Cautionary tale to include fire cover clause in AST!

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We own a small bungalow that we rent out via an agent. We picked a local agent as the property is too far away from our home and neither of us has the specialist knowledge to self manage.

Over the Bank Holiday

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Letting agent jailed for three years for ripping off landlords and failing to protect deposits

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An aggressive and threatening estate agent has been jailed for three years after cheating tenants and landlords out of £182,000.

Lee Clarke, who set up Berkshire Estate Agents in Slough, spent more than five years collecting rent and failing to pass it on, defrauding 31 clients.

He admitted 17 counts of fraud by false representation at Reading Crown Court, along with one count of Section 993 of the Companies Act 2006, to carry on the business of a company with intent to defraud creditors or for other fraudulent purpose.

Clarke, 42, of Park Corner, Windsor, has also been disqualified from being a director of any company for six years.

Crimes

DC Luke Simms, of Thames Valley Police, says the crimes took place while Clarke ran the agency in Windsor Road, Slough, between September 2013 and December 2018 – although no-one else at the firm was involved.

“Clarke knowingly collected rent from tenants but then deliberately chose not to pass on this rent to landlords,” says DC Simms.

“He also deceived his clients by failing to protect deposits collected from tenants as part of a deposit protection scheme.”

After landlords and tenants complained to Slough Trading Standards, a joint investigation uncovered the impact of Clarke’s crimes, with many of his victims describing him as someone who was aggressive and threatening after they made complaints.

“The sentence will be a relief to many of the victims in this case and should provide reassurance to the public and community of Slough that those who commit fraudulent crimes using a business will be brought to justice,” adds Simms.

Warning

Peter Adshead, principal Trading Standards officer for Slough Borough Council, says: “We hope this sentence will remind business owners that failure to comply with legislation will be investigated and brought before the courts where necessary. Landlords and tenants expect their money to be legally protected and monies handed over promptly.”

Read more: Trading Standards begins crack down on London agents who fail to protect landlord cash.

Guidance: Understanding security deposits.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Letting agent jailed for three years for ripping off landlords and failing to protect deposits | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Housing ministry is renamed and given major ‘levelling up’ role

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The government department that regulates and oversees landlords and the private rented sector has been renamed and given a new ‘levelling up’ focus.

Formerly the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, it will be now known as the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

This decision follows the sacking of its Minister of State Robert Jenrick last week and the arrival of his replacement, Michael Gove, and a new ‘levelling up’ junior minister, Kemi Badenoch.

The change has clearly been made at pace – the organisation’s website and other online collateral remains with the old name at the time of writing – and most consider it to be a demotion in status from ministry to department.

But its Twitter account, which is followed by some 120,000 people, has changed – but now makes no mention of housing.

2nd renaming

The renaming, which was announced yesterday, follows a previous re-naming in 2018 by Theresa May, from the Department for Communities and Local Government to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

At the time, May’s government said this was to highlight her determination to sold the housing crisis, so given the ongoing battles in many policy areas including cladding, leasehold, planning and house building, the new focus is puzzling.

The Conservative government is now pressing hard on levelling up; over the weekend Boris Johnson appointed former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane to head up a new Levelling Up Taskforce.

This has been jointly established by the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove MP.

He says: “I’m thrilled that the PM has asked me to lead the Levelling Up agenda, the defining mission of this Government.

“With a superb team of ministers and officials in a new department, our relentless focus will be on delivering for those overlooked families and undervalued communities across the United Kingdom.”

Reaction to the name change has been mixed. The LibDem’s housing spokesperson and former leader Tim Farron (pictured) described it as ‘Orwellian‘.

Twitter has been quick to lampoon the change, making comparisons to Monty Python’s ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’, while more thoughtful critics have highlighted how it’s the first government department to be named after a policy or aim, rather than an activity.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Housing ministry is renamed and given major ‘levelling up’ role | LandlordZONE.

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One year and £35k to evict a COVID rogue tenant

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The latest property market analysis by Benham and Reeves has revealed that the costs incurred by UK landlords who have been unfortunate enough to encounter a nightmare rogue tenant during the pandemic.

While the vast majority of tenants are respectful and treat their rented homes with great pride and care

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On the up! Is it time to invest in the BTL market? Check out Belvoir’s rental survey to find out more…

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As the year draws to a close and the challenge of the pandemic continues, landlords might well be questioning whether further investment in the rental market is a sensible option. The results of Belvoir’s Q2 survey of a cross section of franchised offices from across the UK could well aid the decision-making process. The first key takeaway of Belvoir’s survey is that not a single Belvoir office reported a decrease in rents in Q2. Furthermore, an overwhelming 95% reported an increase in rents. Stock shortages are high in most areas, and tenant demand shows no sign of slowing down. Sounds interesting? Read on…

The second key takeaway from the survey is that no Belvoir offices forecast a decrease in rents in Q3. In fact, the majority (61%), of Belvoir offices surveyed forecast rental increases in areas that included Wembley, Harlow, Swale, Stone, Telford, Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Pontypridd, Paisley, the South West, Yorkshire, the North East, most of the East Midlands and the North West. Offices in Peterborough, Nottingham, Derby West, Burton, Sidcup, Bolton, Leamington Spa, Stoke on Trent, Tamworth, Bangor, Edinburgh and most of the South East are predicting that rents in their areas will remain static.

Franchisees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland paint a similar picture.

Scotland

Denise Paisley, Director of Belvoir Paisley confirms increased rents for houses and flats during Q2 2021, with demand increasing for houses, but demand remaining unchanged for flats. With stock shortages of all types and sizes of property Denise predicts that both demand and rents will increase in Q3. Belvoir’s Edinburgh office reports increased rents and tenant demand across the board in Q3 with no change in rents or demand. Edinburgh is experiencing a shortage of room rents, three, four and five bed detached houses, with an over-supply of one/two bed flats.

Wales

Over in Wales, Rob Price from Belvoir Cardiff and Pontypridd confirms that rents and tenant demand increased for every property type during Q2 2021. Flat and house rents are predicted to continue increasing in Q3, with room rents remain static.
Rob reports a shortage of properties of all sizes and types, with many tenants adopting a cautious approach and remaining in properties for longer. Equally, the last 18 months have prevented many investors from entering the rental market in this area. As a result, there are insufficient homes to meet the incredible number of enquiries and applications for each rental property.

Northern Ireland

Jackie Burns in the Belvoir Bangor office says that rents and tenant demand increased across the board during Q2 2021. She predicts that over the next quarter, rents and demand are likely to remain unchanged for all properties. Bangor has a supply shortage of all types and size of property.

Stock shortages

Having established that there is a shortage of all types of stock in most areas, the next key takeaway is what agents are most short of compared to tenant demand. The survey revealed that two, three and four bed houses were most in demand in Q2 2021. Where there was an oversupply of property, it was predominantly for flats and room rents.
Two beds are the most oversupplied types of property, followed by room rents, one bed flats and studios and then one and two bed flats, five+ bed homes and studios.

Perhaps one of the reasons for short supply is that tenants are choosing to remain in properties for longer. For example:

• 39% of tenants are staying for 13-18 months
• Just over 29% prefer a tenancy of 19-24 months
• 27% of tenants rent for over 24 months
• Just under 2.5% of tenants choose to stay for less than one year.

Rent arrears are a huge concern for landlords, but almost half of Belvoir offices reported that less than three tenants were in arrears in Q2. This was an increase when compared to Q1 21 and all of 2020, but just under 32% of offices reported 4-10 tenants in rent arrears – a decrease compared to Q1 21 and 2020. Around 63.5% of offices carried out no evictions – a decrease compared to Q1 21 and all of 2020.

Belvoir’s Q2 rental survey certainly confirms how buoyant the rental market is. If you are interested in finding out more about Buy to Let investment you can seek free professional advice from your local Belvoir office visit belvoir.co.uk/offices.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – On the up! Is it time to invest in the BTL market? Check out Belvoir’s rental survey to find out more… | LandlordZONE.

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2021/22 UK Property Market Forecast

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I share my predictions for the UK property market in Autumn 2021 as well as the property market outlook for 2022. There are exciting opportunities ahead for well-informed property investors.

Make sure 2022 is your year!

What’s covered in the video: 0:00 | Intro 1:22 | Property prices in August 2021 2:45 | Market ‘Blips’

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Victory! Landlord’s reasonable bid to engage with difficult tenant pays dividends in court

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A property tribunal judge has struck out a huge rent repayment order claim after hearing how a landlord’s reasonable attempts to engage with a difficult tenant led to accusations of harassment.

The case, which was heard via a video link by Judge Korn, highlights how helpless landlords can be when rogue tenants appear to play the system over rent arrears, in this case during the early months of the pandemic.

The sums involved are significant. Tenant Mrs F Farzad who rented a smart flat in Surbiton (pictured) off landlords Ms D Zhan and Mr H Yang had asked to be repaid £14,287 in rent after alleging harassment.

Gas safety

But the tribunal heard how Ms Zhan had tried to plan a Gas Safety inspection and, after trying to organise an appointment and sending multiple emails warning of the impending visit, had eventually turned up with two engineers to complete the work and let herself into the property.

Ms Zhan also gave evidence of emails sent chasing rent arrears, and how she also turned up with police officers after being refused entry to check on a potentially dangerous water leak within the property.

Zhan also asked for identity documents, as she is required to do under Right to Rent legislation, and at one point tried to shake the hand of a family member in a friendly manner, which the tenant claimed was intimidating during a pandemic.

Harassment

The tenant claimed all these actions constituted harassment, but Judge Korn dismissed the claims, underlining how the evidence was weak and that she had failed to attend the hearing or submit any documents in support of her case.

“Even making generous allowances for the fact that the applicant was not present at the hearing to argue her case orally, it is striking how little substance there is to her allegations,” the judge said.

“It is legitimate to want to discuss rent arrears and we do not accept that the correspondence from Ms Zhang was at all inappropriate either in tone or in substance.”

Read the judgement in full.

Read more about rent repayment orders.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Victory! Landlord’s reasonable bid to engage with difficult tenant pays dividends in court | LandlordZONE.

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LAUNCH: Video chat maintenance app for tenants ‘cuts call-outs by 60%’

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EXCLUSIVE: A new app aims to save landlords money on costly maintenance by helping tenants sort problems remotely with contractors.

Help Me Fix sets up an engineer within minutes to help the tenant try to resolve the issue over a video call.

If a physical visit is needed, they can provide all the information and photos to get quotes from other contractors, however, it says 60% of problems are fixed by a tenant under expert supervision.

“Engineers will take tenants as far through a process as they can, but if tenants are not capable or willing to sort an issue, they will send a report instead,” founder Ettan Bazil (pictured) tells LandlordZONE.

“We find that the average call lasts eight minutes – there’s no unpacking of tools, tea-making or parking to take up time.”

Call-out costs

Since the pandemic, tenants are less likely to grant access to a property except in an emergency, and are more resilient and willing to tackle issues themselves, according to Bazil, who adds that the service immediately cuts out the £50-100 call-out fee.

App users choose which virtual categories tenants can access, such as gas and plumbing, or they can access help with a wider range including appliances, locks and alarms.

Landlords can also specify how many times tenants are able to use the service and the maximum cost of each call – charges vary from £2-£4 a minute, while a countdown clock on screen lets tenants know how long they’ve got left to talk. Landlords also get alerts when the tenant tries to use the service, and can either authorise or decline each call.

Help Me Fix currently just works with property managers and is adding to its 4,000-strong tenant base with 1,200 new tenants each month, but is now looking to sign up private landlords.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LAUNCH: Video chat maintenance app for tenants ‘cuts call-outs by 60%’ | LandlordZONE.

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New Housing Minister Good News For Property Investors?

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Michael Gove has been appointed new Housing Minister.

Will this be good news for property investors.

I think it’s a shrewd move by Boris.

Watch this video below to find out why:

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Section 24 Tax Loopholes

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Section 24 Tax only affects private Buy to Let landlords who are higher rate tax-payers. This is because finance costs are no longer regarded as a legitimate business expense for private landlords. Instead, a tax credit of 20% of finance costs is applied to reduce your tax bill.

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