Former Tory housing ministers call for radical shake-up of policy

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Four former housing ministers have backed a Tory thinktank policy paper that urges a radical rethink of government housebuilding policies.

The Centre for Policy Studies report, The Case for Housebuilding, explains how the UK’s massive shortfall in homes has played a key role in driving up prices, explains why building solely on brownfield cannot deliver the homes needed, and how housebuilding is not as unpopular as is generally understood.

It believes that it’s a myth that increasing supply would do little to reduce the price of housing to affordable levels.

The report points to a huge drop in building rates since the 1960s, smaller new homes and dramatically increased prices, particularly where supply and demand are most imbalanced.

It says rents are also climbing as a share of income; whereas private renters spent 10% of their income on housing from the 1960s to the 1980s, rising to 15% in London, the share of income spent on rent has risen to 30% in recent years, and almost 40% in London.

Less productive

It adds: “The case for housebuilding is simple – without it, Britain will be a less productive, less equal, less fair and less happy country. Building more homes is the clearest way to boost economic growth and rebuild our economy.”

Former Housing Secretaries (left to right, main picture) Sajid Javid and Simon Clarke and former Housing Ministers Brandon Lewis and Kit Malthouse have backed the report.

Javid says: “For decades, we have simply not built enough homes. This failure risks creating a generation that without any capital of its own, becomes resentful of capitalism and capitalists.

“This important report presents a clear analysis of the core challenges we face, and how elected officials can and must rise to them.”

View Full Article: Former Tory housing ministers call for radical shake-up of policy

Birmingham proceeds with HMO licensing expansion despite opposition

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Birmingham council has concluded its consultation into an additional licensing scheme across the city that would include 9,500 properties in all 69 wards.

Following a full cabinet meeting report on the scheme’s consultation which included several landlords sessions organised by the NRLA, the council is to proceed with the scheme unaltered despite nearly half of landlords and letting agents who responded saying they opposed it.

The council’s existing mandatory licensing scheme covers 4,000 larger properties with five or more occupants but it now hopes to improve standards in smaller HMOs. Landlords will soon need to pay a £755 licence fee under the scheme which could go live as early as 1st April.

Biggest scheme

In March last year, the council approved the UK’s biggest selective licensing scheme and is now waiting for Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove to give it the go-ahead. Landlords across 25 wards including North Edgbaston, South Yardley and Sparkhill are set to need a licence in a scheme covering 40,000 properties.

Sajeela Naseer (pictured), the council’s head of licensing, says years of data-gathering shows a clear correlation between HMOs and antisocial behaviour, waste and some serious home hazards.

She adds: “Licence conditions would include requiring landlords to work with the council to tackle anti-social behaviour arising from their properties, to have appropriate waste management arrangements in place and ensure that their properties are safe.”

Anti-social behaviour

Councillor Sharon Thompson (pictured), cabinet member for homes and homelessness, says it wants to hear from tenants living in HMOs and landlords who are responsible for them.

“Our research has shown that there are potentially 8,000 HMOs without a licence and that many are badly managed and give rise to a lot of anti-social behaviour,” says Thompson.

“The licence would give the council extra powers to proactively identify HMOs and join up with other services such as the police to tackle the issues. This is why we believe that designating a city-wide additional licensing area is the right course of action.”

Read the council report in full.

View Full Article: Birmingham proceeds with HMO licensing expansion despite opposition

‘Heartless’ landlord fined £175,000 over dilapidated and unlicensed HMO

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A rogue landlord who let out an unlicensed HMO with no working kitchen, unusable toilets, blocked drains and rats, has been fined a whopping £175,000.

Adam Ali had turned the former Anchor Hotel in Cobham Road, Westcliff-on-Sea (pictured), into an HMO where 18 tenants paid a total of more than £5,800 rent each month to Coastal Living Southend Ltd to live in 11 of the 15 bedrooms.

Neighbours reported anti-social behaviour, drug use, poor living conditions and rats to Southend-on-Sea Council.

It found that the property was seriously dilapidated, with no working kitchen, unusable toilets, interrupted gas supply, blocked drains and restricted fire escapes.

It was in such a bad state that an emergency prohibition order was served which closed the property immediately, and all 18 tenants were housed in emergency accommodation.

The council’s investigation took some time because the people involved had created a complex web of different limited companies and names. It was finally established that Adam Ali of Trulea Estates Ltd, trading as Coastal Living Southend Ltd, operated the premises under a short-term agreement with M F Gregory Ltd.

‘Naive and incompetent’

At a hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, Ali and the three companies involved were fined a total of £152,900, with £21,872 costs and £680 victim surcharge. The judge said the fine was, “both a deterrent for naive and incompetent landlords as well as a deterrent to company directors”.

Councillor Martin Terry (pictured), cabinet member for public protection, says it was unbelievable that those involved were able to operate in such a heartless way, exploiting residents and providing squalid living conditions.

He adds: “I want to thank the regulatory team for their hard work in securing the evidence that led to this prosecution and thanks to the court system for making an example of Mr Ali. It’s rogue landlords like him that cause such issues within the private rental market.”

Read more: Complete guide to running an HMO.

View Full Article: ‘Heartless’ landlord fined £175,000 over dilapidated and unlicensed HMO

Daily Telegraph wants to talk to Scottish landlords now buying in England

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If you are a Scottish landlord now buying properties in England because the policies are more favourable than in Scotland, Alexa Phillips, the personal finance reporter for the Telegraph would like to speak with you.

Alexa would be interested to know:

Which part of England are you buying in?

View Full Article: Daily Telegraph wants to talk to Scottish landlords now buying in England

Big Issue founder: Ministers must help landlords to prevent evictions

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Big Issue founder John Bird has called on the government to help landlords prevent rent rises.

The magazine’s editor-in-chief – a crossbench peer in the House of Lords – says it needs to stop households who cannot pay their rent from being evicted, warning of a surge in homelessness.

As well as providing more financial support to people struggling to pay for food and energy, the government should be assisting landlords financially to avoid rent rises and cut evictions, Bird told the Observer.

“I’m not saying I am not concerned about people who can’t feed themselves or heat themselves, but the worst possible thing to add to that is if hundreds of thousands of people are made homeless …then it completely goes off the Richter scale,” he said.

The number of homeless households is expected to rise to 300,000 a night this year, Crisis predicts, a 32% rise on 2020.

Cash boost

Last month, councils across England were gifted a cash boost to help fund more mediation with landlords in a bid to avoid evictions as part of a £654 million package that will also let councils target support at vulnerable families and people at risk of rough sleeping.

Bird admitted that the Big Issue narrowly avoided going bust during the pandemic as sales were hit by the cost-of-living crisis, which prompted it to start offering subscriptions to help vendors who couldn’t sell it on the streets. The magazine’s sales are still being affected by the crisis.

Bird added that the convergence of Brexit, Covid and war in Ukraine, as well as last year’s Conservative leadership crisis, reminded him of the series of storms that engulfed Britain in the 1970s.

“But the difference now is they’re coming together all at once,” he added. “And there is not anybody who’s out there to rescue us.”

Pic credit: Big Issue.

View Full Article: Big Issue founder: Ministers must help landlords to prevent evictions

Landlords still ‘none the wiser’ about new EPC rating

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Landlord association iHowz has called on the government to publish the new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) requirements for the private rented sector (PRS).

It says that landlords are still ‘none the wiser’

View Full Article: Landlords still ‘none the wiser’ about new EPC rating

Scottish landlords launch legal action over rent cap

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Landlords and agents in Scotland are to seek a Judicial Review of the Scottish Government’s rent control and eviction ban legislation.

A coalition of the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL); Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) and Propertymark is to submit a Petition to the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

View Full Article: Scottish landlords launch legal action over rent cap