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

Daily Telegraph wants to speak landlords facing difficulties regaining possession after council advice

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Are you landlord who is trying to retake possession of your properties and facing difficulties from the council? Then, Alexa Phillips, the personal finance reporter for the Telegraph would like to speak with you.

Alexa would like to speak to Property118 readers about:

• What has your experience been like?

View Full Article: Daily Telegraph wants to speak landlords facing difficulties regaining possession after council advice

Another Tribunal says ‘superior landlord’ NOT responsible for rent repayment order

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Another First Tier Property Tribunal has confirmed that a superior landlord cannot be held responsible for a Rent Repayment Order (RRO), following the landmark Rakusen case.

Tenant Riaz Moola had tried to argue that landlord Khalil M’barek was responsible for the property in the upmarket Belvedere Row Apartments in White City, London, from February to November 2022, and applied for a £31,635 RRO.

He argued that he had initially taken the property on a trial basis, paying £3,600 a month – and once he had decided to stay in the property, he had entered into a personal agreement with M’barek.

Landmark case

However, the tribunal referred to the Supreme Court case which ruled that these orders can only be made against an immediate landlord and threw out the claim.

It found that the parties did not both sign an agreement in the same form; M’barek signed one that identified the tenant as CoGrammar Ltd, while Moola signed one that identified himself as the tenant.

It said: “The tribunal prefers and accepts the evidence of Mr M’barek that for the period from 23rd March, his tenant was CoGrammar Ltd. As the tribunal has found that Mr M’barek was not Mr Moola’s immediate landlord, either before or after 23rd March, no RRO can be made in Mr Moola’s favour against Mr M’barek.”

Earlier this month, in the first case to cite Rakusen, landlord Sabour Mansour tried – and failed – to claim that he was the superior landlord of an unlicensed HMO and was found to be responsible for the property in Pott Street, Tower Hamlets. His two tenants were awarded more than £6,000.

View Full Article: Another Tribunal says ‘superior landlord’ NOT responsible for rent repayment order

February sees the lowest property sales in a decade

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Data published by HMRC show that non-seasonally adjusted property sales were up 2% from January, to 76,920 in February – but this is down nearly a fifth from last year (18%).

However, the seasonally adjusted figures show that things look even worse as transactions are down 18% in a year and 4% since January.

View Full Article: February sees the lowest property sales in a decade

Non-resident landlords being refused legal expenses on insurance?

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Hello, My landlord’s insurance is up for renewal, and while there’s no problem insuring the properties themselves, this year – for the first time ever – our broker is saying no one will include cover for legal expenses because I’m a non-resident landlord.

View Full Article: Non-resident landlords being refused legal expenses on insurance?

Consultation on single banding HMO rooms – Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

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Please can Property118 post a request for interested landlords to respond to this consultation. The deadline is 31st March.

NC7 (New Clause 7) is Dame Caroline Dinenage’s amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill and it will hurt tenants and landlords as the costs will inevitably be passed on.

View Full Article: Consultation on single banding HMO rooms – Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill