Property manager to pay £25,000 after failing to appeal ‘horror electrics’ fine

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The director of a property management firm has been fined more than £25,000 after dangerous electrics were discovered at an HMO in Northampton.

West Northamptonshire Council issued a warrant in May 2022 after tenants raised concerns about the property in Lutterworth Road (pictured), just one of 19 HMOs and other licenced properties on the street.

During the inspection, officers found that the electrical meter had been tampered with, seriously endangering the safety of the four people living there.

Along with the unsafe electrics, a number of fire safety breaches were identified, including poorly maintained fire doors and missing smoke alarms. The council brought in an electrician to carry out emergency work to make the property safe.

Redress scheme

Zivile Aksinaviciene, director of J&KO Property Ltd, was fined £25,000 in December 2022 for breaching the licence conditions for an HMO along with an additional £800 after she was found not to be part of a property redress scheme. She had three months to appeal against the decision, which has now passed.

After further work was carried out to make it safe, Aksinaviciene surrended the HMO licence and the property has since been converted to a single-family house.

Conservative Councillor and deputy council leader Adam Brown, cabinet member for housing, culture and leisure, says: “From some of the images captured at this address, it is clear the licensee had little regard for the safety of their tenants.

“The housing team cannot visit every property, but this case demonstrates that we will take action when people contact us with their concerns.”

View Full Article: Property manager to pay £25,000 after failing to appeal ‘horror electrics’ fine

BUDGET: What can landlords expect from the Chancellor this week?

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Landlords will be looking for more government support to make energy efficiency improvements while hoping for some tax burden relief in the upcoming Budget.

With EPC deadlines looming, many want greater incentives to back up the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, something the NRLA is calling for, as well as pro-growth tax measures and a full assessment of tenant support options including Discretionary Housing Payments to prevent a potential landlord exodus.

Like Propertymark it hopes Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce a reversal of the freeze on Local Housing Allowances rates which the agents’ body says should be re-aligned to at least the 30th percentile – or even the 50^th – of comparable local rents, with a government commitment to maintaining rates at market rents.

It has been nearly three years since housing benefit last increased and a reversal would help landlords with Universal Credit tenants.

Repeal Section 24?

There have been repeated calls from landlord groups for the government to repeal Section 24 to reintroduce mortgage interest relief and other tax deductibles for landlords – although it’s doubtful this is being considered.

However, there is also concern that the Chancellor could raise stamp duty for landlords; since 2016-17, government figures show the surcharge has raised £10.1 billion for HMRC and, in the 2021-22 tax year, a whopping 46% of all stamp duty receipts came from buyers who were liable to pay the extra 3% on top of their normal stamp duty, according to The Times.

There probably won’t be any more news on capital gains tax rates which have remained the same since 2017, after Hunt announced in the autumn Budget that the annual exemption would reduce from £12,300 to £6,000 in April, and then to £3,000 next year.

Other possible changes affecting landlords are a rise in the state pension age to 68, effective from the mid-2030s and an increase in the pensions Lifetime Allowance, allowing them to save more before starting to pay tax.

View Full Article: BUDGET: What can landlords expect from the Chancellor this week?

MPs back Ben Beadle after Guardian slam claims of landlord exodus

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MPs have backed the National Residential Landlords Association’s Ben Beadle after the Guardian newspaper claimed he was ‘making up stories’ about a landlord exodus from the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

In its report, the Guardian said Mr Beadle made the claim as part of a lobbying effort last September to change the tax rules for landlords –

View Full Article: MPs back Ben Beadle after Guardian slam claims of landlord exodus

Tenant refuses to leave until council re-house her?

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Hi, I have an issue with a tenant who is refusing to leave after I served a section 21 notice. I am forced to sell as my mortgage has soared over £3,000 a month and rental income is only £1,600!

View Full Article: Tenant refuses to leave until council re-house her?

NE Landlords slam councils’ blanket licencing plan as ‘waste of time’

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Landlords in the North East have complained that a ‘rubber stamped’ selective licencing scheme is a “pure waste of time” and that they are “fed up being taxed in this way”.

The comments concern Middlesborough council’s plans to extend its licencing scheme in the central area of Newport, which have now been voted through by politicians despite a consultation revealing that 15 out of 19 private landlords who were interviewed for or responded to a ten-week consultation opposed the scheme.

During a meeting of the council’s Executive Committee, the scheme’s £836 cost for a five-year licence was voted through, although one independent councillor, Tony Grainge, abstained from the vote because he did not think the fee was fair, reports Teeside News.

The meeting was told that the new scheme will improve housing conditions and tackle problems associated with anti-social behaviour, although another councillor pointed out that the extra costs of the scheme would be ‘charged back’ to the tenants via higher rents.

Targeted approach

Others argued during the meeting that a more targeted approach to rogue or criminal landlords would be better than a ‘blanket approach’ via an extended selective licencing scheme.

This will compel landlords to take action to deal with anti-social behaviour and it will incorporate housing inspections and enforcement action.

Middlesborough council says a similar scheme in Ormsby had seen a substantial reduction in anti-social behaviour since it was introduced in 2016.

The NRLA’s chief executive Ben Beadle has previously criticised selective schemes, saying instead councils should, “’rather than penalising good landlords with a blanket policy…use the range of data already available to them to find and root out the minority of landlords who fail  to provide safe housing”.

Picture credit: YouTube.

Read a guide to landlord licencing.

View Full Article: NE Landlords slam councils’ blanket licencing plan as ‘waste of time’

Opportunities for UK Landlords to take tax efficient ‘time out’

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Did you know, there are currently 15 Countries where UK landlords can get a special visa to live for a year or more, pay no tax in those Countries, and potentially benefit from significantly lower taxation in the UK?

The above could be very appealing

View Full Article: Opportunities for UK Landlords to take tax efficient ‘time out’

VOTE: Scots rent rises to be capped at 3% until October, MSPs agree

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Scottish MSPs have voted through a rent cap and extension of the eviction ban until 30^th September.

The rent cap for private sector tenancies will increase to 3% from 1st April under the amendment to the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act while the Scottish government has the option to extend the eviction ban for another six months from September.

The Act means that private landlords can also apply for a rent increase of up to 6% to help cover certain increases in costs in defined and limited circumstances. The rent cap for student accommodation is to be suspended, recognising its limited impact on annual rents set on the basis of an academic year.

Specific costs

Landlords can apply to Rent Service Scotland to increase rent to partially cover specific costs including increased mortgage interest payments on the property they are letting, an increase in landlords’ insurance or increases in service charges paid as part of a tenancy, subject to an overall limit – currently set at 3% of total rent. From 1st April the limit will be increased to 6%. 

Enforcement of evictions will continue to be paused except in a number of specified circumstances while increased damages for unlawful evictions of up to 36 months’ worth of rent will still apply.

Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie says: “Our emergency legislation has given tenants across the rented sector additional protection as we continue to live through these challenging and uncertain economic times.

“We will continue to keep these measures under review, ensuring they remain necessary and proportionate to the challenges at hand.”

View Full Article: VOTE: Scots rent rises to be capped at 3% until October, MSPs agree

Can landlords afford a rent freeze in the UK?

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I can’t say that I am surprised at the news that Labour Mayors, trade unions and rent activists are calling for a rent freeze – not on the grounds of saving tenants a few quid, but because landlords can afford it.

View Full Article: Can landlords afford a rent freeze in the UK?

FIRST rent repayment order against landlord issued following landmark case

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A landlord who tried to claim that he was the superior landlord of an unlicensed HMO has failed in his bid to avoid paying a Rent Repayment Order.

In the first RRO case since the landmark Supreme Court judgement which ruled that these can only be made against an immediate landlord, Sabour Mansour was found to be responsible for the property in Pott Street, Tower Hamlets and his two tenants were awarded more than £6,000.

A First Tier Property Tribunal heard they had paid their rent to Mansour’s agent KJSZ Ltd; he said he lived in the property and that the tenants were only lodgers.

He also argued that the tenancy agreements were not with him but with KJSZ and that he didn’t receive fees or rent. Mansour’s argument was – following the decision in the Rakusen case – that the tribunal had no power to make an order against him.

However, the tribunal found he had not provided any evidence to show that he had created any leasehold interest in the property in favour of KJSZ, and there was no evidence that it had any proprietary interest in the property.

Immediate landlord

It said:“Regardless of who received the rent, the applicants’ immediate landlord was clearly the respondent.”

It added that Mansour must have entered into an agreement with KJSZ for the company to receive the rent on his behalf.

“There was no evidence that KJSZ was itself an owner or lessee of the property. It followed, therefore, that the respondent was a person managing the property by virtue of section 263(3)(b) of the 2004 Act,” it added.

“He (albeit wrongly) believed that the fact that rent was paid to KJSZ Ltd afforded him a defence to the proceedings.”

Read the First Tier Property Tribunal report in full.

View Full Article: FIRST rent repayment order against landlord issued following landmark case

Waiting for the ‘right’ moment to invest?

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Fact: In the last 50 years, property prices have only fallen during four of those years.

So, if you were waiting to time your run to perfection to invest in property with the exact moment prices hit rock bottom

View Full Article: Waiting for the ‘right’ moment to invest?