New RICS guidance on valuation of properties with cladding

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The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) announces a step forward in unlocking the flat market for buyers and sellers. The new guidance Valuation of properties in multi-storey, multi-occupancy residential buildings with cladding, clarifies types of properties that will, and those that will not require additional inspections

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Are Lambeth’s Proposed Additional HMO Conditions Illegal?

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Lambeth Council is consulting on the introduction of Additional HMO licences – deadline 12th March. There seem to be quite a few conditions that I would think are unenforceable/unmanageable and would like to know your views please so that I can respond to them.

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Is Scotland about to extend its eviction ban by six months?

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LandlordZONE has been made aware of speculation within Scotland that housing minister Kevin Stewart is considering a six-month extension to its existing evictions ban due to expire at the end of the month.

Scotland’s original evictions ban on bailiff evictions was due to run out on 22^nd January but was extended to March 31^st for all eviction warrants except those involving cases of serious anti-social behaviour, including domestic abuse.

Like in England, the Scottish government has been preventing evictions via a ban on bailiff activity. This has applied to all areas of Scotland under Level 4 or 3 restrictions, which at the moment covers the whole country.

Landlords have also been required to give a tenant six months’ notice of an eviction, a regulation that is also due to run out on 31st March and could be extended as well.

Sturgeon’s hint

Although Covid restrictions are due to eased in Scotland in the coming weeks as both the ‘R number’ has dipped under one and worries over unemployment have been subsiding, two weeks ago First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hinted that a further ban could be in the pipeline.

“We have already extended the ban on evictions, and we will do that again should it be necessary. It is important that people have protection against eviction, given the circumstances that we are living through,” she said in response to a question from Green MSP Alison Johnstone.

Sturgeon said her government is also considering a permanent ‘winter evictions ban’ of the type seen in France every year.

LandlordZONE approached the Scottish government for comment over the weekend but has so far not received a response.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Is Scotland about to extend its eviction ban by six months? | LandlordZONE.

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Labour alleges dirty tricks over digital campaign that described party as ‘anti-landlord’

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Labour is calling for an investigation into a third-party Tory campaign to smear its housing policy and in particular, Jeremy Corbyn, during the run-up to the last election.

A website – which has since been taken down – and a Facebook group titled, ‘Right To Rent, Right To Buy, Right To Own’ claimed Corbyn’s policies on the rental market would drive landlords from the sector, meaning less choice for tenants.

They claimed: “Landlords who remain may invest less in their properties in a bid to stay afloat. Under Corbyn’s Labour Party, colossal borrowing will push up interest rates. This will mean higher mortgage payments when you come to buy a home or re-mortgage.”

Lobbyist Jennifer Powers, a former Tory intern, was behind the campaign, and spent more than £65,000 publishing dozens of adverts in 2019.

She told the Mirror she had partly funded them herself and raised money through donations but refused to name the source of her funding. The ads were declared to the Electoral Commission as a ‘third party’, meaning they don’t count towards party spending limits.

MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has told the Commons that the elections watchdog needs to investigate this and other third-party campaigning by pro-Tory groups, who spent a total of £700,000 without declaring any individual donations.

The campaigns all declared they had not received a single donation over the £7,500 threshold for declaring donors to the Electoral Commission.

Website openDemocracy says Right to Rent, Right to Buy, Right to Own bore striking similarities to another supposedly independent third-party campaign, including sending nearly identical emails in response to queries from the Electoral Commission and having remarkably similar privacy policies on their websites.

The Commission has said that it is the legal responsibility of campaigners to ensure that their donations are declared fully.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Labour alleges dirty tricks over digital campaign that described party as ‘anti-landlord’ | LandlordZONE.

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Lloyds Bank is latest high street giant to compete with private landlords for tenants

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Lloyds Banking Group has announced plans to become a large private landlord, moving its first tenants in by the end of the year.

It aims to buy and rent out new and existing housing stock across the UK as it searches for sources of revenue, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Lloyds, the UK’s largest mortgage lender, hopes to take advantage of its low funding costs, strong brand name and knowledge of the housing market to become a major player in the sector.

As low rates squeeze the profit margins on traditional lending businesses, the move should bring direct benefits through rental yield and house price growth, as well as provide the ability to cross-sell rental deposit loans or insurance.

It’s not first financial institution to get into property; Legal & General is a huge housebuilder, leaser and landlord of private rented property, while retailer John Lewis recently announced plans to build a residential property portfolio to offset weakness in its high street stores.

Track record

Lloyds has also directly invested in several housing projects with smaller developers in recent years through a partnership with Homes England.

It believes the new plan could fit with its stated social objective of ‘helping Britain prosper’ by offering better quality and more professional services to renters than many existing landlords. 

In its annual report, Lloyds also announced plans to expand the availability of affordable and quality homes by providing £10 billion of lending to first-time-buyers as well as to assess the energy retrofit requirements of more than 200,000 homes in the social housing sector.

The bank said: “We are committed to broadening access to home ownership and exploring opportunities to increase our support to the UK rental sector.”

Landlords with longer memories may remember that this is not Lloyds’ first foray into renting – during the 1980s it had one of the UK’s largest chains of estate agencies.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Lloyds Bank is latest high street giant to compete with private landlords for tenants | LandlordZONE.

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Government’s so-called protection is damaging decent tenants’ prospects

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How the Government’s so-called protection for renters is damaging decent tenants’ prospects and leading to empty properties.

Enquiry 1: Hi, I’m John and i work as a sales assistant in Bristol, I would probably want the tenancy to start within the next month and go on for as long as possible really

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LATEST: Labour attacks Sunak’s £545 million ‘landlord giveaway’ in Budget

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As many of our readers celebrate the extension of the stamp duty extension announced by Rishi Sunak on Wednesday, Labour has rounded on the Chancellor for ‘giving away half a billion pounds to second home-owners and landlords’.

Its calculation is based on Treasury documents that estimate the stamp duty extension zero-rate stamp duty scheme will cost the government £1.6 billion in lost revenue, and that 34% of sales last year were either buy-to-let properties, residential properties bought by companies or second homes.

On this basis Labour reckons landlords have been given a £545 million tax break by the Chancellor so far via the stamp duty holiday.

This, the party claims, is disappointing because there was no announcement during the Budget of help for the estimated 700,000 tenants who Universal Credit housing payments do not cover their 100% of their rent, or the 500,000 tenants who are in arrears.

Wrong priorities

Thangam Debbonaire MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary (main pic), says: “The Conservatives have shown once again they have the wrong priorities, giving tax breaks to landlords and second homeowners while failing to tackle runaway house prices and build truly affordable housing.

“After a decade of failure on housing, we needed a Budget that put us on the road to recovery and addressed the fundamental flaws in the housing market. Instead, we got reheated policies with no new ideas on housing.”

As reported in the budget, rather than ending on 31st March, the nil rate of £500,000 will be in place until 30 June 2021 for all purchases regardless of their category.

From 1 July to 30 September, the nil rate will be £250,000, before returning to the standard rate of £125,000 on 1 October 2021.

Labour’s criticism of landlords for being give a stamp duty holiday is not new – it made similar claims when the original zero-rate scheme was announced in July last year.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Labour attacks Sunak’s £545 million ‘landlord giveaway’ in Budget | LandlordZONE.

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End of LIBOR

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The FCA has now confirmed that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided or no longer be representative:

– Immediately after 31 December 2021, in the case of all sterling, euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen settings

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Halifax House Price Index – February down 0.1%

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The February Halifax House Price index is 0.1% lower on a monthly basis against January, but in the latest quarter (December to February) house prices were 0.5% higher than in the preceding three months.

House prices were 5.2% higher annually than in February last year with the latest UK average property value now £251,697.

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Big mistake but I just want my house back?

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Hi, I am a landlord for one property, which was my old house. The tenant is refusing to leave with no rent for nearly a year, and we went to court on the 24th of February under a section 8.

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