COURTS: Landmark ruling given on commercial property ‘notices to quit’

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In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal has ruled that a landlord was wrong to serve notice on a commercial tenant who hadn’t told him he had assigned the tenancy to a company.

It overturned previous rulings relating to the case of O G Thomas Amaethyddiath v Turner & Ors concerning the validity of a notice to quit an agricultural holding which was held under an oral tenancy.

The tenant, Mr Thomas, assigned the tenancy to a company – and was the sole director and shareholder – however the landlord was unaware that the company existed.

Three days later, he served a bare notice to quit, addressing both the notice and its covering letter to Mr Thomas and not the company. This was served on the tenant at his home address which was also the company’s registered address.

Stuart Nevin (pictured) principal associate at Shoosmiths, says that the key issue for the court was whether the notice to quit was valid, despite having been addressed to Mr Thomas rather than the company.

The previous courts – first instance and first appeal – ruled that sufficient notice had been given to the company despite the landlord having no knowledge of the assignment.

But the Court of Appeal overturned that decision. Nevin explains that a notice with typographical errors – where an intention to serve on the correct recipient is clear – could still hold, but not when the landlord was unaware of the assignment to the new tenant company.

“O G Thomas is an important decision for practitioners, landlords and tenants when effecting proper service of a notice to quit,” he says. 

“The fact that Mr Thomas was the sole shareholder of the company, and that the company’s registered address was identical to Mr Thomas’ address, did not offer sufficient grounds to validate the notice.”

Read the ruling in full.

View Full Article: COURTS: Landmark ruling given on commercial property ‘notices to quit’

‘Tenants won’t be safe unless laws are fit for purpose, enforceable and fully policed’

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Following the tragic death of toddler Awaab Ishak NRLA boss Ben Beadle has written to Michael Gove to urge his department to ensure existing regulations and laws are enforced properly.

The two-year-old died from health complications brought on after living in a mould-infested property for several years run by a housing association in Rochdale.

Beadle has written to Gove to say that all responsible landlords “are appalled at this needless and avoidable death”.

“It is important though, that Mr Gove recognises that all of the laws and standards in the world won’t protect renters unless they are fit for purpose, enforceable and properly enforced.

“Good landlords should have nothing to fear in providing good quality, decent homes.

“It is essential therefore that full use of the 170 pieces of legislation governing the sector is made when it comes to improving standards in both the social and private rented sector.

“It is further important that local authorities have the means at their disposal to carry out this important function.”

Gove promised three days ago to bring in new initiatives to protect tenants in the social housing sector.

Sean Hooker (pictured), Head of Redress at the PRS, adds that his organisation has seen a steady increase in complaints on these sort of problems, but that “we only deal with the properties managed by agents [and therefore] what is desperately needed is redress that covers landlords and for that complaint service to be easily and readily accessible to tenants.

“This could help enforcement agencies concentrate on the hard core cases. I also believe that regular property inspections are essential and cannot understand why an inventory is not a must for all properties.”

Read the NRLA letter in full.

View Full Article: ‘Tenants won’t be safe unless laws are fit for purpose, enforceable and fully policed’

South Coast council seeks MP’s help to charge Airbnb landlords more tax

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Chichester Council hopes to enlist its local MP to help make holiday home owners pay council tax.

It’s writing to Gillian Keegan MP (pictured), asking her to raise the issue with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities after it heard that hundreds of homes in the city were making use of services such as rubbish and recycling collection despite not paying council tax.

Councillor Graeme Barrett told a cabinet meeting that a significant number of properties in the West Wittering parish had had their tax band deleted and did not pay council tax.

He said: “There are currently 326 properties registered as second homes of which many may be let out as holiday accommodation.

“In the case of holiday accommodation, the rateable values are well below £12,000, and the average in West Wittering for this type of business is £4,750, meaning that no business rates are actually paid. It is apparent that these properties do not contribute to the council’s cost of providing services.”

Barrett suggested the government should propose a solution for councils to be reimbursed for the services they provide.

Holiday lets

Councillor Peter Wilding (pictured) agreed: “My view is holiday lets should not be exempt from council tax at all because they receive exactly the same services as a property occupied by an owner.”

The authority isn’t the first to try and crack down on second homes; earlier this month, North Yorkshire backed plans to introduce a 100% premium for council tax bills on second homes in the county within the next two years, while Cornwall now looks set to do the same. However, neither council has closed the tax loophole on holiday lets.

Read more about Airbnb regulation.

View Full Article: South Coast council seeks MP’s help to charge Airbnb landlords more tax

Green Party calls for rent freeze in England – but are Ministers listening?

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The Green Party has joined the growing chorus of calls for a winter rent freeze in England to stave off evictions and homelessness.

It wants the government to introduce an immediate freeze on rent rises and a ban on no-fault evictions until at least the end of March – and for it to urgently bring forward the promised Renters Reform Bill.

The party points to MoJ statistics that show no-fault evictions are at their highest since 2017 and that evictions for rent arrears are at their highest on record, although new housing minister Felicity Buchan recently told a meeting of landlords that the Government would ‘never allow it’.

“Households already face soaring energy and food costs – the last thing they need, on top of everything else they have to contend with, is unaffordable rent rises and the fear of being evicted,” says co-leader Carla Denyer (main picture).

“Rising private rents and increasing evictions have also been cited as major causes of a dramatic increase in homelessness in London and other cities.”

Welsh hope

Following Scotland’s lead where emergency measures have become law, the Green Party hopes the Senedd will use its devolved powers to do the same, although this looks unlikely as Labour voted down a call to freeze rents in Wales last month, warning it could backfire if landlords remove homes from the market.

However, there is a long-standing precedent for the move in Europe. In France, a five-month respite for renters at risk for eviction lasts each year until 31^st March while there are also winter eviction bans in Austria, the Brussels and Wallonia Regions of Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Last month, the Irish government signed-off on a winter eviction ban that will last until April.

Pic credit: The Green Party

View Full Article: Green Party calls for rent freeze in England – but are Ministers listening?

The Mortgage Market Maze

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To fix your mortgage rate or not. That is THE question of 2022, a year of uncertainty in the mortgage market.

Over the past 12 months the Bank Rate has increased 8 times, from 0.1% in November 2021 to 3.0% a year later

The post The Mortgage Market Maze appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: The Mortgage Market Maze

EPC expired with eviction pending?

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Hi everyone, We have a tenant whose EPC has expired (a D) but he doesn`t speak to us, not for any good reason, he just hates landlords (he`s told us) and hates us contacting him about the simplest thing. Notice (S 21) has been issued which resulted in him stopping paying the low rent.

View Full Article: EPC expired with eviction pending?

Buy-to-let product choice for landlords begins to recover

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Landlords searching for a new BTL mortgage will find product choice within the lending sector is recovering, research reveals.

According to an analysis by Moneyfacts.co.uk, the overall buy-to-let product availability, both fixed and variable, has risen by more than 700 options since the start of October

View Full Article: Buy-to-let product choice for landlords begins to recover

Agents can access new model Occupation Contracts ahead of Welsh renting law change

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One organisation is providing its letting agent members with access to new model Occupation Contracts ahead of the introduction of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

That’s when agents, landlords and tenants will see the biggest change to Welsh housing law for decades.

View Full Article: Agents can access new model Occupation Contracts ahead of Welsh renting law change