OPINION: Has the Prime Minister’s landlord bashing gone too far this time?

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It may have gone unnoticed by many landlords that Boris Johnson made one of the most extraordinary attacks on the sector in living memory last week.

And it is fair to say, one of the most unfair. Most landlords have become accustomed to the government’s frosty rhetoric over the past decade or so, but this week’s comments take the biscuit.

To remind readers, Johnson in his speech last week said: “When ownership remains beyond the reach of a great many hard-working people, it’s neither right nor fair to put ever-vaster sums of taxpayer’s money straight into the pockets of landlords.

“The total bill for Housing Support stands at about £30 billion each year, and the Office for Budget responsibility has warned that if we don’t take action, it could reach £50 billion by 2050.

“That is cash, taxpayer’s cash that is being simply swallowed to pay the mortgages of private sector landlords or by housing associations.”

Among those who follow the twists and turns of government policy, it’s clear that the Prime Minister is slamming landlords for a situation largely if not entirely of his own government’s making.

As successive administrations including his own have stalled on building more public-sector rented homes and council waiting lists have lengthened, so it has been private landlords who have stepped up to fill the gap.

Yes, there is clear evidence from the courts that too many of these landlords are terrible accommodation providers and everyone including the NRLA agrees that adequate funding needs to be provided to councils to drive them out of the market.

But to suggest, as Johnson has done, that the ‘pockets’ of landlords are being lined at the expense of the tax payer are unfair.

No picnic

As LandlordZONE has documented on many occasions, being a landlord with tenants in receipt of Universal Credit or housing benefit is no picnic.

The ideologically-driven decision to give tenants the rental element of their UC direct rather than pay it to their landlord has caused tens of thousands of landlords major headaches.

And the system of enabling a tenant to have that cash paid direct can be cumbersome.

Also, the freeze in Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates means there is an increasingly large gap between benefits and the rent tenants pay.

This kind of commentary by Johnson is, unsurprisingly, populist in tone. There are some 1.75 million landlords in the UK but approximately 20 million PRS tenants, so the No.10 calculation is an easy one. Landlords are sitting ducks politically, despite the NRLA’s best efforts.

But this approach is beginning to come home to roost – landlords are leaving the sector and supply is narrowing. The only losers will be the people Johnson hopes to appeal to politically, the tenants, who will pay higher and higher rent.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – OPINION: Has the Prime Minister’s landlord bashing gone too far this time? | LandlordZONE.

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£27 million of deposits held in rental disputes

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The latest figures from mydeposits show that while tenancy deposit disputes did see a year-on-year decline in volume during 2021, there was still an estimated £27 million worth of deposits held in rental disputes between landlords and tenants.

View Full Article: £27 million of deposits held in rental disputes

Capital Account Restructuring – Capital Vs Equity?

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I’m doing my research and coming around to the idea that transferring our BTL properties into a LTD company would be very sensible.

I can see that Capital Account Restructuring using a bridging loan potentially means we may never have to pay high rate income tax again …

View Full Article: Capital Account Restructuring – Capital Vs Equity?

GET IN: Entries for first-ever awards for HMO landlords close in two weeks

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HMO landlords and suppliers have two weeks to get their entries in for the sector’s inaugural awards to be held at the Stowe House historic country pile in Buckinghamshire.

Designed to change the reputation of the HMO sector whose operators are often forgotten or even ignored by the rest of the property sector, it will highlight its best operators and suppliers.

“If you asked the average person on the street what an HMO investor is like, what would they describe? For most people, it is the person who bought a three-bed house which is now inhabited by six couples,” says Vann Vogstad, founder and CEO of COHO, which is organising the event.

“It is the image that gets a lot of people up in arms when a planning application goes up for an HMO on their street.

“But that isn’t what I see. I have spoken to many, many incredible HMO managers, investors, and service providers.

“It is a difficult space in which to succeed you really must recognise the importance of consistent processes, and customer service…and in a quickly professionalising space, these people are really on the ball. But they aren’t who most people will picture.”

To underline this message, the HMO Awards offers 18 categories (see list at bottom) each judged by a corresponding expert figure.

Judging line-up

Judges include Ben Beadle from the NRLA, Sky TV property investment expert Helen Chorley, tech expert Gary Barker, Landlord Action founder Paul Shamplina, property educator star Ranjan Bhattacharya and rent-to-rent mentor Stephanie Taylor.

“For too many years awards events have been a ‘cookie-cutting’’ exercise,” says event organise Helen Turner.

“So many people have asked me if you have to ‘pay to win’ or if they can ‘book a table of ten’.

“Our ambition for this event is to show the property industry that it’s time to break from the norm, with the sole aim that more people can get more value out of industry events.”

Taking place on 30^th September and with some 400 delegates already signed up, the awards will be proceeded by an exhibition and conference on the day.

Find out more.

Categories

• Best Master Lease Operator
• Best HMO Content or Media
• Best HMO Service Supplier
• Best HMO Financial Service Supplier
• Best Student HMO Manager
• Lifetime Achievement
• Best HMO Technology Supplier
• Best Progressive Social Housing HMO Investor
• Best Commercial to HMO Conversion
• Best Professional HMO Landlord
• Creating a Sustainable Future
• Best HMO Training or Mentorship Program
• Best HMO Investor
• Best Community Experience
• Best HMO Agency
• Best Residential to HMO Conversion
• HMO Manager of the Year – Tenants Choice
• Best Shared Living Design

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – GET IN: Entries for first-ever awards for HMO landlords close in two weeks | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: GET IN: Entries for first-ever awards for HMO landlords close in two weeks

Landlord wins legal battle over £3,300 gas safety paperwork fine

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A professional landlord has scored a partial win against his council fines for charges relating to gas safety inspections.

Mahendra Maharaj, who owns 78 properties in Liverpool, had been fined £9,000 by the city council – a decision confirmed by a First Tier Property Tribunal in June 2021 – concerning his property at 68 Fazakerley Road (pictured).

However, while an Upper Tribunal confirmed the £5,625 penalty for not providing evidence of regular inspections, it has quashed his £3,375 fine for not supplying a gas safety certificate by the given deadline.

The council had written to Maharaj asking him to produce a copy of a valid gas safety certificate for the property within seven days, but on 13th June 2019 this had not been provided.

It had also written to him on 5th June 2019 asking him to produce a copy of his records of inspection for the property within 28 days but by 4th July 2019 this had not been provided. It issued notices of intent on 8^th November that year.

Landlord claims

Maharajhad told the original First Tier Tribunal that on 6th June 2019 he had posted three gas safety certificates for the property, dated 8th February 2017, 29th March 2018, and 17th February 2019, along with blank, but signed, inspection records, but that the tenant had not given him access to the property.

However, both tribunals found that he had not provided any evidence of making attempts to do the inspection or having done this.

At the Upper Tribunal, his lawyer argued that the failure to provide a gas safety certificate by 13th June 2019 could not constitute an offence since it was not one of the conditions of his licence.

Read: The ultimate guide to gas safety certificates.

“The six months’ period for giving notice of intent had expired on 4th January 2019, so that any proceedings for that offence were effectively time-barred, because no notice of intent had been given until on or about 8th November 2019,” the Upper Tribunal ruled.

“The Tribunal does not regard this point as a mere technicality because it gives rise to the risk that a landlord might be found guilty of a non-existent offence, or of one that has not been properly identified to the landlord.”

Read the judgement in full.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord wins legal battle over £3,300 gas safety paperwork fine | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlord wins legal battle over £3,300 gas safety paperwork fine

Property118 Members Poll

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As we continue to build the Property118 Editorial Team, to continue to deliver even increasingly more valuable content content to our Members, we would really value your feedback by completing the Poll below.

Also …

If you are interested in joining our Editorial Team please CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.

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LATEST: New guidance to make EPCs more accurate after 10-year wait

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The government has finally updated the guidance it provides to property assessors on how to calculate EPCs for new homes and, in six months’ time, for existing homes too.

This is the first time the ‘methodologies of calculation’ have been updated for almost ten years for the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) used by assessors issuing EPCs to homeowners and landlords.

Currently in their 10^th edition, the new methodologies update assessors on how to calculate a property’s carbon emissions and heat consumption.

Changes

One of the key changes is the CO2 emissions factor for electricity which is being reduced, halving the emission factor.

This means that the carbon footprint of electric heating (rather than gas) will be more favourable in helping a landlord hit the emissions numbers as assessors in SAP 10 will find it easier to achieve compliance with electric heating. 

Stuart Fairlie, MD of leading assessor firm Elmhurst Energy, which accredits some 9,500 assessors across the UK, says the long-awaited update means EPC for new homes will, after June 15^th, be much more accurate.

“We expect the updated methodologies to be issued for existing properties to be released before the end of the year, which will make EPCs for many landlords’ properties more accurate too,” he says.

“The two government departments involves – BEIS and DLUHC – have decided to focus on new homes first, get them nailed down, and then turn to existing properties including rental homes.”

Elmurst Energy is the largest of the EPC accreditation organisations, alongside Stroma Certification, Quids, RUSFA and Bryter Digital.

The announcement by the housing ministry follows many years during which landlords and house builders have complained that EPCs can vary significantly from one property to another even though they are similar.

This has prompted some landlords to allege that that the whole EPC certificate system is misleading, as LandlordZONE reported last July and Tom Entwistle set out later on that year.

It has also led to some landlords complaining that they have faced additional costs to upgrade properties when they may have not needed to.

“A further update to the SAP is expected at some point before 2025 as the government ratchets up its ‘net zero’ targets for the housing sector, but for now at least we can now say that EPCs are as close to the truth as is possible,” says Fairlie.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: New guidance to make EPCs more accurate after 10-year wait | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: LATEST: New guidance to make EPCs more accurate after 10-year wait

LATEST: County council moves to change space standards for HMO properties

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Landlords have been invited to have their say about changes to a leading county council’s HMO rules around space standards.

North Devon aims to prevent more than one household living in a single room under its licensing scheme and expects to implement the new standards in September.

The council explains: “The legislation is silent on the sharing of rooms by one or more households. It is proposed that no more than one household shall occupy any room used for sleeping accommodation.”

A spokeswoman tells LandlordZONE: “We’ve had some queries from landlords and management companies since implementing our standards last July about how many people could share rooms, so we wanted to clarify things.”

New rules

The new rules should also confirm that en-suites are to be used solely by the occupier of the room and do not count as a shared bathroom.

North Devon Council’s head of planning, housing and health, Jeremy Mann, adds: “Licensing has helped improve the quality and safety of homes for people living in the private rented sector. The new standards will ensure we continue to make homes in North Devon safe, warm and secure for tenants and help the council continue to tackle rogue landlords who own or rent an HMO without meeting these minimum regulations.”

Last October, LandlordZONE reported that the county has seen a staggering 70% drop in private rented properties over the last two years as landlords have swapped to short term holiday rentals. 

The consultation is open until 20th July.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: County council moves to change space standards for HMO properties | LandlordZONE.

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Can I convert a locally listed building in a conservation area using class MA?

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This week Property with Andrew and Linda Wright is answering another Permitted Development Question.

Is it possible to convert the upper of a shop to residential using Class MA on a Locally Listed Building, which is also in a conservation area?

View Full Article: Can I convert a locally listed building in a conservation area using class MA?

Annual rental inflation at 10.6% for May

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The HomeLet Rental index for May indicates annual average rental inflation stands at 10.6% with an average rent of £1,103 or £928 excluding  London.

This is an overall monthly change of 1.1% with inflation the highest in Northern Ireland at 1.9%.

View Full Article: Annual rental inflation at 10.6% for May