Cities will be encouraged to plan for more family homes

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Following a consultation launched in the summer that sought views from planners, councils and the wider public, the government has announced its plan for enabling the delivery of more homes across England.

A housing need formula is currently used to provide a starting point in the process of local planning for new homes.

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UPRNs: No more hiding from tax, regulation and licensing for landlords!

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The government-backed organisation that is managing the roll-out of Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) has revealed how the initiative will impact landlords and rented property.

GeoSpace, which is a joint venture between government and industry, was created in 2011 to digitise the built environment and help both local and national governments put together a unique list of every address in the UK.

After many years of work UPRNs are emerging from the realm of local authorities, which use them internally, into the wider world including the private rental market.

But landlords should understand that this will make their activities, and their properties, much more transparent to both tax, regulatory and licensing authorities.

Property MOT

This is the conclusion of Geoplace chief Nick Chapallaz (pictured, above), whose organisation is backing the efforts of The Lettings Industry Council to create an MOT-style record for every property within the PRS.

“One element of this is to check whether a property has a valid energy performance certificate (EPC), and the identifier can be linked to this and to gas and electricity meters as part of the validation,” he says.

“It also enables local authorities to cross-reference needs for social services with rental properties, to identify landlords who are avoiding their responsibilities for essential repairs, and helps HM Treasury identify those who are not registered for tax.”

But while some rogue operators will not welcome this kind of digital snooping, it will help drive huge improvement to the lettings process for estate agents and compliant landlords.

Theresa Wallace (pictured), chair of TLIC, says UPRNs will bring down costs by making property management much easier by connecting a host of services to a property via one number.

This will include EPC providers, gas engineers, electrical contractors, CRM systems, deposit protection providers and ombudsman schemes.

What is a UPRN?

It’s a unique 12-digit number that is unique to every address in the UK. For example, No.10 Downing Street is UPRN 100023336956.

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Auctions giant launches transparency drive to help ‘newbie’ landlord bidders

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Landlords will see more transparency when they’re buying at auctions than they have before with the launch of a new initiative from auctions giant SDL.

It has introduced a summary sheet of fees for all its lots in each property’s legal pack that details exactly what’s payable, so buyers have a clear understanding of any extra costs before bidding. 

The auctions industry has seen rapid growth as a result of the pandemic, as both buyers and sellers embrace socially distant transactions, according to SDL, which now holds regular live-streamed auctions, running monthly auction events alongside its daily timed auctions.

This has also introduced many newcomers to the market, says MD Andrew Parker (pictured), who wants them to have a positive first experience.

He believes auctions are no longer the preserve of investors and developers.

“We’re seeing a growing number of private individuals buying and selling in this way – particularly in the uncertainty of 2020 – so we consider it our duty to ensure the process is as straightforward as possible, with no hidden costs,” says Parker.

He adds: “Lots listed on our website already include information about buyer fees but the introduction of the summary sheet within the legal pack makes this even clearer, spelling out exactly what costs the winning bidder will be expected to pay.” 

Parker says this clarity extends to guide prices too. “All of our property listings make it plain that the reserve will be no more than 10% higher or lower than the guide price, which means guide prices cannot be set artificially low.

“Some lots will exceed all expectations but that’s just the nature of auctions and competitive bidding.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Auctions giant launches transparency drive to help ‘newbie’ landlord bidders | LandlordZONE.

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Splitting a property horizontally?

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We own and rent out a maisonette (c. 1900) which is a single building, with one entrance leading to the ground floor flat and the second leading directly to the first floor flat. It appears that it was split into two flats sometime after it was built (perhaps c.

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Coalition of 19 pro-tenant groups launches backed with £150k fighting fund

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A new ‘super group’ of 19 charities and renters’ unions has been formed to increase the pressure on the Government in a bid to shake up the housing system.

The Renters Reform Coalition wants it to use the upcoming Renters’ Reform Bill to end section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, improve the condition of privately rented homes and empower tenants.

It says the Bill – announced in the Queen’s Speech a year ago – is a chance to go beyond tenancy reform and change the landscape of renting for the better.

Made up of groups including Citizen’s Advice, Crisis, Generation Rent, Greater London Authority, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the NUS, it promises to work with the Government and others to ensure all renters have access to a safe, affordable and secure home, where they can live and flourish.

It’s also calling for an extension to the eviction ban, – which ends on 11^th January – to renters under tier two and three restrictions, to keep them safe for the duration of the pandemic. It’s being funded to the tune of £150,000 by the Nationwide Foundation.

Bridget Young, programme manager at the Nationwide Foundation (pictured) says the Bill is an opportunity to redesign the housing system, creating a fairer balance between renters and landlords. “Implemented correctly, these reforms are also a chance to improve the safety, security and condition of privately rented homes,” she adds.

“We are looking forward to working with the Government and other partners to take this opportunity to deliver a more just housing system. The coalition is a broad group but we are united in our belief that everyone needs a safe, affordable and secure home, where they can live and flourish.”

Other organisations within the coalitions include: Advice 4 Renters, Camden Federation of Private Tenants, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Greater Manchester Tenants Union, London Renters Union, the Nationwide Foundation, New Economics Foundation, Priced Out, Renters Rights London, Safer Renting, Toynbee Hall and Z2K.

Read NRLA CEO Ben Beadle’s views on the Renters Reform Act and how it will change the PRS.

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LATEST: Liverpool makes ANOTHER bid to win approval for unpopular licensing scheme

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Liverpool Council hopes its new scaled-down selective licensing scheme – covering half the previous number of wards – will win government approval.

Smarting from Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick’s refusal of its city-wide application in January, it had planned to launch a judicial review of the decision but shelved this in favour of a new application that covers about 80% of the 55,000 privately rented properties in 16 of the city’s 30 wards.

An evaluation of the 2015-2020 city-wide licensing scheme found more than 34,000 inspections of licensed properties had been completed, identifying that 65% of properties were not fully compliant and resulting in 2,500 legal notices issued.

Deputy mayor, councillor Wendy Simon (pictured), says this showed how council intervention forces bad landlords to take action to improve their properties.

She adds: “This life-saving scheme would be one of the largest in the country covering the vast majority of properties that were under the original programme, ensuring landlords meet their obligations, such as putting in smoke detectors and fire doors as required by law.”

Liverpool’s latest public consultation revealed that tenants and residents were generally supportive of the new proposal, while landlords and agents were against it.

If approved by the council this week, it will submit an application to government in January, although a scheme is unlikely to come into force until June 2021 at the earliest.

HMO consultation

The council has also just announced a two-month consultation on limiting HMO conversions. It points to fears that the volume of HMOs has reached a tipping point, threatening the housing offer in the city for families and causing parking, anti-social behaviour and waste collection issues.

Conversions of family houses into seven bedrooms and above currently need planning permission and it’s considering whether these rules should apply to smaller HMOs as well.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Liverpool makes ANOTHER bid to win approval for unpopular licensing scheme | LandlordZONE.

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Guess who’s footing £100bn bill to decarbonise homes? Yes, landlords!

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The Government’s new Energy White Paper has emphasised that landlords must help foot the £100 billion bill for decarbonising domestic and commercial properties.

Along with householders and businesses, it names landlords as part of the solution when setting steps to cut emissions from industry, transport, and buildings by 230 million metric tonnes over the next decade. This includes changing the way the country heats its homes.

Building on Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan for a ‘green industrial revolution’, the White Paper states: “Meeting our commitments to decarbonise and improve the energy performance in buildings will require the mobilisation of around £100 billion of capital across homes, businesses and the public sector over the 2020s alone.

“It is investment that must come principally from businesses and homeowners, and from landlords of domestic and commercial premises.”

It confirms that it will take action to improve the energy efficiency of homes in the private rental sector and is currently consulting on proposals for 2.8 million privately rented homes to meet a minimum energy performance standard of EPC Band C by 2028, “where practical, cost-effective and affordable”.

Urgency

During the debate in the Commons, Ed Miliband (pictured), shadow secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy, challenged Business Secretary Alok Sharma over the paper’s timing and a lack of urgency in the private rented sector.

He said: “For existing homes, the Government have known for years about the challenge of insulation and conversion of the way they are heated, but frankly we still have one-off announcements of resources with no proper plan.

“For homes owned by private landlords, the targets are still too weak and too far off. Does the Secretary of State recognise that the only answer to meet the transition and fairness is a proper long-term, street-by-street house-by-house plan?”

Sharma replied: “Of course we need to go further, but the Government are putting their best foot forward in delivering on a green industrial revolution.”

Read the White Paper in full.
Read more about green rental properties.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Guess who’s footing £100bn bill to decarbonise homes? Yes, landlords! | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Government to get serious about policing rented property EPCs next year, says Minister

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Housing minister Christopher Pincher (pictured, above) has revealed plans to clamp down on landlords and letting agents who do not hold or display the minimum required EPC certificate when renting out a rented property.

Pincher says his housing ministry team is to to work with stakeholders within the private rented sector on how to better enforce EPC compliance, and also build on enforcement pilots that are already under way in partnership with local authorities.

His counterparts in the The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been busy too. They have been working with seven councils to test bottom-up, local authority-generated solutions to monitoring, compliance, and enforcement of the EPC regulations.

As we reported in February, this includes an initial scheme in Oxford, which BEIS is funding to increase EPC compliance.
Pincher’s comments were in answer to a parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat business spokesperson Sarah Olney (pictured).

She asked whether his department was working with local government to assess whether lettings agencies and landlords are compliant.

Landlords have been required to hold an EPC for their rental properties since 2008 but it is only recently that the government has begun to ratchet-up the legislative pressure.

Although they need only obtain a new EPC every ten years depending on the cost, complication or potential devaluation of the work needed, landlords for both new and existing tenancies must now hold an minimum ‘E’ certificate.

The government has said this will rise to a ‘C’ for existing tenancies in 2025 and for all tenancies by 2028. A consultation is under way on this and landlords can input into it.

But while this is all well documented, enforcement – as in all areas of the PRS – is less certain.

A survey by the i-newspaper in October via Freedom of Information requests found that just 6% of the 238 councils it canvassed had taken any enforcement action over EPCs.

Read the official guidance or property marketing and EPCs.

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Landlords need more time to comply with new electrical safety regulations

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The government has been warned that the huge task of ensuring rented homes comply with its new electrical safety standards is unlikely to be achieved by the deadline of 1^st April 2021.

That’s when rented properties must comply with the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020.

These went live in June this year but landlords or their letting agents were given until the 1^st April. But trade association ARLA Propertymark is now asking for a 12-month extension to this deadline.

A letter sent to housing minister Christopher Pincher yesterday by the organisation’s campaigns manager Timothy Douglas does not mince its words, saying that an ‘anticipated and widespread failure in compliance’ will follow unless his warnings are heeded.

These include:

• Half of letting agents canvassed in a recent poll said they had 60 or more properties on their books that needed all their electrical installations inspected and checked before April 1^st.
• The various regional and national lockdowns this year have slowed and complicated the work needed to upgrade properties to the required standard.
• Many tenants are reluctant to allow tradespeople into their homes during the pandemic – particularly as electricians often need to spend up to four hours in a property to test, inspect and upgrade the electrical installations.
• There is a shortage of qualified electricians available to do the work and current supply chain issues make sourcing the correct equipment difficult.

“On behalf of our members, I ask that you consider the benefits to tenants, landlords and letting agents of extending the requirements for existing tenancies in order to ensure that landlords and letting agents can meet their legal obligations,” the letter says.

Read more about electrical safety.
Read more about recent regulation changes.

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Positive changes to HMRC’s Stamp Duty manuals

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For individual landlords and relatively new Partnerships, the changes to HMRC’s manuals could be very welcome news.

The 3% additional rate does not apply to residential properties if a property rental business has a commercial element, e.g. flats over a shop or any other commercial property.

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