When is a rogue landlord, not a rogue landlord?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We often see the term ‘rogue landlord’ bandied about, but a story last week got me thinking: When is a rogue landlord, not a rogue landlord?’

It would appear that most people would think it was a term to describe a landlord who let a home without a roof

View Full Article: When is a rogue landlord, not a rogue landlord?

Landlords misusing section 21 notices is ‘overstated’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Claims that landlords are misusing section 21 notices – the ‘no fault’ eviction process – are unfounded, one firm says.

Estate agents Leaders Romans Group (LRG) says it has carried out research and found that Section 21 is rarely overused

View Full Article: Landlords misusing section 21 notices is ‘overstated’

LAUNCH: Novel system that eliminates damp and mould in rented properties

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new ‘mechanical ventilation with heat recovery’ (MVHR) system aims to provide the solution to landlords’ damp and mould problems.

Ebac’s self-managing, ‘hands-off’ eco-system is designed to be installed in a loft opening and works to continually extract polluted, humid air from a building and replace it with fresh air taken from outside through a heat exchange system.

The company’s Smart Control system adjusts airflow and performance levels based on live readings from the building’s internal climate, reducing energy usage and requires no programming.

The scale of the UK’s damp and mould problem continues to make headlines following the death of toddler Awaab Ishak which prompted the government to announce plans earlier this year to tackle mould within the private and social housing sectors through updated guidance and initiatives.

It also confirmed that the PRS’s new housing ombudsman would lead the battle against mould.

Andrew Hobson, Ebac’s sales and marketing director, says with the new legislation and retrofit requirements for commercial and residential buildings in the lead up to 2050, its system offers a more cost-effective solution for housing associations, councils and private landlords to ensure that their tenants live in healthier, more energy-efficient spaces.

He adds: “Our Smart Control feature means that tenants and homeowners do not have to touch the units, only requiring a filter change every 12-24 months depending on usage.”

Read more about damp and mould

View Full Article: LAUNCH: Novel system that eliminates damp and mould in rented properties

Meet the hero landlord who hasn’t raised rents for 25 years

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A good Samaritan landlord is bucking the national trend by not raising his rents for more than 25 years.

Mick Musson, who owns eight flats at the former Blue Horse Pub (inset), in Great Ponton, Lincolnshire, hasn’t increased the rent since he took over the property, and now counts the tenants as his friends.

One, Rob Podum, was homeless before moving into a one-bedroom flat in the block in 2006 and admits he was at his lowest ebb, reports The Grantham Journal.

Podem, 56, says Musson is a brilliant landlord and doesn’t want to move. “It’s been brilliant, and I have known Mick a long time,” he says. “I’m still paying what I paid when I first moved in, and I offered to pay him more to cover the electric as I wouldn’t want to see him suffer.”

Exploited

Adds Podum: “You hear about these people who are exploited by landlords. However, Mick is great.”

Follow tenant Alan Hodgson, 68, also lives in a one-bedroom flat in the property and says

Musson has been “good as gold” since he first moved in four years ago. Hodgson adds: “He’s the best landlord anyone could ever have. If you have a problem, he’ll be there. All the time it’s been the same rate and he’s never ripped anyone off. He’s a good man.”

Musson explains that he tells tenants the rent they pay when they move in won’t change. “I don’t think they will leave unless they have a certain reason,” he adds. “They are friends. They will come down to pay their rent and then end up having a cup of coffee.”

Read more LandlordZONE stories about hero landlords

Read the full story about the landlord.

View Full Article: Meet the hero landlord who hasn’t raised rents for 25 years

Early BTL investors are retiring and selling up

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Most BTL investor sales are from those landlords who were among the first to invest after buy to let mortgages were launched in 1996, research reveals.

The findings from Hamptons show that landlords are now retiring and selling up in increasing numbers –

View Full Article: Early BTL investors are retiring and selling up

Tenants in the capital will be most affected by EPC changes

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Renters in London will be the worst hit by the government’s proposed energy performance certificate (EPC) laws, research reveals.

That’s the view of data science firm Outra which says that tenants will have to leave unlettable properties if the government imposes a minimum EPC rating of C by 2028.

View Full Article: Tenants in the capital will be most affected by EPC changes

Propertymark calls for council tax reforms

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A leading industry body has called on the government to change council tax housing banding for HMOs.

Propertymark has submitted a response to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ consultation arguing that HMOs should be banded as one property under one council tax band

View Full Article: Propertymark calls for council tax reforms

Crunch time for PRS revealed as increasing numbers of ‘pioneer’ landlords retire

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Thousands of landlords who entered the private rented sector following the introduction of dedicated buy-to-let mortgages in 1996 are now retiring in increasing numbers, it has been revealed.

Research by estate agency Hamptons reveals that some 140,000 landlords retired in 2022, representing 73% of all the properties sold by BTL investors.

Purchases made by this ‘original cohort’ of landlords some 15-25 years ago following the introduction of the buy-to-let mortgage still make up the majority of privately rented homes in Great Britain, the report says.

Just over half of today’s outstanding buy-to-let mortgages were taken out between 1996 and 2007.

Spike

Last year saw an unusual spike in landlords withdrawing from the market after deciding to retire and cash-in their properties, but Hamptons says a further 96,000 landlords are expected to retire this year and each year afterwards.

This in addition to the 924,000 who are already over the age of 65 but are still renting out properties.

During the past 12 years between 2010 and 2022 the agency estimates the number of landlords retiring annually has doubled as their demographic ages.

These figures will be particularly worrying for Ministers as the trend will further put pressure on stock and see rents rise.

Hamptons says recent tax and regulatory for private landlords mean many younger people are put off investing in the PRS and that the “number of new purchases by landlords has remained relatively muted”, says its head of research, Aneisha Beveridge (pictured).

“Millennials, who have struggled to get onto the housing ladder, have not been in a position to afford or consider purchasing a buy-to-let too.”

View Full Article: Crunch time for PRS revealed as increasing numbers of ‘pioneer’ landlords retire

Legal: Commercial landlord regains possession against opposition…

admin    Uncategorized     agents

In the case of B&M Retail Ltd v HSBC Bank Pension Trust (UK) Ltd [2023], The Central London County Court was asked to rule on a claim for possession by the landlord under the rules of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.

The landlord was seeking possession against the tenant’s security of tenure under the Act when it wanted to exercise Ground F of the Act. It wanted to redevelop the premises, against the tenant’s wishes to renew its lease.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (Part II) affects most commercial (business) tenancies in England and Wales.

Note: This article refers to English law. It is not a definitive interpretation of the law. Every case is different, rules change over time and only a court can decide – always seek expert advice before taking action or not.

The Act recognises that businesses need some protection as they stand to lose goodwill when they may have spent years building-up a business in a location, not to mention investment in stock and equipment, if they were to be summarily evicted when their lease expires.

Accordingly, the Act, which has stood the test of time since the 1950s, gives business tenants a right to remain in their premises and renew their leases, at a full market rent, but on similar terms to the original lease.

Landlords and tenants have the option of avoiding this strict security of tenure protection providing the tenant agrees to exclude the provisions for security of tenure – known as letting outside the Act – before ageing a tenancy, by following a strict documentary procedure.

Restricted right to possession

Landlords also have a right to possession at the end of the lease term under certain restricted conditions. So a tenant’s right to renew can be resisted by the landlord only on one or more of seven grounds set out in the Act:

Ground A: Breach of the repairing covenants, a discretionary ground – the judge decides – when there’s been failure to keep the premises in good repair, but like other grounds it does not on its own automatically entitle a landlord to possession.

Ground B: Persistent delay in paying rent, another discretionary ground which means the landlord must show the tenant should not be granted a new tenancy in view of its persistent failure to pay the rent on time. There is a danger for the landlord here if it has habitually accepted the late payments.

Ground C: Breaches of other obligations, yet another discretionary ground where the landlord must show the breaches were serious enough to deprived the tenant of a new tenancy, but any evidence of acquiescence in a breach will destroy the landlord’s argument.

Ground D: Where there is the availability of suitable alternative accommodation, the court has little or no discretion here. The landlord must show that they have offered suitable alternative premises to the tenant on lease terms that are reasonable.

Ground E: Where the property is sublet in part, the superior lease it ended, and possession required for letting or disposing of whole of property, it’s another discretionary ground.

Ground F: Where the landlord intends to redevelop the premises. This is a mandatory ground where the landlord must show that it intends to demolish or to reconstruct the premises which could not be achieved without possession. This ground is more likely to succeed if the premises are old and in need of major works. There are fines if this proves to be a sham.

Ground G: Where Landlord intends re-occupy the premises itself, again a mandatory ground. The landlord must have owned the premises for at lease five years before the leases ended and must show it intends to occupy the premises for its own business purposes or as its residence.

Where a tenant is removed from the premises compensation under grounds E, F & G on a scale set within the Act will be payable by the landlord.

The outcome

In the above case of B&M Retail Ltd v HSBC Bank Pension Trust (UK) Ltd the court ruled in the landlord’s favour granting it a redevelopment break operable immediately on six months’ notice.

This decision is important because it involved a situation where the landlord had failed to serve a required counter notice of its opposition to a new tenancy when the tenant served its notice to renew under section 26 of the act.

Usually these rules are very strictly adhered to and these claims for possession are by no mean certain under any of the above grounds, but it this case the court showed a degree flexibility which favoured the landlord.

The Background

HSBC Bank Pension Trust (UK) Ltd owned the premises in North London let to B&M Retail Ltd, as a retail store. The lease ended in December 2020 following HSBC’s negotiations with Aldi Stores Limited for the grant of a conditional agreement for a lease, subject to obtaining vacant possession and planning approval for Aldi to carry out redevelopment works.

HSBC served notice in May 2021 seeking to terminate the lease with B&M citing redevelopment under Ground F of the Act.

But B&M had already served its own request in January 2021 under section 26 of the Act for the grant of a new lease, and HSBC had failed to respond to that notice within the required two months’ deadline. HSBC claimed internal mail delays due to Covid.

Given HSBC’s inability to avoid granting a new lease it requested a development break clause pending the planning permission being granted for the Aldi development, which after some argument over this possibility the court granted the break clause.

The inclusion of the redevelopment break clause was exercisable immediately on six months’ notice allowing the new lease to be brought to an end, allowing time for the HSBC agreed development works with Aldi.

This court decision is likely to be welcomed by commercial landlords who find themselves in this situation as the court indicated that it will only disrupt a landlord’s redevelopment plans where there is clear evidence that the redevelopment proposals are not viable.

The case was won by HSBC at considerable cost to itself and it goes to underscore the importance of serving notices under The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 correctly and in good time.

However, it should be remembered that this is the decision of a County Court and may yet be subject to appeal to a higher court.

View Full Article: Legal: Commercial landlord regains possession against opposition…

Consultation reveals majority of residents oppose wider selective licencing

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Plans to bring in a vast new selective licencing scheme within Brent have been given a resounding thumbs down from both landlords and, surprisingly, the London borough’s residents too.

Brent’s housing team has been operating a small selective scheme in Dollis Hill and Kensal Rise since 2018 but that is now due to end this month.

Councillors conducted an energetic 12-week public consultation that ended in January on two proposals to renew the existing scheme for another five years with landlords due to be charged £640 for a five-year licence.

But the proposals also include a second phase that would add a further 18 wards where there are ‘poor housing’ standards.

Unlike other consultations, where opinions on selective licencing are usually split starkly between landlords/agent and residents, this time opposition to an expanded, 21-ward scheme in Brent is more balanced.

Of all the 853 respondents to the consultation 46% opposed the larger scheme while 43% supported it (see results box above).

Among landlords, 75% opposed the larger scheme, while 25% of local residents and businesses also opposed it.

Comments from landlords and residents widely viewed the larger scheme as an addition financial burden on the PRS, some describing it as a ‘money grab’, ‘cash grabbing’ and a ‘cash collecting’ scheme, the council’s consultation results reveal.

One landlords said: “I paid the fee [for the original scheme] and have seen nothing from the council. No checks, no property inspection.”

Brent councillors must now vote on the proposals following the consultation at a Cabinet meeting due on Monday (17^th April).

The 18 wards to be added to scheme

Alperton, Barnhill, Brondesbury Park, Cricklewood & Mapesbury, Kenton, Kilburn, Kingsbury, Northwick Park, Preston, Queens Park, Queensbury, Roundwood, Stonebridge, Sudbury, Tokyngton, Welsh Harp, Wembley Central and Wembley Hill.

View Full Article: Consultation reveals majority of residents oppose wider selective licencing