Pandemic student exodus was ‘no excuse’ to dodge HMO regulations, rules judge

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A landlord who used Covid-related tenant absences as an excuse for not licensing his HMO has been handed a Rent Repayment Order.

Portfolio landlord Kulvant Singh Steven Birk, who owns ten properties in the Preston area, argued that because his five student tenants had left the Adelphi Street converted pub (pictured) during lockdown when their university closed, it should not be considered an HMO in that period.

Birk also claimed that he was not aware of a change in the law regarding licensing rules, but a First Tier Property Tribunal ruled that this was no justification and ordered him to pay them £2,116 each.

The tribunal heard that the five tenants signed an 11-month tenancy agreement in July 2019, but that at the end of March 2020 they returned to their respective homes before the tenancy ended at the end of June.

That month, ongoing issues about the bins led to an inspection by housing standards officers from Preston City Council who told Birk it needed a license. He then applied in May 2020.

Transitory

The tribunal ruled: “We are satisfied that the applicants’ lockdown-related absences were transitory and should not be regarded as a break in their occupation of the property.

“We heard that, on being advised to return home when face-to-face teaching was suspended at the end of March 2020, the applicants were initially hopeful that this would be for a short period or just two or three weeks.

“They fully intended to return as soon as circumstances permitted them to do so and they did not remove all their belongings from the property.”

It also rejected Birk’s claim that his higher than usual operating costs for running an HMO including payments for repairs and using a letting agent should be taken into account when deciding the fine.

Read judgement in full.

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County Courts given £324m to speed up cases and cut evictions backlog

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County courts are to receive an extra £324 million over the next three years to help clear their case backlogs and both modernise and speed up court processes.

The settlement is part of the additional £2.2 billion given to the Ministry of Justice within Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Spending Review revealed this week.

“The pandemic created unprecedented challenges but this settlement is the largest increase in more than a decade for the justice system,” says Justice Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured).

“That means we can focus on building a better, more efficient, justice system for all.”

Of the extra £324 million, some £200 million is to be spent on upgrading the court system’s often clunky technology and move court processes to quicker and safe online platforms, all part of a £1.3 billion court reform programme.

The extra cash cannot come soon enough for landlords seeking to evict tenants, many of whom have faced huge delays and backlogs within the court system, problems that have intensified during the pandemic.

Shortages

Michelle Heeley QC of No5 Barristers’ Chambers, who works on the Midlands circuit, says: “Although any move to increase funding and improve the criminal justice system is welcomed, this cannot be allowed to simply paper over the cracks. The backlog crisis started before the pandemic, which has merely exacerbated the situation.

“Over the last four years, there has been an 11% decrease in the number of junior barristers available for criminal cases, and a 22% reduction in the number of criminal QCs. This is a direct result of a lack of funding to ensure cases are being heard, which in turn limits the ability of the justice system to carry out its function.”

Paul Shamplina (pictured) of Landlord Action comments: “This is great news for landlords and I hope some of this extra cash will be spent on a major recruitment exercise to provide more judges and more bailiffs – shortages of which continue to delay possession cases for our landlord clients.

“There also needs to be bailiff reforms – High Court Sheriffs must be allowed to carry out more evictions.

“But let’s not forget that prior to Covid, there was a Housing Court working group and consultation, which was linked to the [now delayed] rent reform White Paper and the banning of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – this needs to be actioned too.

“It is essential that landlords have confidence in the evictions system and that they can gain possession of properties within a timely period when tenancies go wrong, otherwise more landlords will seek to exit the sector.”

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Act Now before rates rise – Don’t delay

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The Bank of England Base Rate is currently at an all-time low at 0.1% and this has led to mortgage rates being at all-time lows. Interest rates change over time, just over 30 years ago the Base Rate was 14.88%

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Misleading Right Move Adverts – What can we do?

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We are in a situation, where a dubious agent is advertising greenbelt land for sale on RightMove.com with a clause that says ‘Suitable for residential, commercial or agricultural subject to the necessary consents’.

The local farmland was recently purchased

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