Sep

New Chief Economist and MPC member for the Bank of England

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The Bank of England has appointed Huw Pill as Chief Economist, Executive Director for Monetary Analysis and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee. Huw joins the Bank of England from Harvard Business School, where he has been senior lecturer since 2018.

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Sep

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‘Landlords who fight licensing schemes together can make a difference’

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Proactive and engaged landlords make the best case against new licensing schemes, says South East landlord association iHowz.

It is helping local landlords in Ealing fight plans for increased selective licensing and additional licensing in the borough and is waiting to see if its involvement will help to sway the council.

CEO Peter Littlewood (pictured) says it takes a core of local landlords or agents to start taking up a cause. “It makes a big difference when someone local writes to councillors – and we have that in Ealing,” he tells LandlordZONE.

“Local landlords rallied round but we intentionally didn’t give them a template to use as it’s better if they write in their own words, and as a result, some have written amazing, detailed letters.”

Westminster is another London authority with plans to introduce a discretionary licensing scheme for all HMOs, however Littlewood says: “We’re a small organisation and can’t fight them all, we can only fight the ones where there’s sufficient local opinion.”

Property passports

He adds: “It would be much better for landlords to have a ‘virtual wallet’ or property passport where they could have their EPC report and a unique reference number – then you wouldn’t need licensing schemes.”

The landlord group, which covers a large area, from Bournemouth, across to Essex and up to High Wycombe, is also focusing its attention on the issue of energy and the new EPC minimum standard.

It believes the proposal that new tenancies must have an energy rating of at least C by 2025 won’t give all landlords enough time to make the necessary improvements if they don’t have a long enough void period.

It is urging the government to give landlords more practical advice about making improvements, using digital EPCs with links to information on available grants.

iHowz is holding its first physical meeting in 18 months in London later this month and hopes to hold meetings in Brighton and Southampton soon.

View Full Article: ‘Landlords who fight licensing schemes together can make a difference’

Sep

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Did you? Half of landlords lost up to £10,000 during Covid, says new research

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Many landlords have felt an acute lack of support in the last 18 months and reckon more should be done to give them the same protection as tenants, finds a new survey from Simply Business.

Its new report – The Impact of Covid-19 on UK Landlords – finds that just 7% took advantage of a mortgage payment holiday, many had to dip into their own personal savings to make up for the loss in rental income, while others struggled to deal with difficult tenants. It says 43% feel that landlords should have been compensated by the government for losses in rental income.

It quizzed 560 landlords, over half of whom (51%) have lost money due to Covid-19, most commonly because their tenants couldn’t pay the rent (27%). Another 8% of landlords couldn’t find suitable new tenants during the pandemic, which caused them to lose out on rental income.

Rent reductions

The report reveals how 14% of landlords gave rent reductions and 28% arranged a repayment plan, however 44% say their tenants didn’t stick to the schedule. The insurance provider says more than a third of landlords expect it to take at least 12 months to recoup losses.

Of the landlords who lost income, 47% were down between £2,001 and £10,000, while 14% lost more than £10,000. Despite this, landlords largely remain resilient, according to Simply Business, as 59% still think property is a worthwhile investment, while almost a third are optimistic about their future letting property.

However, CEO Alan Thomas (pictured) says it comes as no surprise that a fifth of landlords are planning to sell property as a direct result of Covid.

“Contributing over £16 billion annually in pre-tax spending, an exodus of smaller landlords from the buy-to-let market could have a devastating impact on the UK economy,” he adds.

Read the report.

View Full Article: Did you? Half of landlords lost up to £10,000 during Covid, says new research

Sep

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New Tenants’ Rights Minister appoint by the SNP

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First Minister for Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has appointed the Green MSP for Glasgow. Patrick Harvie, as the Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights Minister. Harvie will lead on delivering a new deal for tenants, and ensuring building standards are fit for purpose.

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Sep

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‘LOST THOUSANDS’: One example of why UK needs a rogue tenant register

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A landlord couple face a huge bill after a rogue tenant family left behind a trail of destruction, 18 months after moving in.

Sixty-something landlords Vic and Jane Shoulders had hoped to eventually move into the property in the Toothill suburb of Swindon and use it as their retirement home but the damage to the property is so great that their plans are now on hold.

They also told local media that the tenant family had only paid their first months’ rent before falling into arrears and that it took until mid-August to evict them due to the bailiff ban and other measures introduced during the pandemic.

As LandlordZONE made clear last week, many landlords with experiences similar to the Shoulders feel that while penalties are severe for rogue landlords, criminal tenants like this can hop from property to property wreaking havoc with few legal or financial repercussions.

Once their tenants were evicted, the Shoulders were horrified to find that ivy was growing inside a bathroom, a leak had been left to rot the entire kitchen ceiling, toys were found in a bedroom with faeces inside them and unopened bags of shopping were left strewn across the property.

Takeaway boxes were in every room and so far the Shoulders have removed 200 bags of rubbish, with another 100 expected.

The property will now have to be gutted and renovated which, along with the 18 months’ lost rent, will mean a bill running into ‘thousands’, the couple claim.

“It was a nice house. Now I just want to get a match and burn the whole thing down,” Jane told the Swindon Advertiser. “How can someone have lived like this?”.

Pic credit: Vic and Jane Shoulders.

View Full Article: ‘LOST THOUSANDS’: One example of why UK needs a rogue tenant register

Sep

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Generation Rent want open ended tenancies and Landlords to cover moving costs

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Generation Rent wants landlords to cover the moving costs of tenants if they are looking to gain possession to sell or return back to the property as their main residence. They claim these types of unwanted moves cost private renters in England £229m per year and are also calling on the government to introduce open-ended tenancies as part of its reforms to the rental market.

The post Generation Rent want open ended tenancies and Landlords to cover moving costs appeared first on Property118.

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Sep

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EXCLUSIVE: Politicians back calls for law reform to enable landlords to take pets

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A pets charity is calling for the Tenant Fees Act to be amended to allow landlords to either take additional deposits off tenants seeking to rent with pets or require tenants take out extra insurance.

The campaign is based on a new report called Heads for Tails! published by East Midlands-based AdvoCATS.

It is backed by leading organisations within the private rented sector including LandlordZONE and a clutch of high-profile parliamentarians.

The main aim of the campaign is to have parliament amend the Tenant Fees Act 2019 to enable landlords to either stipulate pet damage insurance is provided, or charge a separate capped pet deposit, so avoiding the devastating impact of ‘no pets’ clauses.

Backers of the initiative include Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey, campaigning MP Andrew Rosindell and the National Office for Animal Health.

Other high-profile backers include Sir David Amess, Dame Meg Hillier, Sheryll Murray (APGOCATS), Lisa Cameron (APDAWG), Lord Goddard of Stockport, Lord Oates and Lord Trees.

Sean Hooker (pictured), Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme, says: “The issue of pets in rental properties has sparked a lot of, often emotive, debate and this conflict is not healthy for the sector.

“The Heads for Tails report outlines a blueprint for a set of clear and fair rules that protect the interests of both tenants and their landlords.”

AdvoCATS founder Jen Berezai (pictured) has sent a copy of the report to ministry housing officials and also key MPs in rental hotspots around the UK to persuade the government to amend the Tenant Fees Act and solve the problem of landlords who ban pets.

Sarah Dixon of Focus On Animal Law, adds: “We are delighted to support Andrew Rosindell MP and AdvoCATS as they move forward with a proposal which offers both tenants with pets, and landlords, protection and security.”

Berezai adds: “The Heads for Tails! report and campaign really seems to caught the mood – we have a phenomenal amount of support from some major players in both the animal welfare and private rented sectors, which, when added to the fact that demand for pet friendly homes has increased by 120% since just last summer, surely means the Government must take heed of this report and react accordingly?”.

The full report is to be published tomorrow (2nd September). A summary briefing paper can be read here.

View Full Article: EXCLUSIVE: Politicians back calls for law reform to enable landlords to take pets

Sep

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EXCLUSIVE: Leading politicians back calls for law reform to enable landlords to take pets