Right to rent follow up check when tenant is renewing visa?

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Hi, My tenant’s UK work permit visa expired a few months ago, and I’m conducting a following up Right to Rent check.

The tenant has been chasing an application to renew the work permit Visa with the Home Office for a number of months now

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Sir Philip Green and his wife bought-up high-end London property as their retail empire was collapsing

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The so called Pandora Papers is a financial services leak of nearly 12 million documents that reveal an international treasure trove of hidden wealth, tax avoidance and money laundering, by some of the world’s richest individuals.

The secret files were unearthed by a Washington DC news consortium which is now working with more than 140 media organisations around the global in what is thought to be the biggest ever financial services investigation involving in excess of £4bn in assets. BBC Panorama and the Guardian newspaper are sifting though the thousands of files containing personal financial dealings meant to be kept private.

The Pandora Papers show that the Greens went on a property buying spree after their British Home Stores (BHS) retail empire was in the final throws of its life. According to the Guardian’s investigation, during their 15 years of ownership Sir Philip and Lady Green, along with other shareholders, extracted at least £580m from the company.

The Greens, former owners of BHS, Topshop, Miss Selfridge, were snapping up millions of pounds worth of high-end London property while their companies ran into deep trouble. The papers show that soon after BHS was sold for £1 in 2015, the Greens bought a flat in Mayfair for £4.95m using an offshore firm and later they added to the purchase by buying parts of a ground and first floor residence for a further £15m.

A flat in a Belgravia building worth £7m was also bought by the Greens anonymously and a building in Marylebone, the then BHS headquarters and owned offshore by the Greens, was sold to their own company, Arcadia, for £53m in 2015

BHS, one of the most famous brands on UK High Streets, was burdened down with debt when the Greens famously sold it for a token sum of £1 to Dominic Chappell, a former bankrupt businessman and racing driver who had no retail experience.

The beneficial owner of a company called Amberley Limited incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) was one Lady Tina Green and was the vehicle used to buy the Mayfair flat in Balfour Place. Another company, BVI-based Hulverstone Investments Ltd also owned by Lady Green was the one behind a £15m investment in a luxury apartment taking up three floors of a house in Hill Street, Mayfair.

The Greens also paid out £10.6m in January 2016 for a home in Belgravia, near Buckingham Palace for their 25-year-old daughter Chloe Green. Another anonymous offshore vehicle, Mottistone Holdings, also held in Lady Green’s name, was used to purchase that property.

This was a four-storey town house around the corner from their £7m flat on Eaton Place, the papers show it is owned anonymously by Lady Green through yet another BVI company, Bestfalls Limited.

These transactions came after the Green’s Arcadia retail group paid £53m to buy Wilton Equity Limited, an offshore company, from Lady Green.

BHS collapsed only a month or so after the Belgravia town house purchase. What followed the collapse was a public outcry and angry criticism from MPs, and Sir Philip was forced to pay £363m into the company’s pension scheme to shore up its huge deficit.

Soon after this, Arcadia itself was in financial difficulties with sales and profits falling, resulting in the company going into administration, with around 3,000 put at risk.

The Greens were subsequently heavily criticised for extracting £1.2bn from Arcadia, but failing to attempt to save the ailing retailer by investing money back into its stores and going online to revive its businesses.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Sir Philip Green and his wife bought-up high-end London property as their retail empire was collapsing | LandlordZONE.

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Urgent need to set up dedicated housing court for Welsh landlords and tenants, say Tories

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The Welsh Conservative spokesperson for housing, Janet Finch-Saunders (pictured), has urged the Welsh government to consider setting up a dedicated housing tribunal for Wales to address a fundamental lack of faith in the present court system.

Finch-Saunders believes that proactive intervention is needed as legislation in Wales continues to diverge from England.

She says. “We cannot be left with a situation where the present route to possession leaves landlords with immense financial burdens, pushing them towards the less problematic route of self-accommodation lets, and leaving tenants with problems around their mental well-being.” 

Last October, the legislation, justice and constitution committee recommended the need for a standalone and specific housing tribunal in Wales to ensure that access to justice was not unreasonably delayed when the new ‘grounds’ provisions in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 is enforced next year.

Overburdened

It added that there would be an inevitable rise in workload for an already overburdened court system. 

​Daryl McIntosh (pictured), Propertymark policy manager, says now is the time to act, before an entirely new tenancy regime is created. “A dedicated housing tribunal allows for free and accessible access to justice for all parties, from specialist judges whose knowledge would bring consistency in decisions,” says McIntosh.

“It is this specialist knowledge that will ensure the protections the Welsh Government intend to provide for tenants under the Act will not be undermined.”

He adds: “A new system would also bring back confidence to landlords, who having been faced with adversity and a poor experience, are at risk of leaving the sector. At a time when the PRS in Wales is providing homes for over 200,000 households in Wales it is important that landlords can have faith in the protection of their assets when needed.”

Read more: Dedicated housing court ‘essential’ to restore landlords’ faith in rental sector

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Urgent need to set up dedicated housing court for Welsh landlords and tenants, say Tories | LandlordZONE.

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Switching service launches to help tenants battle the energy crisis

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Property platform Clooper has officially launched an energy switching service that landlords can offer tenants looking to save money as the UK energy sector is thrown into disarray by rising gas prices.

Clooper Switch was announced earlier this month and has been developed in partnership with Decision Tech Partners, which is part of the Moneysupermarket group.

Founders Toks Adebiyi and Matt Wilson (pictured) say they service is ready to fight for tenants looking for the best deals in the current unpredictable market, or those whose suppliers have gone bust.

“Simply browse our available tariffs, choose the one that’s right for you, and we’ll do the rest,” says Adebiyi.

“With energy prices increasing and the energy price cap set to rise in October, now is the best time to assist consumers in looking for ways to save more.”

“At a time when households are still trying to recover from the financial impact of the pandemic, as well as the energy price hike that will affect approximately 15 million households in October, what we are doing now really matters and will put more cash in the pockets of the average household,” adds Adebiyi.

The pair tell LandlordZONE that their Switch service will enable landlords to help tenants worried about the current energy crisis or who are struggling to find an affordable energy supplier.

Clooper Switch, which is free to use, claims to save bill payers £245 a year on average.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Switching service launches to help tenants battle the energy crisis | LandlordZONE.

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‘Broken’ evictions system revealed by landlord’s £100k repossession

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A despairing landlord has finally managed to evict a rogue tenant who managed to disrupt the court process by more than a year after claiming he had Covid four times.

He’s now more than £100,000 out of pocket after the man racked up £83,000 in rent arrears and has paid out at least £20,000 in legal fees.

But the landlord, from Saundersfoot in Wales, is just grateful to finally have his property back, despite now being forced to completely gut it before it’s liveable.

“It has been a nightmare as he kept playing the Covid card,” the landlord tells LandlordZONE, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“I’m taking him to court to claim back the arrears but I don’t expect I’ll be successful in recovering the monies outstanding from both him and his wife when judgement is granted.”

He adds: “I’m lucky that I have other properties – if that was my only one I would have lost my house because of all this.”

The landlord issued a Section 21 after his tenant started getting into arrears in 2017 before stopping paying completely in 2019.

Granted possession

He was first granted possession last November and given an eviction date in December, but the tenant appealed on different grounds and the case was dismissed three times.

Bailiffs were finally arranged for the end of July, but this time the tenant informed them he couldn’t move out because he had Covid.

Another date in August was set but the tenant told bailiffs his wife had Covid – despite the fact that she had moved out months before.

But, as she was named on the warrant, they couldn’t go ahead. The tenant then announced he had Covid again.

“The warrant officer told him that he had to do a test and that if it was negative he needed to move out within days, and if it was positive, she would set a date in 14 days’ time,” he says.

After trying to get the case thrown out yet again due to Covid symptoms last month, a judge finally granted the warrant and the tenant has now gone.

“I take tenants on face value and should have done a credit check,” the landlord admits. “But I’m really frustrated that he was able to exploit Covid for as long as he did, which dragged the case on much longer.”

Find out more about evictions.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Broken’ evictions system revealed by landlord’s £100k repossession | LandlordZONE.

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Recent three-month downward trend in annual growth reversed

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The latest Halifax House price index has indicated annual house price inflation has increased from last month to 7.4%, up from 7.2% with the average UK property price now at a record £267,587. Wales and Scotland have continued to outperform the UK average

Russell Galley

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RAISE landlord cost cap for eco upgrades to £10,000, urges London Assembly

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London Assembly’s housing committee has called on the government to raise the cost cap of upgrading rented properties for landlords to £10,000.

Under Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations, landlords currently don’t have to spend more than £3,500 (including VAT) on energy efficiency improvements.

A government consultation earlier this year also suggested increasing the maximum investment amount, resulting in an average per property spend of £4,700 under a £10,000 cap.

The committee has investigated retrofitting challenges in London and made recommendations to Housing Secretary Michael Gove as well as mayor Sadiq Khan, who has an ambitious target to make the capital a zero carbon city by 2030.

It believes Khan should bring together private sector landlords and tenants to look at barriers to retrofit and how government or local government could overcome them.

Cladding

It has also suggested that the government needs to ensure London gets a fair share of all retrofit funding or sufficient powers to raise finance itself – and wants the mayor to lobby for this – and to make sure that cladding remediation work can be carried out alongside retrofitting.

Chair of the London Assembly committee, Sian Berry, (pictured) says it can’t ignore London’s 3.5 million existing homes which account for a third of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions alone.

“The government must commit either to fully funding London’s ambition for zero carbon homes or giving us the powers to raise our own finance. In turn, the mayor must work with private sector landlords and tenants to find and overcome any barriers to retrofitting,” she adds.

“The world is in a race against time to fight climate change, and action on existing homes can no longer be put off or tackled without proper commitment from our leaders.”

Read more about eco upgrade funding.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – RAISE landlord cost cap for eco upgrades to £10,000, urges London Assembly | LandlordZONE.

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‘Short lets needs better standards and quality controls’ say leading provider

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The short-lets sector needs better standards and quality controls, according to one of its big players.

Host & Stay, which manages more than 500 properties across North Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland, the North East and South Wales, has joined the UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA) in a bid to help make these improvements.

It follows criticism of the sector by some local councils and MPs after many traditional landlords, particularly in the South West, switched to short-lets during the staycation boom.

It was recently reported that Devon has seen a staggering 70% drop in private rented properties over the last two years as a result.

Responsible

Host & Stay director Dale Smith (main pic) explains: “We believe the short-let industry needs better standards and quality controls.

“We want to be part of those improvements and feel that the STAA is well positioned to support the growth of the sector in a responsible manner and is the association that really understands how the industry is changing and is best aligned to where the industry is actually heading.”

STAA chair Merilee Karr (pictured) says during the last 18 months, membership has grown considerably and that the trade body is in a very strong position to work with members to initiate industry change and drive responsible growth.

She adds: “Our reputation for collaboration with local authorities, government and other associations is well known.”

Host & Stay provides an end-to-end service for holiday home owners, offering customers a full package of services including finding the right properties to buy, providing interior design packages, professional photography, marketing, booking generation, maintenance, housekeeping and a full laundry and linen service.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Short lets needs better standards and quality controls’ say leading provider | LandlordZONE.

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End 5 week UC wait and pay housing element directly to landlords

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Today the Government will go ahead with a planned cut to Universal Credit of £20 per week. The level of welfare support had been increased in light of the impact of the pandemic on household incomes.

With rent arrears at historically high levels

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Nationwide launches platform to help landlords manage their properties and finances

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High Street lender the Nationwide has launched a platform that will be first of its kind created for landlords by a major financial institution.

Called The Landlord Works, it has been developed by a team headed up by Paul Wooton (main picture) who, after leaving its mortgage broker business, has spent the past two years developing the platform as its Director of Home Propositions, he tells LandlordZONE.

The platform is free for landlords regardless of whether they are Nationwide customers or not and enables them to manage, develop and monitor their property or portfolios from their laptops or smartphones.

This includes the ability to list their properties, track renewal dates for compliance paperwork such as gas safe certificates, EPCs and electrical checks. But it also helps landlords keep tabs on their portfolio expenses, revenue and profits/loss, manage right to rent checks and compile their tax returns.

Advice and support

Wooton says the platform is more than just a useful tool, but also part of the mutual society’s attempts to improve the private rental market by helping existing landlords maintain best practice and newbies understand their responsibilities.

The Nationwide also operates arms-length foundation that has funded several pro-tenant lobbying groups including Generation Rent and Shelter which, it says, is part of a wider attempt to improve the private rented sector.

The Landlord Works will offer advice and guidance on best practice for landlords and aims to help them be aware of and comply with the myriad regulations and laws that now cover the sector.

Wooton says there will be more developments to reveal at a later date, which may include offering member landlords exclusive mortgage deals via its broker and landlord mortgage platform The Mortgage Works.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Nationwide launches platform to help landlords manage their properties and finances | LandlordZONE.

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