Covid diaries: ‘How an abusive tenant (and the evictions ban) cost me £14,000’

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Oxfordshire landlord Max Carter has been in touch with LandlordZONE to highlight how the government’s Covid evictions ban has helped turn one of his properties into a financial liability.

The former Royal Marine says he has spent a year battling one of his tenants, who is now 12 months and £14,000 in rent arrears and who has been a ‘difficult character’ to deal with and more than occasion, abusive.

Carter, who has a number of rental properties, says the tenant initially moved into a house he owns but then transferred to another larger property which had become vacant within his portfolio.

“It all started off very nicely,” says Carter. “In return for a lower rent he did a little bit of repair work for us on other properties but some of our tenants then began complaining about inappropriate messages he had sent them.

“He then moved to my grandmother’s former home which is a beautiful property in rural Oxfordshire (pictured) near to Chinnor, but we soon discovered that it had been damaged.

“This included tonnes of concrete poured on the front garden, walls blocked up and doors that had been damaged by his dogs.”

The tenant then stopped paying the rent and Carter invited him to move out but when this didn’t happen, he then started the possessions process to evict him and is now waiting for a court date.

Evictions regulations

“It’s been complicated by the changes to the evictions regulations which have made the process much longer and in the meantime we’re losing money,” says Carter.

“We’ve stuck to the letter of the law but he’s been extremely rude and been taunting us and saying he will declare himself bankrupt to avoid paying the arrears.”

Carter secured a court date for 29^th December last year but this has been delayed due to Covid and he still waiting for a new date. He says the tenant has also made derogatory remarks to the local council about him when talking to its housing team about being re-housed, including threats of violence.

“I have been very tempted to his suggestion to move out as long as I drop all claims to rent arrears but I realised all I’m doing is creating the same nightmare for the landlord of the next house he rents,” says Carter. “But I don’t feel that’s the moral thing to do.

“Landlords work hard to create homes they can rent out and use as a pension pot when they retire but then tenants like this come along, take liberties, are difficult and turn the properties into financial nightmares, and at the moment the law protects them.”

LandlordZONE has tried to contact the tenant for comment but so far without success.

Vote on this – take our landlord Twitter poll on the government’s approach to evictions during Covid.

Read more about rent-dodging tenants.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Covid diaries: ‘How an abusive tenant (and the evictions ban) cost me £14,000’ | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Rental market set for ‘huge rush’ to move once lockdown eases, says portal

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More than a third of tenants plan to move home once lockdown restrictions have eased, according to new research, as supressed demand floods into the market.

Online booking platform Spotahome reports that 38% of tenants are waiting for the pandemic to subside before handing in their notice, despite the market remaining open.

A further 21% haven’t moved because of shielding, quarantine or being unable to travel to their chosen location, while 16% say they can’t afford to rent their current property as they’re on furlough or have lost their job and so might have no choice but to move.

The survey of 1,322 tenants asked them about their feelings towards the current rental market while lockdown restrictions remain in place and found that 77% feel safe renting, although Covid continues to be a concern for 23%.

Affordability worries

Other worries are affordability, with 29% of tenants reporting that getting by on their remaining income once the rent has been paid is their biggest concern.

Meanwhile, 20% said the state of their property was a concern as their letting agent or landlord had failed to rectify problems.

A lack of outdoor space (17%) or the size of their rental home (15%) were also worries, while a fear of eviction due to rental arrears and inadequate wi-fi were both cited by 5% of renters.

Head of data and analytics, Jorge Alonso (pictured), says: “The good news is that for the large part, tenants feel safe and while finances are a concern, they aren’t the driving issues for the vast majority.

“Uncertainty, space and quality of living conditions are far more important and this is a trend that is likely to remain as we’re eased back to normality.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Rental market set for ‘huge rush’ to move once lockdown eases, says portal | LandlordZONE.

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Property tax relief restrictions on personal remortgage?

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Hello Everyone, Can anyone clarify the following.

Is tax relief on mortgage interest for personal remortgage funds available if :
1. Funds are withdrawn for personal use and not reinvested?
2. Remortgage funds are reinvested, but exceed the purchase price of the properties?

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Tenants in breach and need to vacate for full rewire?

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I wonder if somebody could give me some advice? I have a property which is let to an Eastern European couple. My electrician has been round to do his electrical report. He has advised me that the property requires a full rewire but as “there appear to be up to 10 people living in the property”

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Trading Standards begins crack down on London agents who fail to protect landlord cash

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Hundreds of London’s letting agents are being slapped with warnings that they face a hefty fine for failing to protect landlords’ money.

The capital’s trading standards officers have launched a widescale enforcement operation aimed at cracking down on rogue agents who don’t belong to client money protection (CMP) and redress schemes.

Almost 100 have already been found to have broken the law and served with a formal notice of intent by their local council, warning them about the financial penalty. Many more will receive similar notices over the coming weeks.

These agents have 28 days to provide any evidence or mitigation in their defence before councils make a final decision on issuing a fine – up to £30,000 for failure to belong to a CMP scheme – which ensures tenant and landlord money is protected should the business fail – or up to £5,000 for other breaches of the law.

The enforcement operation is being run by London Trading Standards and the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team. Its head, James Munro, says the initiative is helping to safeguard billions of pounds of consumers’ money.

“The intelligence gathered from this campaign will be used to support local authority investigations across the country, which will help protect consumers, raise compliance across the industry and boost consumer confidence,” he says.

Councillor Darren Rodwell (pictured), London Councils’ executive member for housing & planning, adds: “We won’t put up with rogue letting agents making life miserable for their tenant and landlord clients.

“This pan-London project and the hefty fines being issued should make clear to rogue letting agents that bad practice is unacceptable.”

The dangers faced by landlords when agencies stop trading were highlighted last week when, as we reported, a Midlands estate agency went into liquidation owning landlords and tenants £700,000 in rent and deposits.

Happily, the agency had placed most of its deposits in an approved scheme, and the remaining cash was covered by its member of Client Money Protect.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Trading Standards begins crack down on London agents who fail to protect landlord cash | LandlordZONE.

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Labour mayoral candidate kicks off ‘rogue landlord’ campaign in NE

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One of Tees Valley’s mayoral candidates has vowed to fight the upcoming election by promising a clampdown on rogue landlords.

Labour’s Jessie Joe Jacobs wants to introduce selective licensing across more of the north-east authority to tackle rogue landlords and raise standards in problem areas.

While there are already schemes in parts of Middlesbrough, Jacobs wants to introduce them across a broader area of Tees Valley to stop problem landlords moving into areas which currently don’t have schemes.

“We have homes that are boarded up but people are still living in them,” she says. “They have issues with no heating – those landlords are not taking responsibility.”

Jacobs fears the financial and personal problems caused during the pandemic will create a new homelessness crisis when landlords are able to claim unpaid rents.

Dragging down

She says: “We’ve heard stories of rental properties left for months with no heating or hot water…that can’t be right. The impact is not only on the individuals either, it affects the wider community, dragging neighbourhoods down, creating no go areas, and making local residents feel unsafe.”

Local leadership working closely with housing providers, ethical investors and agencies can begin to resolve this problem, says Jacobs, who adds: “We need to take action now to prevent this growing into another crisis.

“When housing situations worsen, people are either left homeless or find themselves in the hands of dodgy landlords with substandard property.”

The election, originally due to take place in May 2020, was postponed until 6^th May 2021 due to the pandemic, and will see incumbent Conservative mayor Ben Houchen seeking re-election.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Labour mayoral candidate kicks off ‘rogue landlord’ campaign in NE | LandlordZONE.

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Signed Tenancy Agreement but Landlord change his mind?

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I am a Landlord and I would like some help. I have a signed tenancy agreement between all parties, where on the last page says: Signed by the Landlord, signed by Tenants and Document Executed by: (which is my letting agent).

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Do Ministers understand landlords are ‘backbone of the rental market’?

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This question has been asked as new research shows the number of landlords within the private rented sector has dropped by 8% or approximately 200,000 since 2019.

This reduction has been pinned on the additional stamp duty costs of entering the market and the reduction in mortgage interest relief, all of which have dampened demand for investment property.

And the number of landlords may reduce further, says property firm Barrows and Forrester, as a further 21% say they are considering quitting the market.

“Minister don’t seem to understand that the buy-to-let sector is the backbone of the rental market and fewer landlords means fewer properties and even less affordable rents,” says MD James Forrester.

Exodus

His research also highlights how a mass-market exodus could be on the cards ahead of a potential increase in capital gains tax.

But for landlords who have stuck around, returns have been improving; the average value of a property portfolio has increased by £38,820 to £491,234 since 2019.

The largest uplift has been in the SW of England where average portfolio values has risen by £49,000, approximately £10,000 more than anywhere else.

Barrow and Foster says these increases have been driven largely by the stamp duty holiday, which has seen a surge in demand for properties in both the general and buy-to-let sectors, leading to competition and higher offers.

“However, true to form, it seems as though the government will do their best to spoil the party with an increase in capital gains tax via next month’s budget,” says Forrester (pictured).

“This is quite astounding given the string of changes already implemented to stamp duty tax thresholds and tax relief and the impact it has had on landlord numbers.”

Read more about capital gains tax.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Do Ministers understand landlords are ‘backbone of the rental market’? | LandlordZONE.

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The Latest on Rent Arrears, Courts and Evictions

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On Tuesday 23 February 2021 at 11:00am, Landlord Action, alongside PRS Mediation, will host a one-hour webinar providing property professionals with the very latest information and guidance on rent arrears, courts and evictions.

The private rented sector is in crisis when it comes to rent arrears

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Many students are paying for accommodation they are unable to use

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Missing face to face lectures, missing the usual uni social contact with other students and having to self-isolate on top of accommodation issues – all are having a devastating impact for many.

Despite the optimism of the rapid UK vaccine roll-out, it looks like coronavirus is here to stay for a while yet, so renting and student finance and issues continue.

A recent National Student Accommodation (NUS) student survey results are claiming that around £1 billion is being spent on unused student accommodation during this current 2020/21 academic year.

NUS say they have conducted a UK-wide survey polling 1,355 university students carried out between 20 January and 8 February. Taking the average amount spent on rooms which they say students have not had full access to this academic year, estimated at £1,621, and extrapolating, the total amount they estimate this to be £933,270,890.

Many universities have provided refunds for on-campus accommodation as have many private landlords. The University of Warwick, for example, has offered a rent waiver for the first half term, and have since offered an extension to the waiver. However, the NUS survey results claim that only 6% of students in accommodation owned by private landlords have managed to get a refund.

Around one-third (32%) of students have been offered a discount on their accommodation, whereas two-thirds of the students surveyed in university-owned accommodation have asked for a refund. This compares to less than one in five students in private landlords’ accommodation.

According to the NUS, 39% of students live in private landlords’ accommodation, 34% are in university accommodation, 15% in private halls, and 10% living with their parents.

The survey reveals that this year the average rent for students is £146 per week (pw). This breaks down as an average for private landlords at £148pw, for university accommodation at £145pw, private halls at £144pw, and for students living at home the average they pay their parents is £30pw.

So in total, the average amount spent on rooms by students, who do not had full access to them, this year is estimated at £1,621.

Average weekly rents vary widely within the regions, from £71 in Northern Ireland to £152pw in London. The West Midlands has an average of £119pw.

The survey found that for the average student, 73% of their maintenance loan goes on rent, with in some cases, students finding that their loan does not cover all of their rent. Half of students report that they struggle to pay their rent with 10% saying that it was a “constant struggle”.

One student in private halls said:

“Fear of not being able to afford living costs e.g. food, travel, academic resources as Maintenance Loan doesn’t cover both rent and living costs and I receive none from family.”

The survey reveals that on average parents are contributing around £44pw to rent, totalling as much as £2,288 per year.

Just over half, (52%) of students find themselves in the same living situations as they had originally planned, whereas around one-third (35%) of the students surveyed were staying at home with family after the move back home for Christmas.

Students are often unaware of the full commitment signing a rental contract involves. It is a salutary lesson to many that they can be held to a rental agreement.

One in three students do not read their accommodation contract and, for one in ten students, no-one in their house had read their contracts before signing. One in three students expressed that they plan to ask for a break clause in their contract next year, which would allow them to end their tenancy early if required.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Many students are paying for accommodation they are unable to use | LandlordZONE.

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