Scottish landlords must wait weeks to try out new deposit website

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Scotland’s leading tenancy deposit scheme SafeDeposits has been forced to halt plans for its new online portal at the last minute due to technical problems.

The not-for-profit organisation had planned to launch today (29th June) but has had to delay until 18^th July. It now needs to make further checks but promises customers that in the meantime, they can use its old system until 13^th July when it will close the website to allow for the migration of data.

Smooth transition

Mike Smith, head of SafeDeposits Scotland, says: “The delivery of the new system is a project of over two years in the making and we are disappointed to have to temporarily halt proceedings so close to launch, but we have done so in the interests of ensuring a smooth transition. We are sorry for any inconvenience at this time.”

New features include the ability for tenants to create their own SafeDeposits Scotland user account so they can view any of their present and past deposits protected by the scheme in one place, while tenants will have the option to change the lead tenant through their account.

Deposit registered

Landlord details will be tied to properties they have previously registered deposits for, and the system will suggest the correct landlord to add to the deposit when a new deposit is being registered.

The online negotiation process will also be expanded so that – before committing to Alternative Dispute Resolution – parties can adjust their claims and negotiate back and forth via their accounts, while the evidence gathering process will be improved to help ensure evidence submissions are watertight.

View Full Article: Scottish landlords must wait weeks to try out new deposit website

Government review into the effect of short-term holiday lets

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A government review into the effect of short-term holiday lets will seek to improve the holiday letting market for those living in popular tourism destinations.

The scheme, proposed in a new government review looking at the impact of increases in short-term and holiday lets in England

View Full Article: Government review into the effect of short-term holiday lets

LATEST: Manchester reveals more details of its selective licensing expansion

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Manchester aims to double the size of its selective licensing scheme by adding another 1,884 properties in eight areas.

The council has given it the go-ahead to the proposals revealed last year and will now launch a consultation into licensing all private homes in Moss Side: Claremont Road/Great Western St, Levenshulme: Matthews Lane, Longsight: The Royals, Cheetham – Esmond/Avondale, Cheetham: Heywood St/Cheetham Hill Road, Rusholme: Birch Lane, Rusholme: Laindon/Dickenson and Cheetham: flats over shops: Cheetham Hill Road.

It points to the success of its first scheme in Crumpsall which recently ended, where 372 properties were licensed and landlords were fined £36,000 for housing offences.

During inspections, 18% of properties were found to have serious hazards, it served 20 improvement notices, two prohibition notices and two suspended prohibition notices.

Spring 2023 start

There are currently seven live selective licensing areas in the city. If the new areas are approved, landlords there would have to pay for a licence in spring 2023. 

Councillor Gavin White (pictured), executive member for housing and development, says there’s clear evidence from the first scheme in Crumpsall that serious issues have been found.

He adds: “There is no place for rogue landlords in our city – we want those landlords to know that this is unacceptable and we will do everything in our power to bring them to account. These eight new schemes across the city will help us to achieve that.” 

Selective licensing currently covers Moss Side, Moston, Old Moat, The Ladders – Gorton and Abbey Hey, Hyde Road – Gorton and Abbey Hey, Trinity, and Ben Street area – Clayton and Openshaw.

View Full Article: LATEST: Manchester reveals more details of its selective licensing expansion

Students are no ‘Young Ones’ say the landlords happy to deduct for clean-up

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Student renters may be messy but are worth the risk, according to the results of a new survey which dispels some myths around the sector.

A Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) poll of agents and landlords found that 88% have had to raise a deposit deduction at the end of a tenancy. Of those, 48% claimed for damage to property, 36% made a claim for cleaning, 9% deducted for redecoration and 7% experienced rent arrears. However, despite the high percentage of deductions, 60% of those quizzed believed that in general, students took good care of their rental property and 86% would continue to let to students in the future.

Constant redecorating

Of those who did not rent to students, reasons given included: the risk of too much potential damage, potentially causing a problem with neighbours, preference for more reliable professionals in their property, worried about constant redecorating, a belief that students tend to be unclean and irresponsible, hold too many late-night parties and cause elements of anti-social behaviour.

Sandy Bastin, TDS head of adjudication services, says the common concerns about renting to students are valid to some extent, with cleaning topping the deposit deduction claims, but adds that its survey found no antisocial reasons for disputes, no issues with neighbours, and only a small percentage of redecoration claims.

Mid-tenancy inspections

“Positively, our poll observed that over three-quarters of landlords and agents perform mid-tenancy inspections,” she says. “TDS encourages property professionals to conduct regular inspections and include them within your tenancy agreement. Similarly, over half of agents and landlords polled confirmed that they attended the check-in/check-out with the tenants present.”

TDS advises that detailed inventories and check-in/check-out reports are vital to managing the property, navigating a successful end of tenancy and avoiding the chance of deposit disputes.

View Full Article: Students are no ‘Young Ones’ say the landlords happy to deduct for clean-up

Landlord’s heartfelt defence fails to avert £21,000 RRO

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Seven tenants have won a huge Rent Repayment Order after their landlord failed to licence a four-bedroom HMO, claiming he had received poor advice from his managing agent.

Jacob Cik, father of eight children – two of them disabled – needed more living space so signed a tenancy on the house at 23 Sach Road in Hackney with Goldpearl Estates Ltd. However, family circumstances meant he was unable to move in so had to sublet the property, a First Tier Property Tribunal heard.

Three signatures

He claimed managing agents City Homes told him that a group of solicitors renting a property was effectively one household and not an HMO. Cik did not realise there were three signatures on the agreement and also claimed deposit protection, gas safety fire assessment and electrical tests were the agent’s responsibility.

The tenants claimed there were only two smoke alarms in the property which had no fire doors, fire safety devices or emergency lighting. There were also no safety documents or managing agent’s details. They told the tribunal that in July 2020 a separate basement flat was created without any extra fire safety measures being put in place or fire risk assessments. They added that the landlord’s agents advertised the property as four-bedrooms but asked that only three tenants were named on the tenancy. The HMO was unlicensed from April 2020 to April 2021.

Full responsibility

The court ruled that it appeared Cik had “unwittingly lumbered himself” with responsibility for obtaining an HMO licence and failed to do this. “In effect he handed over full responsibility to his agents for management of the premises. In doing so he must accept responsibility for the actions of those agents.”

It made a 20% deduction to the RRO and ordered Cik to pay the tenants £21,600, adding: “The situation is such that one must hope that the other respondents will bear part of the load once an award is made.”

View Full Article: Landlord’s heartfelt defence fails to avert £21,000 RRO

Leaseholders now protected from unfair safety costs

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Many leaseholders will for the first time be legally protected from unfair bills to make their homes safe as measures in the Building Safety Act 2022 come into force on 28 June 2022.

Those responsible for historical safety defects

View Full Article: Leaseholders now protected from unfair safety costs

Can I increase rent while waiting for a S21 eviction?

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We are using Section 21 to evict a tenant because the freeholder is legitimately complaining about overcrowding and noise (birth of two children in a one-bedroomed flat post moving in).

However, the rent has always been paid, albeit at a lower than the market level.

View Full Article: Can I increase rent while waiting for a S21 eviction?

Growing costs force landlords to consider rent rises

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More than 40% of landlords are likely to increase rent on one or more properties during the next year despite tenants’ ability to pay rent being their number one concern.

A HomeLet/Dataloft survey of 1,000 landlords found that over half of them would be raising rent to cover their increased costs while an additional third would do so in response to market pressures. Concerns about the abolition of Section 21 notices and other taxation or legislative issues also rate highly.

Top concern

However, the study found that 36% of landlords have no plans to increase the rent on any of their portfolio over the next 18 months – no doubt a relief to the 78% of renters who are worried about how they will pay their rent. In the firms’ other study of 12,000 renters it is ranked by one in four as their top concern in the next year, closely followed by worries about landlords increasing rent.

HomeLet CEO Andy Halstead says landlords know the pressure on tenants, but sometimes have to put rent up due to growing costs. “There simply isn’t enough housing stock,” he explains. “Many landlords are choosing to exit the market, which only causes further strain on stock levels and letting agent businesses.”

Rough ride

Adds Halstead: “The government’s commitment to legislation in the market through the Renters’ Reform Bill will provide the most significant change to rental law in a generation and I can’t see any positives. We are in for a rough ride.”

Dataloft MD Sandra Jones believes lessons can be learned from the build-to-rent sector where providers understand the importance of consistently managing customer expectations. “They use their scale and resources to negotiate with utility suppliers, offering greater security and cost predictability,” she adds. “With costs and concerns rising, this is a time when all renters will value a professional and engaged relationship with their landlord.”

View Full Article: Growing costs force landlords to consider rent rises

EMERGENCY Recession Webinar

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The news is currently full of talk about recession. In fact, it feels like we are talking ourselves into a recession. If we do go into a recession, what will this mean for you and your property investing?

This is VERY important for you because the next 24 months could literally be make or break.

View Full Article: EMERGENCY Recession Webinar

Complaints lead council to consider curbs on Northampton HMOs

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West Northamptonshire Council could get tougher on Northampton’s HMOs after launching a long-awaited review into the sector.

It will investigate claims that its 1,300 registered HMOs are having a detrimental impact on the local community with issues raised including general poor maintenance, rubbish causing a fire hazard and streets crammed with parked cars.

Robust analysis

Deputy leader, councillor Adam Brown, says the review will include a robust analysis of current policies concerning HMOs in Northampton, as well as ways to use best practice from elsewhere in the country. He adds: “We wanted to get the review started as quickly as possible, but we’re also aware of the fact that it needs to be done as thoroughly and as well as it can possibly be done in order to deliver the results that will have the faith of the public. There’s never any point in rushing through an inadequate process and leaving people unsatisfied with the results at the end of it all.”

Final decision

As part of the study, the local authority will quiz landlords, tenants, estate and letting agents, residents and resident associations, colleges, businesses, students and key workers. A resulting draft report will provide another opportunity for stakeholders to give their views and it expects to make a final decision in the Autumn. The review was originally announced last year and should have been completed in April.

The council introduced an additional licensing scheme, covering properties with three or four occupants in two or more houses, in February 2020.

View Full Article: Complaints lead council to consider curbs on Northampton HMOs