Don’t blame landlords for childcare shortages, says NRLA

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The NRLA has hit back at the government’s call for landlords to be more open-minded when considering allowing tenants to become childminders.

Children and Families Minister, Claire Coutinho, has written to housing associations, developers and landlords, urging them to better support prospective childminders who face restrictive clauses in contracts which stop them from working in rented homes.

She says childminders in leasehold properties are sometimes being blocked by restrictive covenants, which won’t allow them to be used for business purposes. Some of those living in rented accommodation find tenancy agreements prevent them from registering their business or that their landlord’s mortgage agreements include restrictions from the lender.

Insurance options

In the letter, Coutinho advises: “You can put measures in place that work for you and your tenant, for example you might discuss insurance options or how your perspective tenant intends to manage pickups and drop offs to reduce disruption to neighbours. To freeholders…please consider working with the local authority planning teams to include exemptions to restrictions on business use for early education and childcare.”

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, says no landlord wants to stand in the way of the provision of childcare, but that government must recognise housing providers are not the issue.

Tenancy deposits

“The government’s encouragement to landlords to ‘be open-minded’ is no-doubt well-meaning but fails entirely to acknowledge the very real issues facing the childcare industry or the legitimate concerns of housing providers,” he adds. “Mortgage lenders and insurers need to be more flexible in enabling landlords to allow childminders to operate from the properties they let. Tenancy deposits must also be allowed to reflect the greater risk of damage to properties being used for childminding.”

Beadle adds: “We will continue to work with the government…but refuse to accept the blame for systemic issues in another industry.”

View Full Article: Don’t blame landlords for childcare shortages, says NRLA

Growing supply and demand mismatch fuels widespread rent rises

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The number of new prospective tenants registering at letting agent branches has increased by 38% in a year and shows no sign of slowing.

Propertymark reports that an average of 187 prospective tenants registered in July compared with 127 in July 2022. Its Housing Market Insight Report also showed that while the average number of properties available to rent per branch increased slightly to 14, this was not enough to keep up with current demand. 

July growth

It says the mismatch between supply and demand continued to grow in July with an average of 13 new prospective tenants registering per available property over the month. Propertymark also found that 70% of agents reported rents increasing month-on-month at their branch, down from 74% in the same month last year. 

Meanwhile, research from Paragon Bank reveals that more than 90% of outer London landlords reported rising tenant demand in the second quarter of 2023, with demand also particularly strong in East Midlands and Wales. The imbalance in supply was leading to rent increases; 87% of landlords said rental prices were increasing in their local market, with 51% planning to increase rents across their own portfolios within the next six months.

Alarming disparity

Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson says there’s an alarming disparity in the number of homes available to rent when compared with growing demand from prospective tenants.

“This gap is continuing to widen from already worrying levels,” he adds. “This mismatch in supply and demand is putting pressure on rents, with 6% of tenants per member branch falling into arrears doubling compared to February 2023. UK governments need to urgently address the fundamental problem of undersupply and look to adequately incentivise the provision of desperately needed homes in the private rented sector.”

View Full Article: Growing supply and demand mismatch fuels widespread rent rises

Landlord forced to pay for ignoring bed bug plague in mouldy home

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A rogue landlord has been ordered to pay back almost £15,000 in rent to tenants who had to live in dangerous and disgusting conditions.

Officers from Barking and Dagenham Council who visited the two-bedroom flat in Butteridges Close, Dagenham, found a litany of problems including damp and mould throughout the property and only one functioning heater. It had no working smoke alarms, the kitchen cupboards were all broken, the oven plug had been secured using duct tape, there was an exposed light in the bathroom, as well as a severe infestation of bed bugs.

Unlicensed property

Kehinde Wilson Gbadegesin, of Greenwich, had already been fined more than £11,000 in February at Barking Magistrates Court after failing to carry out improvements or register for a licence. At the hearing, estate agent Phil Davies Estate Agents was also ordered to pay £11,000 after the court heard both the firm and the landlord had been issued with multiple notices to take action and resolve the issues, which were all ignored.

A First Tier Property Tribunal has now handed Gbadegesin a rent repayment order for the period between February 2022 and January 2023 – totalling £14,400 – as well as a further £300 in costs.

Improve standards

Councillor Syed Ghani, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, says no one should be left to live in dangerous and disgusting conditions like those faced by Gbadegesin’s tenants. “I am pleased to hear this rogue landlord will be made to pay back every penny he unscrupulously took from them.”

He adds: “Our private rented property licensing scheme is there to improve standards for all, and I hope this sends a strong message that we will continue to take action against the small minority who think they can flout the rules and do as they please.”

View Full Article: Landlord forced to pay for ignoring bed bug plague in mouldy home

Student rents rocket by 30% in a year

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Students will be paying 30% more in rent this year as they head back to their studies, one index has found.

The NatWest student living index reveals that the increase has pushed the national monthly rent average to £591.

View Full Article: Student rents rocket by 30% in a year

Bailiff dilemma?

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Hello, in April, I obtained an order for possession from the county court. After a long wait, I was told it can take up to 18 weeks to get a date for the bailiff.

So I applied to transfer the order to the High Court for these reasons:

1- The tenant has not been paying rent since February.

View Full Article: Bailiff dilemma?

Landlords look to sell and not buy – survey

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Private landlords are twice as likely to sell a property than they are to buy – fuelling the country’s ongoing housing crisis, a survey has found.

The findings show that in the second quarter of this year, more than one in 10 (12%) landlords in England and Wales opted to sell their properties.

View Full Article: Landlords look to sell and not buy – survey