Council rejects registration bid from very rogue potential landlord

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A convicted murderer who was jailed for life has been blocked from being entered on Glasgow’s register of private landlords.

Morton Eadie, who was involved in a hit on a man in the street in 2018, was turned down by the council, which ruled he was not a fit and proper person, reports the Glasgow Evening Times.

Ongoing trial

A council official said it had been told about the ongoing trial when it first received his application to join the register. Eadie was then convicted on 9^th February. His daughter-in-law told the committee she intends to take over the running of the property in the Wyndford area of the city and has spoken to letting agents over managing it on her behalf. She said the home had previously been let out by a property management firm.

Life imprisonment

Eadie was sentenced to life imprisonment, with 22 years before he can seek parole, for the shooting of Kenny Reilly in Maryhill, along with three other men – Darren Eadie, Ross Fisher and John Kennedy. All four were also convicted of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by setting fire to a car in Craigieburn Garden in a bid to destroy evidence.

It was reported at the time that Eadie was the getaway driver during the hit, which had been arranged by his son Darren. The men are hoping to overturn the guilty verdict at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

View Full Article: Council rejects registration bid from very rogue potential landlord

Selling some properties to reduce our exposure to risk

admin    Uncategorized     agents

My wife and I only found Property118 a few months ago and we’ve since become huge fans. We have read dozens of your articles, mainly about the economic prospects for the rental property market, mortgages, strategies and tax.

Approximately half of our properties are on good fixed rates and the rest are on tracker mortgages without penalties for early repayment.

View Full Article: Selling some properties to reduce our exposure to risk

Generation Rent calls for rent freeze to fight rising bills

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Campaign group Generation Rent is calling for the government to impose a rent freeze to fight the cost-of-living crisis.

They have carried out a survey which shows that nearly half of private renters have faced a rent increase in the last year.

View Full Article: Generation Rent calls for rent freeze to fight rising bills

£400 energy rebate for 4 studio units when tenants are on the edge?

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How do my tenants get the £400 energy rebate when they pay their gas bills as part of their rent? I have a house in 4 studio units, the water and gas are included in the rent payment while electricity is paid for with a £1 coin meter in each unit which I collect and pay to the utility company.

View Full Article: £400 energy rebate for 4 studio units when tenants are on the edge?

The Landlord Exodus – opportunity of the decade?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Simon Zutshi, founder of the property investors network, hasn’t exactly been quiet lately about what he thinks is the buying opportunity of the decade. It’s a new opportunity, a direct consequence of the current (crazy) market conditions.

Specifically

View Full Article: The Landlord Exodus – opportunity of the decade?

The Benefits Of Property Investment Through a Limited Company When Buy To Let Landlords Incorporate

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What are the benefits of Property Investment through a limited company?

In this video, Alex Norian from Property118 and I will show you the benefits Buy to Let Landlords gain when they incorporate.

This is part 3 of our 4 part mini-series on Incorporation.

View Full Article: The Benefits Of Property Investment Through a Limited Company When Buy To Let Landlords Incorporate

Taking someone to court – what you need to know

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It’s not always cost effective to use a lawyer to represent you in court, particularly for small claims. The experience should not be daunting and there can be a great deal of satisfaction in the process when you get it right.

If you need to take someone to court as a litigant in person – i.e., not legally represented – then you need to be very well organised. Whether this is for a rent arrears claim, an eviction claim, or a general claim for money owned in the Small Claims Court, then organised documents and presentation of evidence is the key to success.

Stick to the point

Less is more – judges don’t want to plough through reams and reams of paperwork, so make the life of the judge easy and you might just get the result you are looking for. Stick to the facts, cut the emotional rants about the character of the defendant or what she did, state your Particulars of Claim as succinctly as you can, back this up with numbered pieces of evidence and be prepared to state your case verbally as succinctly as possible to the judge. Don’t be intimidated, these are quite informal proceedings.

Your letter before action or statutory notice requiring possession will have given your defendant the information they require:

– your name and address

– the address of the property

– a summary of what you are claiming

– what you want the person or business to do

– how much money you want – and how you’ve calculated that amount

– a deadline for reply – usually 14 days but longer in some possession claims – stating that you’ll start court proceedings if you don’t get a reply.

An alternative to court action

The courts expect you to have made every effort to settle with your defendant before you bring the matter to court, so you must be able to show that you have followed the prescribed pre-action protocol.

The Practice Direction or pre-action conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules sets out what you need to do – in particular read paragraphs 13-16 – which set out the sanctions the court may impose if you fail to comply with the Practice Direction.

If you haven’t already tried mediation like “alternative dispute resolution”, you should say you’re willing to try this to settle the matter out of court.

Keep good copies of all correspondence and get your Post Office to issue for proof of 1^st class postage – you might need to show this in court for proof of when you sent your letter.

Court application

If after exhausting these avenues you still can’t get a response, a reason whey they disagree with your claim or a route to an alternative settlement, then you need to proceed with the court application and paperwork.

If the other person or business says they will make a counterclaim against you, try to find out what they are basing this on and check the facts, make notes on what you disagree with and try to find evidence to prove they’re wrong.

A common example is where a tenant owning rent will come up with the excuse that you the landlord have been negligent in that you ignored requests for repairs, that repairs need doing and that’s why they are not paying rent.

Proceeding to court

You can complete form N1, the court application or you can make a claim online using the possession procedure or the money claim online (MCOL) which for the Small Claims Court must be under £10,000.

Calculated how much money you are owned for the application form. You can adjust this at a later date with the judge if for example you have ongoing payments such as rent. You can include a limited amount of personal expenses, to be agreed and finalised with the judge at a later date.

The court will send a copy of your claim form to the defendant. The defendant must reply within 14 days either by letter or using the “acknowledgement of service” form, after which they have a limited period to either come to a settlement, submit a response and/or file a counter claim.

If the defendant fails to respond to your claim you can request “judgment by default”, similarly if the defendant fails to turn up at a hearing, you win by default if the judge agrees.

The defence

If the defendant decides to defend the claim or make a counter claim they must explain why they disagree with your claim in a defence document within 14 days of receiving the claim, or 28 days if they sent you an acknowledgement of service.

Next, you will get a court form (directions questionnaire) asking for available dates to attend a hearing, and you can request specific dates to help them decide when the hearing should be. You can request a specific county court, but usually the hearing will be at the defendant’s nearest county court.

If both parties are willing, you can agree that the court can decide the claim without a hearing. In that case, the judge will make a decision based on your claim and the defendant’s defence.

An informal hearing

The actual hearing can be as informal as just you and the defendant across a table, with the judge presiding. Both sides have their say, present evidence and the judge will make a decision, after which he or she will ask for the claim total and expenses, if you win. You may not get all you have asked for, but most times you will.

Court time is limited, so if there are complications, like a counter claim, the judge might ask for an independent report on the need for repairs in the property, for example, then a new hearing will be fixed, which can be months away.

Justice is a slow process, but if you prepare your case thoroughly and present it well, you have every chance of success.

Look out for part 2 of this article on preparing your court paperwork – the evidence bundle in electronic form.

View Full Article: Taking someone to court – what you need to know

Rental property full of THC badly needs some TLC

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An ex-rental property sparked shock and mirth on social media after photos emerged of its interior wrecked by a drug-growing tenant.

Evidently abandoned in haste, the two-bedroom terraced house in Engineer Street, Wigan, is being marketed by Purplebricks on the Rightmove website for £80,000 as a “great investment in need of full modernisation throughout”. It adds that viewing is advised – but perhaps after someone has done a bit of a clean-up job. One prospective buyer who posted the candid interior photos on Twitter remarked drolly: “Bargain house to buy, needs some TLC to become a great family home.”

Domestic premises

The property is far from an isolated case as 94% of cannabis farms are set up in domestic premises and police uncover about 25 of them every day across the country. It’s a problem only made worse by the pandemic while lockdown restrictions were in place when the chances of being caught – through being spotted by visitors or passers-by – would have been reduced.

Aviva has reported a 30% year-on-year increase for cannabis farm-related insurance claims while Direct Line’s most recent research reveals that the average insurance claim for repairing a landlord’s property damaged by cannabis cultivation stood at £9,471 in 2020.

Energy theft

The police force with the highest number of investigations into energy theft for the use of drug cultivation in 2020 was West Yorkshire Police, which reported 211 cases. It reports that evidence shows that most cannabis farms in the region are properties that have been rented by single men (86%) compared to women (14%) The most common age group was 30-39 (36%), followed by 20-29 (28%).

The force advises landlords to include a clause in their tenancy agreement to inspect the property once every eight to ten weeks as this would not allow time to grow a cannabis crop.

View Full Article: Rental property full of THC badly needs some TLC

Office blocks and high streets provide hope for canny investors

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Institutional and individual investors are starting to reject buy-to-let properties in favour of multi-use buildings as the UK’s high streets evolve post-pandemic.

In contrast to the punitive tax regime faced by residential landlords, entry costs are lower for multi-use buildings, with a reduced rate of stamp duty, explains Adam Stackhouse, head of development and commercial investment at Winkworth. “They are very tax efficient during ownership and it’s a lower level of capital gains tax when you look to sell the property. There are also inheritance tax benefits as well,” he says.

Hybrid model

In the latest episode of the estate agent’s Property Exchange podcast, he says large offices will evolve into this more hybrid model, containing reduced office space, increased retail and potentially residential homes, because it’s the only way that developers can make their projects financially viable.

With continued working from home, people have got time to visit their high streets so there’s more demand for local retailers, according to Winkworth. Stackhouse adds: “Footfall across the high street has remained stable through the first two quarters of 2022, with food and drink remaining one of the most popular sectors, while people are going into clothing stores again because online retailers are charging for returns.”

Business rates

With a new government in place next month, Winkworth’s chief executive Dominic Agace tells the podcast that he wants to see a reduction in business rates. “It seems odd that businesses are incentivised not to have a high street presence. We want to encourage local communities, independent shop owners, and small businesses. They create pleasant environments, which is good for everyone, and we should be supporting them. Expensive business rates deter people from setting up on the high street, which is a shame.”

View Full Article: Office blocks and high streets provide hope for canny investors

Fears that landlords face struggle with PRS reform plans not fit for HMOs

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The Renters Reform Bill will have a detrimental impact on HMOs, potentially deterring landlord investment and denting supply, according to Platinum Property Partners.

It has warned that proposals to abolish no-fault evictions and fixed-term tenancies and to give tenants the right to request a pet are simply unworkable for HMO landlords and tenants.

Removing the ability to serve a Section 21 could cause tenant distress and discomfort, particularly when one tenant’s behaviour is not classed as anti-social but can still be intimidating and offensive to the rest of the household – and landlords will be almost powerless to help, says MD Emma Hayes.

Unwanted advances

She cites an example where a male tenant makes unwanted advances to a female tenant. Under the proposed changes, even if there were grounds for a fault-based eviction, there are two major problems. “The offended tenant has to give evidence in court against the offender and they have to continue to live under the same roof as the offender, perhaps for six to 12 months while the case is pending.”

Introducing periodic tenancies not only removes any security of medium to long-term income for landlords in any buy-to-let property, but will also discourage them from catering to tenant requests such as providing a bike shed or orthopedic mattress, she adds.

Animal health

There is also no way HMO landlords could reasonably consent to tenants having pets in shared houses when others may have phobias or allergies, while the proposals asking tenants to take out pet insurance only covers animal health, not wear and tear. “For HMO landlords, having to scrutinize each insurance policy per tenant and then taking it in good faith that they will recoup costs that would be paid directly to the policy holder is not feasible,” says Hayes.

View Full Article: Fears that landlords face struggle with PRS reform plans not fit for HMOs