Don’t panic! Renting reforms are far from ‘oven ready’ PRS chief tells webinar

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Landlords have been advised not to panic or believe all the scaremongering in the wake of the government’s radical Fairer Renting proposals.

The Property Redress Scheme’s helpline was inundated within hours of last week’s announcement, reports head of redress Sean Hooker, but he believes the proposals aren’t “oven ready”.

Speaking on Goodlord’s Newsagent podcast, Hooker says the upcoming consultation with key stakeholders will be key to shaping a Bill which looks set to go through Parliament in the Spring.

“We will be able to feedback to the government,” he adds. “We can’t change the fundamentals, but we can guide the direction of travel.”

Property portal

Hooker says the proposed new property portal – focusing on homes rather than landlords – in theory means providing a holistic experience by monitoring properties to focus attention on failing landlords

But measuring these standards will be the issue, he adds.

“You could incorporate electricity and gas safety information, deposit information and insurance information,” says Hooker.

“It also makes sense for the government to take ownership and for others like us to have licence and access to this that will help delivery of services.”

Hooker is less positive about the value of a new single ombudsman that all landlords must join.

“In lots of sectors there’s only one ombudsman, but our sector is complex as there’s a host of others involved in the property market, so a single one-stop shop is not the entire answer,” explains Hooker.

“You also can’t wait months to deal with issues – they need dealing with in real time.”

And the challenge of what’s reasonable when it comes to landlords having an excuse for turning down a pet is put succinctly by Hooker: “You could argue that keeping a Great Dane in a one-bedroom studio flat on the 31^st floor of a tower block isn’t the wisest thing to do – but you can’t have a complete ban.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Don’t panic! Renting reforms are far from ‘oven ready’ PRS chief tells webinar | LandlordZONE.

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Landlord gives key evidence during trial of parents accused of son’s murder

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A landlord has given evidence in the Sebastian Kalinowski murder trial, who died at his home in Huddersfield.

Prosecutors allege his mother Agnieszka Kalinowska, 35, and her partner Andrzej Latoszewski, 36, subjected him to a campaign of abuse before his death in August 2021.

The landlord told in a statement read to Leeds Crown Court how he discovered a CCTV system had been put up in 301 Leeds Road, reports Yorkshire Live. The property (pictured) has since been boarded up.

He said: “Sometime after he moved into the house I attended to cut back some bushes and I noticed a camera under a windowsill, and a camera in the garden, situated between plants.”

The landlord said no one had asked his permission to install it and when asked about it, his tenants said they felt “unsafe” and that tenants next door were “rough”.

Footage

He said he became aware of a camera in the living room and he knew from Latoszewski, “he could view the footage on his phone”. He added: “I know there was at least one internal camera.”

The court heard that the landlord had intended to sell the property but did not tell the defendants at the time, and arranged for estate agents to carry out valuations.

He said: “They were not very happy at all, they had their own personal things in the house, especially when an estate agent had been a week before. I was quite surprised – I had never had any problems with them.”

The defendants are charged with murder, manslaughter, neglect, and allowing or causing the death of 15-year-old Sebastian.

Latoszewski has admitted manslaughter and both defendants have admitted cruelty to a child under the age of 16. The court has heard from family friends about ‘punishments’ he had to endure, and about texts between the defendants describing what they were doing as ‘torture’.

The trial continues.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord gives key evidence during trial of parents accused of son’s murder | LandlordZONE.

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Liverpool granting licences to Agents and not Landlords?

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I have received a letter today from a Letting Agent:

“We have been in discussion with Liverpool Council regarding the issuing of licenses under their new Selective Licensing Scheme. We have had a number of applications rejected on the basis that the landlord is not the most appropriate person to hold the licence.

View Full Article: Liverpool granting licences to Agents and not Landlords?

Disclosing confidential tenant details to loss adjuster?

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My tenants, a family of about 4 years have absconded. They were 2 months in rent arrears, left the water on and there were other malicious damages. I am currently going through the Landlord Insurance claim.

It is a very slow process and the Loss adjuster is requesting so much information including the confidential ones and those that are data protected like IDs

View Full Article: Disclosing confidential tenant details to loss adjuster?

Housing minister promises England will never see ‘un-Conservative’ rent controls

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Housing Minister Eddie Hughes has emphatically shut down suggestions that rent controls could be part of PRS reform.

Following the publication of the White Paper – A Fairer Private Rented Sector – some rent campaigners had voiced hopes that it would usher in tougher rent rules, but Hughes told the Commons: “I have to be blunt and say, ‘Under no circumstances’ – that is simply not a Conservative policy and it is not something we are going to pursue.”

Instead, it appears that the less radical option suggested in the White Paper will attempt to curb rises.

Namely, the government is proposing to only allow rent increases once a year (replicating existing mechanisms) and will increase the minimum notice landlords must give of any change in rent to two months.

Rent increases

The use of rent review clauses would also come to an end, preventing tenants being locked into automatic rent increases that are vague or may not reflect changes in the market price.

The White Paper goes on to say: “Most landlords do not increase rents by an unreasonable amount but in cases where increases are disproportionate, we will make sure that tenants have the confidence to challenge unjustified rent increases through the First-tier Tribunal.

“We will prevent the tribunal increasing rent beyond the amount landlords initially asked for when they proposed a rent increase.”

Commentary within the notes published alongside the Queen’s Speech had also suggested the government would consider rent controls ‘via the back door’.

Dissenting voice

But not all Conservatives agree with him. A letter in The Telegraph from Devon-based Tory supported John Dodwell, in response to a column within the paper yesterday criticising the rent reform White Paper, said: “I believe in the Conservative principles of self-reliance and independence, but it is obvious that a “free market” in property – whether buying or renting – is no longer tenable.

“For such a market to exist and operate fairly, it requires a reasonable equilibrium between supply and demand, and there is little chance of that happening.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Housing minister promises England will never see ‘un-Conservative’ rent controls | LandlordZONE.

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Structure your property business to protect your legacy and always refinance on Interest only Mortgage

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Interest Only Mortgages are great for property investors, but what happens when you’re simply too old to remortgage.

In this episode of The Property Tax Show, I’m joined once again by Alex Norian, the tax specialist, from Property 118 to discuss how you can structure your property business to protect your legacy while continuing to refinance on Interest Only mortgages forever.

View Full Article: Structure your property business to protect your legacy and always refinance on Interest only Mortgage

OFFICIAL report reveals ‘hit and miss’ results of under-funded PRS enforcement

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A lack of hard information about local private rental sectors means many councils find it hard to make decisions, while some under-staffed teams are mostly ‘fire-fighting’ rather than going after rogue landlords, it has been revealed.

Those without political or local backing also find it hard to robustly enforce PRS standards, leaving many councils to operate a reactive, rather than proactive service that only targets the worst properties, finds a new government report based on a survey of 140 local authorities across England.

It follows comments within the government’s renting reform White Paper last week that Ministers intend to strengthen local councils’ enforcement powers and ability to crack down on criminal landlords by seeking to increase investigative powers and strengthening the fine regime for serious offences.

Effectiveness

Gathering evidence was described as one of the biggest challenges that enforcement officers face, with few authorities able to demonstrate convincingly that their approach was driven by the effectiveness of their actions.

The DLUHC report says: “Some explained limited use of enforcement with reference to high levels of landlord compliance with informal requests but acknowledged that they were unlikely to encounter the worst properties.”

Just under two-thirds (63%) conducted a survey of the housing stock – this was often undertaken infrequently or on an ad hoc basis. Instead, much time was spent simply identifying landlords, agents and properties which eroded teams’ capacity to take enforcement action.

Local authorities were also not making much use of the Rogue Landlord Database, blaming its restrictive criteria or the fact it isn’t public, or user-friendly.

RROs

Councils report that rent repayment orders (RROs) act as an incentive to landlords to comply with HMO licensing and although most do not think it a worthwhile use of their resources to apply themselves, they are more enthusiastic about supporting tenants to apply.

Mandatory licensing of HMOs and selective licensing was widely praised for helping to improve standards and conditions, and seen as a good way of collecting data.

But officers called for a mandatory register of landlords and agents to help facilitate their work, along with better access to financial data such as bank records. Local authorities would also like to see a simpler legislative framework for enforcement.

Read: A complete guide to running an HMO.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – OFFICIAL report reveals ‘hit and miss’ results of under-funded PRS enforcement | LandlordZONE.

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Surging electric car sales leads to two tier housing market

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Houses with off-road parking space will not only command a higher sale price, the rental value will also be boosted as more people buy electric cars.

Surge in EV sales

The electric vehicle (EV) market is booming, which will inevitably have its impact on property prices. With a limited number of charging points on the road network, having a home charging point is an absolute necessity for most electric car owners.

According to the latest vehicle statistics, electric car sales nearly doubled during Covid in 2020, and EV sales enjoyed another record year in 2021 – more battery electric vehicles were sold than over the previous five years combined, hitting nearly 12 percent of all new car sales, and another 7 per cent were plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, making nearly one-fifth overall.

January to May 2022 saw electric car sales statistics continuing their record sales growth. March 2022 saw the highest volume of battery only registrations ever recorded in a single month – as a result electric vehicles of all types comprised just short of 28 percent of all new car registrations during April following the March 1 plate change.

Now, with soaring fuel prices, there’s another reason for people to go electric. Coupled with the Covid effect of increased demand for more space – home offices and gardens – the soaring fuel prices are resulting in even higher demand for electric vehicles, clear signals that properties with driveways and more space will command premium prices.

Savills confirms it has seen a surge in demand for houses with off road parking and more space for home working, office / garden /garage.

In the London suburbs Savills says that homes with driveways now command a 5 per cent premium over similar properties without the facility to charge a vehicle. But in the most expensive parts of the city this premium can increase to one-third – a full 33 per cent higher price with a driveway, even more that the premium a large garden usually commands. 

More space and a driveway give value boost

A big garden, says Savills, is still worth more than a driveway in some of the more leafy parts of London,  where they will increase a property’s value by as much as 10pc.

The nationwide dearth of vehicle charging points means that the house price premium for homes with off-street parking is likely to be with us for some time. According to Savills, a home with a driveway in suburban London could add £23,500 to the price of a £500,000 home.

Will Watson, of agents The Buying Solution, told The Daily Telegraph that off-street parking in London could easily add as much as 20pc to the price of a family home. He says: 

“The huge concern for London is that people will have an issue charging electric vehicles if they don’t have a parking space. This premium is set to potentially get a lot higher.”

So far these price premiums have mostly affected the capital, that’s because London has been the place in the country where most people have been purchasing electric cars. However, property experts are predicting that this price-premium is set to spread fast to other prime commuter towns in the home counties and beyond.

Lucian Cook, of Savills, Head of Residential Research and one of the country’s most respected housing market commentators, having been a director in the Savills research team since 2007, said that the places in the country where electric vehicle ownership greatly outnumbers charging points are those most likely to see a big impact on home values. He says: 

“As the gap between demand for electric cars and public charging points grows, we can expect to see homes that offer private charging provisions to come at a premium.”

Likewise, Charles Davenport, of Knight Frank estate agents’ in Elmbridge, told The Daily Telegraph that off-street parking was becoming a deal-breaker for buyers with electric cars.

He said: “We had a house in Cobham and the couple looking at it had an electric car and they said sorry we can’t because there is no off-street parking and it is absolutely essential for us.” 

In the last two years, the combined number of electric cars registered has increased by nearly 200 percent, while the number of charging points has increased by only 72 percent.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Surging electric car sales leads to two tier housing market | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: HMRC names dozens of landlords who dodged tax totalling £6.7m

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HMRC has named and shamed 26 property tax dodgers who collectively tried to avoid paying more than £6.7 million.

The deliberate tax defrauders earned income from either rental property, property developing or property tax advising, and have all been investigated and fined for either making deliberate errors in their tax returns or deliberately failing to comply with tax rules.

Amounts payable ranged from just over £25,000 to more than £4m, owed by Erica Stanford, of Meadow Cottage, Hockett Lane in Cookham, who was fined £2.8m for property rental and cryptoasset-related activities.

‘Deliberate tax defrauder’ is a taxpayer who has been investigated by HMRC and charged a penalty of over £25,000 for deliberate errors in their tax returns or who has deliberately failed to comply with the tax rules.

Here’s the full list:

• Michael Lawrence, of 9 Arabia Close, Chingford, owed £152,819;
• Calandra Jadwiga Balfour, of 26A Richmond Place, Brighton (£72,061);
• Erica Claire Stanford, of Meadow Cottage, Hockett Lane, Cookham (£4,040,378);
• CHG Holdings Ltd, of 37 Commercial Road, Poole (£441,031);
• Dilbagh Singh, of 3 Gainsborough Place, Chigwell (£34,811);
• Gurdev Kaur, of 3 Gainsborough Place, Chigwell (£39,370);
• Surriaya Latif, of Harkaway, Whittington, Worcester (£51,650);
• Haroon Sheikh Latif, of Harkaway, Whittington, Worcester (£28,494);
• Hassan Mahdi Salih, of Longhouse Close, Lisvane, Cardiff (£30,858);
• David Warren Hannah, of The White House, Welford Road, Arnesby (£30,600);
• Umar Hayat Khan, of 170 Yardley Wood Road, Moseley, (£61,125);
• Farida Jhetam, of 3 Lichfield Road, Woodford Green (£84,526);
• Akbar Jhetam, of 2A Tennyson Road, London (£34,513); Manoharan Sellaih, of 26 Khartoum Road, Ilford (£25,685);
• Joseph Bernard Cremin, of 39 Hamilton Road, Ealing (£428,832);
• Pew Homes Ltd, of 39 Lantry Lodge, Moira, Craigavon (£67,971);
• Jay Lance Stevens, of 20 Providence Street, Greenhithe (£57,859);
• Piara Singh Sehajpal, of 1 Honeysuckle Close, Iver (£226,005);
• D J Murphey Construction Ltd, of International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct (£99,000);
• Michael Walsh, of 59 Dellow Close, Ilford (£321,925);
• Vickram Singh, of 8 Claypit Close, South Shields (£51,405);
• Shurif Uddin Shaikh, of 207 Shakespeare Crescent, Manor Park (£37,572); Stephen John Bentley, of Long Ridge, Egerton House Road, Egerton (£152,171);
• Vilay Patel, of 6 Samuel Gray Gardens, Kingston upon Thames (£84,414); Kalpana Patel, of 6 Samuel Gray Gardens, Kingston upon Thames (£45,152); and Chang Ling Lin, of 20 Stephen Oake Close, Manchester (£25,332).

HMRC warns that they may no longer be at the address and the business now operating from there may have no connection with them.

Read more about landlord tax and HMRC.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: HMRC names dozens of landlords who dodged tax totalling £6.7m | LandlordZONE.

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Telegraph needs landlord feedback on Renters Reform Bill please – Article Written

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Hi, my name is Melissa Lawford and I’m the property correspondent at The Telegraph. The Government will be publishing its Renters Reform Bill white paper on Thursday and I’m keen to talk to landlords about how this will affect them.

View Full Article: Telegraph needs landlord feedback on Renters Reform Bill please – Article Written