Stop hitting landlords over the head with a stick, industry leaders urge Ministers

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Four of the private rental market’s key figures have taken the government to task over its ‘landlord bashing’.

Ben Beadle of the NRLA, John Blackwood of the Scottish Association of Landlords, Eddie Hooker of MyDeposits and Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action debated the ‘future of landlording’ during which a range of high profile topics were discussed.

Several clear messages were delivered, including how extra regulation is frightening new landlords away and forcing many larger portfolio landlords to quit the sector.

Key to this problem has been the Section 24 tax changes, tenant fees ban, selective licensing, the proposed changes to Section 21 notices and now the evictions ban.

All agreed that government policy is baffling. Private landlords have been forced to take up the slack from the affordable and council home sectors, a role they are often ill-equipped to provide, but at the same time disincentived to invest.

“The constant attack on landlords really annoys me because the government doesn’t seem to have thought about where else are the tenants are going to live,” said Hooker.

Beadle added: “It’s creating a market bubble too, forcing up rents in many areas and going against their aim of making renting more affordable.”

Pressure off

Blackwood said the lack of affordable social housing remains the key problem, and that if government invested in that properly, it would take the pressure off the private rented sector.

“A lot of landlords are telling me the sector isn’t worth it any longer – so if more landlords quit, what will happen? People need somewhere to live,” he says.

“Instead of hitting us over the heads with a stick, they should be encouraging us to invest more.”

The group agreed that Covid has intensified these problems and that the ongoing eviction ban is a product of the government’s lack of investment in affordable and council housing.

These sectors are unable to take up the slack during Covid, and so an evictions ban is the only path left open to ministers.

Worst to come

“The worst is still to come,” says Beadle. “Landlords are now expected to pay the debts of others and suck up not being able to take possession of their property – after years of filing in for government. We can’t carry the can for ever.”

Blackwood added: “Landlords cannot expect to have tenants in their properties for over a year without paying a penny in rent.

“If the government doesn’t want anyone to be evicted then they should pay everyone’s rent – it’s a simple as that.”

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Any mortgage lenders out there if I have a CBILs application outstanding?

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We took a Business Bounce Back Loan (BBL) for legitimate COVID-19 related reasons and would benefit greatly from a CBILS which is now made available for bridging and asset finance to re-finance the BBL + bridging loan which we had to utilise to re-finance an investor when our mortgage offer was withdrawn due to covid/lockdown.

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Taking Guarantor to Small Claims Court?

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My tenants have been evicted and are refusing to pay outstanding expenses, neither of them work, but they provided a guarantor who can pay the outstanding expenses. The guarantor owns his own business with 2 outlets and appears on the company website.

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Stop slamming landlords and give them some help, says leading Conservative

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Many landlords feel that every politician in the land is clamouring for the tenant vote at the moment, including many senior Conservative ministers, following last weeks’ evictions ban extension in England and Wales.

But at least they can count on the support of at one Tory – Mark Isherwood, Conservative Welsh Member of the Senedd for North Wales, who is also the country’s shadow spokesperson for Local Government, Communities and North Wales Growth Deal.

He has today called for greater understanding by the Welsh Labour-led government of the need to protect both tenants and landlords – particularly in light of the increasing dependency of people on the private-rented sector for housing and the damaging effect Covid-19 and the pandemic have had on the sector.

“The overwhelming majority of tenants who have approached their landlord or letting agent for support during the coronavirus pandemic – such as for a rent deferral, a rent reduction or some other assistance – have received a positive response,” he says.

“However, landlords have – in some cases during the pandemic – been left without rent for their properties for months not because the tenants couldn’t pay, but because they wouldn’t.

“Unlike other groups, there are no direct financial measures to help landlords carry the burden brought about by the Welsh Government’s decision of an extension of notice period for repossession of a property.

“The Welsh Labour-led Government must end its prejudice again private landlords and help them to maintain a good number of quality rental properties.”

Isherwood suggests:

• Taking up the NRLA’s proposal to introduce a low-cost or interest-free tenant-loan scheme for Covid-19 related arrears, where payment is made to the landlord.

• Setting up a mechanism for landlords to access grants, where renters are unwilling to engage or make an application themselves, and which would be particularly relevant for landlords whose possession cases started before the stay and for those where arrears have accrued unrelated to Covid.

“These landlords have faced at least six additional months without rent because of the restrictions placed upon them even though the tenancy had failed before the crisis began,” he says.

“There is a fine balance that must be struck to protect both parties in these arrangements. Tenants of course need the security of a good home and a responsible landlord, but landlords need responsible tenants who pay their rent.

“The majority of landlords are individuals who let out one or two properties. Many of these rely on that income for their day to day living expenses or to provide pensions.

“To drive decent landlords out of the sector and reduce the housing stock available for rent would be detrimental to tenants in the long run.”

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Desperate landlords turning to illegal evictions, warns industry figure

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Desperate landlords facing financial ruin could start taking the law into their own hands unless they are given more Government support, claims the former chairman of a landlord association, and that some already have.

Keith Rowe believes the UK could see a spate of illegal evictions and a return to the bad old days of the 1970s when unscrupulous landlords would harass tenants out of their homes.

He says it’s not helped by the fact that some tenants have the wrong idea about mortgage holidays which were simply a way to defer payment with interest, but meant they decided it was acceptable not to pay rent.

“Landlords are effectively providing social housing for free when it’s not their responsibility to subsidise anyone’s living,” he says. “Some are now at the end of their tether – the Government is forcing people to take desperate measures.”

As landlords have missed out on the help other sectors were given, Rowe has heard of landlords paying someone to frighten tenants out of their properties.

While he says this is unconscionable, for some unscrupulous and desperate operators it seems to be worth risking a hefty fine for illegal eviction compared with the cost of losing months of rent waiting for the process to grind through.

Landlord veteran

A full-time landlord for 28 years and ex-chairman of Sunderland Private Landlords Association, Rowe now has 20 tenants in properties as well as two shops.

Good relationships meant he only had one tenant in difficulty for a couple of months at the start of Covid, for whom he arranged a repayment plan. Unfortunately, two tenants did a midnight flit during lockdown, leaving all their belongings and waste behind – which Rowe delivered back to them.

“I’m not fazed by anything,” he adds. “I’ve lived through finding six dead bodies, had an attempted murder in one property, an armed robber, found a few drugs farms, as well as a kidnapping and benefits scams – you name it, I’ve seen it!” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Desperate landlords turning to illegal evictions, warns industry figure | LandlordZONE.

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Shelter calls for Wales to match England’s six-month notice period extension

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Shelter in Wales has launched a campaign to persuade the country’s government to match England’s notice period extension to six months.

The campaigning group has told BBC Wales that according to its YouGov poll some 15,000 have ‘been threatened with eviction in Wales since the start of lockdown’ and that the number of private tenants facing eviction is ten times the normal level.

Shelter Cymru wants its government to give tenants the same protections as those in England where, it was announced by Robert Jenrick on Friday, landlords seeking to give notice to tenants must now wait for six months.

Welsh tenants will therefore face the usual two-month notice period to vacate a property from the end of September, when its minimum notice period moratorium ends, and consequently Shelter Cymru is demanding that this is extended until the end of March.

Shelter says it’s worried that when the stay on possession hearings is lifted on 20^th September in England and Wales, this will put homeless services under extreme pressure.

‘Not out of the woods yet’

“We are not out of the woods, more people are going to lose their jobs and their homes,” she said.

“The Welsh Government needs to extend the emergency legislation to at least the end of March or ideally for another 12 months so that tenants have that breathing space.”

The NRLA’s spokesperson in Wales, Douglas Haig, told the BBC that the courts should be re-opened on September 20^th to deal with cases where tenants were committing anti-social behaviour or had long-standing rent arrears unrelated to the pandemic.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Shelter calls for Wales to match England’s six-month notice period extension | LandlordZONE.

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Take advantage of high LTV rates before a likely ‘winter of discontent’, warns mortgage broker

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Landlords now have the chance to snap up an 85% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage – but probably not for long, according to a leading broker.

Private Finance reports that one lender, Vida Home Loans, is making a cautious return to the higher loan-to-value space with some 85% LTV products for standard buy-to-let mortgage products, HMOs and multi-unit blocks – up from the 80% seen recently.

Mortgage consultant Chris Sykes says the higher LTV segment of the market is in a state of flux and that rates are correspondingly high, reflecting the uncertainty in the market and the potential for significant falls in property prices.

He says: “As with the 90% residential lending market, we expect lenders will offer products for a short time and be inundated with applications and then withdraw them relatively quickly.” 

Winter of discontent

The broker believes that landlords face a winter of discontent with increased supply further depressing rental prices, especially in London.

As well as having to now go through an even lengthier eviction process, finding new tenants could see landlords very much out of pocket, it believes. And with the furlough scheme ending at the end of October there could be large-scale redundancies, possibly leading to a higher rental void and further evictions.

“The upcoming eviction of tenants en masse in the midst of a global pandemic will see a great deal of negative publicity – ultimately we believe this will put off new entrants to the market, even with the potential savings from the Stamp Duty Holiday,” says Sykes (pictured). 

“Mortgage rates are rising and we expect this will be the same for buy-to-let mortgages, again potentially discouraging entrants to the market. We may also see landlords sell their investment properties to avoid the potential difficulties moving forward – we believe we will see a decrease in demand for BTL products in the coming months.”

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Other councils, take note! Durham leads the way with Covid help package for landlords

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An innovative new scheme in County Durham has been launched to help landlords find alternatives to eviction.

Stop B4 You Serve is the council’s new initiative aimed at landlords considering serving a possession order on their tenants, helping them avoid the costly and lengthy legal process once the courts reopen next month.

Council bosses reckon this early intervention work can prevent homelessness and avoid section 21 or section 8 notices being issued, or at least offer help once they’ve been served.

The free specialist service is for landlords dealing with non-payment of rent (both coronavirus and non-coronavirus related arrears) and can set up a personalised housing plan that’s agreed with the tenant.

Rent arrears

It also offers rent arrears help by establishing repayment plans, and helping tenants access housing benefit services, Universal Credit and other local government homeless prevention funds and charities.

Landlords can ask for a financial assessment of tenants to maximise rental income, while the council can make referrals for more long-term support and can also provide a mediation service between landlords and tenants.

Durham County Council says it’s anticipating a surge in applications to the courts and wants to prevent unnecessary evictions and resulting homelessness.

Councillor Kevin Shaw, cabinet member for strategic housing and assets, adds that the effects of the coronavirus outbreak have significantly impacted the personal and financial situations of many residents in the county.

“We want to work with both landlords and tenants to find a more sustainable solution to any issues, keep eviction notices as a last resort, and prevent any risk of homelessness in the county,” he says.

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How reliable is referencing in the current climate?

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The general good practice of ‘always get referenced tenants’ is going to get harder given there will be many renters on the market now who will fail standard referencing, does anyone have any suggestions of how to spot reliable tenants?

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Private lodgers eviction ban?

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Hi, I have given a room on rent to a family in my house. They are using a kitchen, bathroom and living space with us. Now they are not paying any rent for the last four months. The normal notice period is one month as per the rental agreement

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