Welsh rental reform laws slammed for ‘huge holes’ despite being only 12 weeks away

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Welsh landlords face uncertainty around their ability to evict tenants after their government again failed to approve vital regulations to clarify its imminent Renting Homes (Wales) Act.

The Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee has previously criticised gaps in the legislation – which takes effect on 15^th July – but this week failed to alleviate landlords’ concerns.

“There are still obvious regulations missing from the Act which comes into force in less than three months,” says David Smith (pictured), of solicitor JMW.

“Most obviously there is nothing that will allow Section 8 and Section 21 notices issued now to carry over beyond 15th July, despite the Welsh government saying on their FAQ pages that they will carry over.”

The government underestimates the work required for such a radical change in legislation, Smith tells LandlordZONE.

“There are areas that are really important we don’t know about and this still has to progress through the courts. I’m worried that if it’s rushed, there will be confusion and errors and might mean a landlord who should get possession, won’t, because the judge doesn’t understand the law.”

This doesn’t just impact landlords with one or two properties, he says, but social landlords and student landlords with hundreds of tenancies.

Smith adds: “In an Act, there is normally a section of ‘schedule of repeals and consequential amendments’ – but until we get that we can’t be sure about how it meshes with everything else. There will also be legacy stuff that hasn’t been repealed.”

Minister for Climate Change Julie James (pictured) told the committee: “We are keen to learn lessons and continue to keep the legislative programme under review. In the meantime, I can assure the committee that the priority is to continue to fully implement the remaining aspects of the Act.”

Smith hopes the next committee meeting scheduled for early May will provide more clarification.

Read more about the legislation.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Welsh rental reform laws slammed for ‘huge holes’ despite being only 12 weeks away | LandlordZONE.

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Looming Welsh rental reform laws slammed for ‘huge holes’ despite being only months away

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Welsh landlords face uncertainty around their ability to evict tenants after their government again failed to approve vital regulations to clarify its imminent Renting Homes (Wales) Act.

The Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee has previously criticised gaps in the legislation – which takes effect on 15^th July – but this week failed to alleviate landlords’ concerns.

“There are still obvious regulations missing from the Act which comes into force in less than three months,” says David Smith (pictured), of solicitor JMW.

“Most obviously there is nothing that will allow Section 8 and Section 21 notices issued now to carry over beyond 15th July, despite the Welsh government saying on their FAQ pages that they will carry over.”

The government underestimates the work required for such a radical change in legislation, Smith tells LandlordZONE.

“There are areas that are really important we don’t know about and this still has to progress through the courts. I’m worried that if it’s rushed, there will be confusion and errors and might mean a landlord who should get possession, won’t, because the judge doesn’t understand the law.”

This doesn’t just impact landlords with one or two properties, he says, but social landlords and student landlords with hundreds of tenancies.

Smith adds: “In an Act, there is normally a section of ‘schedule of repeals and consequential amendments’ – but until we get that we can’t be sure about how it meshes with everything else. There will also be legacy stuff that hasn’t been repealed.”

Minister for Climate Change Julie James (pictured) told the committee: “We are keen to learn lessons and continue to keep the legislative programme under review. In the meantime, I can assure the committee that the priority is to continue to fully implement the remaining aspects of the Act.”

Smith hopes the next committee meeting scheduled for early May will provide more clarification.

Read more about the legislation.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Looming Welsh rental reform laws slammed for ‘huge holes’ despite being only months away | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Looming Welsh rental reform laws slammed for ‘huge holes’ despite being only months away

UKRAINE DELAYS: Landlord’s property stands empty despite being offered free to refugees

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Long delays in Ukrainian refugee schemes have led to a house offered for free by one generous landlord remaining empty.

The pebble-dashed property in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester (main pic), has been made available rent-free for a year, thanks to the efforts of retired estate agent Steve Gooderson who has also raised £40,000 to cover the cost of a year’s rent for 30 refugees.

He has collected food and clothes along with offers of other accommodation, even persuading one landlord to donate one of his houses.

Gooderson, of Stalybridge, Tameside, told the Mail Online that he’d made his offer two weeks ago but had still not heard back from the government.

He slammed the Homes for Ukraine scheme organisation for being incredibly frustrating. “We have the money in place, the houses, food, clothes and interpreters with the help of the local Ukrainian community,” said Gooderson.

“Everything is in place without a penny in costs to the taxpayer. We have made the offer to the government, then nothing. I think this whole government scheme is a complete sham. It is not an exaggeration to say these delays are costing lives.”

He approached local MP Jonathan Reynolds for help, who contacted the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, without success.

20-day backlog

Gooderson claims there is a 20-day backlog before the government will even consider offers of help under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, however officials deny this.

A government spokeswoman said: “Thanks to the public’s generosity in offering their homes, more than 39,300 visas have been granted so far with 6,600 Ukrainians arriving safely in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Currently the scheme is open to individuals, but we plan to expand this to organisations and community groups who will be able to sponsor multiple guests.”

More than 150,000 people registered to sponsor people from Ukraine looking to come to the UK. Campaigners have urged the government to cut the red tape for refugees seeking sanctuary.

Read the MailOnline article in full.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – UKRAINE DELAYS: Landlord’s property stands empty despite being offered free to refugees | LandlordZONE.

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Landlord who sold his BTLs in 3 weeks says: “it’s good to see there’s people out there who know how to do this the right way”

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In the wake of an influx of landlords who are choosing to downsize and sell their portfolios, we sat down and chat with Roy, a landlord who did just that and did it in an astonishing 3 weeks.

Roy got into property by following in the footsteps of his father

View Full Article: Landlord who sold his BTLs in 3 weeks says: “it’s good to see there’s people out there who know how to do this the right way”

Would you like 10 top property experts come to see you on Friday?

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Just in case you missed it! 10 of the top UK property educators and commentators are coming to your place on Friday, to share with you what is happening in the UK market right now, and how to make the most of the current property market.

View Full Article: Would you like 10 top property experts come to see you on Friday?

New Specialist Buy-to-Let Lender

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A New Specialist Lender has entered the BTL mortgage market called Quantum Mortgages.

With so many of the current lenders declining mortgage applications for properties that don’t fit their tick-box approach, it is refreshing to be working with human underwriters that take a commercial view rather than a “computer says no” approach.

View Full Article: New Specialist Buy-to-Let Lender

‘Landlords facing double whammy of higher materials bills and more tenants WFH’

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Tenants are piling pressure on landlords to fix a multitude of minor jobs, with boiler repairs and general wear and tear maintenance on the increase as a result of the trend to work from home.

“In the last few years, we have witnessed people being more cautious and trying to reign in their spending,” director Callum Lee (main picture) at Adam Lee Property Maintenance tells LandlordZONE.

“At the same time, we’ve never been busier as tenants are spending more time working from home and noticing when things go wrong.

“They’re also very quick to point this out to landlords, while pre-Covid, they might not have been so bothered about that wobbly door handle.”

The north-west London-based property maintenance firm deals with everything from same-day small plumbing, heating and electrical jobs to major refurbs and new builds, working with landlords, estate agents and management companies.

Rising costs

“Rising labour and materials costs – sometimes by as much as 40% in the last couple of years – as well as a shortage of skilled labour are hitting home across the maintenance sector, he adds.

“It’s hard to get a workman to drive across London, to pay the congestion charge and parking, and do a small job, but this is what tenants want done.” 

Despite this, many landlords are grateful they’ve got good tenants and are now often more open to agreeing to get work done, says Lee who’s currently dealing with a list of more than 70 maintenance issues pointed out by one very new tenant, of which 75% are “very picky” – but he reckons the landlord will probably agree to fix them all.

However, there will always be those who are reluctant to spend any more than they have to, and insist tradesmen should patch up a shower leak with silicon rather than spend more to investigate the problem.

“Sometimes we’ll get a call a few months later from the landlord saying the leak has come back and our work wasn’t good enough. We have to be diplomatic,” Lee adds ruefully.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Landlords facing double whammy of higher materials bills and more tenants WFH’ | LandlordZONE.

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What about landlords’ rights? Association says Scots plans to protect tenants ‘unfair’

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Landlords’ rights will be eroded if the Scottish government goes ahead with plans for PRS reform in its draft rented sector strategy, according to Propertymark.

The association believes the tenant-centred approach of A New Deal for Tenants overlooks the needs and rights of letting agents and landlords, particularly around their ability to seek possession of properties.

The government is currently consulting on proposals which include a system of rent controls, setting up a regulator for the private rented sector, and creating a new housing standard covering all homes.

In its response, Propertymark opposes rent controls and describes a proposal to ban winter evictions as “unnecessary and unworkable”.

It is also against the removal of mandatory grounds for possession and is “deeply concerned” that such a change would make the uncertainties around possessions too risky for landlords and that some will simply quit.

Propertymark adds that without providing incentives to stay, it risks losing investment and properties from a sector that is already struggling to keep up with demand.

As a flavour of how ‘tenant-centre’ the New Deal for Tenants is, throughout it the word ‘tenants’ appears 289 times — nearly twice as many times as ‘landlords’ (165 times).

Daryl McIntosh, policy manager for the UK devolved nations, says that by considering tenants in isolation, policymakers are showing little regard for the legal rights of landlords and their letting agents.

“The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has just published its scrutiny of the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill in which it too leans favourably towards tenants, despite hearing warnings directly from landlords that permanent changes to the possessions process would place too much financial risk on them and could force more to sell up,” says McIntosh (pictured).

He adds: “The sector is already under huge strain and desperately in need of more investment, not less, so we urge the Scottish government to carefully balance its reforms to ensure any interventions to achieve short-term objectives do not lead to market failure in the long run.”

The comments by Propertymark have not gone down well with local housing rights campaigners. Living Rent, the country’s largest tenants’ union, has slammed the comments and suggested the trade body is trying to shield landlords from the “biggest squeeze in income for generations”.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – What about landlords’ rights? Association says Scots plans to protect tenants ‘unfair’ | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: What about landlords’ rights? Association says Scots plans to protect tenants ‘unfair’

ONS data for cost of living crisis – 34% of renters reporting rent increases

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The Office for National Statistics has released its latest report using data from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey analysing how different demographics have been affected by an increase in their cost of living from November 2021 to March 2022: Click here

The results show housing costs have also been a growing contributor with 34% of renters reporting their rent had increased in the last six months

View Full Article: ONS data for cost of living crisis – 34% of renters reporting rent increases

‘More government regulation of the PRS won’t work – here’s why’

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It is common to hear from both politicians and campaign groups that the Private Rented Sector (PRS) needs more regulation.

But the question they have not addressed is what the purpose of this regulation will be.

If it’s to drive landlords out of the market, then it will succeed. If it’s to drive bad landlords out of the market, then it will not. That sounds wrongheaded but let me explain.

We have a very unusual market made up of millions of small landlords owning less than three properties who often do not have the capital resources to deal with onerous regulations.

Many of them want to comply with the current rules and most provide homes that range from very good to OK.

But if they are faced with new regulations that they cannot afford to meet then they will leave the market.

The bad landlords who do not comply with the existing rules are unlikely to comply with any new ones.

What is more, if as a result of good landlords leaving the market there is a massive surge in demand the bad ones will see this as an opportunity.

As more tenants are forced to occupy their properties at higher rents because they have nowhere else to go, so bad landlords will prosper.

But surely, you say, the new rules will drive them out of the market?

No – enforcement in practice does not work because it’s incredibly expensive to enforce rules against those who will not comply because, although they are a small percentage of the overall market, it still means policing 100,000s of properties.

What’s our PLAN?

History shows that if you want to create new conditions the carrot is far more effective than the stick.

If the objective of a policy is to create more landlords providing better homes, then we must encourage more landlords into the market who have the resources and scale to create good homes for tenants.

Such landlords will have the capital resources to invest in properties, comply with regulations and provide good homes.

To do that, you need to create a framework that incentivises such landlords to come into the market.

Instead of cutting supply, you will increase it. And if you increase the supply then you give tenants more choice and create the right market, one which will respond positively to regulations.

Surely that should be the objective of policy for all parties and stakeholders be they Conservative, Labour, Generation Rent, Shelter or whoever?

Unfortunately, it does not appear the be. My organisation, PLAN, is trying to win support to rethink the whole strategy for the PRS and appeal to those who agree with this to support us.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘More government regulation of the PRS won’t work – here’s why’ | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: ‘More government regulation of the PRS won’t work – here’s why’