Renters Reform Bill a ‘hand grenade’ for student let sector

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The controversial Renters Reform Bill could destroy the student-let sector. The ban on fixed-term tenancies will mean landlords can no longer guarantee spaces to new students at the start of the next academic year. Richard Reed reports.

Fixed-term lets have been the norm for university students for decades.

View Full Article: Renters Reform Bill a ‘hand grenade’ for student let sector

We would like this to be the largest landlord consultation on the Renters’ Reform Bill

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The PRS needs landlords’ views to be heard. Your responses will help identify areas of most concern in the Renters’ Reform Bill and White Paper providing evidence pinpointing the consequences of these reforms if passed unchecked. Click here

Ben Beadle

View Full Article: We would like this to be the largest landlord consultation on the Renters’ Reform Bill

‘Government’s plans to ban Section 21 evictions will lengthen evictions’ – claim

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Landlords seeking to evict tenants face more delays when Section 21 notices are abolished, warns the boss of an insurance and referencing firm.

Clogged courts and a shortage of judges and county-court bailiffs mean that cases are taking months to be heard, it is claimed.

“Imagine the frustration of waiting month after month for a hearing and then, when possession is granted, having several more months of grief as you wait for a court-appointed bailiff,” says Sim Sekhon (main pic), MD of LegalforLandlords.

“Landlords’ income has taken a massive hit, they may be in real financial difficulties themselves, but they remain at the mercy of an underfunded system.”

He believes that while housing charities spread stories about disreputable landlords, they make scant, if any, mention that some tenants are fully able to pay but deliberately exploiting the clogged legal system.

Worst affected

London is probably the worst affected, where some landlords can wait up to eight months for a hearing, particularly in Clerkenwell & Shoreditch, Barnet, Chelmsford, Central London, Willesden and Stratford Housing Court.

Plans to abolish Section 21 could make the situation even more difficult, says Sekhon, who reckons the nightmare will only get worse when every eviction requires a court hearing.

“Sometimes the landlord has made an error in the prescribed information or has failed to sort out a maintenance issue with the property,” he adds.

“However minor, these things can be enough to stop proceedings in their tracks. For the landlord hoping to regain possession, find a new tenant, settle the debts he’s accrued or catch up on buy-to-let mortgage payments, the misery goes on.”

Read more: What will happen when Section 21 evictions go?

View Full Article: ‘Government’s plans to ban Section 21 evictions will lengthen evictions’ – claim

TAX: Landlord’s plan to run rental property while living in van stumps baffled accountants

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One enterprising landlord has fallen down a tax rule black hole while attempting to work out a radical solution to making his property pay.

He wonders if it’s a good idea to buy a holiday let and live in a motorhome, using the property as his address for banking, driving licence and insurance.

After posting on our forum, LandlordZONE has spent a week trying to solve his conundrum – calling on a number of tax and financial consultants – but so far everyone has drawn a blank, either claiming it’s too complex or that it’s out of their area of expertise.

He asks: “Should I register the property as my home and pay residential council tax? If so, can I deduct my council tax and energy bills even though it’s officially my main home?

Capital gains

“And if I do this, would stamp duty be pro-rata when I sell it? If it was actually let for 200 days in the year, then would I pay 55% of the capital gains tax and then deduct 55% of the council tax as an expense and whatever energy I can reasonably claim was for business purposes?

“Should I try to register it as a furnished holiday letting, as I would be able to deduct the cost of any furniture and the stamp duty would be only 10% rather than 28%? But is it possible to do this if I don’t own any other properties?”

One landlord on the forum – DoricPixie – reckons that if you are running a holiday let business it wouldn’t be council tax that’s due, but business rates.

He adds: “Depending on the council, they might be clamping down on holiday lets and short-term rentals in the area so you’d really need to investigate that. You also need to think how you will insure the property. Pretending it’s your main home when it isn’t would likely invalidate any insurance property.”

If there are any tax experts reading this, we’d love to get your views!

Read the forum post in full.

View Full Article: TAX: Landlord’s plan to run rental property while living in van stumps baffled accountants