Today in politics: Floods, Local Housing Allowance and the ageing PRS population

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We look at government discussions on Flood Re – and affordable insurance scheme for people in areas at high risk of flooding, the approval of plans to increase LHA by the rate of inflation and the ageing PRS population. MPs quiz government on Flood Re The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, […]

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SHOCKING: landlord seeks help when losing £70,000 when council housing rental goes wrong

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Story of landlord couple Joy and Frederick Bibb reveals risks for landlords who rent to council tenants through a ‘bond’ scheme.

A landlord couple with
a rental property in Suffolk are deciding whether to exit the market altogether
after experiencing one of the worst cases of ‘dirty tenant’ behaviour ever seen
by LandlordZONE.

Joy Bibb, 69, and her
husband Frederick, 74, have properties in the North West and South West of
England but have been so traumatised by their experiences in Great Yarmouth
that they are considering pulling out of the market altogether.

The couple have
owned the house in central area of the Norfolk seaside resort since 2002 and by
2011 were ready to sell the property as they approached retirement.

But the local
council’s Housing Options team persuaded Joy to include the property in its
housing list and a two council tenants subsequently move in – a disabled woman
and her carer son.

“They told us that they
could put a nice family in there, and they would manage the property for us,
our rent would be paid direct every four weeks, and they would liaise with the
tenant and do regular checks on the property,” claims Joy.

“This was great because we had moved to Cornwall
many miles from Great Yarmouth and therefore would not have to worry, or deal
with problems, and Housing Options told me it was a ‘win, win’ situation.

But the reality of the situation soon began to unravel.
Joy alleges that Housing Options did not properly manage the tenancy or the
property and both tenants began exhibiting extreme hoarding and ‘dirty living’
habits including using many parts of the property as a toilet and the rest of
it as a rubbish dump.

“It was worse than anything you ever see on TV and we were left with the job of cleaning the property up – eventually we had to sell it for £60,000 under market value because it was such a mess,” says Joy.

She claims Housing Options weren’t interested
once the horror of its interior was revealed.

“Also, the ‘guaranteed’ rental payments stopped
before the tenants left, totalling £1,000 and we had problems getting payment off
Housing Options,” she says.

It also transpired that the mother and son kept
several dogs and nine cats, despite Joy being reassured that they didn’t have
pets.

Joy says she has approached local council CEO
Sheila Oxby, as well as several former and current housing ministers including
Heather Wheeler and Esther McVey for help without success.

“We’ve lost nearly £70,000 in total which is a
lot of money to lose at our age,” says Joy.

In a statement, Great
Yarmouth Borough Council told LandlordZONE:

“This property is
privately-owned and was not (and is not) managed by Great Yarmouth Borough
Council.

“The council has a number of
schemes to help those in housing need to access housing in the private sector.

“One of them is a bond scheme
which allows the landlord, if required, to claim up to the bond limit at the
end of the tenancy towards eligible costs. In this case, the landlord claimed
and was paid up to the bond limit.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – SHOCKING: landlord seeks help when losing £70,000 when council housing rental goes wrong | LandlordZONE.

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Mortgage on ex-LA going at auction?

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I’m looking to buy an ex-local authority flat on the first floor of a 10-storey block in Hackney. The building has several lifts and, in general, is in good condition.  There is no deck access – the corridor where you enter the flat is closed to the elements.

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Online Right to Rent checks coming?

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The Immigration Minister, Kevin Foster MP, responded to a written question by Alex Norris MP (Labour, Nottingham North) asking what plans the Home Office has to update the Right to work checks and Right to rent document checks guidance to allow digital forms of identification to be accepted.

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Deposit free renting isn’t the issue, it’s rental sector transparency

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A BBC investigation has suggested that some letting agents are not providing tenants with the full picture when selling deposit alternative schemes, resulting in ‘hidden costs’ later being charged to tenants.

While some tenants have found themselves foul of as much as a month’s rent for not following the guidelines

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Rent control alert! Scotland poised to vote through bill legalising ‘rent cap’ system

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Opponents fear the concept of regulating rents could be exported to England and Wales if it can be made to work north of the border.

Scotland’s rented sector could be in for a big
shake-up if a Private Member’s Bill wins approval as it enters the final few
legs of its progress through the country’s parliament.

After
being introduced in May last year and subsequently winning enough support to proceed
to the scrutiny process, Pauline McNeill MSP’s Proposed Fair Rents
(Scotland) Bill or ‘Mary Barbour Bill’ aims to
radically reform the sector by linking rents to average wages and providing
more information about rent levels.

The Bill stands a good chance of making it into
law and would cap annual private sector rent increases across Scotland at one
percentage point above inflation. Also, landlords would have to update the nation’s
landlord register to include changes in rental charges, to build up a picture
of market rates.

But it would usher in rent controls across Scotland in everything
but name, opponents have claimed.

The bill would also overhaul rent appeals; when a tenant appeals
the amount, officers and members of the tribunal could either lower or maintain
the rent, depending on their assessment but, unlike the current system, not
raise costs.

The Scottish Labour MSP says private renting should be fairer and
more affordable.

Rent pressure zones

“The relationship between ever increasing rents and poverty is
clear,” says McNeill. “Rent pressure zones have failed. The Scottish
Government have missed an opportunity in this Parliament to tackle high rents –
with this Bill I hope to correct that mistake.”

Her Bill is inspired by Scottish political activist Mary Barbour,
who led a strike over increased rent prices in Glasgow in 1915.

Mike Dailly, a solicitor advocate at Govan Law Centre, helped to draw up
the Bill and says
about 15% of households in Scotland are now in the private rented
sector, which has trebled in size in the last 20 years.

Says Dailly:
“Rents in our biggest cities have been rising at double the rate of inflation
year-on-year with a 40% hike in the last nine years.

“The Scottish Government introduced some rent control measures in the 2016 Private Tenancies (Housing) (Scotland) Act. Yet not one local authority in Scotland has ever applied for a rent pressure zone. The legislation isn’t fit for purpose.” The bill has won support from homeless charities and some councils, but groups such as ARLA Propertymark have already come out in opposition.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Rent control alert! Scotland poised to vote through bill legalising ‘rent cap’ system | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Revolving door at Ministry of Housing tipped to keep on spinning this week

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Political gossips say both Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick and Housing Minister Esther McVey stand a good chance of clearing their desks this week.

Although a Valentine’s Day massacre looks unlikely, Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle on Thursday is
expected to see housing department staff bidding a fond farewell to either Esther
McVey or Robert Jenrick.

If either do get shunted from their posts, the new
minister will be the 19th in 21 years – a churn rate to rival managers in the
Premier League.

This revolving door reflects how housing is still seen as a secondary area of importance, with
ministers having to fight for influence and funding alongside other priorities.

Dominic Raab, with a seven-month tenure, was the shortest
serving minister in recent times.

High-flyer Jenrick, who won his Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government post as part of Johnson’s previous cabinet
reshuffle last summer, has been tipped for a promotion – particularly because
of his high-profile role in the election
campaign.

His successor will have their
hands full of housing priorities promised by the Conservatives during the
election campaign, including the ‘top to bottom’ review of dangerous cladding
and shepherding through ‘new deals’ for both renters and first-time buyers.

Housing Minister McVey,
meanwhile, looks set for the chop; a few weeks ago, the two were
reported to be in dispute over the broad direction of government housing
policy. 

Like Jenrick, she won her role last June and although the
former GMTV presenter gets invited to attend Cabinet meetings, she is not a
formal Cabinet member.

McVey is currently
overseeing the proposed reform of the house buying process and proposals to
introduce mandatory qualifications for agents. But for how long?

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Revolving door at Ministry of Housing tipped to keep on spinning this week | LandlordZONE.

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Today in politics: Energy efficiency, fire safety and tax

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We look at calls for changes to fuel poverty legislation, the continuing debate over who should pay for fire safety work on tower blocks, the latest landlord data and a call for new landlords to be subject to tax changes in a bid to boost home ownership. Government to consult on energy efficiency Peers have […]

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Title restriction – Could Bank pull the plug?

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I am in the process of the purchase of a traditionally built 3 bed house freehold title. I Am using a new solicitor on this banks panel. We are near the end of the conveyance with mortgage offer, searches done etc.

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Four-legged fail! Our poll shows less than half of landlords accept pets

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The government is preparing to make its model tenancy more pet friendly, but will landlords pay any attention?

As the government
prepares to reveal its revised model tenancy agreement to an expectant landlord
community, a poll by LandlordZONE reveals less than half are prepared to accept
pets.

During a poll of
landlords conducted across social media over the weekend, just 48.3% said
they’d rent properties to tenants with moggies and doggies.

Such a low acceptance
level may be shocking to campaigners and pet-owning tenants alike, but it’s an
improvement on the current private rental market, where research among listings
shows that, at best, 90% of properties advertised to rent say ‘no pets
allowed’.

Lettings agency
Benham & Reeves recently revealed that its research showed just 7% of
landlords actively welcomed pets even though 44% of households in the UK have
them.

The company also
warns that it believes more landlords will say no to pets despite the expected
changes to the model tenancy.

“Since the government
banned tenant fees capping deposits at no more than five weeks’ rent, landlords
have been left with no wiggle room when it comes to the potential damage caused
by pets,” says boss Marc von Grundherr.

“As a result, 90% of
our landlords are now saying no to pets with many of those already within a
rental property being notified they will have to leave once they reach the
renewal stage.”

As
LandlordZone reported
last week, the updated model tenancy is expected to be published at
any moment and will ask landlords to consider tenants with pets much more
strongly within its guidance.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Four-legged fail! Our poll shows less than half of landlords accept pets | LandlordZONE.

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