Reform Bill: Landlord database to be enforced with court orders

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new ombudsman – known as the landlord redress scheme – and property portal would be compulsory for all private sector landlords.

Part of the Renters (Reform) Bill, the redress scheme or schemes will have the legal authority to compel apologies, take remedial action and pay compensation and, according to the government, will provide fair, impartial, and binding resolution to many issues and prove “quicker, cheaper, and less adversarial than the court system”.

Any decision under the scheme would be made enforceable as if it were a court order.

Finer details

Sean Hooker, head of redress at Property Redress Scheme, tells LandlordZONE that although the government is still working out the finer details, the initiative should help address the gap in dispute resolution for tenants whose landlords do not use an agent or where the issues fall under the obligations of the landlord and not their agent.

Meanwhile, the private rented property portal would help landlords “understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance, alongside providing better information to tenants to make informed decisions when entering into a tenancy agreement,” according to the government. It aims to support local councils by helping them target enforcement activity where it is needed most.

Correct technology

The PRS’s Hooker believes a portal should help landlords and agents understand and comply with their obligations. “Of course, the caveat is that the technology is correct and the process of registering and complying is straightforward and affordable and we await the details of how this will be achieved in a realistic timescale as it is the lynchpin of so much of the other reforms proposed,” he adds.

Fears have long been voiced about local councils’ ability to carry out further enforcement when budgets are being cut. The Local Government Association believes improved access to data on the PRS and mandated landlord registration will increase councils’ oversight of and ability to enforce against the small minority of landlords guilty of criminal behaviour.

Housing spokesman Darren Rodwell adds: “The LGA will continue to work with the government to ensure that councils have the right powers, skills, capacity and resources to undertake effective enforcement activity to improve standards in the private rented sector.”

View Full Article: Reform Bill: Landlord database to be enforced with court orders

Enforced landlord registration part of plan to help sector shape up

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new ombudsman – known as the landlord redress scheme – and property portal would be compulsory for all private sector landlords.

Part of the Renters (Reform) Bill, the redress scheme will have the legal authority to compel apologies, take remedial action and pay compensation and, according to the government, will provide fair, impartial, and binding resolution to many issues and prove “quicker, cheaper, and less adversarial than the court system”. Any decision under the scheme would be made enforceable as if it were a court order.

Finer details

Sean Hooker, head of redress at Property Redress Scheme, tells LandlordZONE that although the government is still working out the finer details, the initiative should help address the gap in dispute resolution for tenants whose landlords do not use an agent or where the issues fall under the obligations of the landlord and not their agent.

Meanwhile, the private rented property portal would help landlords “understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance, alongside providing better information to tenants to make informed decisions when entering into a tenancy agreement,” according to the government. It aims to support local councils by helping them target enforcement activity where it is needed most.

Correct technology

The PRS’s Hooker believes a portal should help landlords and agents understand and comply with their obligations. “Of course, the caveat is that the technology is correct and the process of registering and complying is straightforward and affordable and we await the details of how this will be achieved in a realistic timescale as it is the lynchpin of so much of the other reforms proposed,” he adds.

Fears have long been voiced about local councils’ ability to carry out further enforcement when budgets are being cut. The Local Government Association believes improved access to data on the PRS and mandated landlord registration will increase councils’ oversight of and ability to enforce against the small minority of landlords guilty of criminal behaviour.

Housing spokesman Darren Rodwell adds: “The LGA will continue to work with the government to ensure that councils have the right powers, skills, capacity and resources to undertake effective enforcement activity to improve standards in the private rented sector.”

View Full Article: Enforced landlord registration part of plan to help sector shape up

Sector braces itself for proposed challenging notice periods

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Tenants could effectively move in and give notice the same day under proposals in the Renters (Reform) Bill.

The draft legislation scraps assured shorthold tenancies in favour of periodic tenancies, while rental periods can only be 28 days or one month. Tenants will be able to stay until they decide to end the tenancy by giving two months’ notice or the landlord can evidence a valid ground for possession. Landlords won’t be able to use grounds for moving in, selling or redevelopment for the first six months of the tenancy.

Shorter notice

Property lawyer at JMW, David Smith, explains that notice periods are likely to be the change that most substantially alters the sector on a day-to-day basis. “It has implications for short letting, for agency fee models, and for how landlords set rents,” he says.

Landlords will be fined by local authorities if they try to give tenants a fixed term tenancy longer than a month, while they face a fine if they fail to give their tenant a new written statement that includes a record of terms. “This will be a risk area for a lot of landlords and agents but in reality, it brings England into line with the other parts of the UK,” adds Smith.

Potentially contested

In a move to combat the cost-of-living crisis, rent increases will be limited to once a year and the minimum notice landlords must provide of any change in rent will be increased to two months using a section 13 notice, which can be potentially contested before a tribunal.

However, there is no detail in the Bill about how these changes would affect student landlords who fear open-ended tenancies mean they won’t be able to guarantee accommodation will be available for the start of each academic year, unless sitting tenants have handed in their notice to leave.

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says the government must recognise these serious concerns. “Without the ability to plan around the academic year, students will have no certainty that properties will be available to rent when they need them.”

View Full Article: Sector braces itself for proposed challenging notice periods

Justice at stake if eviction reforms aren’t backed by funding boost

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Court reforms and extra funding are needed if the government’s overhaul of the evictions process is to succeed, warn landlord groups and eviction specialists.

It has promised to abolish section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions as part of the Renters (Reform) Bill, meaning that all evictions would need to be based on an approved reason given by the landlord through a section 8 notice.

Under the reforms, landlords will only be able to evict tenants in certain circumstances, including when they want to sell the property or when they or a close family member want to move in, after six months. However, after a three-month period they will be free to put the property back on the rental market. The Bill also makes it easier for landlords to repossess their properties in cases of anti-social behaviour or where the tenant repeatedly fails to pay rent.

Possession grounds

Property lawyer at JMW, David Smith, explains that there is a huge increase in the number of grounds for possession to deal with a range of needs for social landlords, and to deal with other scenarios where a private landlord would find themselves in breach of the law if they allowed the tenancy to continue. “The promised new ground for possession for repeated arrears is there, as are the expected changes to ground 14 to allow eviction for behaviour ‘capable of causing’ a nuisance.”

However, with an average wait time between a court claim and repossession of nearly 10 months in 2022, according to the Ministry of Justice, more than half of the evictions previously carried out using Section 21 will now be diverted to the courts, adds Smith.

Reduce delays

While the government has promised to digitise parts of the court system to reduce delays, there is little detail on how this will work and no funding has been allocated. NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says staff numbers need to increase in the court system to meet the needs of these reforms while Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina believes greater reform of the court system will be required if landlords are to have confidence to remain in the market.

Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, tells LandlordZONE: “Moving to section 8…means rent arrears won’t be tolerated. Government has got the message, but a failure to fund the court system properly will mean a lack of justice for landlords and tenants.”

View Full Article: Justice at stake if eviction reforms aren’t backed by funding boost

Renters Reform Bill worse than feared

admin    Uncategorized     agents

It is only a Bill and has just been published but the Renters’ Reform Bill appears at first sight worse than many have feared. All tenancies are to become periodic, meaning landlords will have no security of income and student landlords in particular will find the tenants will not pay for the summer holidays.

View Full Article: Renters Reform Bill worse than feared

Landlords rushing to sell as mortgage costs soar above tenants’ rent

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Private landlords across the UK have found themselves in hot water, and it’s no surprise that many are rushing to sell their property portfolios.

A recent article by the BBC reported that private landlords had expressed critical concerns that their rents won’t cover the cost of mortgage payments, especially for those with fixed-rate mortgages coming to an end.

With interest rates rising, and added bills from increasingly tighter regulations, landlords who had previously banked on their property portfolios being their retirement plans have had to switch tactics. Understandably, it’s caused a rush in landlords who are opting to cut their losses and cash in while they can still get as much equity back as possible.

But is now really the best time to sell with the current market?

Over the last year the average time it took to sell a property rose from 45 days to 65 days. However, landlords that contacted Landlord Sales Agency to sell didn’t experience this struggle.

In the last year, over 200 LandlordZONE landlords reached out to us at Landlord Sales Agency to sell their buy-to-lets. Of those landlords, the average time it took for Landlord Sales Agency to sell was below 28 days. Twice as fast as the current market, and for higher prices.

Landlords need to sell, and we’ve proven we deliver. We do exactly what we say we’ll do, and with a huge database of over 30,000 private buyers who get notified of our deals via text message as soon as you get in touch with us to sell, we’re selling properties faster than anyone else.

But what about tenanted properties? Many landlords are worried about tenants holding them back, you don’t need to. That’s where we excel the most. Because our company is owned by a landlord, myself, David Coughlin, I’ve gathered the best team in the country to help solve all my tenant issues, and I personally use that same team for you.

In fact, we go above and beyond to sell tenanted properties. We’re so confident we’ll get you a high price for all of your properties, fast, we have no problem helping tenants pay their current rents, pay off arrears, pay for them to relocate and in some cases, even pay their rent in advance for the next landlord who takes your property on. For very difficult cases, we’ve got the best relationships with local councils across the UK allowing us to get councils to pay rent for tenants, clear any outstanding funds they owe you and even have the councils pay off all their legal costs.

For houses with stubborn survey issues, we bring on board our entire building team and housing networks to resolve every single problem, ensuring that sales don’t fall out of bed, and that landlords like you don’t have to take a big drop in price.

It’s as straightforward as that. No hassle, no nonsense. We get landlord properties sold.

Get in touch and let us do it for you.

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View Full Article: Landlords rushing to sell as mortgage costs soar above tenants’ rent

Renters (Reform) Bill is another nail in the coffin for landlords as they rush to exit the market

admin    Uncategorized     agents

If landlords were rushing to sell their properties before, there’s certainly yet another reason to get out now. Following Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this week, the news hit landlords hard: a Renters (Reform) Bill is to go ahead. The changes to Section 21 will now mean it will be increasingly difficult to evict tenants without a fault.

View Full Article: Renters (Reform) Bill is another nail in the coffin for landlords as they rush to exit the market

Does a landlord give notice for end of tenancy agreement?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hello, I have a tenant on a six month assured tenancy agreement who is currently refusing to pay rent. I have issued a section 8 notice and this is going through due process.

The tenancy ends on 15th July 2023 with the last rent due on 16th June.

View Full Article: Does a landlord give notice for end of tenancy agreement?