Next stages for mortgage holidays

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced proposals to ensure that firms provide tailored support to mortgage borrowers who continue to face payment difficulties due to coronavirus. During the initial phase of the pandemic, payment holidays provided mortgage borrowers with immediate and temporary support.

The post Next stages for mortgage holidays appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Next stages for mortgage holidays

Two sharing AST, one working, one on UC?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I am aware of the potential disadvantages of dealing with tenants on benefits, but wondering how to set the rent on this one. Large flat, advertised at £395 for one person. The previous pair of tenants were paying £475.

The working tenant will pay first months rent and deposit upfront and I realise it’ll probably go to regular rent in arrears at least partially.

The post Two sharing AST, one working, one on UC? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Two sharing AST, one working, one on UC?

Tenants given political backing to continue rent reduction battle with billionaire landlord

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Frustrated tenants who were refused a Covid-related rent reduction then handed eviction notices have pledged to front up their landlord after failing to secure a meeting with him.

The renters, who live in Olympic House (pictured), a block of 170 flats mainly owned by billionaire property developer John Christodoulou in Somerford Grove, Stoke Newington, are fighting their eviction.

They have the support of the Mayor of London’s office and the local council, who are holding up the struggle as emblematic of a private rented sector in need of reform.

In an example of how not to handle tenant relationships during the crisis, after they tried to negotiate with Christodoulou for a temporary 20% rent reduction, the group’s organisers’ tenancies appeared to be singled out for eviction, with notices citing the reason as a ‘business decision’.

Renters’ group organisers, who are London Renters Union members, were also threatened with legal action in a letter from letting agents Tower Quay, which cited procurement of others to breach their contracts.

Deputy mayor Tom Copley says the case highlights the inherent power imbalance within the private rented sector between landlords and tenants.

“The fact that landlords can for no reason simply choose to evict tenants who have been paying their rent, make them homeless, in what looks like a classic case of revenge eviction, I don’t think it’s right,” he says.

After initially saying renters’ requests for relief would be dealt with individually, they were turned down and instead told to use money saved on lunch, holiday, entertainment, clothes and travel to pay rent.

Those facing eviction at Somerford Grove have been asked to leave on 21st September, the day after the recently extended eviction ban ends. A spokesperson for the Somerford Grove Renters told local media if Christodoulou still refused to meet with them, they would continue with public action.

LandlordZONE has approached Tower Quay for a comment.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Tenants given political backing to continue rent reduction battle with billionaire landlord | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Tenants given political backing to continue rent reduction battle with billionaire landlord

UPDATE: New Fire Safety Regulations in the pipeline

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Genefell showed up the major failings in building fire safety in the UK and has prompted the need for consultations and new legislation initially in the form of a Building Safety Bill due to introduce new and enhanced regulatory regimes for building safety in England and construction products throughout the UK.

The housing secretary Robert Jenrick has described the planned reforms contained in the Bill as “the biggest change to our building safety regime for 40 years”. Landlords in particular will need to quickly adapt to the changes to ensure they are compliant.

The provisions contained in this draft Building Safety Bill will provide a complete regulatory overhaul of buildings fire safety and will bring in a new era in the way buildings are constructed and the products used to build them.

The new building safety regime will be overseen by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and will apply initially to all new multi-occupied residential buildings over 18 metres high, or six storeys, in height in England. All existing buildings will be brought within the parameters of the new legislation on a phased basis.

Cultural change

This is going to be a big cultural change for the property industry, construction and buildings maintenance, and will involve significant new duties for the buildings involved throughout their life cycle.

There is to be a mandated use of accurate digital models to maintain what is referred to as the “golden thread” of building safety information. For those involved in construction, building management and maintenance, their duties will be overseen and enforced by the regulator, and with serious consequences for non-compliance.

The HSE will be given new responsibilities for the safety and performance of every building, regardless of its height. HSE will oversee local authority building control and approved private building inspectors, it will advise on changes to the building regulations, and is tasked with improving the competence of all those personnel involved in the building industry, including building inspectors.

New terms are to be implied into long leases in England and Wales to govern the recovery of building safety costs from residents, and a New Homes Ombudsman for England will be established. New regulations will govern the safety of construction products and the competence of architects across England, Wales and Scotland.

Other buildings in England will have their fire safety regulations reviewed starting with a consultation process which aims to strengthen compliance and the enforcement powers to improve communication between building control bodies and fire and rescue services for all new developments.

Three stage approval

Those carrying out major refurbishments of residential high-rise buildings will be required to seek approval from HSE at three stages: planning permission; pre-construction; and prior to occupation.

For occupied high rise buildings an “accountable person” will need to be appointed to ensure that fire and safety regulations are adhered to and that residents have an input in this process. The accountable person will appoint a building safety manager to monitor the building safely on a day to day basis. HSE will oversee this process.

Buildings that come within the scope of the regulations will have to be registered before HSE will issue a “building assurance certificate” allowing occupation of the building, to be reviewed every five years. Failure to comply will be a criminal offence.

Duty holders will also be responsible for keeping vital safety information about how the building was designed and built and is managed up to date. This so-called ‘golden thread’ of information will be stored electronically for the entire life of the building. The government is likely to require that this digital record complies with building information modelling (BIM) standards.

Fire safety reform in buildings

The government has now published a consultation document seeking views on proposals to:

• Improve fire risk assessments
• record the identity of the responsible person for all buildings;
• introduce competence requirements for fire risk assessors;
• strengthen the rights of residents to access building safety information;
• increase penalties for non-compliance;
• enable all fire and rescue services to charge fees for enforcement activity, in a similar way to HSE ‘fees for intervention’;
• implement the recommendations from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Inquiry; and
• enhance consultation between building control bodies and fire and rescue services.

The consultation will close on 12 October 2020.

Draft Building Safety Bill

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – UPDATE: New Fire Safety Regulations in the pipeline | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: UPDATE: New Fire Safety Regulations in the pipeline

Landlord loses £6,364 in guaranteed rent payments after dispute with agency over damp

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Rent guarantee schemes are under the spotlight once more after a letting agency in London was booted out of The Property Ombudsman after failing to pay an award to a landlord following disputed rent payments.

Kent-based agency The London Landlord Limited, which claims to have three branches in the capital, is now believed to be trading illegally after its membership of TPO’s redress scheme was cancelled after it both failed to pay £6,364 awarded to a landlord and pay its TPO memberships fees.

The award was the culmination of a long investigation into the case of an unnamed landlord who entered into a guaranteed rent agreement with the agency, which in turn rented the property to a tenant.

After several months at the property, the tenant complained about damp within the property but the landlord and agency could not agree on its source, and no remedial work was completed.

Stopped payments

The agency then stopped payments to the landlord claiming he was in breach of his repairing obligations under the lease, withholding rent totalling £5,874.

After the dispute was referred to TPO, it found in the landlord’s favour and awarded him the disputed rent and £500 for aggravation, distress and inconvenience.

This was because the agency should have chased the freeholder not the landlord to complete a suspected leaky roof – and dealt direct with the tenant to see if their actions were causing the damp.

But despite the award, neither sum was paid to the landlord and, as TPO has no teeth to enforce the payment, the agency has instead been expelled, leaving the landlord to find another way to recoup the cash.

“As a member of TPO, agents are obliged to comply with awards made by the Ombudsman, which The London Landlord Limited failed to do,” says Gerry Fitzjohn, Non-Executive Director and Chairman of TPO’s Finance Committee.  

“It appears that this agent could still be trading so this is a warning to all consumers in the local area.”

Read more about Guaranteed rent schemes.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord loses £6,364 in guaranteed rent payments after dispute with agency over damp | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlord loses £6,364 in guaranteed rent payments after dispute with agency over damp

TPO expels agent for failing to pay £6,000 award to landlord

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A letting agent in Finchley, The London Landlord Limited, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for failing to pay an outstanding award of over £6,000, they also failed to pay their membership renewal fees.

The Property Ombudsman received a complaint from a landlord who let his property under a guaranteed rent contract to The London Landlord.

The post TPO expels agent for failing to pay £6,000 award to landlord appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: TPO expels agent for failing to pay £6,000 award to landlord

Can students demand break clauses?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

UNIVERSITY students believe break clauses should be automatically included in tenancy agreements to protect them financially in the event of a second wave of coronavirus, according to a survey conducted by websites Money Magpie and Save The Student.

The post Can students demand break clauses? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Can students demand break clauses?

Westminster Council launches snooping tool for private tenants

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The London borough’s initiative is designed to help it identify rogue landlords and gives its housing standards taskforce more clout to enforce the mandatory HMO licensing scheme.

Westiminster’s new rent repayment checker lets renters input their details online to instantly find out if they’re eligible.

It first verifies if the property has a licence by asking them to provide details about their situation and address; the council will then contact them to discuss their case and give advice on how to apply for a rent repayment order.

It promises to refer tenants to Safer Renting, a charity which will guide them through the process of applying to the property tribunal. 

A council spokesman tells LandlordZONE: “We don’t know exactly how many HMOs are in the borough, nor how many are licensed – part of the reason for the checker is that it will allow us to build a much more complete database of this.”

Rules

Councillor Heather Acton, cabinet member for public protection and licensing, adds that the tool will help tenants be aware of their rights and check whether their landlords are abiding by the rules.

“We would encourage all landlords letting homes of multiple occupation to ensure they are being responsible and meeting their full legal obligations or face the consequences.”

Rent repayment orders allow tenants to claw back up to 12 months’ rent if a landlord has committed an offence, although they don’t need to have been convicted.

While local authorities around the UK are latching onto the enforcement and deterrent possibilities afforded by rent repayment orders, the National Residential Landlords Association has questioned how workable or effective they really are.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Westminster Council launches snooping tool for private tenants | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Westminster Council launches snooping tool for private tenants

Third of landlords have experienced rent arrears during COVID, says poll

admin    Uncategorized     agents

One in three landlords have had to endure rental arrears as a result of COVID-19 while the same number have been asked for either a rent reduction or payment holiday, according to new figures from rental property sales platform Vesta.

Although the findings are based on a relatively small survey of 157 landlords representing more than 1,300 properties in the three months between March and June, it believes this indicates a much higher level of rental arrears than other studies have found.

This includes the Shelter survey which estimated that just 3% of private renters had fallen into rental arrears since the start of the pandemic.

Vesta says 87% of landlords who were asked by their tenant for a rent reduction or payment holiday due to COVID-19 agreed to a concession.

By extrapolating the figure, it’s worked out that UK landlords have so far given at least £722 million worth of financial support to their tenants.

This is based on 2.66 million landlords in the UK, an average monthly rent of £888 and assuming that each landlord provided one month’s rent.

Russell Gould, Vesta’s chief executive, says the findings show how the vast majority of landlords have worked with, empathised with, and have supported their tenants during the pandemic.

“Many landlords are retired and rely on rent as their major source of income so many have taken a significant financial hit to help their tenants impacted by COVID-19,” says Gould.

Confidence returning

Vesta also says that confidence appears to be returning to the market, with landlords more positive than economists when it comes to expectations for medium-term tenancy demand and house price growth.

It found that 65% of landlords believe that property prices will increase or stay about the same over the next 12 months, while half of the landlords surveyed plan to buy at least one property during that time.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Third of landlords have experienced rent arrears during COVID, says poll | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Third of landlords have experienced rent arrears during COVID, says poll

Can I charge for a woof?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We let as standard no pets, but I received a request from the Council to house an older lady with a Jack Russell pet

Is there anything I can do to protect myself from potential damage and extra cleaning required etc?

The post Can I charge for a woof? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Can I charge for a woof?