Landlord pays price for fire safety breach at failing HMO

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A landlord has been ordered to pay out more than £10,000 for breaching safety regulations at his large HMO.

Amonbir Mander had turned the London Hotel in Stroud into an HMO and licensed it for 20 tenants when it was inspected in July 2022 by the district council’s environmental health officers, who found the building fell below acceptable safety standards and presented a serious fire safety risk.

Victim surcharge

Mander admitted the offence at Cheltenham Magistrates Court where he was fined £4,608 and ordered to pay investigation costs of £1,568 and the council’s legal costs of £4,112, along with a £190 victim surcharge.

Councillor Mattie Ross, chair of the council’s housing committee, says this prosecution should serve as a warning to landlords who don’t meet the required standards that it will take legal action to protect the health and safety of private sector tenants. She adds: “All landlords have a duty of care to their tenants. Prosecutions are costly and time consuming, and I am grateful for the diligence of our environmental health officers in this successful case.”

New owners

London Road Hotel is now in the hands of new owners, after it was sold by Mander before his court appearance. The new owners are working with council officers to improve standards.

View Full Article: Landlord pays price for fire safety breach at failing HMO

Tough financial climate leaves experts with tough decisions

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Property guru Vanessa Warwick has admitted that she is one of the many landlords impacted by rising interest rates.

Speaking to Phil Spencer on Move iQ’s Property Podcast, the co-founder of PropertyTribes said that with a long-term tenant in one of her properties still paying £600 less than the market rent, this had become unsustainable as it didn’t support the existing borrowing on her tracker mortgage. “Do I put the rent up or ask them to leave and get new tenants to pay the going rent of £1,700?” she asked.

Unclear position

In a discussion about why landlords are leaving the sector, Timothy Douglas, Propertymark’s head of policy and campaigns, said the government’s unclear position didn’t help, along with tax changes and the push for more homeowners. He believed that the narrative from politicians was important. “They talk about the sector being a key housing provider, but it needs nurturing and a strategy to grow and meet tenants’ needs.”

He added: “If we had a change of government however, they’re more interested in a smaller, more professional private rented sector which could mean licensing of letting agents and more registration and training requirements on landlords.”

Current disconnect

Warwick pointed to a current disconnect between central government putting in barriers to keep landlords in the sector and encourage new ones, while local authorities were pushing for more landlords. Spencer agreed that leaving the business of legislation to local authorities created a complete lack of consistency for renters and landlords. “Consequently, we have a messy and disjointed private rental sector – we need clarity and soon.”

Warwick suggested that one way to weed out poor practice in the PRS was to force landlords to let through accredited agents. She said one of the sector’s biggest problems was caused by self-managing landlords who didn’t understand the rules or were rogue landlords. “Good agents protect tenants from rogue landlords and good landlords from bad tenants,” she added.

View Full Article: Tough financial climate leaves experts with tough decisions

Cash boost for hybrid mortgages platform to help people find their way home

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Wayhome has raised £8 million in equity funding to grow the number of customers it helps buy their own home through gradual homeownership.

The hybrid part-buy part-rent model allows people to buy a home worth up to 10 times their household income with a 5% deposit and no mortgage or borrowing required. Its customers put in what they can afford and the funding partners, such as pension funds, put in the rest.

Adjusted shares

Each home is bought using a unique SPV (special purpose vehicle) that is listed on the title deeds and named on the AST as landlord. The customer and the funding partner are both owners of the SPV and their shares are adjusted every time the customer buys more of their home.

The customer is also named on the AST as a tenant; they then only pay rent on the part of the home they haven’t bought yet which means the more they buy, the less rent they pay. Once they’ve moved in, they’re free to paint walls and have pets. Wayhome are the managing agents and collect the rent each month on behalf of the funding member.

Greater demand

CEO Nigel Purves says: “Due to the way that the gradual homeownership model works, the rising interest rates seen since September’s controversial mini budget have delivered even greater demand for our product.”

He adds: “With the recent ending of the Help to Buy scheme there are now hundreds of thousands of would-be homeowners seeking alternative ways to access the property ladder. Our alternative is the best of all worlds as a part buy, part rent proposition that allows our customer to buy their ideal home, in their ideal location, today without waiting for years.”

The platform boasts that £100 million was used in customer property purchases in one year and plans to double this to £200 million per year within 12 months by forging partnerships with mortgage brokers and lenders.

View Full Article: Cash boost for hybrid mortgages platform to help people find their way home

Welsh government should have ‘listened to landlords’

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The National Residential Landlords’ Association (NRLA) has hit out after the Welsh government unveiled draft legislation to clarify parts of its Renting Homes Wales Act.

The move will see the terms of converted contracts and any renewals that replace them being changed.

View Full Article: Welsh government should have ‘listened to landlords’

Tenant has moved out and destroyed furniture – refusing to pay?

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Hello, Tenants have moved out and destroyed most of the furniture, doors, and white goods. I have sent them an invoice for the replacement of the damaged items. But they are refusing to pay.

They are also refusing to pay 3 months rent.

View Full Article: Tenant has moved out and destroyed furniture – refusing to pay?

The growing problem of cannabis farms

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One of the worst nightmares for landlords is finding their property damaged by cannabis cultivation, which is becoming all too common.

The threat of cannabis farms has long been an issue for landlords up and down the country with £2.4 billion worth of the drug consumed in England and Wales a year (2021 figures).

View Full Article: The growing problem of cannabis farms