INTERVIEW: Why my ‘warts and all’ landlording works on social media

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Portfolio landlord and property educator Rick Gannon insists his ‘warts and all’ social media posts are a good way to reflect a true picture of the sector.

A recent video about his tenant doing a runner owing two months’ rent garnered more than five million views and hundreds of comments – not all of them positive – as some reckoned he was out of line when revealing how he deals with absconders.

“It can be hard on social media to give the full story, but we do everything lawfully and had been told by two other tenants that this man had already gone before we entered his room,” Gannon tells LandlordZONE.

“I want to get my message across that not all landlords are bad, by featuring the reality of what I do. I’m trying to show people the right way to go about things.”

Frustrating

A tenant leaving without paying rent is rare but frustrating, particularly because Gannon doesn’t always ask for a deposit, as he is mindful of the fact that even a month’s rent can be a stretch for some HMO tenants.

“If it’s blatant, and they owe us money and they’ve done nothing to try and contact us, we’ll pursue it with a CCJ, particularly if a tenant is working and there’s no reason not to pay.”

HMOs are still worth doing, Gannon believes, despite the rise in utility bills and mortgage rates. He’s also pragmatic about upcoming potential EPC changes and believes any work to improve energy efficiency will future-proof the business. “I’m prepared to address the issue, even with our listed buildings,” he explains.

“I’ve just had three properties surveyed and they have a D or an E rating but I’m confident that it shouldn’t be too much of a battle to improve them, with either insulation, upgraded windows or LED lighting. However, I hope the government introduces some landlord grants.”

See Rick’s TikTok videos.

View Full Article: INTERVIEW: Why my ‘warts and all’ landlording works on social media

BLOG: This humdrum Tribunal case reveals how landlords come to reject risky tenants

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A document released recently by a London First Tier Tribunal outlining a recent judge’s decision over a contested tenancy deposit looks – at first glance – like any other property squabble.

But for me, it’s much more than than. What it really represents is the first public sign of a growing problem that has been quietly affecting millions of tenants for several years, and a problem that many people have been warning about ever since governments all over the UK began their tax and regulatory crackdown on landlords.

The case was brought by a tenant who along with her grown-up daughters lost her holding deposit on a rented property earlier this year after one of them failed a credit check requested by the landlord. This was after an undisclosed CCJ was discovered.

The landlord declined to enter into a tenancy agreement with them on that basis, and refused to return the holding deposit citing lost marketing time for the property as a result of it having been taken off the market pending the credit checks.

False or misleading

The tenants had applied for the holding deposit to be returned to them under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 which fortunately for the landlord does not apply if the tenant provides false or misleading information to them or their letting agent.

Happy days for the landlord, but what it illustrates is the rising number of people who are being rejected by landlords because of their poor or dubious financial histories.

Landlords are becoming increasingly risk averse as the financial pressures of extra taxation and more costly regulation bear down on them.

Section 21

As LandlordZONE reported earlier this year, this trend is in fully swing as the Government prepares to ban Section 21 evictions; referencing firm Goodlord reported that the share of those insisting that tenants pay two or more months’ rent upfront has risen by 43% since the pandemic.

This, when added to the huge imbalance between supply and demand in the rental market, means tenants with poor financial or behavioral track records are likely to find it impossible, or at the very least increasingly difficult, to secure tenancies unless they can offer guarantors or pay rent in advance. No one in Government can say they didn’t see this problem coming.

Read the Tribunal decision in full.

View Full Article: BLOG: This humdrum Tribunal case reveals how landlords come to reject risky tenants

NEW: 600 staff at housing charity Shelter go on strike over low pay

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Over 600 staff at the UK’s large housing charity Shelter are to stage an unprecedented four-week strike over low pay.

Organised through their membership of their union Unite, the strike follows a bitter dispute over the issue, it says.

This follows Shelter’s decision to impose a 3% pay increase this year which, Unite claims, has left many of its own staff being unable to pay their rent leaving some facing the possibility of being homeless. 

A statement issued over the weekend by Unite claims that Shelter’s management “has refused to enter into meaningful negotiations with representatives of Unite over this year’s pay deal and has instead sought to impose one-off payments and real terms pay cuts for the next 16 months”.

Unforgivable

Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham (pictured) adds: “It is unforgivable that workers at Shelter find themselves actually being haunted by the prospect of being made homeless.

“Shelter has sufficient reserves to pay its hardworking and dedicated staff a decent par rise but it has chosen not to.

“Our members at Shelter will receive Unite’s complete and unyielding support in their fight for a better deal.”
Despite having cash reserves of some £14 million, Shelter last week declined to increase its pay deal for this year, instead proposing a pay increase of four per cent for 2023/24 with no further pay increase for staff until April 2024.

Shelter says it has given all its staff a one-off payment of £1,500 this year to help them cope with the cost-of-living crisis, adding that: ““Our ambition remains trying to support colleagues through this difficult period, while being able to deliver our front-line services and campaign work.

Read more about Shelter.

“As a Real Living Wage employer, Shelter is also implementing the Real Living Wage Foundation’s increase of 10.1 per cent from December 2022, much earlier than required, benefiting the colleagues who receive this at the earliest opportunity.”

Pic credit: Shelter.

View Full Article: NEW: 600 staff at housing charity Shelter go on strike over low pay

£8m property investment scam revealed after firm goes into administration

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Investors lost more than £8 million in a care home property scheme after being duped by plans to build and convert 80 apartments near Bishop Auckland in County Durham.

CHF 9 Limited had traded as a vehicle to secure investment to build apartments and studios in a Grade II listed building and surrounding land, but it went into administration in December 2019.

The company’s insolvency triggered an investigation which discovered that CHF 9 bought the building and land for £850,000 but had been turned down for planning permission. The local council suggested 10-15 studios would be more appropriate.

Director Sean Murray (pictured, inset) continued to seek investment for the project, but further enquiries revealed that none of this money was paid into CHF 9’s bank account. Instead, more than £3.3 million was paid to a connected company and a further £2.8 million was paid to the company’s solicitors before £1 million was paid out of CHF 9’s accounts.

Murray has now been banned for 10 years after he did not dispute that he entered into 51 contracts with investors for care studios without planning permission, using the receipts to help fund a lavish lifestyle including travel by private charter plan and multiple luxury cars, the Evening Standard recently revealed.

Robert Clarke, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, says it found that most of the investors wouldn’t have invested if they had known that CHF 9 didn’t have planning permission to build the care apartments.

“Sean Murray has rightfully been removed from the corporate arena for a significant amount of time,” he adds.

“This should serve as a stark warning for potential investors to do your due diligence, as well as making clear to directors involved in investment schemes that we have the powers to disqualify you from running limited companies.”

Read about other recent property investment scams.

View Full Article: £8m property investment scam revealed after firm goes into administration

Jersey landlords battle new plan for ‘harmful’ licensing scheme

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Jersey’s landlords are battling to convince the island’s lawmakers that new plans for a widespread licensing scheme will do more harm than good.

After helping to throw out previous proposals, the Jersey Landlords Association believes that instead, a registration scheme, along with a programme of tenant empowerment and ad hoc environmental health inspections, would be equally able to tackle poor-quality housing.

It says such a scheme would also have the benefit of providing more data about the type, size and quality of rented housing in Jersey. This could even be extended to all housing, giving the government the data it needs to make targeted policies.

“All responsible landlords are already or are working towards offering rented dwellings at or above the minimum standards,” says a group spokesman.

“Previous scrutiny panels and the previous States Assembly have agreed with many of our objections to licensing instead of registration.”

Previous attempts

However, States Deputy Richard Renouf (pictured) is confident that he has addressed the reasons why previous attempts to introduce licensing have failed.

He says: “I have three options before me: do nothing, introduce a rental property registration scheme, or introduce licensing. The advantage of the latter is that it allows me to remove a licence without the need to prosecute.

“It is a sensitive tool to deal with potential breaches of safety, while prosecution through the courts is, in this case, more of a blunt tool.”

Renouf adds that licensing also allows landlords to continue to rent out properties while they make the necessary improvements. Suggested fees for the new scheme would only be about £30 a year.

The most recent attempt to introduce licensing was defeated by a single vote in the States Assembly in July 2021.

View Full Article: Jersey landlords battle new plan for ‘harmful’ licensing scheme

Rogue tenants databases?

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Hello, I read a lot about Rogue Landlords Databases but nothing about Rogue Tenants Databases. Does any one know of any?

It does seem that tenants from hell are at liberty to trash properties, run up huge arrears

The post Rogue tenants databases? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Rogue tenants databases?

Free loft insulation schemes?

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Hello, I have excellent long term tenants in Wales.

They have two young children and like most people in their position finances are a bit tight at the moment.

I’ve kept the rent well under market value and fitted a new boiler a couple of years ago.

The post Free loft insulation schemes? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Free loft insulation schemes?