Landlord hopes to inspire schoolchildren

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Many landlords out there go above and beyond when it comes to their tenants and their local communities. Sarah Watt is a portfolio landlord with properties in Milton Keynes & in Australia. In her free time, she visits local schools and teaches children about how she balances her career and property, and raises awareness of […]

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Labour plans to end ‘rip-off’ leasehold ownership with sales ban on new homes

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Leasehold Sales:

Labour has said it
will bid to ban the sale of leasehold homes and “crack down” on
the controversial practice if it wins power. The Labour Party has
set-out its plans for a “leasehold revolution” to tackle
“rip-off” ground rents, contract terms and fees faced by millions
of households.

Properties sold as
leaseholds see occupiers buy the right to live in the homes for a
fixed period of time, most typically 60 to 120 years, while the
landlords, known as the freeholders, often charge the leaseholders a
rising annul ‘ground rent’. Occupants are also tied in to make
payments to contractors for the properties’ upkeep, with
alterations and sub-letting incurring further charges.

Ministers have been
accused of ‘kicking the can down the road’ on the leasehold
crackdown issue, but Conservative ministers have also vowed to end
‘feudal’ system of leasehold house sales in the modern era.

According to a
Labour Party report, six in ten leaseholders don’t fully understand
what being a leaseholder means until they have already purchased the
home, and nine out of ten regretted buying their leasehold
properties.

Shadow Housing
Secretary John Healey has said:

“Leasehold is a
symbol of our broken housing system, with millions of England’s
homeowners feeling like they’ve bought their home but still don’t
own it.

“The scale of the
problems faced by leaseholders, from rip-off ground rents to punitive
fees to onerous contract conditions stating what they can and can’t
do to their own homes, demands wholesale change.

“We need a
revolution in rights for leaseholders.

“This consultation
document sets out the next Labour government’s ambition end the
broken leasehold model for good.”

Under Labour’s
plans, the sale of leasehold flats and houses will be a thing of the
past by the end of its first term in office, and occupants
(leaseholders) will be able to buy the freehold of their homes for 1%
of the property’s value.

The party says it
wants to increase leaseholders’ rights, to empower them to
challenge unfair fees and poor repairs service.

Meanwhile the
Government has also vowed to curb the modern leasehold sales
practices, committing to ensure that new homes will be sold on a
freehold basis and to reduce ground rents to ‘peppercorn’ rates
on future properties.

However, Labour has
accused the government of lack of progress on the issue and says that
there is still no sign of change for home-buyers who have become
locked into unfair leasehold contracts, and there are still no plans
for the new legislation needed to release them.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Labour plans to end ‘rip-off’ leasehold ownership with sales ban on new homes | LandlordZONE.

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Storm Lorenzo: How to avoid damage to your property

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The Met Office has predicted strong winds throughout Friday, affecting the South West of England and South Wales in particular. Winds are expected to be quite strong, so it is important that landlords -especially in the areas where the storm is likely to hit- take action NOW to prevent potential damage further down the line. […]

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Forum Spotlight: Struggling to gain access for inspection

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Our landlord forum is a good way for members to share their experiences with each other and help each other out. Our Forum Spotlight this week shines the light on a question a landlord posted on our forum recently regarding gaining access to her property. The issue The landlord was very concerned because they needed […]

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Improve don’t lose Universal Credit

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Rarely does a week go by when the media doesn’t contain a story relating to Universal Credit and the impact it is having on claimants and landlords alike. It can be difficult to cut through the noise and know exactly what the truth is.

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Record high rents for 4th month in a row

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Rents:

ARLA Propertymark
reports record high rents for the 4^th month in a row

ARLA’s latest
Private Rented Sector (PRS) report, based on returns from their
letting agent members throughout the county, indicates that a record
number of tenants are having their rents increased – it will be to
the highest figure on record in the latest figures available for
August.

Sixty-four per cent
of ARLA Propertymark agents reported that their landlord clients were
actively increasing rents. This latest figure is only a marginal rise
sice the previous figure in July, where 63 per cent of agents
reported rent rises, but its a 4-month upward trend that gives not
sign of abating.

The year to date
figure given in the report is up considerably from 35 per cent of
agents reporting increases in August 2017 and 40 per cent in August
2018.

Those tenants living in Yorkshire and Humberside and the West Midlands were hit hardest, with 80 per cent of agents seeing rent increases.

Other

Other statistics
reproted by ARLA show:

• The number of
  properties managed per branch rose to 197 in August, from 184 in
  July.
• Year-on-year is
  the same, supply is up by 4 per cent from August 2017.
• Demand from
  prospective tenants also increased, with the number of house hunters
  registered per branch rising to 76 on average, compared to 73 in
  July.
• Landlords
  selling their buy-to-let – in August, the number of landlords
  exiting the market remained at four per branch.

The full report here

David Cox, Chief
Executive of ARLA Propertymark, said:

“Although it’s
positive to see that supply has risen, it is nowhere near enough to
counterbalance the rapid pace of rising rents, which have reached a
new record high for the fourth month running. Two thirds of agents
reported landlords raising rents last month, which is a significant
increase when compared with the two fifths of agents who witnessed
rises in August last year.

“Unfortunately,
the impact of the Tenant Fees Act will continue to be felt by
tenants, as in order to keep their heads above water landlords will
need to continue increasing rents to cover the additional costs they
now have to bear.�

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Record high rents for 4th month in a row | LandlordZONE.

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RICS fire safety guide

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RICS have published a clear and impartial fire safety guide to highlight the responsibilities of landlords and tenants in keeping properties safe regardless of the type of home they live in.

• RICS releases guide clearly explaining landlords and tenants’

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Housing latest: Your update on politics and the private rented sector

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In a new feature for the RLA’s Campaigns and News Centre the team will bring you the latest news on the PRS from Westminster and beyond. This could be anything from Parliamentary questions, Commons reports, thinktank reports and research. Wednesday 2nd October 2019 MHCLG Does Not Collect Information on Proportion of Right to Buy Properties […]

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Another flat’s washing machine draining into my shower?

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I have a flat which is leasehold in a block. The management company run block issues. I’ve got an issue where someone else’s washing machine waste is draining into my bathroom via my shower drain.

They got a plumber in who says the drains aren’t blocked and the pipes have been laid incorrectly causing this.

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DWP found guilty of maladministration

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It is no secret that many landlords have had issues with DWP’s maladministration such as delays in setting up APA’s resulting in rental loss, some landlords turn to experts for assistance and to take the matter further by making a complaint to DWP on their behalf.

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