Landlord cries foul over £50,000 cladding bill after ‘not qualifying for help’

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A landlord whose properties are caught up in the cladding scandal faces a bill of up to £50,000 unless the government changes the rules about who it will subsidise.

Neera Soni rents out a number of leasehold properties and says she and at least a quarter of those owners at one development in Birmingham don’t qualify for help.

Under section 119 of the Building Safety Act 2022, anything in the fire officer’s report comes under the Building Safety Fund and covers all leaseholders, but any other problems aren’t covered. In this case, the developer would usually pay for repairs.

Qualification

However, it gets more complicated, as landlords who own more than three properties and don’t live in the one being remediated don’t qualify for help; then, the freeholder and head leaseholder can charge them the full share of the remediation costs through the service charge.

And if a property owner’s building is worth less than £2 million, they can charge these unqualifying leaseholders up to £50,000, while leaseholders who qualify only pay up to £10,000.

Cladding

Soni, a member of action group BrumLag, owns two other properties affected by cladding and has already stumped up some money for repairs and is dreading the final bill.

“It doesn’t cost the government or taxpayers anything to help leaseholders – they need to get rid of this non-qualifying rule,” says Soni.

“Our service charge has gone up from £6,000 due to issues with water ingress and an insurance hike, to £18,000 – that’s before the mortgage,” she tells LandlordZONE.

The courts are set to rule on the exact meaning of section 119 of the Act, but that is expected to take at least a year, she explains. 

“The government encouraged us to buy buy-to-let properties, but we have very little equity in them and as they don’t qualify we can’t sell them even when the work has been done,” adds Soni. “It’s so unfair.”

Read more about the cladding scandal.

View Full Article: Landlord cries foul over £50,000 cladding bill after ‘not qualifying for help’

NEW: Devolution deal gives Manchester more rogue landlord powers

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A new devolution deal will give the 10 Greater Manchester councils powers to approve larger selective licensing schemes.

The pact, signed by Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison (pictured, below), Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (main pic) and the council leaders, will also see authorities develop and trial regulatory schemes to improve housing quality in the PRS.

They will be the first to help test the Private Rented Sector Property Portal while it will give Greater Manchester powers to strengthen its Good Landlord Charter and crack down on rogue landlords.

At the end of last year, the authority announced £1.5m from the Housing Investment Loans Fund would be used for 10 new trainee roles across the city-region to expand housing enforcement – part of a three-year package of measures that also includes on-the-job training for existing officers under the Good Landlord Scheme.

Under the deal, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) will get £3.9 million so it can lease 200 good quality private rented sector properties for homeless families, in a bid to eliminate the use of B&Bs other than in exceptional circumstances.

£150 million

It also includes devolving £150 million brownfield funding support to GMCA to deliver 7,000 homes in the next three years and devolution of funding to retrofit buildings, to bring down energy bills.

The deal marks a seismic shift in power, funding and responsibility from Whitehall to the region which will have more cash and power to invest in local communities’ priorities.

Andy Burnham says: “While we didn’t get everything we wanted from the deal, we will continue to engage with government on those areas in the future. For now, our focus will be on getting ready to take on the new powers and be held to account on the decisions we will be making on behalf of the people of Greater Manchester.”

View Full Article: NEW: Devolution deal gives Manchester more rogue landlord powers

UK house prices fall between December and January

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The average UK house price fell 1.1% between December and January, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) house price index reveals.

However, the average price was £289,819 – 6.3% higher than in January last year.

View Full Article: UK house prices fall between December and January

Unscrupulous landlord prosecuted for illegal eviction of young family

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A landlord in Derby has been convicted of an illegal eviction and ordered by a court to pay a £1,600 fine.

After initially agreeing a 12-month rental for an unfurnished house with a young family, landlord Grace Young of Pear Tree Street, Derby then attempted to illegally evict them just nine months into the tenancy.

She initially served the tenants a handwritten note asking them to vacate the property before then serving two eviction notices, one of which was invalid.

Her actions then came to the attention of the Derby City Council’s Housing Standards team, who prosecuted Young under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

Fine and costs

At Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court, Young was fined £600 and ordered to pay costs of £950. In addition, she was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60.

The court heard that during the notice period, Young began to repeatedly stand outside the property and stare through windows and, while the tenants were away on holiday, entered the property and changed the locks without informing the tenants or providing them with new keys.

Councillor Matthew Eyre, Cabinet Member for Community Development, Place and Tourism said:  All landlords have a duty of care to their tenants and while the vast majority of private landlords in the city take their legal obligations seriously, there are a small minority who don’t. 

“This prosecution sends a strong message to that minority of unscrupulous landlords that the Council is not afraid to take legal action to safeguard tenants and their wellbeing.”

View Full Article: Unscrupulous landlord prosecuted for illegal eviction of young family

Revealed: The imbalance of the property market

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Rental stock accounts for just 5% of available homes in some areas of England, according to new research.

The findings from the Gradual Homeownership provider, Wayhome, revealed in areas like the Isle of Wight rental properties account for just 5% of the total market stock.

View Full Article: Revealed: The imbalance of the property market