Government gives solicitors £120,000 to help clear evictions backlog in courts

admin    Uncategorized     agents

New government funding to explore how technology can help dispute resolution should reduce the backlog of court cases, including possession hearings.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been awarded £119,691 from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy as part of the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, to launch a project working with Access to Justice Foundation and the Law Society.

It will study ways to increase the use of technology-enabled dispute resolution to help resolve legal issues across England and Wales, without the need to go to court. The project launches in September 2023.

SRA chief executive Paul Philip says it will look at the potential barriers and benefits to using digital and online platforms. He adds “We welcome this important opportunity to work with our partners to support people in resolving their legal issues without having to use the courts.

Court system

“This has the potential to make a real difference for individual consumers, saving them time and money, as well as relieving pressure on the court system, which benefits the wider community.”

The Ministry of Justice recently noted that about 68% of civil court users would prefer to avoid court unless as a last resort.

Last month, the Law Society warned that spending cuts in the justice system could leave it facing collapse, hitting possession hearings and impacting homelessness help. It cited the civil division – encompassing eviction proceedings – as a particular concern.

In July, the government vowed to speed up the evictions process for landlords by improving admin around bailiff enforcement activity and bringing in new technology as part of the courts and tribunals service reform programme.

View Full Article: Government gives solicitors £120,000 to help clear evictions backlog in courts

Helping to provide a safe and secure home

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Camden Council’s landlord appeal is helping to provide homes for people experiencing homelessness.

Landlords in Camden and neighbouring boroughs are particularly being urged to come forward if they have studio flats or one or two bed properties on the ground or first floor, or a property with a lift.

Landlords will be offered cash incentives and extensive support for them and their tenants in exchange for letting to residents who we are helping to avoid homelessness or who are ready to move on from homelessness services and live independently. 

Private landlord, Phil Jones has a property close to Great Ormond Street. It was the perfect location for a young mother and her two-year-old son who has a cardiac condition and needs major operations over the next two years.

“My tenant was previously homeless and then lived in very poor housing. Her evident joy at being told she could move in was quite something,” said Phil.

Knowing that our former home is now housing someone who really needs it, is a good feeling, added Phil. Prior to the pandemic, Phil rented to private tenants via a letting agency which also managed the tenancy.

“After my tenants broke their agreement, I saw Camden’s advert for landlords and thought it would be a good opportunity to start afresh. Working with Camden Lettings has been a reassuring experience. As well as being very responsive, everyone has been friendly and supportive”.

If you’re a private landlord and would like to join our fight against homelessness, please get in touch. Letting your property with us will help create an opportunity for someone to leave homelessness behind for good.

In exchange, the Council is offering landlords a cash incentive of up to £2,000 to let a one bed property and up to £4,500 for a two-bed property as well as an extensive package of support that includes: 

• Support from our Move on Team and Floating Support Service – Dedicated services that are ready to assist residents as they move on from homelessness. The teams provide tenants with guidance on finances, credit checks, utilities and managing housing benefit and other claims.
• Pre-tenancy training from the Piece-by-Piece Programme or Good Tenant Session – these services help residents to prepare for their tenancy by ensuring that they understand, and know how to meet, their tenancy and financial responsibilities.
• Advisers that will remain available throughout the lifetime of the tenancy. 

What we need:

Studio flats or one or two bed properties including ground floor or a property in a block with access to a lift at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

What we offer:

• A generous cash incentive
• Rent guarantee insurance
• Extensive support and advice to landlords and tenants throughout the life of the tenancy
• Reliable, long-term tenants for at least 12 months
• A free London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS) voucher worth £100

Interested in letting your property?

Get in touch with our Camden Lettings team on 020 7974 4158 or at camdenlettings@camden.gov.uk

View Full Article: Helping to provide a safe and secure home

Landlords – Should we sell up or shut up?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Most landlords will have spent a lot of time and money on housing tenants, whether it’s in just one property or a massive portfolio. But, has the time come to give all of this up?

I don’t know whether we should sell up or shut up.

The post Landlords – Should we sell up or shut up? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Landlords – Should we sell up or shut up?

John Lewis signs £500m build-to-rent deal with City investment giant

admin    Uncategorized     agents

John Lewis is on its way to becoming a major residential landlord after signing a £500m joint venture deal with global investment firm abrdn.

It will use its property assets to build 1,000 build-to-rent homes (BTR) in Bromley, West Ealing and Reading, marking the start of its 10-year plan to create a 10,000-home portfolio. The deal will see John Lewis develop and manage the new sites which will include affordable housing as it looks to create a stable income following recent financial losses. 

In Bromley and West Ealing, subject to planning permission, Waitrose shops will be redeveloped to provide new homes and improved stores, while in Reading, a vacant John Lewis warehouse will be redeveloped. The sites were chosen due to their central location and transport links. 

Savills recently predicted that the number of BTR homes will increase five-fold over the next decade to 380,000 in the UK.

Key role

John Lewis believes the BTR sector has a key role to play in addressing the shortfall in rental homes. Nina Bhatia (pictured), executive director for strategy and commercial development, says residents can expect homes furnished by the retailer, with first-rate service and facilities.

She adds: “The move underlines our commitment to build on the strength of our brands to diversify beyond retail into areas where trust really matters.”

Neil Slater (pictured), head of real assets at abrdn – one of Europe’s largest residential investment managers – says it wants to address the critical lack of quality rental accommodation in the UK.

“The ambitions and responsible ethos of our brands both strongly align, and our partnership should offer investors long-term returns and give residents confidence in a top-quality living experience.”

John Lewis aims to submit the first planning applications and launch a consultation for the Reading site next year. 

Read more about John Lewis.
 

View Full Article: John Lewis signs £500m build-to-rent deal with City investment giant

Rip-off council tax bills for HMO tenants set to end

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A bid by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to re-band individual HMO rooms for council tax purposes looks set to end after an amendment to a Bill by Conservative MP, Caroline Dinenage.

She was compelled to act over growing instances of councils handing individual tenants living in an HMO a council tax bill.

The post Rip-off council tax bills for HMO tenants set to end appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Rip-off council tax bills for HMO tenants set to end

Property duo launch platform for accredited property ‘sourcers’ and investors

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new property platform aims to revolutionize the buy-to-let sector by connecting property sourcers and investors.

Invesourced has been launched by self-taught property sourcer Williams who met partner, investor Kelly Hopkins (both pictured above) when he sourced a deal for her.

Based in Caerphilly, the platform lets users share their investment profiles and investment opportunities to secure lucrative opportunities.

Professional property sourcers specialize in finding properties that are either undervalued or where the valuation would be significantly uplifted by a renovation or a change of use. They then package the opportunity to investors in return for a fee, usually a percentage of the purchase value.

Whatsapp

However, according to the pair, the market is disjointed, with WhatsApp Groups, social media groups or mailing lists used to flag and discuss opportunities.

Instead, Invesourced allows property sourcers to upload multiple deals, which can then be viewed by multiple investors, filtered by price, risk, geographic region and type of property. Invesourced will take a percentage of the sourcer’s fee.

Sourcers will need professional indemnity insurance, ICO registration, Property Ombudsman or Property Redress Scheme membership and be compliant with anti-money laundering regulations.

The company is developing a way to work with non-compliant sourcers to help them become compliant.

“We have already seen strong interest from both investors and sourcers who understand the benefits and the time it will save them,” says Williams. “I am excited to be launching this venture with Kelly and feel this will be the start of a much bigger journey for all of us.”

View Full Article: Property duo launch platform for accredited property ‘sourcers’ and investors

Landlord sells whole property portfolio in 5 days and recommends other landlords: sell before Christmas

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The economy is in a state of uncertain flux and appears to continue to work against landlords.

From interest rates and taxes rising in an almost exponential way, inflation and the cost of living rising higher than ever before

The post Landlord sells whole property portfolio in 5 days and recommends other landlords: sell before Christmas appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Landlord sells whole property portfolio in 5 days and recommends other landlords: sell before Christmas

Join me, Mark Alexander, on the expert panel at the National pin Meeting on Wednesday 7th December

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been invited by Simon Zutshi to take part in the expert panel at their National pin Meeting on Wednesday 7th December!

During the meeting, we will have a presentation from Mike Bristow

The post Join me, Mark Alexander, on the expert panel at the National pin Meeting on Wednesday 7th December appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Join me, Mark Alexander, on the expert panel at the National pin Meeting on Wednesday 7th December

EPC policy…the road to tenant hell?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Like being obliged to have an EPC to rent a property.

So, I’m a landlord and a homeowner. I have in the distant past been a tenant. When I buy a home

The post EPC policy…the road to tenant hell? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: EPC policy…the road to tenant hell?

Council faces half-billion pound debt after disastrous investments

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Investigations have thrown new light on a series of solar energy investments which failed to switch the lights on for Thurrock Council.

Conservative led Thurrock Council has saddled itself with an almost £500 million debt when it tried to bridge a funding gap by taking on risky investments with council taxpayers’ money.

This Council is one of the most indebted of all English local authorities after borrowing around £1.5bn, that amounts to 10 times its annual spending budget.

A regular income

Thurrock Council’s investments were meant to make a regular income for the authority to help pay for vital services, but it has recently been reported that many of the investments they made have gone sour.

The latest central Government figures for the first quarter of this financial year show Thurrock had £941m outstanding in short term loans from other councils. This is nearly three times as high as the next indebted council which is Lancashire with £332m of loans outstanding.

The council will now borrow £836m in weekly instalments from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) up until 16 March, 2023, of which £678.5m will be repaid to other local authorities.

Other councils currently under central Government intervention are Slough Borough Council and Liverpool City Council, which appear in the top ten in terms of inter authority short term lending, owing £318m and £229m respectively.

An acute crisis

The almost unbelievable scale of the financial crisis affecting Thurrock Council has been revealed though an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism into its series of failed investments. These left a huge hole in its finances to the tune of almost £500m, it’s the biggest debt ever reported by a UK local authority.

The authority in Thurrock now owes around £324m to 27 different authorities, including £60m to Derbyshire CC and its pension fund, and £20m to Cornwall Council, plus there are another 21 local government bodies that had previously lent money to Thurrock in 2020, now no longer involved.

It took three years of investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) to uncover the full magnitude of Thurrock’s financial crisis, including hundreds of millions lent to solar energy companies run by businessman Liam Kavanagh, 53 solar farms in all.

According to the BIJ, Thurrock council invested £655m in Mr Kavanagh’s companies, with an expected loss of £188m in some or all of the companies. Another £94m is tied up in a company called the Just Loans Group and is expected to represent another £65m loss on its investment when the company went bust in June, meanwhile millions more have been put at risk and lost in a series of other deals that have since turned sour.

Thurrock not the only one

In common with other councils, Thurrock got itself involved in commercial deals, many in commercial property, in attempts to offset short term income gaps during the years of austerity cuts. This was facilitated in large part by the availability of cheap borrowing through the Treasury.

The alternative income streams provided by investing council reserves and borrowings work well for a time until commercial businesses started to struggle, commercial property rents disappeared as tenants left, turning assets into liabilities, and now interest rates are on the rise as well.

They had been warned

Councils were being warned over a period of years by property professionals about the risks involved in taking on commercial investments that they were not equipped to deal with, but it seems the prospect of steady income streams to fill funding gaps using low interest borrowing was too tempting.

Major concerns by central Government over Thurrock’s exposure to risky commercial investments led to a team of commissioners being sent in to investigate its finances. Their report showed that the council’s finances were in a significantly worse state than originally thought.

Thurrock has sent an appeal to the central Government for an emergency bailout and is putting through a drastic programme of cuts to local services and making staff redundancies. This will also involve selling off council owned buildings and land plus other assets at its disposal as it tries to stay solvent. Local council taxpayers are also likely to see stiff increases.

Rob Whiteman, the chief executive of the public sector accountants body has said:

“What we are seeing in Thurrock is shocking and unprecedented. I have not seen anything like this in my 30-year career in local government,”

The government reports said of the financial situation the council finds itself in:

“This is a grave position and at this point the council cannot find a way to finance their expenditure in-year and is unlikely to achieve a balanced budget for 2023-24 without external support.”

Conservative leader, Mark Coxshall has issued a statement saying that services will continue to operate as normal for now and staff would continue to be paid, but he warned that there would be “extremely difficult decisions to come”.

View Full Article: Council faces half-billion pound debt after disastrous investments