Landlords ‘very unlikely’ to face sanctions over EPC rating breaches

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Landlords are very unlikely to face prosecution for leaving tenants in cold and draughty homes, according to new research into energy efficiency regulations designed to protect renters across England and Wales.

Fewer than 6% of councils have taken any enforcement action against landlords illegally letting out properties with the lowest energy efficiency ratings, data obtained by the i newspaper reveals. But councils in England and Wales are set to receive a toolkit to help them enforce the regulations next year.

In April 2018, the Government introduced the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES), barring landlords from starting new tenancies for properties with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of F or G, the lowest gradings.

In April 2020, this was extended to cover all tenancies and should mean that 290,000 rented homes – almost half of which house tenants living in fuel poverty – should receive improvements.

The Government estimates it will cost about £1,200-£2,000 to bring an F or G rated property up to standard, and landlords can claim an exemption if costs exceed £3,500.

Flouting rules

But there are fears that thousands are flouting the rules and going unpunished; of the 268 authorities which responded to a Freedom of Information request from i asking for details of MEES enforcement, just 17 had taken any action. Since 2018, 449 compliance notices and just 17 fines totalling £65,600 have been issued for breaches of MEES.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been working with seven councils to test bottom-up, local authority-generated solutions to monitoring, compliance, and enforcement of the regulations.

A spokesman tells LandlordZONE that this helped develop a best practice enforcement toolkit of case studies, templates, and off-the-shelf tools to help streamline the process and make it less resource intensive.

He says: “We’re now conducting a second round of pilots to road-test and refine it with a new, wider pool of English and Welsh local authorities before we publish the final toolkit to all local authorities in England and Wales in 2021.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords ‘very unlikely’ to face sanctions over EPC rating breaches | LandlordZONE.

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London mayor: eviction pre-action protocols will NOT prevent ‘river of homeless’ on streets

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Government plans for a pre-action protocol to help regulate possession proceedings within the private rented sector will fail to prevent a cliff edge in evictions once the ban is lifted, London mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed.

This pre-action protocol would require private landlords to meet the same rules as social landlords before issuing possession proceedings at the end of the moratorium.

They would then have a duty to reach out to tenants to discuss their situation, and to try to agree an affordable repayment plan. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has previously suggested that this will allow tenants to stay in their homes, and to deal with rent they haven’t been able to pay.

Overwhelmed

But Khan claims local authority housing services could be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks when the current eviction ban ends on 23^rd August, if the Government doesn’t step in to help London’s two million private renters.

He believes it has failed to protect those who have run up rental debts during the pandemic from eviction proceedings and homelessness, and warns: “The capital also faces the impending prospect of a tsunami of evictions.” 

Khan has suggested measures including emergency legislation to prevent landlords serving eviction notices to tenants affected by COVID-19 and a boost to the welfare benefits system to cover any rent shortfall.

In a letter to Jenrick, he says: “The imbalance of power between renters and landlords means that the Government’s reliance on them agreeing ‘affordable repayment plans’ is unrealistic, particularly in London where the shortage of housing creates competition amongst tenants and gives them little option but to agree to a landlord’s terms.”

Read more about Sadiq Khan.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – London mayor: eviction pre-action protocols will NOT prevent ‘river of homeless’ on streets | LandlordZONE.

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Yes another N5B query – still no guidance notes from government?

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Well I thought I’d finish the damn (new extended) form N5B, but I’m not sure I interpreted /answered question 15 correctly.
Well question 15 itself is simple enough that’s a definite NO but after that I’m not sure if i’m supposed to disregard questions 15c-15i .

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Labour calls for ‘landlord bung’ stamp duty decision to be reversed

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The Labour party has labelled Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that landlords will benefit from a reduction in stamp duty a “bung”, which will only worsen the housing crisis by reducing the supply of homes.

Labour’s shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire wants the Government to reverse its decision to give landlords and second home owners a tax break and has written to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick asking him for the reason behind the decision.

Last week, the Government raised the stamp duty threshold to £500,000 on transactions including second properties. Although property investors and second homeowners will still pay a 3% stamp duty surcharge on purchases, they won’t pay any further duty on the first £500,000 of the property’s value. 

Debbonaire says: “It’s unacceptable that the Chancellor tried to sneak out this huge bung to second home owners and landlords while millions of people are desperate for support. He should be targeting support to those who need it, not helping people invest in buy-to-let properties and holiday homes.”

Second properties

She points out that 34% of homes bought in 2019/20 were second properties, meaning that this policy could cost the exchequer £1.3 billion, which could instead fund the immediate gap in local council finances.

Debbonaire adds: “At a time when we have an acute local government funding crisis, I question how the Government can justify giving a tax break to people already fortunate enough to own an existing property rather than giving councils the funding they need.”

Labour believes that with more than one million people on council waiting lists, the money could be much better spent on affordable housing to buy or rent.

Read more about Labour’s rental sector policies.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Labour calls for ‘landlord bung’ stamp duty decision to be reversed | LandlordZONE.

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Shadow housing secretary accusing Sunak of massive ‘Bung’ to Landlords

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Labour’s shadow housing secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, has written an open letter to Robert Jenrick accusing the Conservatives of sneaking out a £1.3bn bung to second home owners and landlords in the Summer Economic Update.

This is despite the 3% surcharge still being applied to all second homes and residential rental property.

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Selling my rental property to the Local Authority

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Selling my rental property to the Local Authority and need to serve a Section 21 notice to my tenants as well and will be talking to them. I’ve had enough of tenant and landlord regulations/legislation and having had 2 consecutive bad tenants on my other rental property I now want out.

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Liverpool makes new push to license its landlords again

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Councillors say it’s “unthinkable” that the city doesn’t have a licensing scheme and they’re determined not to take no for an answer

Liverpool Council is making another bid to bring in a landlord licensing scheme after the Government turned down its application to keep a citywide scheme going.

It applied for a judicial review following the rejection in January, and while it is still considering whether to pursue this, is now trying to launch a comprehensive scheme which would cover about 80% of privately rented properties in the city. Next week, the council’s cabinet will be asked to approve a plan to start consultation on a new preferred scheme, based on poor property conditions, which would target the 16 wards in the city where at least one in five homes is owned by a private landlord; this means 45,000 of the 55,000 properties in the original scheme would still be covered.

Two alternatives with slightly fewer wards will also be looked at as part of a 12-week consultation which would run from August, with a submission made to the Government at the end of the year.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson says: “It’s unthinkable for us not to have a landlord licensing scheme in Liverpool. All the evidence over the last five years shows that it has made a tremendous difference to the lives of our most vulnerable residents. It has forced rogue landlords to take action to improve electrical and fire safety standards, as well as dealing with issues such as damp and anti-social behaviour.

“This scheme we are proposing would still be one of the largest in the country and cover the vast majority of properties that came under the original programme, and we are confident that it would meet all of the tests to be approved by the Government.” The previous five-year scheme ended on 1^st April, during which time there were 51,764 property licences in force, issued to 10,074 licence holders. However, the National Residential Landlords Association says Liverpool’s running of its previous scheme left much to be desired, with long waits for licences and a focus on minor, often administrative breaches, rather than tackling the worst property management and conditions.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Liverpool makes new push to license its landlords again | LandlordZONE.

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Scots landlords miss out on summer tax holiday

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Scottish landlords haven’t been handed a similar bonus to their English counterparts in a new package aimed at boosting property deals north of the border

Scotland’s housing market has received a boost with tax reforms on property purchases – although those buying second properties won’t benefit.

Holyrood’s finance secretary Kate Forbes announced a package of measures following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s summer statement, including raising the Land and Buildings Transaction tax (LBTT) threshold from £145,000 to £250,000 – a move she claimed would help eight out of 10 property deals in Scotland.

Earlier this week, the UK Government raised the Stamp Duty threshold to £500,000 on transactions in England and Northern Ireland, including second properties. Although property investors and second homeowners must continue to pay a 3% stamp duty surcharge on purchases, they won’t pay any further duty on the first £500,000 of the property’s value. 

In Scotland, buyers of second homes and buy-to-let properties have to pay an extra 4% in LBTT on top of current rates for each band on properties costing more than £40,000.

John Blackwood, chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords, tells LandlordZONE that the region’s government could have gone further. He says: “With continued and likely longer-term economic uncertainty, many people will want to have a high-quality home without the need for a large deposit which allows them the flexibility to move for employment. Only the private rented sector can provide that option and an additional dwelling supplement holiday would have increased supply of rented accommodation to fulfil that demand.” Forbes said that because of the time required to prepare legislation, and for Revenue Scotland to be ready to collect and manage the tax, the change wouldn’t take effect immediately, although it would be introduced as soon as possible. Tory MSPs have now warned that the Scottish housing market could stall without a firm date and MSP Graham Simpson pointed to a significant disparity in the housing market between Scotland and England.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Scots landlords miss out on summer tax holiday | LandlordZONE.

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LANDLORDS TAX PLANNING PAGE UPDATE

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Several video interviews have been added to our Landlord Tax Planning page for your viewing pleasure and to improve your landlord tax planning knowledge generally.

Our mission is to facilitate the sharing of best practice, so please feel free to share this page on Social Media for the benefit of other landlords and their professional advisers.

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Deposit disputes – a new world – or is it?

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In normal times and, depending on what the issue is, deposit disputes differ from season to season, tenant to tenant and case to case. Gardens in the winter, versus gardens in the summer; students predominantly moving out between June and August, have been known to leave properties dirty and in need of some redecoration; young children like to draw on walls. Whoever knew that walls weren’t for crayons! You get the idea.

Welcome to the ‘new normal’.

Because of the lockdown and the property industry being put on hold, we have seen a quieter period than usual when it comes to disputes being raised and the need for our expertise in early resolution and adjudication.

The number of dispute notifications has taken a 17% tumble on the same period last year and those in need of adjudication a massive 25% drop.

The question is, are we seeing the same claims being made or are there new trends?

The classic themes

What is clear is that the usual claims for cleaning, damage, redecoration etc remain the same, but with these cases we are seeing one difference. The evidence.

There is a noticeable absence of invoices and estimates for work that needs doing or has been done which is unavailable due to the lockdown. Contractors are, understandably, have been reluctant or simply unable to give estimates for work they haven’t seen.

The good news for landlords is that, as long as the comparative evidence; check-in and check-out reports show the level of deterioration, an adjudicator will make an award. The only down side, is that where a claim is considered high and unjustified by the evidence, the award may be less than the amount claimed.  

What’s different?

The issue that has noticeably increased is due to the pandemic itself, which has led many tenants asking to end their tenancies early; far more than normal. On many levels this makes sense; students couldn’t attend university, so wished to move home; workers were furloughed or made redundant and couldn’t afford to pay all, or any of their rent. This has led to an increased flow of rent claims and a good deal of confusion.

Each scenario varies and each case rests on its own merits. A lack of understanding by tenants and the minority of landlords not willing, or able, to offer a compromise or rent payment plan to resolve the problem is where we find ourselves adjudicating. In many ways it is heart-breaking but the law is the law and at the end of the day, tenants are responsible for paying rent until the end of their contract. https://www.mydeposits.co.uk/resourcess/signed-sealed-and-delivered/?categorytype=resources-landlords

The crux comes when landlords have been considerate and negotiated an early exit plan with their tenant, and then reneged, or the tenant’s keys don’t arrive on the date agreed, even though they were posted by the tenant at the right time, but the postal delays during the peak of lockdown were severely delayed. I, personally, had to wait a week for post send first class! Claims, in these cases range from rent until the keys were received, to rent for the remainder of the month or to the end of the contract. This leaves tenants confused and unclear on where they stand, which in turn, has led to an increase in spilt decisions after reviewing the evidence and looking at the actual intention of the parties.

Remember:

Evidence needs to be as clear as possible. In these challenging times, where it has been difficult to provide the evidence you usually would, make sure you have recorded as much as possible in writing and don’t confuse the issue. Keep the tenant informed and when negotiating, lay out the detail clearly for everyone. I am a clear advocate of managing everyone’s expectations which is why our adjudications will always look at the evidence in detail to see what is reasonable in the circumstances, and these are very peculiar circumstances! We know from the industry as a whole that the market is slowly picking up, so it follows that the level of disputes may increase too, as tenancies can now end. It remains to be seen how soon, or if, the new normal becomes the old normal.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Deposit disputes – a new world – or is it? | LandlordZONE.

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