NEW: Gove reveals £14m council ‘fighting fund’ to crack down on rogue landlords

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The government has shared out £14 million between seven areas in England to crack down on rogue landlords and help councils drive up standards.

Funding includes £2.3 million for Greater Manchester – including Rochdale and the surrounding councils – to increase the use of fines for offending landlords; £678,000 for Leeds to use ‘behavioural science’ to change culture among landlords, improving knowledge and skills; and £1.14 million for Cornwall to create a database of private rented accommodation and record standards to target better enforcement action.

Other areas in line for a cash handout are Derbyshire Dales, Eden, Liverpool and Ryedale.

Speaking on the Today programme, Housing Secretary Michael Gove said it wanted to make sure that renters in the PRS were confident local government was on their side and standing up for them.

“We have a commitment to protect people in the private rented sector more effectively – it’s vitally important that we stand up for tenants,” said Gove, agreeing that there was a concern some people were too frightened to complain to their landlord.

anti-social tenants

“We are going to be bringing forward more legislation to improve the position of people in the private rented sector. Legislation will also ensure those landlords dealing with the tiny minority of tenants who are anti-social or deliberately not paying rent can also be dealt with as well.”

However, the minister would not be drawn on a date for the long-awaited Renters’ Reform Bill which he only promised would, “come in the next calendar year – 2023”.

Earlier this week, he wrote to all councils and housing associations, telling them they must raise the bar dramatically on standards and demanding urgent action where tenants complain about damp and mould.

View Full Article: NEW: Gove reveals £14m council ‘fighting fund’ to crack down on rogue landlords

LATEST: Council tax crisis for HMO tenants averted after Commons statement

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The Government has averted a looming crisis in the HMO sector that would have seen many tenants charged individually for council tax, rather than paying a share of the property’s annual bill.

As LandlordZONE revealed last month, MPs Penny Mordaunt and Caroline Dinenage, both of whom have constituencies featuring significant HMO densities, have been putting pressure on Ministers to reign in the Valuation Office Agency.

The government agency, at the behest of some 50+ councils around the UK but particularly in Portsmouth where Dinenage is an MP, has been reclassifying rooms within HMOs as individual homes – much to the horror of tenants and their landlords.

But relief is now at hand. In a statement to the House of Commons, Dehenna Davison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DLUHC, told fellow MPs that a consultation on the problem is to be launched in January that will “look at situations where individual tenants can, in certain circumstances, be landed with their own council tax bill and will consider whether the valuation process needs to change,” she said.

Exceptional circumstances

“Our clear intention is for HMOs to be classed as single dwellings, other than in exceptional circumstances.”

Any changes will be part of the Government’s Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill, but Davison told Dover MP Natalie Elphicke that adjustments to reimburse councils for the ‘lost income’ would be made via regulations rather than wait for the Bill to gain royal assent “as a matter of urgency”.

Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, said he was glad that Ministers had listened to both MPs and those outside parliament, and that it would be “incredibly reassuring for people who are renting in HMOs”.

Landlord Daryn Brewer from the HMO Council Tax reform group that has been lobbying MPs on the issue, told LandlordZONE: “We are delighted to hear that the government is taking this issue seriously and that landlords and tenants have been listed to about the concerns of Council Tax being charged on bedrooms within HMOs.”

Read the debate/Ministerial statement in full.

View Full Article: LATEST: Council tax crisis for HMO tenants averted after Commons statement

Developer offers novel ‘no fees or conditions’ contracts to pet-owning tenants

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A new pet-friendly build-to-rent development in Manchester promises to embrace tenants’ furry friends without charging any extras or laying down preconditions for tenants.

Northern Group’s The Quarters on Spear Street and Oldham Street boasts that it’s well ahead of new tenancy regulations lined up as part of the Renters’ Reform Bill which would mean landlords will not be able to impose a ‘no pets’ clause without good reason.

Residents in The Quarters who have pets don’t pay additional charges or a deposit for their animals, unlike many other developers. 

They also don’t need to take extra insurance out or pay extra for check-out inventories and have the same contracts as those without pets.

Vetted

Animals are always vetted before moving in, but it tells LandlordZONE: “We haven’t come across a case where a potential resident hasn’t been approved.”

The building has a dedicated rooftop for dog meetups and walks, complete with bins and dog bowls and residents get a free introductory dog walk to test out local pet companion services in the area. Rents for the apartments start at £1,075 for an unfurnished one-bed.

Paul Dobbs (pictured), chief operating officer at Northern Group, explains: “There’s a real need to provide more pet-friendly rental accommodation as demand for rentals that let you own a pet is huge – three in four tenants are reportedly looking for exactly this, and we can safely rubber stamp this data as already 50% of new tenants coming to The Quarters own a pet”.

Read more: What does BTR mean for BTL?

View Full Article: Developer offers novel ‘no fees or conditions’ contracts to pet-owning tenants

Non-Companies House director?

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Hello, We have a person who works very hard for our freehold company looking after the block in which we all live. His professional job prevents him registering as a director at Companies House.

At the moment, he can’t vote when we make decisions.

View Full Article: Non-Companies House director?

Government to fund rogue landlord crackdown

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The government has today revealed that it will fund councils with high numbers of ‘poor privately rented homes’ in a bid to crack down on rogue landlords and drive-up standards in the private rented sector (PRS).

The announcement by the Department for Levelling Up

View Full Article: Government to fund rogue landlord crackdown

Property transactions will plummet by 17% as seasonal slowdown approaches

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The UK’s property market could see transactions slide by as much as 17% come spring of next year – and the downward trend could start next month as the market winds down for the Christmas period, one property purchasing specialist says.

View Full Article: Property transactions will plummet by 17% as seasonal slowdown approaches

Tenants union reveals ‘day of protests’ across London to push for rent freeze

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London Renters Union will picket successful estate agents across the capital next week who it blames for pushing up rents to unaffordable levels.

Protests are planned in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Crystal Palace on 3^rd December by activists who have taken particular aim at Winkworth and Foxtons, which the union claims have “raked in £29 million in letting revenue between July and September this year, marking almost 20% more than during the same quarter in 2021”.

It accuses landlords and specifically estate agents of profiteering from inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, and reports that thousands of its members across London have faced unaffordable rent rises.

Rent freeze

The union has been inspired by the grassroots campaign Living Rent which encouraged the Scottish government to bring in a rent freeze and eviction ban last month, effectively freezing rent until March 2023.  

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also repeated calls for the government to introduce a two-year private sector rent freeze in the capital.  

Lewisham councillor Sophie Davis, cabinet member for housing management and homelessness, told webnsote Eastlondonlines: “Like the rest of London, private renters in Lewisham are currently facing huge increases in rents and the cost of living. Sadiq Khan is right to call for action from the government and we would welcome a rent freeze for private renters.

“We also need the government to finally deliver on its commitment to introduce a Renters Reform Bill with further protections for private renters, including the long-promised ban on no-fault evictions.” 

Winkworth and Foxtons did not respond to requests for comment.

Picture credit/London Renters Union.

View Full Article: Tenants union reveals ‘day of protests’ across London to push for rent freeze

New HMO training

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If you want to maximise the cash flow from your property investing so that you can replace your income faster, we think you might be interested in some new online training created all about MEGA deals, and how to replace your income in just one deal.

View Full Article: New HMO training

NEW: Landlord MP criticised over disclosure failures during Commons debate

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Landlord MP Paul Howell is in hot water after failing to disclose his 17 properties during a Commons debate when he told three female frontbenchers to “shut up”.

The MP for Sedgefield, who has 16 properties across Durham and Darlington as well as an apartment in Spain – according to the MPs’ register of interests – did not declare his investments during the debate on the state of the economy.

Howell accused the Labour party of scaremongering following Liz Truss’s mini-Budget which he said was “wholly inappropriate and…making people who are already worried become terrified”.

While his comments were derided by many Labour MPs, Sarah Owen, Lisa Nandy and Paula Barker were then left stunned when Howell said: “You have chirped and talked – do you want to hear or do you want to shut up?”

He immediately apologised after he saw their shocked reaction.

Extraordinary

A Labour source told The Huffington Post: “It’s pretty extraordinary that Howell thought being a landlord for more than a dozen properties wasn’t relevant to a debate about mortgages.

“Then again, this is someone who thinks concerns about rising rents and higher mortgages are just ‘scaremongering’ – and who goes round telling women to shut up. So maybe it’s not that surprising.”

MPs are told to be open and frank in highlighting their interests in debates and committees or in any communications with ministers, MPs, public officials or public office holders.

Potential breaches are investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, although it is not known whether she has been in contact with Howell.

Watch the debate in full - Howell's comments from 14:09:50 onwards.

View Full Article: NEW: Landlord MP criticised over disclosure failures during Commons debate

Landlord sells whole property portfolio in 5 days and recommends other landlords: sell before Christmas

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The economy is in a state of uncertain flux, and appears to continue to work against landlords.

From interest rates and taxes rising in an almost exponential way, inflation and the cost of living rising higher than ever before, concerns mounting over deteriorating rental profits, EPC, EICR regulations and costly refurbs, to the latest, rather unexpected, “egg shortages” in British stores due to the rising costs of business overheads, it’s clear that the effect the economy is having over both our business and domestic lives isn’t ending any time soon.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that Landlords are looking to property sale companies to get their portfolios sold before Christmas and sail through what is looking like it could be an ever-uncertain economy.

But who do we turn to when we have so many properties to sell before the end of the year and with so many tenants?

For Shauna, a landlord of 30 years, she knew that selling her buy-to-lets in bulk was crucial. The property portfolio she’d built up over the years had become a financial ball and chain and it was obvious she needed to get out while she still could. Like many of us, she quickly realised that traditional Estate Agents and many private portfolio selling services just weren’t working. They either took years to sell, or required her portfolio to be split up into smaller chunks for sale.

All that changed when she reached out to portfolio exit specialists the Landlord Sales Agency.

Unlike other companies, Landlord Sales Agency is run by landlords for landlords, so they know exactly what we need to action the best exit strategy, fast. For many of us this means selling the whole portfolio in bulk, or at least the majority of the portfolio, and shifting our financial “dead weight” whilst getting the highest possible amount in our banks, perhaps holding onto only the last, most lucrative properties.

It’s clear we need to downsize our portfolios to recoup costs and recover, perhaps even thrive despite the issues, but like Shauna many of us don’t want to deal with the painful stress of managing the sale of the portfolio in painstaking ‘three properties at a time’ pieces, chunk by chunk. Selling the whole thing in one go might sound like a strategy reserved only for auctions who take a hefty percentage, but Landlord Sales Agency are specialists for a reason:

• We have a powerful database of over 30,000 private buyers and portfolio buying companies who want to buy whole portfolios straight away before the year ends, and who are alerted every time we have a portfolio to sell

• Because we focus on a quality fast sale, rather than a cheap fast sale, we ensure that our buy-to-let portfolios are sold not just fast, in less than 28 days, for a financially savvy 85% of the value (in some cases even higher) – which makes sense when we handle every single part of the sale for you, including liaising with all tenants, ensuring all certificates and licenses are in place, and allowing you to simply make the call to us then sit back and relax knowing we’re on it to get the whole portfolio sold before Christmas

• There’s no one like us out there, and we’ve built up an unbeatable record for helping landlords which is why we’re the number one go-to company for our partners, including LandlordZONE

Most landlords who contact us are like Shauna, and we’ve got the best team in the business to get the sale done in days rather than months or years. In Shauna’s case, she decided to keep 10 properties and give us 23.

All of them were sold in one go within 5 days of listing.

We don’t have to upsell our service, the results speak for themselves.

So if like Shauna you’re ready to sell before Christmas and enjoy 2023, get in touch today, and let us at Landlord Sales Agency do what we do best.

Contact Landlord Sales Agency:

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View Full Article: Landlord sells whole property portfolio in 5 days and recommends other landlords: sell before Christmas