LATEST: County council moves to change space standards for HMO properties

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Landlords have been invited to have their say about changes to a leading county council’s HMO rules around space standards.

North Devon aims to prevent more than one household living in a single room under its licensing scheme and expects to implement the new standards in September.

The council explains: “The legislation is silent on the sharing of rooms by one or more households. It is proposed that no more than one household shall occupy any room used for sleeping accommodation.”

A spokeswoman tells LandlordZONE: “We’ve had some queries from landlords and management companies since implementing our standards last July about how many people could share rooms, so we wanted to clarify things.”

New rules

The new rules should also confirm that en-suites are to be used solely by the occupier of the room and do not count as a shared bathroom.

North Devon Council’s head of planning, housing and health, Jeremy Mann, adds: “Licensing has helped improve the quality and safety of homes for people living in the private rented sector. The new standards will ensure we continue to make homes in North Devon safe, warm and secure for tenants and help the council continue to tackle rogue landlords who own or rent an HMO without meeting these minimum regulations.”

Last October, LandlordZONE reported that the county has seen a staggering 70% drop in private rented properties over the last two years as landlords have swapped to short term holiday rentals. 

The consultation is open until 20th July.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: County council moves to change space standards for HMO properties | LandlordZONE.

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Can I convert a locally listed building in a conservation area using class MA?

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This week Property with Andrew and Linda Wright is answering another Permitted Development Question.

Is it possible to convert the upper of a shop to residential using Class MA on a Locally Listed Building, which is also in a conservation area?

View Full Article: Can I convert a locally listed building in a conservation area using class MA?

Annual rental inflation at 10.6% for May

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The HomeLet Rental index for May indicates annual average rental inflation stands at 10.6% with an average rent of £1,103 or £928 excluding  London.

This is an overall monthly change of 1.1% with inflation the highest in Northern Ireland at 1.9%.

View Full Article: Annual rental inflation at 10.6% for May

Tenant demand continues to rise and landlord instructions decline

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The latest UK Residential Market Survey (May), from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

In the lettings market, tenant demand continues to rise firmly according to a net balance of +48% of contributors – the same as in April.

View Full Article: Tenant demand continues to rise and landlord instructions decline

Re-launched Right to Buy to take ‘money from pockets of buy-to-let landlords’

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Boris Johnson’s pledge to reform the housing market will see the government launching a dusted-off version of David Cameron’s right to buy scheme for social housing in order to turn the tables on private landlords, his housing secretary Michael Gove has suggested.

During a speech in Lancashire today, the Prime Minister revealed a plan to extend the right to buy scheme to those who rent from housing associations, while letting people use their housing benefit to pay towards a mortgage.

This is all aimed at unlocking home ownership for renters and slashing the housing benefit bill, although Ministers have admitted it will be very limited due to budget constraints even if it is ‘offered’ to around 2.5m housing association tenants, helping only a few thousand families each year by offering housing association properties for sale at a 70% discount.

The idea is not new; it was first suggested by David Cameron in 2015 and appeared in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto.

Buy-to-let landlords

And DLUHC secretary of Michael Gove (pictured) told LBC: “There are people receiving housing benefit at the moment who are in work and that benefit is going into the pockets of buy-to-let landlords rather than helping people to pay off a mortgage and acquire a home which they can pass on to their children. We want to change that.”

He also told the Today programme that a pilot in the West Midlands showed there was a willingness to take the idea up and that housing association houses would be replaced like-for-like.

In his speech, Johnson also confirmed his “ambition to unlock the opportunity of home ownership for more people through helping those in a position to buy, to access the mortgage finance they need, ensuring people are incentivised to save for a deposit no matter their financial situation, and improving the supply of housing across the country”.

However, Labour’s housing spokesman Lisa Nandy argued, also on the Today programme, that in a 2018 pilot, only half of the social landlords were planning to replace homes, and those they replaced them with were more expensive and lower quality than the ones sold.

She added: “Landlords are milking the system, coming into areas using exemptions in housing benefit legislation to buy up properties to house people who need support…areas are going to wrack and ruin.”

PR spin

The Prime Minister also announced that his government will also launch an independent review of access to mortgage finance for first-time buyers, with the aim of making it easier for this group by widening access to low-cost, low-deposit finance such as 95% mortgages.

Some property and finance experts have labelled the plan as PR spin to detract from the Prime Minister’s damaging no-confidence vote.

James Andrews, personal finance expert at Money.co.uk, says 40 years after the right to buy scheme came into effect, home ownership has actually fallen back to 1980s levels.

He adds that there are already questions about lending practices, with income multiples and deposit requirements from mortgage lenders seemingly at odds with benefits policies that cap pay-outs and progressively remove benefits the more you have saved up in the bank. 

But the relaunched scheme will not include private rented homes, as some had featured. In 2019 Johnson suggested this would be a future policy direction, but was later abandoned.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Re-launched Right to Buy to take ‘money from pockets of buy-to-let landlords’ | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Re-launched Right to Buy to take ‘money from pockets of buy-to-let landlords’

How to save money by Not evicting tenants

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Recent data shows an increase in the number of evictions issued in Q1 of 2022 when compared to the previous quarter and the same period pre-pandemic.

According to Simply Business, an eviction costs approximately £2K and takes about 9 months to complete

View Full Article: How to save money by Not evicting tenants

Unlimited fines for Social Landlords with Ofsted style inspections

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Failing social housing landlords could face unlimited fines and Ofsted-style inspections, under the Social Housing Regulation Bill set to be introduced to Parliament.

The move will mean more people living in decent, well looked-after homes enjoying the quality of life they deserve.

View Full Article: Unlimited fines for Social Landlords with Ofsted style inspections

John Lewis reveals first locations for PRS homes to ‘raise standards in sector’

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John Lewis has revealed the first three locations for new rental home developments in its bid to become a major residential landlord.

The retailer has plans for build-to-rent properties over Waitrose shops in Bromley and West Ealing (main picture), and to replace a vacant John Lewis warehouse in Reading, which it will then manage itself.  

John Lewis first declared its intentions to enter the PRS back in October 2020 and says this announcement confirms its target to deliver 10,000 homes in the next ten years – 5,000 of which will come from schemes on the partnership’s own property portfolio.

It’s part of a long-term plan for 40% of profits to come from outside of retail by 2030 after suffering substantial pre-tax losses of £26m in the last financial year.

Car parks

It has identified space in its car parks, above Waitrose supermarkets and near distribution centres for homes ranging from studio flats to four-bedroom houses where residents would have options for short and long-term leases and to have their homes furnished by John Lewis.

It hopes to create a sense of community in the developments by incorporating shared spaces and facilities such as roof gardens and fitness studios, and aims to raise standards in the sector.

Nina Bhatia, executive director for strategy and commercial development, says: “Everything people love about our brand – quality, trust and service – we want to bring to the experience of renting a home with us.

“Helping to create homes has always been at the heart of what we do and we now have a unique opportunity to use our expertise and skills in new ways to deliver much-needed new housing.”  

Local people in Bromley and West Ealing will be involved in a public consultation over the next few months before planning applications are submitted next year. A consultation for Mill Lane in Reading, will take place later this year. 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – John Lewis reveals first locations for PRS homes to ‘raise standards in sector’ | LandlordZONE.

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Please Help – 1 AST but some tenants have not been paying?

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We have been landlords for almost 15 years – specialising in students. There is always one AST for 12 months (we have no HMO licence and do not need one right now). We have never encountered any problems. We are good landlords

View Full Article: Please Help – 1 AST but some tenants have not been paying?

Landlord wins 40% RRO reduction despite omitting to re-licence during COVID

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An expat landlord who forgot to licence his property during the pandemic has managed to get £6,500 knocked off a hefty Rent Repayment Order.

Gary Michelson told a First Tier Property Tribunal that the more severe lockdown in France and his fears for family members suffering from Covid-19 resulted in him forgetting to renew it.

He argued that as a one-property, unprofessional landlord who was resident overseas, he relied on his managing agent to remind him of his obligations.

The tribunal ruled that it was no excuse but said this wasn’t a case where a landlord didn’t licence a property to avoid spending money.

It added: “We accept that Mr Michelson did genuinely intend to renew his licence, and that he did genuinely forget to do so, in the conditions of the pandemic.

“That does not amount to a defence of reasonable excuse, but it is relevant to the level of his culpability and the amount of the RRO.”

Lapsed

The tribunal ordered him to pay £9,860 out of a possible £16,426. It had heard that the two tenants lived in his two-bed terraced house in Pretoria Avenue, Walthamstow (pictured), which was licensed under a previous scheme in Waltham Forest that lapsed in April 2020.

“The new scheme came into effect the next month but Michelson did not apply for a licence until June 2021.

He told the court that he relied on the rent as his only income and that £11,520 in an ISA would go towards paying off the principal of the interest-only mortgage (£161,000) in 2027.

Now retired and living in France, he added that he would have to sell the property because the mortgage was interest only.

The tribunal heard he had not disclosed two additional joint accounts held with his partner but agreed that it couldn’t assume he could use these resources which it took into account when deciding on the cash award.

Read more about RROs.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord wins 40% RRO reduction despite omitting to re-licence during COVID | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlord wins 40% RRO reduction despite omitting to re-licence during COVID