Campaign to start protecting landlords?

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Hi Property118 readers, I am writing to request if you could share my petition  – on change.org >> Click Here

I know many landlords registered may agree with me.

National Tenants Database to tackle rogue tenants costing landlords thousands of pounds

“Campaign to start to protect landlords

View Full Article: Campaign to start protecting landlords?

5-year electrical safety tests for PRS?

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Hi. I have four properties and yes all with recent electrical safety certificates. The solicitors have advised that the certificates do not have a 5-year valid period stating only the date that the certificate was issued/certified.

I think they are mixed up.

View Full Article: 5-year electrical safety tests for PRS?

Landlord blames letting agent and council for £11,000 Rent Repayment Order

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A landlord who blamed a council for not telling her about its additional licensing scheme has managed to get her rent repayment order cut in half.

Kerry Prevost-Cooper told a First Tier Property Tribunal that Tower Hamlets Council did not advertise the designation or notify her of the change. She also pointed the finger at the OpenRent platform for not keeping her informed.

Councils are often criticised for not advertising schemes thoroughly, particularly to those landlords outside the area, although in this case Tower Hamlets insisted it had previously sent out leaflets and contacted known landlords.

However, Prevost-Cooper convinced a tribunal judge, who reduced the RRO for not licensing the house in Clearbrook Way (main picture) from £22,173 to £11,086.

‘Needed to by psychic’

The landlord told the court that she had no idea that there were, or could be, separate local requirements or that the property could be an HMO in these circumstances.

She suggested landlords needed to be psychic if local authorities failed in their duty. Although she works for a local authority, when asked whether she should have been proactive to find out local requirements, she said she wouldn’t have known how.

The tribunal ruled that there were various ways to take reasonable steps to consult those who were likely to be affected by licensing, and it did not accept that the mere fact a local authority had failed to write personally to every single landlord who might be affected put it in breach of its duties.

Although Prevost-Cooper’s ignorance was not a reasonable excuse and she should have researched the legal requirements relating to letting the property, it acknowledged the offence wasn’t deliberate.

Read more about RROs.

View Full Article: Landlord blames letting agent and council for £11,000 Rent Repayment Order

MPs to hear landlords’ views on controversial renting reforms next week

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Landlords will get to voice their concerns about the proposed renting reforms next week when the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee takes evidence from the sector.

The NRLA’s Ben Beadle, along with witnesses from renters and residents’ groups, including Generation Rent, Shelter and the British Property Federation, plus local councillors and the Local Government Association, will be quizzed by the cross-party group of MPs on Monday.

They plan to examine the current state of the PRS, the government’s proposals and the likely impact of reforms which include plans for reform of evictions, tenancies and grounds for possession.

Watch the evidence session (starts at 4pm on Monday)

The committee’s inquiry will also get their views on the suggested decent homes standard for the private rented sector, proposals to set up a new ombudsman covering all private landlords, plans to speed up the court process and clamp down on landlords who refuse to let to benefit claimants, and the ability of local councils to enforce both existing standards and the proposed new DHS.

Expressed fears

Many landlord and property groups have already expressed fears that the white paper contains some serious flaws; earlier this week, the DLUHC dismissed concerns from HMO student landlords that its plans to bring in periodic tenancies – allowing students to give two months’ notice at any time – would damage the sector.

They could also have a job convincing some members of the committee. When it launched the probe, chair Clive Betts said he believed that private renters could be the victim of a power imbalance with their landlords, subject to unjustified hikes in rents and the fear of being forced out of their accommodation.

Read more: the ultimate guide to student properties.

View Full Article: MPs to hear landlords’ views on controversial renting reforms next week

Is rent to buy a good option?

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Hello everyone, The sale of one of my rental properties fell through at exchange due to the breakdown of the chain lower down.

My buyers are still really keen to buy it but need to re-sell their property.

View Full Article: Is rent to buy a good option?

NRLA criticises plans for PRS Decent Homes Standard

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The National Residential Landlords’ Association (NRLA) says that the government should not be considering a move to extend the Decent Homes Standard from social housing to the private sector.

Instead, it should be focused on simplifying existing laws that target criminal landlords.

View Full Article: NRLA criticises plans for PRS Decent Homes Standard

PROFILE: Meet the local landlords taking on regional and national regulators

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The Humber Landlords Association (HLA) can justly claim that it has the ear of local and central government – and isn’t afraid to take these authorities to task.

When it challenged Hull’s Accredited Landlord Scheme in 2019, the government delivered a sharp rebuke to the city council after finding it to be unfairly penalising private landlords by serving them with enforcement notices before they’d had the opportunity to address a tenant’s complaint.

“When the new enforcement policy was introduced, we told them it wouldn’t give people time to sort out problems,” chairman and local agent Danny Gough (pictured) tells LandlordZONE.

“It ended up at the High Court but when the council saw we were happy to go to the Court of Appeal, that made them sit up and think. We just wanted them to think logically and they’ve changed the policy. That was a real win.”

Resisted plans

The association also successfully resisted plans to introduce selective licensing and believes the fact private landlords provide more houses in Hull than the local authority gives it a mandate to step in when something doesn’t make sense for the sector. It’s even been to meet with then Housing Minister Michael Gove to outline concerns.

When it’s not campaigning, the HLA, which was set up more than 30 years ago and covers Hull, Humberside and North East Lincolnshire, meets once a month, conducts in-house training and keeps members informed about the law and their responsibilities, explains Gough, who has been at the helm for four years.

The result has been an improvement in standards throughout the PRS and more tenants living in a nice, safe environment.

Good work

“We currently have 115 members and more people wanting to join as they can see we do really good work, but there’s no desire to push the group into something bigger than it needs to be,” he says.

Involved in property since 2002, Gough has owned lettings, sales and investment firm MyPad in the city since 2012 and reckons it’s a good fit, asserting: “I’m passionate about the association.

“It’s what made my business better because I’m at the forefront of all the information, so our clients are the best informed.”

View Full Article: PROFILE: Meet the local landlords taking on regional and national regulators

BREAKING: Government seeks YOUR views on Decent Homes Standards plans

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The Government has today launched yet another consultation ahead of its previously announced Renters Reform Bill, this time looking at its plans to introduce a ‘Decent Homes Standard’ into the PRS.

As mentioned within the recent ‘Fairer Renting’ white paper, it will bring in a version of a standard already in place within the social housing sector.

The consultation asks whether privately rented homes should be required to be kept in a good state of repair with efficient heating, suitable facilities, and free from serious hazards like major damp or fire risks.

It seeks views from landlords, tenants, councils and housing groups on whether such new standards should be introduced and on how they should be enforced and will run for six weeks.

Landlords response

Responding to the consultation Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, (pictured, below) says: “Standards in the private rented sector are improving. That is why private renters are more likely to be satisfied with their accommodation than those in the social rented sector.

“The Government’s plans should focus on making it easier for private landlords, tenants and councils to understand what is expected of them by simplifying the almost 170 laws already affecting the sector.

“The plans need to also recognise crucial differences between private and social rented housing, including in the age and types of properties in each.

“In the end, all the laws in the world will do nothing without improved enforcement against the minority of landlords who tarnish the reputation of the responsible, law-abiding majority. That requires properly resourced councils tackling the criminals and rogues, whilst allowing the responsible majority to easily prove their home is safe and compliant.”

Housing Secretary Greg Clark (pictured) says he wants to see a thriving private rented sector, “but that does not mean that tenants should have to suffer homes that are not of decent standard,” he adds.

“This consultation asks what the minimum standard for privately rented homes should be.”

Visit the consultation page.

View Full Article: BREAKING: Government seeks YOUR views on Decent Homes Standards plans

UK rents continue rising to new heights

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Every region in the UK has seen annual and monthly rent growth with the average price now standing at £1,143, one index reveals.

According to HomeLet, the average rent in August grew by 8.5% from last year –

View Full Article: UK rents continue rising to new heights

Comment: the cost of living crisis is particularly acute for tenants living in the capital

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Today’s tenants are not just facing one problem; the cost of living, the scarcity of rentals and rapidly rising rents mean it’s just one thing on top of another.

Most tenants would like to see their time in rentals as a temporary episode in their lives, usually as a stepping stone to owning their own property, once they find a partner, combine resources, and settle down to a house with space, rather than the archetypal cramped city flat.

One crisis after another

But with seemingly one crisis after another for generations X, Y and Z, first Brexit, then Covid and now a European war has thrown another great spanner in the works, the house owning dream looks further away than ever for many renters.

The so called cost of living crisis is have a big impact on tenants already, and we’ve barely reached the start of it; as winter arrives we are likely to see the full extent, which could extend to years rather than months.

With tenants in the capital paying up to 50 per cent of their earning capacity on rent, the rising cost of heating fuel and food – as a result of Putin’s grotesque invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine – and to some extent successive Governments’ seeming inability to invest in a coherent long-term energy strategy, it’s all having a devastating effect on the many tenants trapped in the rental market.

To make matters worse, there’s a severe shortage of rental accommodation, which means that if tenants need to move – and this is happening more often as landlord decide to sell-up – they are not only having to much pay higher rents, they are lucky to even find any vacancies.

Renting with bills included?

According to Melissa York writing for the Sunday Times, the most searched for rental property item on Rightmove currently is rental accommodation with bills included. Unfortunately for most tenants – apparently only around 1 per cent of landlords would do that – getting such a benefit in today’s inflationary environment is a bit of a forlorn hope.

Offering an all-in rent, for most landlords, is just one risk too far. Would tenants be as careful at keeping their use of electricity, heating, hot water and water usage in check, as if they were paying for these themselves? Human nature says not. Especially so in a multi-occupied groups, where there’s always someone willing to abuse trust, usage is likely to escalate under carte blanche – it’s the “Tragedy of the Commons” story over again!

A lower standard of living for everyone

Everyone’s cost of living and therefore standard of living will be affected by the ongoing crisis and there’s going to be no shelter from that. But with average rents outside of London now in excess of eleven hundred pounds, and 52 per cent fewer rental homes available to let, causing a scramble for every vacancy in the capital, according to property agents Hamptons International – some tenants are just teetering on disaster.

Among the younger population, renting is widespread in the UK with only around 40 per cent of 25 to 35 year olds owning their own homes. And despite a Conservative stated Government policy of encouraging home ownership, with it’s “Help to Buy” schemes, there’s still around 60 per cent of low earners, that is people earning below £300 per week, who are renting, and many likely to be life long renters.

Where do renters live?

In the UK over half of all renters live in “terraced” single-family homes, with around one-third in “flats” and the balancing minority living in detached rental houses. For renters, living conditions are on average worse that those of home owners, with fewer and smaller rooms, and often-times with some form of overcrowding.

If you go back 100 years local authorities were required by law to provide council (social) housing. This type of tenure was introduced to provide decent housing for returning army veterans after World War I, and the tenure received a further boost after World War II, largely replacing bomb damaged housing.

The switch to private renting

But by the 1970s the negative side of social housing began to show: lack of funding, lack of maintenance and large sink estates with decaying property stock. It led, under the Thatcher administration to a major shift in policy, away from Government provided housing to private supply: the private landlord and the growth of the private rented sector (PRS), which has continued to the present time. The private landlord now assumes that mantle that was once the remit of the local council.

Home ownership in decline

At the same time, home ownership had been in steady decline, as renting continued to increase. Ownership reached an all time peak in 2003 at just under 71 per cent, dropping to around 63 per cent today. So more people than every rely on landlords to provide rental housing at a reasonable price.

It’s something that now appears to be slipping further and further away, rents continue to soar as rental supply dwindles. So far there’s no sign the Government intends to do anything positive to encourage small-scale private landlords to invest: far from it, with the latest a A fairer private rented sector white paper is providing enough perceived threats to actually scare many landlords away – it’s literally the last straw for many.

View Full Article: Comment: the cost of living crisis is particularly acute for tenants living in the capital