CLAIM: ‘Banning new HMOs makes student housing market worse’

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Students are finding it even harder to find accommodation following a four-year freeze on new HMOs in a leading university city, according to one councillor.

The Scottish seaside town of St Andrews stopped approving licences for new HMOs in 2019 in a bid to relieve pressure on the overcrowded housing market and to free up flats for those not studying at the university.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Ann Liston (main image) says she predicted the move would only spread the student population more thinly but that the situation is even worse than she feared, with many properties being divided into two-bedroom flats to avoid HMO rules.

“We have all heard of pairs of students under-occupying properties where the other bedrooms are locked, resulting in huge rent increases for each tenant and driving the poorest students out of St Andrews and into accommodation 13 miles away in Dundee,” she told The Courier.

The policy’s aim to free up potential student-occupied flats for low and middle-income households hasn’t happened, said Liston, while many landlords are choosing to go down the short-term lets road instead.

Oblivious to noise

“With most students wanting to be in the town centre, which includes many properties only suitable for fit young people oblivious to noise and unencumbered by children or cars, there is an opportunity to make best use of our limited housing stock by encouraging students to live there, leaving the further-out residential areas for families,” she added. “The current policy fails to do this.”

Students are campaigning to end the freeze after scores struggled to find accommodation at the start of last term. Councillors are set to discuss the policy in April following a consultation which has just ended.

Picture credit: Jane Ashton/Twitter

Read more about HMOs.

View Full Article: CLAIM: ‘Banning new HMOs makes student housing market worse’

Expenses to improve a EPC rating on BTL – capital or revenue?

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Hello, Hopefully, most prospective landlords would make checking the EPC one of their first tasks when looking at a property to buy. But say you inherit a property you want to use for a buy-to-let. The property is in a good state of repair

View Full Article: Expenses to improve a EPC rating on BTL – capital or revenue?

Labour promises ‘big review’ of private rented sector if it win election

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Shadow Housing Secretary Lisa Nandy has flagged up a big review of the private rental sector if Labour wins the next election.

Speaking at the party’s annual London conference over the weekend (pictured), she said the party had set out plans to tilt the balance of power back towards tenants through a powerful new Renters’ Charter and a new Decent Homes Standard.

The leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Stephen Cowan (pictured), would lead the review into how any reforms would work, Nandy told delegates.

“Security in your home, the right to make your home your own and most of all the right to live in a home fit for human habitation is non-negotiable,” she added: “I’m delighted that Steve is going to drive forward this work so that we are ready to go on day one.”

Charter promise

Nandy has pledged to set up the charter within 100 days if Labour wins the next election, which is expected to include an end to automatic evictions for rent arrears and no-fault evictions, the right for renters to have pets, to make reasonable alterations to a property, and to introduce a four-month notice period for landlords.

She’s also laid into the government’s levelling up strategy, labelling it a “ludicrous Hunger Games-style contest where communities are pitted against one another, and ministers sit in Whitehall picking winners and losers”. Labour would scrap the policy, said Nandy.

“It takes an extraordinary arrogance to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have stripped out of our communities, which has decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care.”

At a speech later this week, she’s expected to say that should Labour win, it would carry out its commitment to hand over powers to local communities in a wide range of policy areas, including housing.

View Full Article: Labour promises ‘big review’ of private rented sector if it win election

We are all facing the prospect of rising mortgage rates

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Just over a year ago, the Bank Base rate was 0.1%. Since then, there have been 9 consecutive increases with the rate now at 3.5%.

It is predicted that the rate will increase by a further 0.5% this coming Thursday

View Full Article: We are all facing the prospect of rising mortgage rates

Northern Rock excess mortgage interest claim?

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I have come across a Northern Rock excess mortgage interest claim being started by Harcus Parker. Although they have not yet had High Court permission to pursue the claim, if it proceeds they say it will be on a No Win No Fee basis.

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Buying tenanted property – can you ‘reset’ the tenancy to ensure it is valid?

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Hello, We are considering buying a block of 5 flats, all tenanted. Some have been on-boarded through an agent and others have not.

Our concern is that at least some are not valid tenancies in which prescribed information was not given or deposits protected in the correct way

View Full Article: Buying tenanted property – can you ‘reset’ the tenancy to ensure it is valid?

From Ltd back to my own name?

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Hello, I currently have one Buy to Let property which is in a limited company. I bought the property 5 years ago in an Ltd to get around the Section 23 legislation and so be able to claim mortgage interest as an expense.

View Full Article: From Ltd back to my own name?

Capital cost vs allowable expense?

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Hello, Would reinstatement (like for like) following an accident to a property be considered a capital cost or allowable expense vs income?

My instinct is to view it all as maintenance/repair because there was damage which needed attention to get it back to how it was prior to the accident.

View Full Article: Capital cost vs allowable expense?