Possession reforms are a dead parrot

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Government proposals to reform the way landlords can repossess properties will not work and threatens the supply of homes for rent says the RLA.

In its response to the Government’s consultation on ending Section 21 repossessions, the Residential Landlords Association argues that what is being proposed fails to give any guarantee that landlords would be able to swiftly regain possession of a property where they have a legitimate reason.

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Modular construction helping to solve the UK housing crisis

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Modular construction is the process where building components are produced in a factory, before being transported to the site for assembly. The pieces arrive already finished, minimising the amount of technical work required onsite. It is not a new concept

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SpareRoom rents not affected by tenancy fee ban

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SpareRoom’s Q3 2019 Rental Index ,a comprehensive overview of how the rental market is performing across the country based on nearly 300,000 room listings, reveals the cost of renting a room in the UK remains steady, up just 1% on last year to an average monthly rent of £600.

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Blind cords – is your rental home safe?

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Landlords are being advised to check that blinds used by tenants in their rental homes are safe for young children. Older blinds with looped cords or chains may pose a threat to children – but you can make them safer. Changes to standards for blinds in 2014 led to improved product safety, and new blinds with […]

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CMA guidance on ‘No DSS’ clauses updated

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have updated guidance on consumer protection law for letting professionals with specific consideration for contractual terms that affect benefit recipients. The guidance confirms that if a landlord’s mortgage, lease or other contract includes a clause preventing the landlord from letting to people claiming benefits, then this is material information […]

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Right to Rent – Expanded acceptable evidence list

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The Home Office have issued updated guidance on the 8th Oct for landlords and letting agents taking proof of right to remain in the UK and entitled to rent for the following nationalities below. Click here for the full updated guidance.

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New guidance for landlords – Right-to-Rent update

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Right-to-Rent:

New guidance has
been issued following a High Court ruling that measures aimed at
preventing illegal immigrants from renting properties were
“discriminatory” and breached human rights laws.

The “right to
rent” scheme requiring landlords to check the immigration status
of tenants was introduced in England in 2016, but judges said it
would be illegal to roll it out in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland without further evaluation. The Home Office had said it was
“disappointed” by the ruling.

At the time of the
ruling Mr Justice Spencer said the scheme had “little or no
effect” on its main aim of controlling immigration and even if
it had, this was “significantly outweighed by the discriminatory
effect”. He added that the evidence “strongly showed”
the scheme was causing landlords to discriminate against potential
tenants and appeared to be having a “real effect” on
people’s ability to find accommodation.

Therefore, the Home Office has now released a new factsheet to help landlords in England to comply with the law and complete Right to Rent checks.

This affects
prospective tenants who are not UK nationals, visiting the UK from
Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the
USA and who have crossed border control through ePassport gates.

Nationals from these
seven countries visiting for up to six months can rent a property
during their stay. But, says the National Landlords Association
(NLA), if they have used ePassport gates, their passports will not
have an endorsement although they have the right to remain during
this period.

In such
circumstances, landlords can evidence the Right to Rent during the
visitor’s six month stay through these means:

• a boarding
  pass, or an electronic boarding pass for air, rail or sea travel to
  the UK;
• an airline,
  rail or boat ticket, or e-ticket;
• any type of
  booking confirmation for air, rail or sea travel to the UK; or
• any other
  documentary evidence that establishes the date of arrival in the UK.

Landlords should
keep a copy of the evidence above as well as a copy of the tenant’s
passport, including the date the landlord checked these documents, as
evidence they have acted in the proper manner. Visitors would only
have the Right to Rent for a maximum of six months from the date of
arrival in the UK.

If a tenant is
looking to rent for more than six months, they will need to show the
landlord a visa in their passport and a biometric residence permit.

The Home Office
guidance also states that if a letting is for less than three months
and it is not extended it should be classified as a holiday let and
this would remove the requirement for Right to Rent checks.

There is no update as yet to the Landlord’s Code of Practice The Government must seek Parliamentary approval to amend the Code of Practice, which will follow in due course.

With the new
guidance in place it means that still, legally, landlords do not have
a statutory excuse if they follow the new Home Office guidance. But,
the Home Office has stated it will not seek to impose a civil penalty
or take prosecution action where landlords have complied with the new
guidance published yesterday (8/10/2019)

The Landlord’s
Code of Practice will be amended taking into account the High Court
ruling as so as is practicable.

Landlords: immigration right to rent checks

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – New guidance for landlords – Right-to-Rent update | LandlordZONE.

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Bristol City Council – The lights are on but no one’s home!

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I have just received an email from Bristol City Council regarding my recent license application for one of my HMOs and I also just paid them £1050.00 for the pleasure.

I list here the accompanying 37 conditions (yes really 37 of them) I have to follow.

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Call of the Week-Gaining possession and court forms

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Every week the RLA provides advice and support to landlords suffering with court delays. With a 22 week average wait from applying to court to regaining possession it is no surprise that most landlords seek advice from someone before applying to court. Unfortunately, this week the landlord did not seek any advice before applying to […]

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Chaos Theory! What’s next for the private rented sector? – Hamilton Fraser’s property podcast

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Hamilton Fraser’s property
podcast aims to help support landlords and agents throughout the private rented
sector with industry updates and key advice from industry experts.

In October’s episode, Eddie
Hooker, CEO of award winning Hamilton Fraser Total Landlord Insurance and Paul
Shamplina, Founder of Landlord Action and Brand Ambassador at Hamilton Fraser,
are joined by special guest, Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at the Property
Redress Scheme.

The Property Redress Scheme
operates as a straightforward and easy to use consumer redress (ombudsman)
scheme for property agents and professionals. Sean is a qualified Adjudicator
(ACIArb), CEDR Accredited Mediator, and has a Professional Award in Ombudsman
and Complaints Handling Practice (Queen Margaret University and Ombudsman
Association), bringing a wealth of knowledge on the industry to the podcast to
help keep landlords and agents up to date with legislative changes.

In the latest
episode of Hamilton Fraser’s property podcast, Eddie, Paul and Sean attempt to
decode the confusion surrounding legislation in the private rented sector,
including delving into upcoming consultations that could impact landlords.

They also
discuss the ‘tenant fee ban’, ‘Section 21’ updates, ‘right to buy’, ‘rent
control’, and Sean gives his opinion on housing courts and whether there could
be a ‘housing act overhaul’ on the horizon.

In addition,
Sean, Eddie and Paul discuss the importance of preparing for upcoming
regulation and legislative changes, whatever they may be! Read more about your
current legal obligations here.

As always, Eddie and Paul round up the
podcast by asking Sean … ‘If you could
make one new property law, what would it be?’

Missed the previous podcasts in the series?
Don’t worry you can catch up with industry news here!

Previous guests include:

• Kate
  Faulkner,market analyst, commentator and co-author of ‘The Landlord’s Friend’
• Tessa
  Shepperson, residential property lawyer and Managing Director of Landlord Law
• Tony Gimple,
  Founding Director of Less Tax 4
  Landlords
• Jeremy Leaf,
  Principal of Jeremy Leaf & Co Chartered
  Surveyors and Estate Agents
• Arden
  Hanley, Property Educator and HMO landlord

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Chaos Theory! What’s next for the private rented sector? – Hamilton Fraser’s property podcast | LandlordZONE.

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