HAVE YOUR SAY: MPs open probe into renting reform White Paper’s proposals

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MPs have launched a probe into the government’s planned private rented sector reforms.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee is calling for landlords, tenants and local councils to comment on proposals set out in the recent Fairer Renting White Paper so that it can suggest improvements.

Its inquiry will scrutinise the government’s plans to introduce a decent homes standard for the private rented sector, reform the system of tenancies and abolish no-fault evictions, reform the grounds on which landlords can take possession of their properties and better protect tenants from unfair rent increases.

Proposals to set up a new ombudsman, ways to speed up the court process and clamp down on landlords who refuse to let to benefit claimants will also be studied.

Balance struck?

Some of the questions it wants landlords to consider include: do the proposals for reforming tenancies, including the abolition of Section 21, strike the right balance between protecting tenants from unfair eviction and allowing landlords to take possession of their properties in reasonable circumstances? And what impact, if any, will the reforms have on the supply of student homes in the general PRS?

Committee chair Clive Betts says private renters can be the victim of a power imbalance with their landlords, subject to unjustified hikes in rents and the fear of being forced out of their accommodation.

He adds: “It’s welcome that the government has come forward with its White Paper and, as a committee, we are keen to examine how effective the proposed reforms will be in protecting tenants and ensuring the success of the private rented sector in providing homes.”

The closing date for written submissions is 19th August, with evidence sessions likely to start in September.

View Full Article: HAVE YOUR SAY: MPs open probe into renting reform White Paper’s proposals

Media coverage “no fault eviction”?

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There is increased media coverage of “no-fault evictions” with councils telling tenants to stay put and not move because there is nowhere for the tenants to go. This of course is against current case law, but rental supply has dropped so low that councils have little alternative.

View Full Article: Media coverage “no fault eviction”?

NEW: HMRC confirms CGT property disposal rules for landlords after six-month wait

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HMRC has confirmed that landlords must file a capital gains tax (CGT) property return – even if the disposal has already been reported on a self-assessment (SA) return.

The government introduced the requirement to report disposals of UK residential property and pay the subsequent CGT within 60 days (previously 30) of completion in April 2020.

To meet the filing deadline – and given the difficulties with the CGT PPD system – many taxpayers and agents have already filed their SA return without first having filed the CGT PPD return.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales warns that they should file outstanding CGT returns on paper as soon as possible.

Most unsatisfactory

The accountant trade body says: “It is most unsatisfactory that it has taken HMRC almost six months to reach the decision that, where the SA return has already been filed, the CGT PPD return must still be filed, but on a paper return.

“However, this decision was somewhat inevitable. It would have been inequitable to excuse some taxpayers from the filing requirement or not to charge penalties when they have been charged to others who filed late.”

The one exception to the requirement to file a CGT return is where the SA return is filed within 60 days (or 30 days as applicable) of the completed transaction.

Read more: Complete to landlord tax for 2022/23

In most cases, a landlord will have paid the relevant tax for a disposal in 2020/21 by 31st January and interest would have stopped running when the payment was made.

ICAEW has asked that late filing penalties should take into account the six-month delay in HMRC making the decision on how the returns should be filed.

Read more about CGT rules.

View Full Article: NEW: HMRC confirms CGT property disposal rules for landlords after six-month wait

DPS report record rent increases

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The DPS has reported average rents rose £66 from £804 to £870 (8.21%) between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022.  The organisation added that four of the largest recorded quarterly rent increases since 2007, including 1.74% in Q3 2021 and 1.96% in Q4 2021

View Full Article: DPS report record rent increases

Holiday let to be taken over by golf club?

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Hello fellow hard-working property providers, We have a holiday let (5 bed 2 bathrooms) next door to where we live. Currently on Airbnb and doing well. Purchased by us (not in a company structure).

We’ve been offered the opportunity to have the (reputable) golf club across the road ‘manage it’

View Full Article: Holiday let to be taken over by golf club?

LATEST: Both landlord and property manager told to pay £24,000 RRO to tenants

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Four tenants have been awarded an equal share of a £24,000 rent repayment order despite the managing agent’s lawyer trying to discredit them during a First Tier Property Tribunal hearing.

Landlord MPL Estates and Wisteria Management must split the fine after the tribunal ruled that the unlicensed property – a three-bedroom flat in Fieldgate Street in Whitechapel, East London – was in a selective licensing area from January 2020 to January 2021.

The tribunal heard that the building was inadequately maintained; tenants cited a faulty fire alarm, broken radiator, water leaking through a ceiling light socket and a toilet which fell off the wall.

One said they had frequently asked the landlord to do repairs and that their deposit had not been returned so that at one stage the occupancy become unprotected.

unsubstantiated allegations

Mr Mohmed, representing Wisteria Management, was barred from taking part in the hearing apart from making a brief statement at the end when he made unsubstantiated allegations of fraud about the tenants and their lawyer.

The tribunal said it was not impressed by his behaviour, as he had also failed to engage with the proceedings until the day before the hearing.

Mohmed claimed he had moved house and hadn’t received the documents.

The tribunal said: “Given that he works from a business address the tribunal did not find this excuse plausible. He claimed that the property did not need a licence during the period when the tenants occupied the property but produced no evidence to support this.”

Read more about rent repayment orders.

It added: “Even if the selective scheme had not been applicable the property would still have remained licensable under additional HMO licensing given the number of occupants and the nature of the accommodation.

“Similarly, Mr Mohmed alleged damage caused to the property by the tenants but had no substantiated evidence in support of his contention.”

Read more: do you have permission to rent your property out?

Read the tribunal decision in full.

View Full Article: LATEST: Both landlord and property manager told to pay £24,000 RRO to tenants

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