Political battles intensify over spread of noisy student HMOs in NI

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Northern Ireland officials have refused to get tougher on HMO landlords despite pleas from Belfast councillors that parts of the city are becoming over-run and affected by anti-social behaviour.

A Department for Communities review concluded it couldn’t reduce high numbers of HMOs in areas such as the Holylands (main picture) and would not change the definition of a house of multiple occupation, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

The Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 came into effect in April 2019 following the transfer from Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s HMO registration scheme to councils under a new licensing regime.

As part of a subsequent review, the department acknowledged that the new licensing regime aimed to prevent new areas being over-provided in the future.

Scope

However, it added: “It does not have the scope to reduce over-provision in existing areas that already have a high number of HMOs and has concluded that the issue of historical overprovision is outside of the scope of the Act and therefore of the review.”

At a meeting of Belfast Council’s licensing committee, councillors expressed disappointment. Alliance councillor Micky Murray said landlords had come to the committee asking for renewal licences when they had failed to follow the legislation and renew on time.

Loophole

“They have told us they’re selling the properties and it’s clear that this isn’t about providing housing, rather this is solely about profit,” he added. “These houses are worth more to them when they can essentially sell an HMO licence through a legal loophole.”

The department has agreed to work with the council to make changes to the legislation, allowing a fee to be charged against a landlord who wants a temporary exemption notice – when a landlord wants to take away HMO status from a property and give notice for tenants to leave the property.

View Full Article: Political battles intensify over spread of noisy student HMOs in NI

Political battles intensify over spread of noisy student HMOs in Belfast

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Northern Ireland officials have refused to get tougher on HMO landlords despite pleas from Belfast councillors that parts of the city are becoming over-run and affected by anti-social behaviour.

A Department for Communities review concluded it couldn’t reduce high numbers of HMOs in areas such as the Holylands (main picture) and would not change the definition of a house of multiple occupation, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

The Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 came into effect in April 2019 following the transfer from Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s HMO registration scheme to councils under a new licensing regime.

As part of a subsequent review, the department acknowledged that the new licensing regime aimed to prevent new areas being over-provided in the future.

Scope

However, it added: “It does not have the scope to reduce over-provision in existing areas that already have a high number of HMOs and has concluded that the issue of historical overprovision is outside of the scope of the Act and therefore of the review.”

At a meeting of Belfast Council’s licensing committee, councillors expressed disappointment. Alliance councillor Micky Murray said landlords had come to the committee asking for renewal licences when they had failed to follow the legislation and renew on time.

Loophole

“They have told us they’re selling the properties and it’s clear that this isn’t about providing housing, rather this is solely about profit,” he added. “These houses are worth more to them when they can essentially sell an HMO licence through a legal loophole.”

The department has agreed to work with the council to make changes to the legislation, allowing a fee to be charged against a landlord who wants a temporary exemption notice – when a landlord wants to take away HMO status from a property and give notice for tenants to leave the property.

View Full Article: Political battles intensify over spread of noisy student HMOs in Belfast

Banning orders against rogue landlords have been a flop, new data shows

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Only 16 rogue landlords in England are subject to banning orders because councils can’t afford to take them to court – despite seeing regular criminal activity.

A Freedom of Information request by openDemocracy reveals that London council Camden has handed out the most, with seven, followed by two by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

Seven other councils have handed out one banning order each: Cornwall County Unity Authority, Telford & Wrekin, Wirral Borough Council, Cambridge City Council, Leeds City Council, Bristol City Council and Bournemouth Borough Council.

The news site found that no other London council has any banning orders in place while the capital’s database of rogue landlords exceeds 250 entries.

One local authority enforcement officer told openDemocracy that they frequently encountered the kind of criminal activity that could warrant a ban but didn’t have the resources to address it.

Banned

Some landlords continued to rent out properties after being banned, and even those who faced penalties for breaching their bans can receive immaterial fines.

The number of live banning orders – which expire after a certain period depending on the offence – is “certainly” lower than the number of crimes committed, leading housing lawyer Giles Peaker told the site. “It involves prosecutions, which is time-consuming and costly to local authorities,” said Peaker. “There are disincentives to use it when local authorities are cash strapped.”

In January 2022, the number on the Rogue Landlord database – those who have been convicted of banning order offences or have received at least two financial penalties within 12 months – had only crept up to 61 out of the thousands thought to be operating within the private rental sector.

The government claims its Renters (Reform) Bill will give it new powers to crack down on criminal landlords by creating a national landlord database, but it makes no mention of increased funding.

View Full Article: Banning orders against rogue landlords have been a flop, new data shows

Letting agencies warned over ‘illegal and outrageous’ deposit deductions

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A shocked landlord has revealed on social media that their letting agency illegally deducted its ‘tenant finding’ fee from the tenancy deposits of the renters involved.

This was 20% of the first month’s rent at both properties, which the agency took from the deposit, asking the landlord to ‘top it up’ before protecting it within a government-approved scheme.

After challenging the firm, the landlord was told this was ‘standard practice’ and, in frustration, took to social media (main picture, inset) to wonder aloud whether this was ethical.

Fraud

But private rented sector mediation expert Julie Ford (pictured) has warned any letting agency involved in such activity that by doing so they could be prosecuted for ‘fraud by false representation’.

“Deducting a fee owed to the agent by the landlord from the tenants deposit is wrong but subsequently telling the landlord that they now have to top-up the tenants own money before protecting the deposit is just outrageous,” she says.

“Money paid to the landlord as rent is the landlords’ money, so the agent would be entitled to deduct their fees from the first month’s rent for example,” she says.

“But the tenancy deposit is not the landlord’s money, it is the tenant’s money at all times throughout the tenancy and remains so until the landlord can provide reason why they wish to make a deduction for damage/dilapidation or rent owed when the tenancy ends.

“When an agent deducts their fee directly from the tenants deposit they have committed an illegal act called fraud by false representation.

“This is because they have deducted a fee owed to them by someone else from the tenant who doesn’t owe them the fee.”

Fraud by false representation is the act of dishonestly making a false representation to make a gain or cause a loss for another individual.

Thin ice

“The agent in this case is on very thin ice indeed, as the act of fraud by false representation is a criminal offence which holds a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine.

“A court will deal with matters of this severity. In minor cases, fraud convictions can lead to a smaller fine or community orders.”

Ford adds that situations like this should not occur as agents should know at a very basic level that a tenancy deposit is a ring fenced fund that is not available to them for their fees.

“The introduction of RoPA and the full regulation of agents cannot come quick enough and I sincerely hope that it sees agents such as this put out of business some day,” she adds.

View Full Article: Letting agencies warned over ‘illegal and outrageous’ deposit deductions

Landlords are now selling at a record rate despite house price falls

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In an almost unanimous decision, landlords are throwing in the towel, opting to take the cash and sell their property portfolios. It seems that the gravy train for buy-to-lets is well and truly over, and it’s time to put investment elsewhere.

Official figures based on capital gains tax data from HM Revenue and Customs seemed to indicate that landlords had already sold their properties at the rate of a whopping 8.5% more than originally estimated. And if that wasn’t enough to convince you it’s time to get out, The Guardian added the final nail in the coffin by confirming that the situation was so bad that even though landlords who sold buy-to-lets this year made £10,500 less than those who did so in 2022, clearly that was a small hit compared to the financial consequences of not getting out now.

Surging mortgages are in part to blame, with landlords unable to squeeze tenants for more rent to make the payments make economic sense, or in many cases, even just offset them. That plus new regulations, extortionate refurbs and mounting tax bills and the answer is staring at us squarely in the face: it just isn’t worth it anymore.

So what do we do? Well, if figures are anything to go by, despite the market dropping slightly, properties are still selling, and with the right portfolio exit company, you can still sell fast before the market drops even further. Put bluntly, it’s better to get 100% of 90% market value now, than 100% of 70% market value later. It’s time to take the no-nonsense approach, recoup your finances, and take action.

There are several options for selling your property portfolios, but there’s a reason over 200 landlords per month are reaching out to Landlord Sales Agency. We’re an industry leading, landlord’s choice, comprised of a can-do team of the best property experts in the country.

Created by landlords for landlords, we’re also the UK’s most trusted portfolio exit specialists. No matter what properties you approach us with for selling, no matter what condition, no matter what the tenant or refurb situation, we’ve got an entire team of experts and builders to get them sorted and sold for you. Repairs, access to the property, certificates, video tours: leave it with us. We’re able to overcome every single challenge to get your properties sold, and we’ve done it time and time again. All you need to do is call us, we’ll take the rest off your hands to get the properties sold faster than anyone else.

Our strategy is strong, focused and effective:

• We manage the entire sale for you, to Formula 1 style efficiency, with experts trained to overcome every possible issue that might arise
• We have a waiting list of new landlord buyers actively looking for business deals meaning we can sell with tenants in, regardless of the situation or rents
• We also sell to owner occupiers, first time buyers and investors who we have trusted relationships with, and who are happy to pay more for our properties
• We ensure all required certificates and legislation is current and in place and any quick repairs that need doing to meet standards are sorted by our in-house team of builders and electricians
• If tenants need relocating, we have relationships with local councils to help, even providing pre-paid rent in some cases for tenants in their new homes so they’re happy and able to move quickly
• Our database of 30,000+ of private buyers and investors are text every time we take on a new portfolio, meaning we have buyers queuing to buy before we’ve even listed a property portfolio
• We secure offers early in the process to avoid gazumping and wasted costs
• Our company is run by landlords and has relationships with the biggest landlord associations to ensure our service is trusted, to a gold standard, and every single obstacle is overcome to help you sell, FAST.

So if you want to sell, and need a trusted, reliable company you know are going to get the job done for you, no fuss, no nonsense, fast and for the best possible price, get in touch today.

There’s never been a better time to act than right now, and we’re the ones to help you get it sorted.

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View Full Article: Landlords are now selling at a record rate despite house price falls

Rental deposit alternatives catching on as interest rates and rents rise – claim

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Growing numbers of tenants are turning to deposit alternative products as inflation, high rents and interest rate rises make it more attractive to hold on to their money to spend or invest.

Reposit CEO Ben Grech (main picture) says that rising inflation has eaten away at a typical deposit while it remains locked up.

“Many tenants would rather put their money to better use right now such as helping to pay for the rising costs of living,” he tells LandlordZONE.

“With Reposit, tenants are obliged to pay only one week’s rent, giving them the flexibility to either spend the remaining sum – equivalent to four weeks’ rent – or save it and benefit from the interest.”

Landlords get up to eight weeks’ worth of rent as protection against dilapidations and rent arrears.

Recession

Adds Grech: “As we go into a time of recession and higher cost of living, the rent arrears claims are the larger claims, so our offering becomes very compelling for landlords and agents.”

As a result, Reposit reports that more agencies are signing up to offer its deposit alternative product, helping to contribute to an almost 600% growth in sales during the last four years – despite a downturn in tenancy volume across the lettings market. The firm believes this shows how deposit alternative products have become more integrated into the rental market.

Goodlord’s tenancy data reveals that in early August, tenancy volume was at 94% compared with 107% in 2019, illustrating that the lettings market has still not fully recovered to pre-Covid levels. Meanwhile, Reposit sales have grown 596% in that time.

One of the latest letting agencies to sign up is Morfitt Smith in Sheffield where director Paul Batty explains: “We rolled Reposit out to all existing tenancies and it was very well received, a significant number wanted to switch, especially those in long-term tenancies.”

Read more: What are a landlord's duties when taking cash deposits?

View Full Article: Rental deposit alternatives catching on as interest rates and rents rise – claim

Has Paragon Bank Advised You To Consider Incorporation?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We understand that Paragon Bank is now interviewing some if not all new clients who are applying for new BTL mortgages and that one of their questions is whether incorporation has been considered.

We want to understand this better

View Full Article: Has Paragon Bank Advised You To Consider Incorporation?

Selective License and DBS check?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hello, I am having to get a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service, I’m not sure of all the abbreviations for lettings etc.,) for my Selective License. I emailed the council, asking what the point was, and if I had a criminal record

View Full Article: Selective License and DBS check?