LATEST: Manchester goes live with ANOTHER new selective licensing scheme

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Manchester has extended selective licensing in more of the city, covering another 1,400 properties in The Ladders, Hyde Road, Trinity and Ben Street areas.

Four similar schemes already cover 1,800 properties in Crumpsall, Old Moat, Moston and Moss Side/Rusholme where 1,871 licences have been issued, along with 51 enforcement letters, fines totalling £108,000 and 12 suspended prohibition orders.

The scheme extension follows two consultations which the council says found that 92% of residents who responded agreed that private rented properties should be inspected. The NRLA went public with its opposition to the scheme.

Officers conducted 701 external inspections and 145 internal inspections in the new areas and found six category one hazards and 215 other hazards which led to three enforcement letters telling landlords to improve their properties.

Councillor Gavin White (pictured), executive member for housing and employment, says it’s clear that these schemes improve standards in private sector homes – and tenants are seeing the real-life benefits.

He adds: “The enforcement work carried out by council officers mean that residents in private sector homes in these areas can sleep soundly knowing that their homes have been made safe as a direct result of selective licensing.” ]

Eight more?

Manchester Council has flagged up another eight areas where it might consider schemes in future, including Claremont Rd/Great Western Street, Moss Side, and Royals, Longsight, which would cover another 1,031 properties.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is a supporter of landlord licensing schemes and is also set on introducing a Good Landlord Charter in partnership with the city’s 10 councils to support landlord licensing and drive up standards in the private rented sector.

The licence fee for the new areas is £798 for five years, with an early bird offer of £591 if landlords apply before 30^th April.

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There’s a new podcast for Landlords everyone’s talking about you won’t want to miss

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There’s a buzz in the air, and it’s for good reason. This week LandlordZONE reported that: “in the wave of podcasts that have come out recently, none have made quite an entrance like the newest outfit on the block, Landlord Sales Agency – The Podcast.

View Full Article: There’s a new podcast for Landlords everyone’s talking about you won’t want to miss

LATEST: HMO trade body launches to help landlords find trustworthy agents

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A network of HMO property managers has been launched to help landlords find agents with specialist knowledge.

The new FIA HMO Network is made up of quality, vetted HMO letting and managing agents who landlords can trust, giving members the benefit of being part of a larger group by providing supplier offers and training.

Founded by Neil Baldock (pictured), director of Essex-based estate and letting agency group Charles David Casson, it is a subsidiary of the Federation of Independent Agents (FIA) in association with Graham Lock.

Baldock believes HMO management has been seen as the poor end of the industry for years, with poor quality properties and a lack of respect for agents managing these types of property.

He says: “This is a very outdated view and with the rise in demand for co-living and shared accommodation the quality of accommodation on offer is superb amongst our agents and this is a highly profitable area of business if done well.”

Gap in market

Baldock says that he saw a gap in the market where landlords could often not find an agent willing to manage their HMOs or one with the right level of experience.

He adds: “We have already started generating leads from landlords asking us to find them an agent in a particular area.”

Ten founder members range across the country in Chelmsford, Colchester, Canterbury, Ashford, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Cambridge, Peterborough, Leeds, Hull, Selby & Goole and Liverpool, with more applications pending as the network plans to grow throughout the UK.  

Independent agents are invited to join by application only and must prove they have the right credentials and insurance. Interested agents should email Neil direct.

Read more about HMOs.

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OME GROWN! Portal launches to help landlords handle deposits better

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Alternative deposits platform OME has launched a new portal and app to help landlords onboard tenants quicker and more easily.

Ome was launched in March 2020 and provides landlords with the same level of security as a traditional deposit without the admin or legal requirements that come along with it, while relieving tenants of the need to worry about scraping together a deposit.

This means renting is more affordable for tenants via Ome’s Deposit Replacement Membership while landlords have access to a much wider pool of potential renters.

The service also offers five weeks’ rent value against damage or unpaid bills – the same as a cash deposit.

Its new portal, which has been in development since mid-2021, offers a much slicker experience for users including improved communications throughout the process, with multiple messaging options.

Better experience

Landlords using the portal now enjoy a much cleaner ‘member panel’ that will enable more sources of information to be displayed in a format that is clear and keeps them up to date.

Also, landlords will later this year also be offered more services than just deposits, supplied by members of the Hamilton Fraser family of businesses, which Ome is a part of.

Peter Agathangelou, Group CTO said, “This launch represents the first major implementation of our business transformation strategy which will enable our customers to manage their engagement with the Hamilton Fraser Group through a single portal.”

Eddie Hooker, CEO of the Hamilton Fraser Group (pictured) says: “Despite the pandemic, we have continued to push forward with our Group’s digital strategy.

“The launch of Ome’s new portal will pave the way for future development as the Group’s brands and products are added to the portal.

“The next step in our transformation will see mydeposits integrated into the tenancy deposit platform, enabling our customers to access all their deposit needs in one location.”

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