NAO probes Government’s piecemeal regulation of PRS and lack of ‘joined-up thinking’

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The way England’s private rented sector is regulated and how well it protects tenants has been criticised by a new National Audit Office (NAO) report.

It says regulation is not effective, that renting is not fair for many tenants and that too much PRS housing is not safe or secure.

The NAO also highlights how a lack of joined-up thinking means a quarter of landlords are unwilling to let properties to non-UK passport holders, and half are unwilling to let to those on housing benefit.

And it takes the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to task for having overseen these ongoing problems and for not yet having a detailed plan to address them.

Last month Ministers said they would delay their promised Rent Reform White Paper to wait for this NOA report’s conclusions.

Echoing points made before by housing campaigners and previous reports, the NAO says privately-rented properties are less likely to comply with safety requirements than other types of housing and are more likely to be classified as non-decent.

Peacemeal regulation

DLUHC is criticised in the report for its piecemeal introduction of regulation – for example letting agents must be a member of a redress scheme but landlords do not – and that it ‘does not yet have a strategy for what it wants the regulation of the sector to look like as a whole’.

Ministers are also slammed for not having enough data to make decisions or measure their effectiveness and that, although they have some insight into how the sector is working such as on property conditions and tenants’ finances, they lack data on key issues where regulatory action may be required.

These include harassment, evictions, disrepair that is not being addressed, or on the costs to landlords of complying with obligations.
Finally, the report also says that tenants are too powerless or ignorant of their rights when complaining.

The NAO recommends that DLUHC defines an overall vision and strategy for the regulation of private renting including whether dispute resolutions arrangements for private renters are appropriate and accessible for all tenants, and improve its understanding of the experiences among private renters.

Concerning

Gareth Davies (pictured), the head of the NAO, says: “The proportion of private renters living in properties that are unsafe or fail the standards for a decent home is concerning.

“The government relies on these tenants being able to enforce their own rights, but they face significant barriers to doing so.”

Eddie Hooker, CEO of Hamilton Fraser, who was involved in informing the report’s findings, says: “A joined-up approach to the private rented sector is long overdue and this report from the respected National Audit Office is right in its demand for a coherent strategy to protect consumers and hold outdated views and practices to account.

“The requirement for all landlords, regardless as to whether they use a letting agent or not, to be part of a redress scheme for the benefit of their tenants is a sensible and important recommendation as is holding councils to account in the use of their existing powers to tackle the minority of landlords and agents who bring the sector into disrepute.

“But let’s not forget that there is already much regulation already on the statute books and the sharing of information between existing authorities such as trading standards, deposit and client money schemes and redress suppliers should not be overlooked which would bring immediate benefits to the consumer in rooting out poor operators. 

“Final recommendations in the forthcoming Renters Reform white paper should formalise, if not made mandatory, the sharing of intelligence. 

Piecemeal

Ben Beadle (pictured), Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “Regulation of the private rented sector needs to ensure that homes are safe and meet all required standards.

“Too often the approach to this has been piecemeal. It has led to a proliferation of initiatives such as licensing, banning orders and a rogue landlord database with little evidence to show they are working. “We support the NAO’s call for a more strategic approach.”

Hard hitting

Sean Hooker, (pictured) Head of Redress at the PRS, says: “This is a hard-hitting report that pulls no punches in its call for the need for a joined-up strategy for the sector.

“The NAO is a highly respected independent body and the evidence they have collated must be taken extremely seriously by the Government.

“It is no surprise to me, that issues like the introduction of redress for landlords feature prominently in the conclusions.

“Plugging this gap for consumers in getting their complaints resolved is vital to raising standards and making the sector safer and fit for purpose.”

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OFFICIAL: National survey shows renting is no longer just for the young

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Middle-aged renters now make up more than a quarter of the PRS, debunking the myth that the sector is the preserve of young professionals and students.

Over the last decade, the number of 45-54-year-olds renting privately has grown from 11% to 16%, according to the latest English Housing Survey, while owner-occupiers in that age group fell from 74% to 65%.

Those aged 55-64 living in the PRS also increased from 6% in 2010-11 to 11% in 2020-21, with a fall in owner-occupiers from 79% to 70%. Last year, the sector accounted for 4.4 million or 19% of households in England, unchanged from 2019-20, but lower than in 2015-16 (20%).

The survey reveals that fewer private renters are working full-time (58%) compared to 2019-20 when 67% were in full-time work, while more now work part-time – up from 10% to 15% – and the number unemployed increased from 3% to 7%.

In 2020-21, 25% of private renters reported finding it either fairly or very difficult to afford their rent, similar to the number in 2019-20 (27%), while the proportion receiving Housing Benefit went up from 20% to 26% between 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Sobering figure

Graham Cox, founder of the Self-Employed Mortgage Hub, says the fact that nearly one in six 45-54-year olds now live in private rented accommodation, up from one in nine a decade ago, is a sobering figure.

“This is presumably due to high property prices and insecure employment,” says Cox. “The average first time buyer deposit to buy a property is now a hefty £44,294, which also illustrates the difficulty that this cohort has in getting on the housing ladder.”

Mark Hayward, chief policy advisor at Propertymark (pictured), adds: “The steady decline in the size of the private rented sector over the last five years should act as a warning sign to the UK government that more needs to be done to protect the sector, especially at a time when rented homes are needed more than ever.”

Read more about the UK’s ageing tenant population.

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Wise Business Accounts for non-resident UK landlords

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As a result of Brexit, several UK banks started closing banking facilities for clients living in the EU from Spring 2021. These included Nat West, Barclays, Coutts, RBS and several others.

Property118 ran an article about this to seek feedback from landlords who had been affected.

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Son lives in parents property wanting to rent out a room?

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Hi all,  a quick question: I’ve got a landlord (Mr and Mrs) who live in Wales and who own a property in the Midlands.

I’ve been speaking to the son who lives in the property his parents own and the parents want to rent out a room for about 6 months.

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What’s the progress on fire regulations in high rise buildings?

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Since Grenfell there have been endless forums, reviews, reports, consultations and, even so, any real action has been painfully slow. See below for the latest situation.

The Hackett Review

The independent review started in 2018 into fire safety management in England and Wales was led by Dame Judith Hackitt. This resulted in findings that were damning. The review found that the existing fire safety regulations in high-rise properties were ‘not fit for purpose’.

“I have been shocked by some of the practices and I am convinced of the need for a new intelligent system of regulation and enforcement for high-rise and complex buildings which will encourage everyone to do the right thing and will hold to account those who try to cut corners.” said Dame Judith Hackett in here report.

Initially more that 400 high-rise blocks were identified as having inadequate and unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. This is a type of external cladding of the same type that caught fire and rapidly engulfed the whole building at Grenfell Tower, with the tragic loss of so many lives. Since then more buildings, their construction and materials have been found to be defective.

Leaseholders, so far, paying the price

The Building a Safer Future report summarised Dame Hackitt’s findings. What followed in December 2018 was a nationwide ban on the use of combustible materials. AMC cladding was banned in high-rise residential buildings.

This led to what is now a major cladding scandal. It’s an ongoing social crisis that followed both the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 and the Bolton Cube fire in November 2019. These fires with the horrific loss of life in one, and the Hackitt review, have revealed that large numbers of buildings have been clad in dangerously combustible materials, and now its the leaseholders paying the price.

Many buildings have been found to be non-compliant in other fire-safety building requirements, such as missing cavity barriers around windows and a lack of fire break barriers, which are intended to prevent fires from spreading horizontally and vertically into neighbouring flats. That’s not to mention simple measures such as faulty and missing fire alarm systems, fire doors, closers and extinguishers etc.

Immediate fire risk

The report findings led to a recognition that these buildings could potentially be posing an immediate fire risk to residents.

Leaseholders of flats now find themselves in the invidious position of facing extensive and costly remedial work. Many are trapped in accommodation they would like to move out of but cannot do so because they are unmortgagable. In the meantime, sky high buildings insurance premiums, and the outrageous cost of paying for ‘waking watches’, paying people to patrol buildings 24/7 to monitor the building for fires, are bank breaking.

In February this year the UK government pledged over £5 billion towards remediation works, but even this staggering amount will be nowhere near enough to cover the extensive costs across the country, with much of the cost to-date falling on the shoulders of individual leaseholders of flats. These people, often young people just starting out in adult life, are potentially having to go into massive debt because they innocently and unwittingly purchased these unlawfully constructed homes.

The coming legislative changes

The Building Safety Bill has reached committee stage in the House of Commons. As it is currently drafted, its provisions will change building safety laws and place new duties on those responsible for the safety of high-rise residential buildings.

As a preview for those affected by the likely changes, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published Safety case principles for high-rise residential buildings subtitled, Building safety reform – Early key messages. HSE say that adapting to a new regulatory regime will be challenging and it is collaborating with the government and other partners to help those affected to take “sensible, risk-based, proportionate steps that ensure the safety of the people in and around your buildings”.

HSE envisages the necessary measures will include “a combination of measures that work together to prevent and mitigate the spread of fire and structural failure, and the safety management system which keeps these measures in place and in good working order”.

Fire risk guidance

The Home Office has published Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats – Updated guidance (24 September 2021). It warns that the guide was first produced in 2011, summarising the legislation, guidance and best practice at the time, so should now be viewed as “no longer comprehensive”.

A revised version of this guide is expected in early 2022. Provisions relating to vulnerable persons have been redacted pending the outcome of the government’s Personal Emergency Evacuations Plan consultation. In the meantime, the current guide remains available to fire safety professionals, “as it contains relevant and useful information for purpose-built blocks of flats”.

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NEW data reveals evictions ban helped keep homeless figures lower than pre-COVID

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Shelter’s latest research reveals that more than 274,000 people are homeless in England but its previous data showed the problem was even worse before the pandemic, with 280,000 people affected in December 2019.

The campaigning charity believes the new figures are likely to be underestimated due to limited reporting. Nevertheless, its data and commentary reveal that the long months of the evictions ban, which cost many landlords thousands of pounds in lost rent, helped prevent a surge in homelessness.

Shelter says that, along with the evictions ban, Covid protections such as the ‘Everyone In’ scheme and the boost to Universal Credit played a vital role in keeping people in their homes and suppressing homelessness during the pandemic.

Warning

Now it’s warning that with these protections gone, living costs soaring and another uncertain winter ahead, there is a risk of the flood gates reopening and thousands more people losing their homes.

Its detailed analysis of official rough-sleeping and temporary accommodation figures shows that one in every 206 people are without a home and 2,700 of these are sleeping rough on any given night.

This new report reveals that London comes out worst, with one in 53 people now homeless in the capital, with other hot-spots including Luton, Brighton and Hove, Manchester and Birmingham.

Chief executive Polly Neate adds: “It is shameful that 274,000 people are without a home.

“We predicted the pandemic would trigger a rising tide of evictions and our services are starting to see the reality of this now. We’re flooded with calls from families and people of all ages who are homeless or on the verge of losing their home.”

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Rents are anticipated to increase firmly over the near term

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RICS have today released their UK Residential Market Survey current up to November 2021.

In the lettings market, tenant demand saw another solid monthly increase in November with a net balance of +48% of respondents citing a rise.

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Cost of Property maintenance increased 17% this winter

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Market analysis, by Benham and Reeves, has revealed how the cost of maintaining our homes this winter is as much as 17% higher than it was this time last year. They researched the average cost of maintaining a property which can include everything from cleaning the gutters

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Leading plumbing firm backs ground source heat pumps for rented properties

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A leading supplier to the private rental sector has backed the installation of ground source heat pumps, telling landlords that on balance they should consider installing them when gas boilers need wear out.

GK Plumbing has waded into the contentious topic following the Prime Minister’s recent plan to spend billions of pounds installing the technology into 600,000 homes by 2028.

Consensus on their appropriateness as an eco heating and hot water solution is far from assured despite the circa £5,000 grants available from the government – particularly as they still use electricity to drive the machinery – and the £10,000 to £18,000 that Which? recently said they cost to install.

Although ground source heat pumps are therefore more expensive to install than gas boilers, require access to a garden and use distinctly un-green hydrochlorofluorocarbons in their machinery, on balance Gareth Knell, founder of GK Plumbing (pictured) backs the technology for landlords.

Additional income

“Firstly, they require little maintenance,” he says. “So, the likelihood of receiving emergency call-outs in the middle of the night because the boiler has blown in the middle of winter are significantly reduced.

“If managed correctly, ground source heat pump technology also has the potential to generate an additional income for a landlord through the Renewable Heat Incentive.

“Also, they remove the risk of combustion, which can have a bearing on your building insurance. Lastly, ground source heat pump installation will also help you future proof your properties against coming legislation.

“There are pros and cons to every heating solution. But right now, ground source heat pumps do look to be one of the most efficient and cost-effective solutions for both homeowners and landlords of the future.”

Read more Tom Entwistle’s deep dive in the technology.

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Seasons Greetings from Court Enforcement Services

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2021 has been a year of constant change and challenges for everyone but for Court Enforcement Services, it’s been positive too.

Despite the difficulties created by the pandemic, we have had notable achievements this year.

We’ve grown

The latest industry data shows we achieved a market share gain for the sixth year running, making us the fastest growing company in the High Court enforcement sector.

As expected, there was a 30% drop in the number of writs issued in 2020 but despite this, we were very proud to increase our market share to 26%, making us officially the largest High Court enforcement company by volume.

To have achieved such a large market share in just six years is a huge achievement and would not have been possible without the commitment and hard work from our team and the support and trust of our clients.

We have also moved into a new and larger head office in Essex which creates room for our continued growth and brings all our office-based staff under one roof, the teams having previously occupied two separate buildings.

I have no doubt being under one roof will be beneficial for staff collaboration, engagement, and communication.

People news

Director, and co-founder Wayne Whitford was included in the Credit 500 index for the fifth consecutive year. This lists the most influential people in consumer and commercial credit during 2021. 

Also, three members of our management team were shortlisted for Women in Credit Awards this year. All three have made a significant contribution towards our growth and have played key roles in our journey to become the market leading High Court enforcement company.

With the dedication and commitment our team have demonstrated over the last year and by continuing to deliver market leading results for our clients, our expectation is that the next 12 months will be another period of significant growth for Court Enforcement Services.

Stakeholder relations

We have extended our reach significantly in 2021 becoming a Corporate Partner to the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) and joining the Civil Enforcement Association (CIVEA), the principal trade association for civil enforcement agencies.

We support the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) and have implemented their updated best practice guidelines and continue to support their various high-profile campaigns.

Court update

We have faced a period of 18 months of constant change and various pieces of temporary legislation being brought in at short notice to accommodate the dynamic changes caused by the pandemic. Finally, the enforcement industry is now in a position where we can enforce fully as we did pre pandemic – well, almost!

For Writs of Control, we are now enforcing at a level that exceeds our pre-pandemic performance levels. We continue to champion and strive for high levels of early engagement, currently achieving 39% early engagement during the compliance period.

Trespass and possession enforcement is back to normal; in the last few months we have serviced more residential repossessions than ever before in a similar time window and the signs are that this is set to further improve.

We are seeing cases expedited for High Court Enforcement much faster and the whole process seems to be moving along again after the stagnant period in which the Court delays due to Covid really did slow everything down.

Commercial properties and associated rent arrears continue to remain protected, to a degree, until March 2022.

While rent arrears can now be enforced for amounts due that exceed the equivalent of 554 days’ worth of rent, and, forfeiture of lease can be carried out for any reason with the exception of rent arrears, the real acid test for commercial property enforcement will be in March 2022 once the restrictions fall away.

Season’s greetings

It looks like 2022 will be a very exciting year for us and I would welcome you to share in our success by switching to Court Enforcement Services or by trialling our services to discover the difference we can make by improving the results achieved and enhancing your experience as a client.

On behalf of everyone at Court Enforcement Services, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Call: 01993 220557
Email: bd@courtenforcementservices.co.uk
ww.courtenforcementservices.co.uk/landlord-zone-residential-evictions/

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