Tenants pocket £16,000 after landlord and agent’s regulatory mistakes

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A landlord has failed to convince a court that stress and financial difficulties excused her from paying a rent repayment order.

Instead, Jaya Sanah’s four tenants will share £16,191 after a First Tier Property Tribunal ruled that there was no reason not to licence her four-bedroom HMO which was covered by Hackney Council’s additional licensing scheme.

Sanah didn’t provide a statement or attend the hearing and tried to adjourn it due to her ill health. This was rejected on the basis that she was only suffering from stress-related issues.

The tenants told the tribunal that neither Sanah nor her agent had given them a Right to Rent Guide, electrical and gas safety certificates, or an EPC. They believed she was a professional landlord as she had boasted to them about looking after several properties. However, despite telling the court she had financial difficulties, Sanah said this information was confidential.

Voluntarily

They had paid £2,842 a month rent in full for the two years they lived at the property in Victorian Grove, London, which they voluntarily left in August last year.

The court deducted universal credit payments to one of the tenants, leaving a £26,986 sum from their £34,104 rent repayment order application for the 12-month period.

It ruled: “The tribunal finds the respondent is or holds herself out to be a professional landlord. As such, the tribunal finds she should be or should have made herself aware of the local authority’s licensing requirements as well as the legislative requirements for landlords in the private sector.”

As the offence wasn’t the most serious and was not accompanied by allegations of harassment or attempts at retaliatory eviction, it awarded them 60% of the maximum rent prepayable.

Read the ruling in full.

View Full Article: Tenants pocket £16,000 after landlord and agent’s regulatory mistakes

Rental market reaching crisis point as ‘perfect storm’ hits landlords and tenants

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Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina (main picture) has explained to Radio 4 listeners how an almost broken court system and higher interest rates are driving a rush in Section 21 evictions before rent reform laws kick in.

Speaking on the You and Yours programme, Shamplina said Section 21 evictions had already gone through the roof.

“I’ve been in the industry for 32 years and I’ve never known such a rental crisis. We’ve seen a 91% increase in Section 21 accelerated possession claims issued at court between April 2022 and April 2023.”

The programme featured interviews with two tenants in the same Manchester block who had been served with eviction notices before they could accept a rent rise and were now struggling to find new flats.

Biggest losers

“The biggest losers will be tenants,” Shamplina told listeners. “You will have decent tenants paying rent on time, and either landlords are putting rent up because of interest rates or they want to sell – it adds to the crisis because of a stock shortage.

“One agent had 80 applicants fighting over one property in Islington, which then becomes a bidding war.”

He added that he had never seen so many landlords selling properties as well as anti-landlord feeling in the press.

“Historically, a lot of landlords haven’t put rents up but they are panicking. A lot will be whacking in Section 21s as they feel they can’t get their properties back because the court system is on the brink of being broken.”

GUIDE: What to do if your tenant gets into arrears.

View Full Article: Rental market reaching crisis point as ‘perfect storm’ hits landlords and tenants

Sadiq Khan repeats calls for an ‘immediate two-year rent freeze’ AND S21 ban

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London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for an immediate two-year rent freeze AND a ban on section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions in London to help 160,000 Londoners who are behind on their rent.

His call comes as a survey from City Hall reveals that 30% of private renters in the capital are struggling financially –

View Full Article: Sadiq Khan repeats calls for an ‘immediate two-year rent freeze’ AND S21 ban