Landlords face renewed Airbnb clampdown by Scottish government

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The Scottish Government is set to resume its plan to crackdown on short-term Airbnb rentals following a temporary halt to the proposed new regulations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart has announced that the new rules will now be fast-tracked to ensure they are in place by next summer to help ease the pressure on Scotland’s housing market.

The new licencing scheme aims to regulate the short-term let sector which is being blamed for contributing to a housing crisis in Scottish cities.

In Edinburgh in particular, a surge in Airbnb listings has led to a significant reduction in the availability of homes for rent.

Having paused the implementation of the licencing proposals due to the pandemic, the Scottish Government will now fast-track the new regulations with a view to them being in place before Holyrood is dissolved for the 2021 election.

In a letter to the Local Government Committee, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “Having paused work on the regulation of short-term lets to deal with the pandemic, we have now resumed our work on the measures that I announced on 8 January.”

The letter continues: “We aim to lay the regulations giving local authorities powers to license short-term lets and introduce control areas in December so that they can be in force by spring 2021. As part of preparation to do this, we will be engaging stakeholders on our detailed proposals in autumn.

“The delay caused by Covid-19 necessitates that this will be a shorter period of engagement than originally planned but we will make sure that the process is effective in refining our proposals and finalising the statutory instruments.”

Read more about Airbnb and Scotland.

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MyDeposits wins second term running Jersey’s tenancy deposits protection scheme

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Following a competitive tender process, mydeposits has been reappointed as the approved administrator for Jersey’s tenancy deposit protection scheme.

After originally secured the contract in November 2015 when the scheme first launched, mydeposits will now continue to act as the administrator for Jersey’s tenancy deposit scheme.

The reappointment will take effect from 31 October this year, lasting for a maximum of five years.

Jersey’s Minister for Children and Housing, Senator Sam Mézec, comments: “I am pleased to extend the agreement with mydesposits for a second time.

“The scheme provides an effective way to manage deposits and to resolve any disputes between landlords and tenants. I will continue working to improve standards in Jersey’s rental sector and I am confident that mydeposits Jersey will be a key partner in this work.”

Eddie Hooker, the CEO of mydeposits, adds: “This extension is a testament to the hard work and commitment the team has put in over the past few years.

“This decision by the Minister will enable us to continue investing in the scheme and enhancing the service we provide to our customers in Jersey.

“We are passionate about raising standards across the rental sector in Jersey and supporting landlords and tenants to adopt good practice in the handling of deposit money. We will continue to work closely with the Government of Jersey to support them in their valuable work.”

Read more about Jersey.

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New Permitted Development rights do not create worse quality homes

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The Government have announced great news this week regarding new permitted development (PD) rights for repurposing defunct commercial buildings.

However, some leftie University Academics have put out a report (published in mainstream media) on how permitted development has resulted in worse quality housing.

The post New Permitted Development rights do not create worse quality homes appeared first on Property118.

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NRLA website goes live as NLA and RLA disappear

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The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has been fully launched following several months of gestation, and its new website is now live.

This means that the National Landlords Association and Residential Landlords Association no longer exist and both their former websites now redirect visitors to the new NRLA site.

The merger was announced in August last year, and brought together both associations into the one organisations including all membership and activities.

“A message on the old websites now reads: “You should have received an email with your brand new membership number,” it says. “Your login details remain unchanged so you can easily log into your account using your existing email address and password.”

The NRLA how includes some 80,000 mainly smaller landlords who between them own 500,000 properties within the private rental market.

Friendly competition

“After more than 20 years of friendly competition the time is right to create a single organisation to represent and campaign for landlords,” a joint statement from NLA and RLA said.

“With so much of our work done in parallel there are major benefits to be gained for our landlord members.”

The NLA was founded in 1988 and the RLA in 1973 but in recent years had been pursuing almost identical roles.

After the changes were voted through by members, the chief executives of both organisations (Richard Lambert and Andrew Dixon) stepped aside and Ben Beadle was revealed as the new Chief Executive of the combined organisation.

Counsel coup

The NRLA has also announced that leading housing lawyer and former RLA policy director David Smith has been announced as legal counsel for the National Residential Landlords Association.

David is a partner at JMW Solicitors in London, specialising in landlord and tenant and property litigation in the residential sector.

He will use his specialist legal knowledge to help the NRLA scrutinise legislation and the ways in which it will impact the PRS and private landlords and will advise the association when it comes to raising legal challenges, on seeking amendments to legislation, and on its approach to the future of the PRS.

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LATEST: Rental properties housing ‘shielding’ tenants can now be visited for repairs and maintenance

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Updated government guidance has given the green light for landlords to resume maintenance and repairs at properties where tenants are shielding – or to use the technical term ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ people.

Civil servants have updated the official Covid guidance for landlords and tenants, which now says that from 1 August 2020, “following the relaxation of the guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable groups, clinically vulnerable or shielding households, it is advised they may permit landlords and contractors to carry out routine repairs and inspections providing that the latest guidance on social distancing is followed.

“We have also updated our local authority guidance with advice clarifying that local authorities may now resume routine inspections in people’s homes dependent on their individual priorities and enforcement policies.”

More relaxed

This more relaxed approach also now applies to viewings, which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says can be completed at properties where people are shielding, but that they should be as short as possible and respect social distancing rules and – ideally – those who are shielding remain outside the property.

But the guidance also remains constant in most other areas – including that landlords and letting agents should not conduct viewings in properties where tenants are symptomatic or self-isolating, and that viewings should be conducted ‘virtually’ first – assuming the property was photographed or a virtual tour created beforehand.

“Tenants’ safety should be the first priority of letting agents and landlords,” the guidance says.

Read the updated guidance in full.

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Landlord launches ‘five-star’ private rental market reviews website

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A landlord has launched a private rental market reviews platform that seeks to enable good tenants and landlords to promote themselves to each other, for free, and give each other star-based score.

Former RAF helicopter pilot turned Oldham landlord Jon Maumy says his Tenancy Trust platform does not – like other reviews sites – concentrate on tenants and their complaints.

He says the service prompts landlords to ask tenants to give them reviews and also tenants to ask landlords for feedback.

And Tenancy Trust allows both landlords and other service providers to promote their properties and services to tenants free of charge.
Maumy says he came up with the idea while researching the property market as part of a post-graduate business course at the University of Northampton.

“Property rentals are like a blind date where both parties have to make a rapid commitment,” he says.

“Landlords entrust their costly properties to tenants they have never met who in turn agree to hand over a significant part of their income.

Horror stories

“While there are horror stories on both sides, the majority of landlords and tenants are decent but they need a better way to show it.

“Tenancy Trust allows them to use reviews in a pro-active way to build trust. It also plays a useful role in the referencing process.”

Maumy claims his service also enables tenants build a track record to help secure the best properties just as they might use their CV to get the right jobs.

“This is particularly important now competition is getting tougher and people are renting for longer before they buy,” he says.

Visit Tenancy Trust.

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LATEST: Formal pre-action protocol on the back burner ‘for the time being’

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The government has confirmed to LandlordZONE that its much-discussed pre-action protocol for the evictions process has been shelved for the time being.

This follows last Friday’s announcement that it is instead introducing more basic pre-action rules for landlords that nevertheless must be met before a possession hearing can be continued or granted.

These come into force on 23^rd August, the same day the eviction ban ends, and will apply to both existing action and new ones requiring landlords to:

• Provide a ‘reactivation notice’ informing the court and tenant in writing without which the case will remain dormant.
• Consider that if the action is about the non-payment of rent, the claim must set out what knowledge if any the landlord has as to the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on the tenant and their dependants
• Produce the full arrears history in advance rather than at the hearing – this is encouraged rather than required.

The rules also suspend the standard period between issue of a claim form and hearing which would usually be not more than eight weeks.

Protocols ‘lite’

These pre-action rules are in effect a ‘lite’ version of a protocol, although the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) says that: “We remain interested in exploring the introduction of a pre-action protocol for private tenants in the future.

“New court rules – in place until end March 2021 – will require landlords to set out information about a tenant’s circumstances, including the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on a tenant’s vulnerability, when bringing a possession claim,” an MHCLG spokesperson says.

“Where this information is not provided, judges will have the ability to adjourn proceedings until such information is provided.

“This encourages landlords to have the right conversations with tenants before seeking repossession – helping to achieve the aims of a pre-action protocol. Through guidance, we are also encouraging landlords to agree to rent repayment plans or rent flexibilities where possible.”

Struggle

Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action says: “Using pre-action rules like this makes sense, but I really worry that landlords who have been waiting months from before Covid to evict tenants who haven’t been paying their rent, are going to struggle to re-engage and find out how Covid has affected their tenants.

“It is not practical and the chances of the tenant playing ball all pretty slim. So landlords are going to struggle to fulfil the pre-action rules and get their hearing.”

Read more about the eviction process rule changes.

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BREAKING: Wear a mask when in your letting agent’s branch, government urges landlords

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Landlords who visit their letting agent’s branch for a catch-up should wear a mask when inside the office, the government has urged.

From today onwards it is mandatory for everyone to wear masks in shops, enclosed shopping centres, supermarkets, train and bus stations as well as banks and building societies or risk a £100 fixed penalty fine if they refuse to do so after being asked.

The new regulations are not specific about estate agencies – somewhat strangely as many high streets contain dozens of them – but the guidance issued last night by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local government to the industry nevertheless strongly encourages landlords and tenants visiting branches to wear them.

“The face covering regulations do not explicitly refer to estate and letting agents but we would strongly encourage all members of the public who are visiting an agent’s office or viewing a property to wear a suitable face covering in order to prevent the spread of infection,” it says.

“We would also recommend that any agent who is interacting directly with the public also wears a face covering unless other protective measures are in place such as a screen.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock, who has set the new regulations to last for a year, says: “Everyone must play their part in fighting this virus by following this new guidance.

“I also want to thank the British public for all the sacrifices they are making to help keep this country safe.”

Read more about keeping safe during Covid.

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Worries mount among leaseholders over plans to give them responsibility for apartment block safety

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A poll of 1,000 leaseholders within apartment blocks across the UK has found that 70% are worried by the government’s decision to press more responsibilities on them following the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The extra duties for building management and safety follow the draft Building Safety Bill published earlier this week which will hand those who manage apartment blocks increased financial and legal obligations including the creation of an ‘accountable person’. The Bill is the government’s response to Grenfell Tower and the need for regulatory reform.

But if the government’s expected moves to reform the leasehold system following this week’s Law Commission reports – which freeholders argue will remove them from the equation if ground rents are abolished – will transfer these new responsibilities to leaseholders and commonholders.

The research, commissioned by the UK’s leading freeholders, reveals that if this were to happen, many leaseholders believe it would be ‘a disaster’.

Health and safety

Some 67% of respondents are worried about the extra admin and neglect of building maintenance. A further 65% foresaw personal health and safety as an issue, given many leaseholders’ “lack of awareness around certain issues and understanding of up-to-date legislation”.

Additionally, 63% fear conflict with other residents when it comes to decision making.

Richard Silva, Executive Director of residential freeholder Long Harbour, says: “The Government is right to be introducing these new reforms to building safety, but this new evidence clearly shows that leaseholders do not want to be landed with these responsibilities themselves.

“As professional freeholders, we are perfectly positioned and equipped to take on these legal and financial responsibilities, but this will be impossible if the Government drives freeholders out of the market by removing our financial incentive, in the form of a reasonable ground rent.”

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Disappointment as six-month notice period introduced in Wales

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Landlords in Wales will need to give tenants six-months’ notice when repossessing homes under new rules announced by the Welsh Government today in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Landlords have reacted with anger and disappointment to the plans, which will leave some without rent for over the year and are being implemented with immediate effect. […]

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