Northern Ireland landlords avoid rent cut as tenant bill moves closer

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Northern Ireland politicians have voted to overturn a proposal that would have cut private rents in the country by 10%.

Assembly members were debating amendments to the Private Tenancies Bill, which aims to strengthen the rights of private tenants by restricting rent increases to only once a year, as well as ensuring private renters don’t have to pay more than one month’s deposit up front.

Rent freeze

Gerry Carroll MLA had called for the Bill to include allowing those tenants who have lived in a property for more than six months to get a 10% rent reduction for a year, followed by a rent freeze for three years. However, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey urged MLAs not to support it after many failed to oppose it during a previous vote. She said it put the Bill at risk of failing.

Hargey added: “The amendment places a duty on my department to conduct a consultation on a rent reduction and rent freeze. That is in keeping with the spirit of the amendment that was passed by the Assembly at consideration stage. The consultation will result in a report that is to be produced and laid before the Assembly within six months of the Bill’s receiving Royal Assent.”

Local elections

A Landlords Association of Northern Ireland spokesman tells LandlordZONE that the vote was simply a piece of electioneering in the run-up to local elections. He adds: “We’re opposed to the fact that by not being allowed to take more than one month deposit it means foreign students who don’t have a guarantor, and who previously paid a three or four month deposit, will end up having to pay one year up front instead.”

The proposed law, which will also make it mandatory for private rental properties to be fitted with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as having mandatory electrical checks, will now go through its final stage before it can become law.

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Gove sends housebuilders back to drawing board over cladding plans

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Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has rejected developers’ offer to remediate unsafe buildings while protecting leaseholders from escalating costs.

The building industry had suggested funding the remediation of fire safety defects in properties they had a role in developing above 11 metres, without drawing on the Building Safety Fund, and to offer refunds relating to buildings where money had already been handed out.

Unsafe cladding

In a letter to the Home Builders Federation, Gove said the proposal, “fell short of full and unconditional self-remediation that I and leaseholders will expect us to agree”. He added: “I am disappointed to see you have not proposed a funding solution to cover the full outstanding cost to remediate unsafe cladding on buildings 11-18m.”

Gove said developers must commit to full self-remediation of unsafe buildings without added conditions or qualifications and has given the sector until the end of the month to agree a fully funded plan. “If an agreement is not reached by the end of March, I have been clear that government will impose a solution in law and have taken powers to impose this solution through the Building Safety Bill.”

Principal residence

The government has already announced that portfolio landlords who own flats hit by the cladding scandal won’t be covered by the remediation fund; only those leaseholders who live in a property as their principal residence and accidental landlords – those who do not live in the property, but do not own any other residences – or who own only one other property are covered.

Gove added that another industry roundtable would meet at the end of March to finish discussions.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Gove sends housebuilders back to drawing board over cladding plans | LandlordZONE.

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Can I move into my HMO?

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Hi, I would appreciate some input on this idea. I have a 4 bed unlicensed HMO (does not require a licence). Cutting a long story short, I am getting to retirement age, so I decided to sell up.

I gave all tenants (all on statutory periodic) due notice.

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8 Ground rents trapped in a company structure?

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We have 8 ground rents trapped in a company structure where we wish to rationalise into one, the active Buy to Let company.

The Holding Company contains 2 Ground rents, a subsidiary and practically inactive Management Company contains 6 Ground Rents and one Subsidiary to the Holding Company a BTL active company with mortgage borrowing.

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UK house prices rising at their fastest rate since 2007

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The average house price has hit a new record high of £278,123, following the eighth successive month of growth.

Halifax’s latest House Price Index reports that prices are rising at their fastest rate since 2007, with growth up by 10.8%, adding £1,478 to the cost of the average home in February.

Seven UK areas are now seeing double-digit annual house price inflation. Wales is the strongest performing nation or region, with annual house price growth of 13.8%, pushing the average property price to £207,184. Meanwhile, the South West recorded growth of 13.4%, with by far the strongest quarterly growth (3.5%) of any region. Halifax says it’s notable that both areas benefit from an abundance of more rural, scenic living which has been in demand throughout the pandemic.

Upward trend

London remains the weakest performing area of the UK, although the capital continued its recent upward trend with annual house price inflation now standing at 5.4%, its strongest level since the end of 2020.

MD Russell Galley says average property values have risen by £38,709 (+16%) since February 2020 and over the last 12 months, gained on average £27,215 – the biggest one-year cash rise recorded in 39 years of the index’s history. He adds: “Lack of supply continues to underpin rising house prices, with recent industry surveys showing a dearth of new properties being listed, now a long-term trend.”

Galley says the war in Ukraine along with surging oil and gas prices and peaking inflation are all likely to impact on confidence and already stretched household incomes. “These factors are likely to weigh on buyer demand as the year progresses, with market activity likely to return to more normal levels and an easing of house price growth to be expected.”

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Prevent Council Tax bills being charged for individual bedroom lets

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We have just come across a petition to ‘Prevent Council Tax bills being charged for individual bedroom lets.’ Click Here

Surprisingly, it’s been up and running for almost six months already.  At the time of writing

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Glasgow Council ejects landlords from Scottish Landlord Register

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Seven failing landlords have been struck from the landlord register in Scotland for a raft of safety issues.

The Health and Safety Executive found a potentially dangerous gas boiler after tenants at two properties in Paisley Road West, owned by Ejaz Ali, raised concerns, reports the Glasgow Times. The council told tenants a rent penalty notice had been issued and they were not obliged to pay the landlord, but Ali then wrongly told them the issue was sorted and payments should resume.

Landlord Cheryl Campbell, who owns four properties in Mercat Gate Court, on High Street and Walls Street, was removed after it emerged she owed a property management firm more than £60,000 for common repairs and had an outstanding council tax bill of almost £28,500. She also didn’t provide fire safety, building insurance and legionella risk paperwork.

Lack of heating

After a tenant of John Milton, who lets six properties in Glasgow, told the council there was no heating and hot water in his home, the landlord failed to fix the problem. The council then discovered that four of his six properties did not have energy performance certificates, while he did not provide fire and gas safety and carbon monoxide detector details.

Clarkston Developments Ltd, which owns 12 properties in Glasgow, was not able to provide fire safety, carbon monoxide detectors and legionella risk assessment paperwork. A company representative accepted there were “serious question marks” but said the firm took its responsibilities seriously and was working on getting all the documents.

Safety certificates

James Duffy, who owns 29 properties across the city, failed to provide safety certificates for 12 flats in Ibrox and Cessnock. A council officer said Duffy claimed the properties had either been sold or were being repossessed, but checks found eight of the 12 were owned by the landlord and let to tenants. 

Rasham Singh, who owns a flat in Harley Street, was struck off after failing to provide a number of certificates, along with Mohammad Nawaz.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Glasgow Council ejects landlords from Scottish Landlord Register | LandlordZONE.

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Record annual house price inflation

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The industry standard Halifax House Price Index for February is reporting a record 10.8% annual rate of growth, which is the strongest level since 11.9% in June 2007.

Monthly house price growth rose to +0.5% following a slower start to the year with the average house price reaching £278,123.

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Stamp of approval for veteran dispute resolution service

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The Dispute Service Ltd has won government approval for its work to resolve tenancy deposit complaints.

It has been authorised by the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) to help tenants who feel they’ve reached a dead end complaining to their landlord or letting agent.

Efficient redress

Alison MacDougall, director of resolution at The Dispute Service Ltd, says it currently deals with more than 20,000 disputes a year, helping tenants move on to their next property and helping landlords to address any issues for future tenants. She adds: “We are delighted that our service has been endorsed by the CTSI as an approved ADR body and we look forward to continuing to work with our customers in the sector to provide effective and efficient redress.”

Andy Allen, ADR project leader at CTSI, says: “We are pleased to see the Dispute Service Limited becoming an approved ADR body for its tenancy deposit schemes. It is joining an expanding ADR environment and we hope that other organisations will continue to set up such schemes or have existing schemes approved.”

Deposit distribution

The Dispute Service Ltd has operated several statutory tenancy deposit protection schemes for many years and as part of the overall service, agents, landlords and tenants have access to free dispute resolution for disagreements about deposit distribution at the tenancy’s end. Its ADR service can only deal with disputes about a deposit protected by one of its tenancy deposit schemes where a landlord or letting agent wants to make a deduction from the tenant’s deposit. It cannot resolve cases where the tenant says they withheld rent because repairs were not carried out.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Stamp of approval for veteran dispute resolution service | LandlordZONE.

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UK Buy to let tax in Spain?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone has any insight into the Spanish taxation on UK rental income. I am very close to becoming a Spanish resident, but I am worried about the overall taxes concerned. I am aware of wealth tax obligations and income tax obligations but have seen on some tax sites the mention of a 60% reduction of net rental income available in Spain but only for long term rentals.

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