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Japanese knotweed, not the nasty threat it once was?

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For many years Japanese knotweed has carried a stigma that condemned property as virtually unsaleable. The mere suspicion of the imported weed being anywhere near a property would leave buyers and mortgage lenders running for the hills, it would strike fear in the hearts of buyers, sellers, lenders and property owners alike.

Compensation claims have been seriously high and lawyers have made a good living pursuing claims on a no-win-no-fee basis. A quick Google search reveals a host of practitioners offering their services in this way.

A Court of Appeal decision in Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williams and Waistell [2018] concluded that the weed poses a “significant risk of damage to any property that is within 7 metres due to its underground shoots, and that it can cause significant damage to building structures and substructures.”

A major re-think

However, according to James Fawcett of brownejacobson LLP solicitors, the risk from Japanese knotweed could be overstated and “the tide might be starting to turn?”

A Parliamentary committee recently heard evidence that suggests that the extensive evidence put forward indicates that Japanese knotweed does not cause significant damage to property, even where it is growing in close proximity. It suggested that there is potentially far greater risk to property posed by trees and it calls into question the ‘7 metre rule’ suggesting that knowtweed roots are unlikely to reach as far as was previously thought.

James Fawcett writes:

“So might Japanese knotweed simply be misunderstood? Well there is no doubt that concerns regarding the threat it poses to the UK’s ecology remains, but it may be its ability cause damage to property has been overstated. In light of the Parliamentary debate it is anticipated that the RICS will revise its guidance on Japanese knotweed in the near future and mortgage lenders may take note. The true impact of Japanese knotweed is likely to become better understood and the risk of future nuisance claims may well diminish as a consequence of that.”

New guidance for surveyors

Indeed The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (‘RICS’) is now in the process of updating its guidance to surveyors on their approach to Japanese knotweed, when valuing a property. The updated guidance is currently in draft consultation form and will replace the RICS information paper “Japanese Knotweed and residential property, 2012”.

The RICS’ revised guidance is based on extensive research and will be there to help surveyors when valuing properties where Japanese knotweed is found to be present. The general consensus now appears to be that providing Japanese knotweed is “appropriately managed”, it should have a minimal effect on the buying and selling of properties.

A manageable threat

RICS’ aim is to raise awareness of Japanese knotweed, putting it into context and putting the emphasis on “management and control” as opposed to the often drastic remedies proposed earlier, such as the complete removal of all contaminated soil. Here the emphasis will be on the application of herbicides, as opposed to excavation of the affected land, and the recognition that complete eradication may not be appropriate.

The new guidance is to produce a classification system for the weed that will place an infestation into “management categories” depending on its seriousness, but will overall pitch the problem as a “mitigatable environmental issue”, which in most cases can be remediated with effective treatment.

It is likely the The RICS guidance will also re-assess the ‘7-metre rule’ which presumes the plant is capable of spreading this distance underground, which would lead to an expectation of a surveyor reporting the infestation to a mortgage lender. It would appear that the new guidance will presume there’s no automatic requirement to report the presence of Japanese knotweed to a lender if it is more than 3 metres from a boundary, with anything beyond that requiring a risk assessment.

Ruth Hill of brownejacobson LLP concludes:

“The impact of the [RICS] guidance (and the science that sits behind it) will also undoubtedly influence the outcome of civil claims in nuisance, both in terms of liability and quantum. The current reliance by claimants on the 7-metre rule will have to be modified and we may also see a reduction in the value of claims for diminution in value of property in some circumstances in light of the re-assessment of risk from Japanese knotweed (together with any change in public perception of Japanese knotweed in saleability of residential property). This will be welcome news to the public sector, with public bodies and local authorities often in the firing line as major landowners.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Japanese knotweed, not the nasty threat it once was? | LandlordZONE.

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Hastings Landlord Sells Property Portfolio for £2.3 million joining a rush of Landlords wanting to sell fast while house prices are still high

admin    Uncategorized     agents

It seems almost unheard of, 24 flats sold for £2.256 million in just 9 days, yet for a Landlord in Hastings, that’s exactly what happened when he reached out to the Landlord Sales Agency. And it’s a story that’s been happening over and over again for the portfolio experts company that’s making a name for itself by helping Landlords cash in their portfolios in record speeds for the highest prices possible.

If you haven’t yet heard of Landlord Sales Agency, you’ll definitely want to. A company founded by landlords for landlords and established in 2006, they’re known for their “any problem we can fix” formula, led by co-founder of the NAPB, founder of National Residential, and industry expert, David Coughlin.

Like many of us who have built up their portfolios, now more than ever we’re thinking about selling. The market is high, it won’t be this high again for another 7 years, and it’s time to cash in and retire. There’s never been a better opportunity than right now, and there’s never been a more trusted company who really do deliver what they say.

Here at Landlord Sales Agency, we’ve helped hundreds of landlords like you sell their portfolios for the best price. Simply let our experts do the work, while you relax knowing that you’re just weeks away from cashing in while house prices are high.

• We have the best team to sell your properties for the best price no matter what the problems.
• We’re FAST, we sell in 28 days or less.
• Our team has 20 years of experience in selling properties, specifically for Landlords.
• Our experts have personally got over the line 2,500 houses just like yours.
• We have buyers ready to go on our books wanting to buy your portfolios

Contact us today, and get ready to live the life you’ve been working for.

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Landlords confused over which How to Rent guide to issue

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlords are being urged to exercise caution when serving the statutory How to Rent guide to new tenants after confusion has arisen about which version is the most up to date following a recent update.

MHCLG have uploaded a new ‘easy-to-read’ How to Rent guide to its website which, apart from tacitly admitting the other 18-page guide is somewhat difficult to understand, appears to supersede it too.

Within the new easy-to-read guide, it says ‘the landlord should give new tenants an up to date copy of this guide’ whereas previous guidance was that landlords must serve the original, more long-winded version.

Landlords are under a statutory requirement to give tenants a copy of the How to Rent guide when the begin or renew a tenancy.

This is not nit-picking but could have expensive ramifications for landlords further down the line.

Eviction failure risk

To serve a Section 21 ‘not fault’ notice to evict a tenant legally, a landlord must have served the most ‘up to date’ version of the guide along with a valid EPC and Gas Safety Certificate.

Some landlords have taken to social media to ask which version they should serve – one saying: “I think the Government are just trying to confuse us all. The version they have published today is an easy read version, but the one published in Dec 2020 is still the latest version.”

Letting agent Phil Ashford says he believes that the main legislation covering this guide still says landlords and agents should ‘issue the main guide’ which is the December 2020 version.

“The easy read guide is not referenced and therefore [not] required,” he says.

LandlordZONE has put in an urgent request with MHCLG for clarification.

MHCLG has form when it comes to landlord documentation. In June last year it pulled the latest update to the Electrical Safety Standards after LandlordZONE pointed out that discrepancies in its wording were causing confusion among landlords and the wider industry.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords confused over which How to Rent guide to issue | LandlordZONE.

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BREAKING: Thousands of landlords released from ‘cladding hell’ after EWS1 forms scrapped

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlords who own leasehold properties in low and medium-rise apartment blocks affected by the cladding scandal will no longer have to supply an EWS1 form when selling or remortgaging their properties, the government has announced.

Thousands of landlords who have been unable to sell or re-finance their properties following the Grenfell tragedy will now be unlocked after an official report commissioned by the housing secretary Robert Jenrick tasked with looking at medium and lower-rise apartment blocks reported that there is ‘no systemic risk of fire in these blocks of flats’.

Jenrick says he is now working with lenders to ensure they don’t require the controversial EWS1 cladding forms when dealing with leaseholders wishing to sell or re-mortgage their properties.

Landlords seeking to sell up will also have a larger pool of buyers interested in their properties as the new rules will apply to those buying flats in these blocks too.

“Today’s announcement is a significant step forward for leaseholders in medium and lower-rise buildings who have faced difficulty in selling, anxiety at the potential cost of remediation and concern at the safety of their homes,” says Jenrick.

“While we are strengthening the overall regulatory system, leaseholders cannot remain stuck in homes they cannot sell because of excessive industry caution, nor should they feel that they are living in homes that are unsafe, when the evidence demonstrates otherwise.”

Key lenders

Three key high street lenders have already signed up to stop requiring EWS1 forms including HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds with others expected to follow.

But property management giant Ringley has warned that, although this is the ‘right decision’, many leaseholders have spent huge sums paying surveyors to produce the EWS1 forms they were told were needed.

“The question now is who will compensate them, and of course, what is to be done about those living in buildings 18 metres or higher,” says MD Mary-Anne Bowring.

Read more: Landlord reveals nightmare of being caught up in building safety scandal

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Thousands of landlords released from ‘cladding hell’ after EWS1 forms scrapped | LandlordZONE.

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Businessman fined over car repair garage turned into ‘atrocious’ slum HMO

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A businessman has been fined for housing tenants in appalling conditions without windows, hot water or fire safety measures at his premises.

49-year-old Mehmet Gurcuoglu, director of Golden Motors on Andre Street in Hackney Downs (pictured), used a dilapidated outbuilding at the railway arch car wash and tyre workshop where tyres were stored up to the ceiling next to beds and blocked escape routes.

He admitted operating an HMO without a licence and to five breaches of management regulations and was fined £8,992 at Thames Magistrates Court.

The court heard that as well as being flammable, the tyres would have filled the escape route with toxic gases if they had caught fire, while the one battery operated smoke alarm had been covered up with plastic sheeting.

Police raid

Council officers joined police on a raid of the property in 2019 where they discovered four people living, probably with a young child.

Councillor Sem Moema, mayoral adviser for private renting and housing affordability (pictured), described it as one of the most atrocious cases officers in the borough had ever seen.

She says: “While this is an extreme example of criminal behaviour, it’s also a symptom of the wider housing shortage and a poorly regulated private rented sector that encourages landlords to let out poor quality homes at often extortionate rents.

“Our crackdown shows that we’ll take whatever action we can to tackle those who don’t play by the rules while we continue our campaign for better renting and a fairer system for tenants.”

Earlier this year, rogue landlords who illegally let a Clapton property without providing proper washing facilities or tackling serious fire hazards were fined £22,000 after a Hackney Council prosecution.

Read more: Minister reveals true number of rogue landlords on ‘pointless’ national database

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Businessman fined over car repair garage turned into ‘atrocious’ slum HMO | LandlordZONE.

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