Northern Ireland unveils radical affordable PRS scheme for landlords

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Northern Ireland has unveiled a radical new type of private rented housing that aims to provide more high quality, affordable homes in the region.

Intermediate rent is not social housing but will offer rents set at a level below the open private rented market, while renters will get longer than average tenancies of up to five years with the option to renew. They will also be promised well-maintained properties and tenancy support services.

The Northern Ireland government’s new policy is targeted towards eligible lower to moderate income households who must meet an application threshold; a household’s net income must not exceed £30,000 for a single adult household and £40,000 for a two or more adult household.

Discount

It will see tenants being offered at least a 20% discount on prevailing market rents for a similar property type and size within a locality, while rents must not be increased before 12 months of a first tenancy have elapsed and not more than once in any 12-month period.

The government expects housing stock for intermediate rent homes to come from new build, renovation of unoccupied properties or conversion of properties currently used for another purpose.

It says planners could require the development of more affordable housing, including intermediate housing for rent, in some new residential developments in line with councils’ local development plans.

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities says its policy sets in place another lever to deliver an additional supply of affordable rental homes for low to moderate income households.

He adds: “It aims to reduce the barriers which some households face in accessing or maintaining a rented home, such as tenancy insecurity, limited support services and, critically, unaffordably high rents.”

Read more about Northern Ireland's renting reforms.

View Full Article: Northern Ireland unveils radical affordable PRS scheme for landlords

Do police lack knowledge when it comes to illegal eviction?

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This Property118 investigation highlights how anti-social behaviour has caused problems for both tenants and landlords.

On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, housing campaigners voiced their concerns that the police don’t understand the law protecting tenants from harassment and illegal eviction.

View Full Article: Do police lack knowledge when it comes to illegal eviction?

Leaseholder protection deed – can a new buyer have it?

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Hello, My daughter’s flat is blighted by the fire safety issues arising from the Grenfell tragedy, hence she wants to get a “Leaseholder protection deed of Certificate”, which provides capped protection from payment of remediation costs, and wishes to use this to help her sell the property in the coming one or two years.

View Full Article: Leaseholder protection deed – can a new buyer have it?

Landlord Sales Agency pays to refurb properties for Landlord so she gets extra £200K selling portfolio

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It’s a tough time for landlords with interest rates rising by a further 0.25% to a post credit crisis high of 4.25%. For many of us, we’ve held out as long as we can, but a large percentage of us have decided that selling up might be the best solution.

View Full Article: Landlord Sales Agency pays to refurb properties for Landlord so she gets extra £200K selling portfolio

The UK’s best and worst rental yield spots revealed

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Research that could help landlords and potential property investors alike has been published that highlights the best and worst rental yield spots in the UK.

According to Track Capital it has never been more important for investors to weigh up the facts before choosing an area that is right for investment.

View Full Article: The UK’s best and worst rental yield spots revealed

Ringleaders of shocking illegal HMO property gang fined £434,000

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The activities of a huge HMO renting scam gang has been uncovered following a four-year investigation, with the five key individuals and three companies involved fined a total of £434,000.

Following an investigation by West Northamptonshire Council’s Private Sector Housing Team, it was found that the group had been operating at least 14 unlicenced HMOs in the region.

Its investigation also discovered multiple breaches relating to fire safety, tenant information and maintenance of the properties after an initial probe in 2019 and Housing Warrants to inspect homes in 2020 and 2021.

False and misleading

The council says the five individuals used a range of false and misleading documents to acquire properties from high street letting agents, purporting to be taking on properties for themselves as single family properties before converting them to HMOs.

They then set up companies to handle the rent payments between themselves, the tenants and the property owners.

Following a trial, the gang has now been found guilty of a “deliberate, large-scale operation of falsity and that the defendants broke safety laws with no regard to the safety of the tenants, engineered solely for financial gain and profit”.

The ringleader was Aleksejs Cugurovs, 33, of St Leonards Road, Northampton (pictured), who must now pay a fine of £270,000 – with a contribution to the Council’s investigation costs of £5,000.

The other defendants included Maxims Borozdins, 37, who was fined £30,000 with a costs contribution of £5,000, and Valdims Oblikovs, 33, of Riga Latvia, who was fined £2,000.

Other individuals and companies involved, who were not represented in court, were fined lesser amounts.

Cunning and conniving

Councillor Adam Brown (left), Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure, said: “This was a well-planned, cunning and conniving scheme for the purposes of financial gain.

“I am pleased the court has imposed a substantial fine which will hopefully deter rogue landlords and persuade them to comply with the law in future.

Read more about HMO fines.

View Full Article: Ringleaders of shocking illegal HMO property gang fined £434,000

‘Revenge evictions’ following tenant repair requests still common, says Shelter

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Private renters who complained to their landlord, letting agent or local council in the last three years were two and a half times (159%) more likely to be handed an eviction notice than those who kept quiet.

New research from Shelter – compiled by YouGov using online survey results from 2,000 renters – also reveals that a quarter of private renters in England (25%) have not asked their landlord for repairs to be carried out or conditions to be improved for fear of being evicted.

Disrepair

It says that in the last year, 76% have experienced disrepair in their home, 51% had issues with damp and mould, 31% had problems with lack of hot water or heating, and 18% experienced electrical hazards or issues with essential safety equipment.

Shelter reports that since the beginning of the year, its online advice pages on disrepair have been accessed every 18 seconds, a 53% increase on the same period last year.

The charity is urging the government to urgently introduce the Renters’ Reform Bill to put an end to unfair evictions, drive up standards, and hold landlords to account for poor behaviour.

Chief executive Polly Neate (pictured) says that by dragging its heels, the government has left private renters in a terrible catch-22; they either shut up and put up with disrepair, or risk more than doubling their chances of eviction in a cost-of-living crisis.

“Renters are bearing the brunt of government dithering over urgently needed private rental reforms,” adds Neate.

“Renters can’t wait any longer, the government must urgently make its Renters’ Reform Bill law to protect tenants who call out poor conditions from unfair evictions and homelessness.”

Read more: How to handle the eviction process.

View Full Article: ‘Revenge evictions’ following tenant repair requests still common, says Shelter

Ever seen a McDonald’s employment contract like this?

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Hi all, Has anyone ever come across a McDonald’s work contract in the course of tenant referencing?

This is the one that was sent to me earlier this week:

Dear N
Employment details
We’re delighted to confirm your appointment as Crew Member with McDonald’s at our restaurant situated at BRISTOL ….

View Full Article: Ever seen a McDonald’s employment contract like this?

Landlords will have until 2028 to hit EPC target – claim

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Landlords will have five years to reach planned EPC targets for ALL rented homes, and the new cap on costs will be £10,000, a newspaper reveals.

The Telegraph says the government will announce the new deadline after responding to fears that landlords do not have time to meet the proposed 1 April 2025 target.

View Full Article: Landlords will have until 2028 to hit EPC target – claim

App that helps tenants fix their own leaks launches service for landlords

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National video maintenance platform Help me Fix is extending its reach to more self-managing private landlords with the launch of a new service.

The software virtually connects tenants to tradespeople who can resolve simple maintenance issues remotely and for more complicated ones, recommend the right parts for a first-time fix, eliminating the need for an initial call-out fee.

While it has mostly worked with letting agents and portfolio landlords since launching in 2020, its new Hub service is a specifically landlord-facing software product which can automatically request quotes from a landlord’s own contractors or auto-instruct in an emergency after a call.

Hub also has a national network of vetted tradespeople that a landlord can access on demand.

Hub launches in May, charging landlords £10 per property per month for unlimited calls, promising to save them 50% on their maintenance bills.

Founder Ettan Bazil (pictured) tells LandlordZONE that the company is active in more than 20,000 properties in the UK.

He adds: “We have never had an incident where our advice has caused damage to a property, in fact, the reverse applies. Because tenants are usually connected with a tradesperson in under 30 seconds, we prevent major incidents from escalating and causing damage to the property.”

Social media

He recently shared an example on social media (main picture) about how Help me Fix had walked a tenant through disassembling and re-making the trap connections, permanently resolving a leaking basin waste.

Bazil adds: “The resident was happy for us to share the footage and photos and even happier that he had progressed from someone that had never made a plumbing connection to master plumber in 15 minutes.

“All of this without a property manager having to instruct a contractor, no carbon footprint from a diesel-guzzling van, and no call out charge for the landlord.”

View Full Article: App that helps tenants fix their own leaks launches service for landlords