“Pop-Up” HPPM property networking event at the London Hard Rock

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Join us for quality property networking at London’s Hard Rock Hotel – in support of Humanitarian aid for Ukraine Tuesday, 22 March 2022, 18:30 – 21:30 GMT: Click Here to join us

About this event

The British public helped to raise over £150 million in a single week for the Disaster Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal*

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Huge Liverpool licensing scheme covering 45,000 homes prepares to sign up first landlords

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Liverpool’s huge new licensing scheme, covering about 80% of privately rented properties in the city, opens for applications this week after months of battles with the government to get approval for the scheme.

The council fought hard to win government approval for the five-year scheme, which runs from 1^st April, and was forced to scale down plans made in 2019 when former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick thwarted its attempt to renew it until 2025. It finally got the green light in December.

About 45,000 of the 55,000 properties in the original city-wide scheme – which ended in 2020 – will be covered across 16 wards: Central, Riverside, Greenbank, Kensington, Picton, Tuebrook & Stoneycroft, County, Anfield, St Michael’s, Princes Park, Kirkdale, Old Swan, Warbreck, Wavertree, Fazakerley and Everton. Liverpool has a separate HMO licensing scheme covering more than 2,600 properties.

Earlybird

Landlords signing up before the end of June get an early bird discount which takes the total cost of a licence down to £380 per property, rather than £550. Other discounts include £50 off if the property has an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above.

Cabinet member for strategic development and housing, councillor Sarah Doyle (pictured), says it’s a major step forward to improving neighbourhoods.

She adds: “Too many vulnerable people in our city are in poor housing conditions, paying rent to a landlord who doesn’t carry out essential maintenance to keep them warm and safe. The landlord licensing scheme gives us regulation of private rented houses, so that we can take action when concerns are raised.”

Under the previous scheme, the council issued more than 2,500 legal notices, 169 formal cautions and 197 written warnings which resulted in more than 300 successful landlord offence prosecutions and 87 civil penalties.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Huge Liverpool licensing scheme covering 45,000 homes prepares to sign up first landlords | LandlordZONE.

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Barrister warns landlords over pitfalls of offering Ukrainian refugees whole properties

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Landlords have been warned about the legal pitfalls of offering a home to Ukrainians fleeing the war.

The government’s newly launched Homes for Ukraine scheme lets individuals and businesses £360 a month to provide a spare room or separate self-contained accommodation for refugees for at least half a year, with volunteers asked to record their interest on a new web page ahead of phase one of the scheme opening on Friday.

Reactions to the initiative from the public have been swift and generous, so much so that the website crashed earlier today after millions of people visited the site to register their interest in the scheme.

However, Christian Fox, a barrister at Becket Chambers who specialises in property law, says that offering anything other than a room in your own main home, such as an annex or separate property, can inadvertently create a tenancy.

He explains: “It is far better for both parties to understand the way they can extend or terminate the agreement now, rather than risking acrimony or legal action later.”

He adds: “If the owner of a second home or investment property were to allow several families to stay in a property, it may give rise to the need to register as an HMO.

Sympathetic

“While we might hope that local authorities would be sympathetic, unless the government scheme allows exemption, then at the very least licensing will need to be investigated with the local council and their views sought.”

Read more: differences between an HMO and a bedsit.

Fox says that there are also questions around responsibility for property maintenance, insurance and payment for utilities and council tax that need to be considered.

Even just offering a room on a long-term basis can affect property insurance or risk breaching mortgage or lease terms,” he says. “There are also statutory overcrowding offences under the Housing Act 1985 and it is uncertain, for now at least, if these are waived by the scheme or not.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Barrister warns landlords over pitfalls of offering Ukrainian refugees whole properties | LandlordZONE.

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Little more than half the savings market can beat base rate

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Base rate beating savings deals plunge to lowest level in over a decade with the Moneyfacts UK Savings Trends Treasury Report data showing little more than half of the savings market (55%) can beat base rate, despite an uplift to savings rates month-on-month.

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Maximise rental income and capital value with a Refurbishment Buy to Let

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A Refurbishment Buy to Let product helps landlords maximise rental yield by refurbishing a property whilst it is vacant.

This product brings together the flexibility of bridging finance with an exit to a Buy to Let Mortgage.

There is only one application and the same valuer for the initial valuation and the re-inspection.

View Full Article: Maximise rental income and capital value with a Refurbishment Buy to Let

Council shelves licensing scheme consultation following landlord opposition

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West Lindsey Council in Lincolnshire has shelved a consultation into its selective licensing scheme amid opposition from landlords and business groups.

Councillors have now voted to halt an online public survey after the authority admitted that the process had its limitations and also questioned the previous scheme’s impact.

Future options will be discussed at a committee meeting on 3rd May.

The Lincolnshire council’s previous scheme in the South West Gainsborough ward ended in July 2021 which its report says reduced anti-social behaviour by 83%, as well as leading to 249 properties being improved and more than 98% of them obtaining a licence.

The new plans, covering Gainsborough South West, Gainsborough North, Hemswell, Market Rasen and Wold View, would affect 5,000 properties, and was planned to launch next year.

It now admits: “The selective licensing scheme can improve the quality of accommodation however, it has had limited success in many other areas such as anti-social behaviour, community safety and crime levels.

It is therefore essential before we extend the selective licensing scheme we gain a far better understanding of how many of these other issues can be addressed.”

Landlords such as Hugh Darlington have criticised the plan as “incredibly punitive”. He told Lincolnshire Live:

“It will place considerable financial and administrative burden on landlords which will invariably be passed onto tenants in rent increases. As a smaller landlord I am inclined to see this as the final straw and might be forced to sell, meaning my tenants could be left homeless.”

The County Land and Business Association has also opposed the plans, as it believes the approach risks punishing those responsible landlords who are already compliant.

Rural surveyor Alison Provis adds: “Ultimately, it could result in many unintended consequences such as unnecessary rent increases for tenants and loss of properties from the rental market, meaning rural communities and their prosperity will suffer.”

Read the consultation documents.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Council shelves licensing scheme consultation following landlord opposition | LandlordZONE.

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‘Scrap the 3% stamp duty surcharge for landlords’, urges the NRLA

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been urged to scrap the 3% extra stamp duty that landlords pay when buying properties.

The call has been made by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) which says research by independent consultancy Capital Economics reveals that cutting the duty would release some 900,000 homes into the rental market and generated £10 billion in additional tax revenues for HMRC over the next ten years, and more revenues beyond that.

The NRLA, which commissioned the research, says such a move is the only realistic way to plug the widening gap between supply and demand within the market, which has driven up rents recently.

Last month rental platform Homelet reported revealed that rents are rising by 8.5% a year across the UK and 12.6% in London.

Supply tightening

Even without the additional homes, supply will continue tightening, warns Capital Economics.

Over the next ten years between a million and 2.3 million additional private rented sector (PRS) homes will be needed, depending on growth in the owner-occupied and social housing sector, driven by a predicted 11% growth in the key 15-24 age group between now and 2032.

And even more worryingly, the research also points to a likely 500,000 reduction in the PRS over the same period unless the sector is made more attractive financially to landlords.

Ben Beadle (pictured), Chief Executive of the NRLA said: “The Government needs to wake up to a crisis of its own making.

Taxing landlords out of the market serves only to cut supply, increase rents and make homeownership more difficult to afford.

“The evidence clearly shows that the supply of rented housing is declining as demand increases and will continue to do so.

“The Government is taking a blinkered approach to the issue, which is not helped by its reluctance to admit mistakes it has made in the past.

“It makes no sense to tax the supply of new homes supplied by landlords investing in new build or bringing empty homes back into use. As this study indicates, removing the tax will actually generate more revenue, not less.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Scrap the 3% stamp duty surcharge for landlords’, urges the NRLA | LandlordZONE.

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Scrapping the 3% SDLT surcharge would increase PRS supply by 900,000 over 10 years

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The Government could benefit to the tune of £10 billion if it scrapped the stamp duty levy on the purchase of homes to rent out.

According to analysis by the economic consultancy, Capital Economics, removing the 3% levy would see almost 900,000 new private rented homes made available across the UK over the next ten years.

View Full Article: Scrapping the 3% SDLT surcharge would increase PRS supply by 900,000 over 10 years