Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) presenting in person at the Hyde Park Property Meet 23rd Sept

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Zoomed out? Fed up with online technical gremlins? Well, we’re back, LIVE and we’re bigger and better than ever!

Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting in person an overview of several landlord tax strategies at the London Hyde Park Property Meet on Thursday the 23rd September 2021.

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100% Buy-To-Let Mortgages For Students & London ‘BANS’ New Permitted Development Rights!

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In today’s Property Breaking News, Students can now get 100% Buy-To-Let Mortgages, and the London office market is bouncing back whilst the nasty London councils try to ban the newly introduced Permitted Development Rights (PDR)!

Join Andrew Roberts and me as we explain how this affects you as a savvy property investor.

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Three years on and just 43 criminal landlords on database, reveals NRLA

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Just 43 landlords have been added to the government’s much-heralded database of rogue operators in England since it was launched in April 2018, the NRLA has revealed.

Heralded at the time as a major plank of the then Tory government’s fight against criminal landlords, it was designed to enable local authorities to target the most prolific offenders.

Those are landlords who have been convicted of banning order offences or have received at least two financial penalties within 12 months.

It also aimed to encourage joint working to tackle rogue landlords working across council divisions.

But the scheme has faced several difficulties, some of them own-goals by successive governments which have slashed their funding of local authorities by up to 50% and that, the Local Government Association estimates, will lead to £7.8 billion funding gap in local services by 2025.

Lacking funds

This means many councils lack the funds to chase up rogue or criminal landlords or the resources to identity landlords who meet the criteria for being on the national database.

Numbers of landlords on the database have been increasing, but only slowly. In February last year there were 18, by April this year it had hit 38 and now, 43.

At the time of launch in 2018, ministers said there were approximately 10,500 rogue landlords operating within the private rental sector.

But only councils are given access to the database, not the public. The Prime Minister said in October 2018 that it should opened to tenants and letting agents and launched a consultation. But since it closed nearly two years ago, nothing more has been heard.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan runs his own rogue database, which is available for public scrutiny. It contains approximately 90 names and companies.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Three years on and just 43 criminal landlords on database, reveals NRLA | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: ‘Chronic failure’ to tackle rogue operators slammed as regulation rises

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Heaping ever more responsibilities on private landlords is pointless and unfair unless local authorities are empowered and financed properly to prosecute the rogue and criminal landlords who shirk them, the National Residential Landlord Association (NRLA) has said.

It is urging the government to address the ‘chronic failure’ in England and Wales to tack the worst landlords many of whom put tenant lives and health and risk.

The trade body points out that the government’s expected rent reform White Paper expected next month will only heap more red tape and cost on good landlords, but do nothing to tackle the rogue operators who ignore the law.

Landlords and letting agents already face a considerable wall of legislation; 168 laws at the last count or a 40 percent increase compared to a decade ago.

Spending cuts

By contrast the amount spent on staff to enforce these laws has been reduced by a third as the government’s swingeing spending cuts have impacted local authorities.

The NRLA is calling on Ministers to adequately finance councils’ policing of criminal landlords, particularly given the extra legislation coming down the line within its White Paper.

This is expected to include requiring all landlords in England to register with a redress scheme, be recorded on national database and embrace a new, portable ‘lifetime deposit’ for tenants.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, says: “As Ministers develop their plans for the sector, they need to be clear whether any of what they propose will be properly enforced.

“More broadly, it is vital that the forthcoming White Paper strikes a fair balance between the needs of both tenants and landlords.

“It is in that spirit that we continue to work with the government and others to develop workable policies that protect tenants from bad landlords whilst ensuring good landlords have the confidence to provide the homes to rent the country desperately needs.”

The NRLA is due to publish its own White Paper on PRS reform later today.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: ‘Chronic failure’ to tackle rogue operators slammed as regulation rises | LandlordZONE.

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Chronic failure to tackle criminal landlords puts tenants at risk

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The Government needs to address a chronic failure to tackle rogue landlords who put tenants at risk, says the national body representing landlords.

With the Government pledged to publish a White Paper setting out proposed reforms for the private rented sector (PRS) in England

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End of an era? Ireland is latest to usher in Airbnb regulation

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Short-term lets in Ireland are to be regulated much more closely as the country moves to stop the exodus of landlords from the traditional rental market to Airbnb and its local imitators.

The country’s housing minister Darragh O’Brien has told the country’s media that his government wants to bring in a national licensing system very similar to the one operated in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

O’Brien (pictured) says under the new scheme, property owners will not be able to advertise a short-term let unless they have received “the requisite planning permission” to do so locally.

His announcement is the latest by governments in Europe to limit the number of properties being removed from the traditional private rental sector by the switch to Airbnb bookings, which in busy city centres and holiday hotspots offer much more lucrative returns for landlords.

Extra regulation

At one point before Covid Airbnb clearly believed it had headed off extra regulation, but the staycation boom during the pandemic had led to a boom in demand for city-centre and coastal resort short-stay accommodation.

Scotland also recently ushered in licencing for short-stay accommodation which, although it initially concerned just Edinburgh, will now include the whole of the country.

After nearly three years of public debate and consultation, a law to bring in ‘control areas’ for short-lets is already ready to go while separate legislation to require landlords and hosts to register for a licence will be ready by November. Landlords will have until April next year to get a licence.

The scheme proposes to enable short-lets to be limited within ‘high pressure’ areas; for properties to meet the same safety standards as other kinds of holiday accommodation; and for landlords and hosts to pay a fair contribution in tax.

The Irish government’s Housing for All policy initiative was due to be published last month but has been delayed until at least next week, in part as it has considered heavy lobbying by both Airbnb, which claims its business brings over €300 million into the Irish economy, but also campaigners who point to Ireland severe housing shortage.

The Lisbon scheme O’Brien refers to is not onerous, requiring landlords to simply register themselves and their properties with each local authority and quote each property’s registration number of Airbnb ads.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – End of an era? Ireland is latest to usher in Airbnb regulation | LandlordZONE.

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‘Soon millions of tenants will pay their rent via crypto currency’, claims tech CEO

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Recently-launched digital lettings platform Rentible is about to launch an app that will enable tenants to pay their rent in crypto currency to landlords.

And although many LandlordZONE readers may consider the world of crypto best left to speculators and blockchain geeks, Rentible reckons its app is at the vanguard of a digital renting revolution.

The Budapest-based company says this includes revolutionising how rent is paid, deposits are taken, contracts drawn up and references taken, all using its own blockchain-based secure currency platform.

CEO Dror Luup says Rentible can also be used to solve tenant/landlord disputes, help international student rent in the UK more securely, prevent rent fraud and enable landlords with large portfolios or properties with multiple tenants such as HMOs to streamline their businesses.

For example, Action Fraud recently warned that in the four years to March 2018 (its latest data)the organisation received 18,645 reports of rental fraud, with victims losing an average of £1,396 each. This includes where tenants are lured into paying deposits for properties that don’t exist.

Rentible says its tech is not just for geeks and that its app is easy to use regardless tech background, and is already being piloted with the UK version of US firm RoomMates.

“While the essence of the property industry focuses on assets and properties, Rentible focuses on people,” says Lupu (pictured).

“Be it landlords, who rent out rooms in their properties to unknown people and suffer from lack of control over the screening process of their tenants, or be it tenants, who in most cases move into a flat and share it with people they have never met before or know very little about, in a neighborhood or country they never visited.”

Rentible is to launch its payment system, which will use its own ‘renting’ crypto currency called RNB, by the end of Q3 this year.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Soon millions of tenants will pay their rent via crypto currency’, claims tech CEO | LandlordZONE.

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Dropped a pole on the neighbour’s roof?

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I am currently carrying out renovations to our property and took on a contractor who in turn subcontracted scaffold to a scaffolder. As the scaffolder was dismantling the scaffold, he accidentally dropped a pole on the neighbour’s roof. The roof being 100 years old

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London investment firm, Shaftsbury PLC, issues positive trading update

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The major retail and leisure real estate investor in London’s West End, Shaftesbury PLC, a Real Estate Investment Trust has this week issued a trading statement for the period 1 April 2021 to 20 August 2021.

The company focuses on central London locations close to a renowned concentration of world-class attractions with unmatched shopping and leisure destinations, but like other retailers, these outlets have suffered throughout the Covid pandemic.

Improving outlook

The company announces that West End footfall and trading is recovering apace, that the operating environment is gradually improving.

The statement records that West End footfall has recovered to 50%-60% of pre-pandemic levels as Londoners, domestic day trippers and staycation visitors are returning in growing numbers.

A return of the West End’s “exceptionally large” office-based working population is anticipated from early autumn, while the company’s hospitality and leisure occupiers continue to enjoy a strong recovery in trading levels. Visitors are focussing their attention on dining, leisure and socialising.

The company’s tenant occupiers are reporting improving trade, particularly at weekends, while the company is seeing continuing recovery in occupier demand for premises across all uses and a significant reduction in vacancies.

Vacancies on a downward trend

The availability of to-let space as of 31 July 2021 is down to 4.6%, with vacant space continuing to go under offer with a further decrease to 4.1% by 13 August 2021, reflecting continuing leasing momentum.

Hospitality and leisure demand has improved over the reporting period, reflecting confidence in the long-term prospects for West End locations, the company says.

There’s been a healthy occupier interest for shops, including online retailers looking for physical space in these locations. It seems there’s a trend to providing an all-round consumer experience, interaction and engagement, to further enhance brand identities.

Demand for premises increasing

Office enquiries, viewings and lettings have also continued at a steady pace, the company reports, as occupiers prepare for the return of their workforces and look to improve the quality of their workspace. “Assemble”, our fully fitted option, is proving particularly popular, especially with smaller businesses, the company says.

There’s also been a “Marked and sustained increase in demand for our apartments from a broad range of occupiers; rents have now stabilised.”

“Letting terms are generally in line with ERVs and our expectations, but there is a greater degree of short-term income uncertainty in those retail leases which have a significant element of turnover-related rent.

“Rent collection is recovering and expected to improve further now pandemic restrictions have been relaxed”, says the report.

Brian Bickell, Chief Executive, commented:

“I’m pleased to report positive momentum in recent months, with footfall and trading recovering, an improving operating environment and significantly reduced vacancy across our villages. West End footfall has, to date, recovered to 50-60% of pre-pandemic levels, as Londoners, domestic day trippers and staycation visitors return in growing numbers.

“We expect that early autumn will see a return of the West End’s exceptionally large office-based working population, which has always been an important contributor to our local weekday economy.

“The long-term curation we bring to our central, bustling villages, with its focus on differentiated, mid-market choices targeted primarily at a domestic audience, continues to attract both visitors and new occupiers.

“The progress we have seen towards a return to normal patterns of activity over the period, and improving medium-term prospects, have been catalysts for a strong recovery in confidence and leasing activity, both for commercial and residential accommodation across our locations.

“The momentum of the last four months is providing a sound platform for the continuing revival of the West End in the important months ahead, leading up to Christmas and into the New Year, and the prospects for a return to pre-pandemic patterns of life and activity.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – London investment firm, Shaftsbury PLC, issues positive trading update | LandlordZONE.

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Boiler certificate held up but looking to sell?

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Hi Everyone, I recently had a new boiler fitted in a one-bed flat currently let on a rolling periodic AST. The job was done on 20th July and I am still waiting for the benchmark certificate from the plumber.

He has blamed Glow Worm for messing things up?

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