LATEST: Rogue landlord in Cambridge banned for 30 months from PRS

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A rogue landlord has been handed a 30-month banning order for failing to repair his unsafe HMO, rated a ‘zero star’ property by a First Tier Property Tribunal.

Cambridge Council added Paul Sanderson, also known as Fleet Cooke, to the rogue landlord database after he admitted four counts of failing to comply with an improvement notice issued in relation to his HMO in the city’s Perne Road (pictured), and was fined £4,000.

The offences were: failure to provide a safe, suitable and efficient space heating appliance; failure to provide a suitable fire alarm system in the kitchen; failure to investigate and remedy penetrating damp and other kitchen repairs; and failure to renew a broken bathroom window. All works should have been completed by January 2017.

The tribunal heard how council inspectors had found three of the hazards still remained in January 2020; they feared the landlord would continue to rent it out, along with his other property in Mowbray Road, to multiple tenants without a banning order.

Sanderson argued that the problems had been blown out of proportion and that he was too poor to carry out the works required.

Options open

The 77-year-old said he earnt his living selling second-hand cars to eke out his pension and although he had no plans to let any of the rooms in Mowbray Road, he wanted to keep the option open for when he was no longer well enough to work.

The tribunal ruled: “The property…was clearly in a very poor condition, far below a reasonable standard, let alone what is expected of private rented property given the emphasis placed on decent homes in the last few years. Mr Sanderson referred to putting his property in 5-star condition: in the tribunal’s opinion this property would attract no stars at all.”

Sanderson appears to have sold the Perne Road property, which an agent’s website suggests has been sold for a SSTC price of £650,000.

In 2013, local media reported that South Cambridge District Council had warned Sanderson he could face prison if he continued trading without planning permission from a car lot labelled an eyesore by local residents.

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‘Landlords will have no choice but to raise rents’ council is warned over licensing plan

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A landlord leader in the East Midlands has warned that rents will rise if councillors in Nottingham vote to renew the city’s selective licensing scheme, which is due to expire next year.

Giles Inman (main pic), who represents 600 landlords in the region through his organisation EMPO, says increased costs across the board along with the fees charged by the city’s council to administer the scheme, will leave landlords with no option but to begin raising rents.

A consultation on the proposed renewal of the scheme will soon be oned for landlord commentary.

“We are considering forming a committee to draft our own submission on behalf of landlords – we are considering going against that renewal,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The costs associated with complying with the licensing scheme translates into higher rents (for tenants). There is no question about it.

“You have utility bills going through the roof and huge strains on tenants paying gas and electricity to heat their homes.

“Bills are going to be twice as expensive in December than they were in January for those that are not on a fixed tariff.

“This is really not the time if ‘we are all in it together’ to be putting more costs on tenants.

“Landlords are trying to keep costs for the tenants as low as possible. This is the last thing we need right now.  We know the council are going to move forward with this.”

32,000 properties

Nottingham City Council introduced its selective licensing scheme in 2018 covering 32,000 properties featuring landlord fees that began at £670 but were later increased to £890 and, Inman fears, likely to rise again if a further five-year scheme gets the green light.

At a committee meeting this week, councillors hailed the scheme as a success, revealing that 666 improvements have been made to 446 properties, that more rogue landlords had left the market and a speedier resolution to anti-social behaviour cases.

“We believe that there is more work needed to support landlords to comply with their responsibilities and it is important that standards are maintained and continue to improve where needed,” says Toby Neal, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Human Resources at Nottingham City Council.

Read more about EMPO’s campaign in Nottingham.

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Section 21 ban – Shelter want government to get the job done

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Despite having no clarity on how section 8 will be improved to help landlords gain possession from rogue tenants, Shelter is weaponising the cost of living crisis to try and force through a section 21 ban.

Polly Neate

View Full Article: Section 21 ban – Shelter want government to get the job done

Recommendations to government for a post section 21 PRS

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The Lettings Industry Council (TLIC), formed Theresa Wallace from Savills (UK) Ltd and Kate Faulkner, has released a report which makes recommendations based on the expected changes to be introduced in the Renter’s Reform Bill. The report

View Full Article: Recommendations to government for a post section 21 PRS

‘Ministers must change course on evictions reform or risk serious consequences’

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A group representing all the key stakeholders in the private rented sector has warned the government that abolishing Section 21 evictions will not achieve the goals that the government, and groups like Shelter, hope to achieve.

The Letting Industry Council group includes over 50 representatives from the sector including Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action, Chris Norris of the NRLA and senior figures from Belvoir, Rightmove, UKALA, Knight Frank, Hunters, Dexters, Savills, Martin & Co, Goodlord, MyDeposits and Propertymark, to name a few.

Their new report, which is in response to the proposals for the PRS within the recent Queen’s speech, warns that abolishing section 21 eviction notices is ‘not the ultimate answer’ to resolving the issues of tenancy insecurity.

Read our report on the Queen's speech.

“Rental properties are investments and landlords prefer to have an occupied property rather than risk a void period, with statistics showing that the majority of tenancies are ended by the tenant, not the landlord,” the reports says.

“However, we accept that the Government have committed to do this and we have to come together as an industry to find the best way of introducing this far-reaching change and avoid unintended consequences.”

The TLIC report also warns that abolishing section 21’s effectively abolishes Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) and that, apart from losing landlord confidence, which is a serious concern, it will change the entire working model of an AST for all concerned.

“For tenants, this will mean that landlords become more risk adverse and that those with lower incomes and poor rental history will be rejected in favour of higher-income renters with a satisfactory rental history,” the report says.

Instead, TLIC recommends that Ministers:

• Enable faster possessions where a tenant has clearly ‘abandoned’ a property
• Reduce the backlog of eviction cases stuck in the courts including via the hiring of more judges.
• Priorities cases which involve high or persistent rent arrears and drop the ‘review hearings’ introduced during Covid.
• Make mediation recommended in all possession cases.

Other recommendations by TLIC include:

• Introducing a bond or guarantee scheme for tenants who struggle to scrape together a deposit.
• Using Unique Property Reference Numbers or UPRNs to join up all the data about properties and landlords into one place.
• Launch an industry-wide regulator to oversee a system of letting agent regulation, property MOTs, a property register as well as both tenant and landlord redress.

“This report seeks to find a balance between encouraging investment in the sector to increase available homes and ensure they are of consistent good quality through natural supply and demand competition,” says Theresa Wallace, Chair of TLIC (main pic).

Read the recommendations of the group in full.

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