Media Coverage 23rd-27th July 2018

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Click the links below to have a read of the media coverage for the RLA this week. Half of renters forced into debt to start new tenancies The Telegraph Wishes for welfare Welsh Housing Quarterly  Tickets now on sale for the RLA’s next Future Renting Conference Landlord Today  Trade body says council’s licensing proposals are unlawful Letting Agent Today […]

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Government launches EPC consultation

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The Government has launched a consultation on energy performance certificates in buildings. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are seeking evidence on how EPCs are currently performing against three attributes, including quality, availability and encouraging action to improve energy efficiency. The consultation, which can be accessed on the Government’s website here, is inviting […]

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17 week wait to evict problem tenants

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Eviction Time:

A Simple Landlord’ Insurance study has found that it takes an average of 118 days (almost 4 months) before court-appointed bailiffs can remove problem tenants from a private landlords’ property, after bringing a claim to court.

Landlords in London are the most likely to have to evict, while those in the South West, North East and West Midlands were least likely to have to go all the way to court to secure their evictions. Landlords can see at a glance how their region fares here.

New analysis of government figures by Simple Landlords Insurance shows it took an average of 16.9 weeks from claim to bailiff eviction in the first quarter of 2018. A total of 21,429 possession claims were brought to court last year, of which 6,260 ended in eviction by bailiff.

It’s the first time that the length of time it takes for private landlords to evict through the court system has been made public – and it’s been broken down by region and population density so landlords – and tenants – can find out exactly what level of risk they face in each area of England and Wales.

Tom Cooper, Director of Underwriting at Simple Landlords Insurance, says:

“The good news for everyone is that in 2017 only 0.5% of landlords made a possession claim in court. And only a third of those had to go through to the bitter bailiff end. The bad news is that if it does happen to you, it can cost a lot of money – and not just the average £1,700- £2,000 in legal fees.

“We wanted to get a more realistic idea of the impact of the process in terms of lost income, inconvenience, and ongoing legal fees in the worst and longest case scenarios. Just looking at lost rent, there are few landlords who can afford to lose up to 6 months’ worth –  the time it takes for a tenant to go into arrears, for them to issue a Section 21 notice, and then for them wait 17 weeks to see the court process through,â€� said Mr Cooper.

Key findings

The headlines for landlords include:

• During 2017, private landlords brought 21,439 possession claims to courts in England and Wales.
• 27% of claims didn’t receive a court order. Many claims are rejected for failing to follow the correct eviction proceedings.
• The average insurance payment made for eviction support is £4,341.22, which includes legal expenses and lost rent.
• Landlords in London are more likely to have to evict a tenant, the figures show. Buy-to-let investors in the capital brought 3 claims per 100,000 households last year.
• Landlords in the South West of England were least likely to bring eviction proceedings to court, with 58.9 claims registered per 100,00 households, followed by the North East and West Midlands.
• It took longer for social housing providers to evict tenants, with an average claim-to-repossession time of 27.9 weeks vs 16.9 for private landlords.

The eviction timeline

The Ministry of Justice figures revealed it took an average of 6.9 weeks for a private landlord’s claim to result in the issue of an order requiring a tenant to leave the property. For those whose tenants stayed past the date given on the notice, it took an additional 3.2 weeks from the initial order to the granting of a possession warrant, and a further 6.8 weeks for a bailiff to take possession of the home if the claim went to the final stage making the total 16.9 weeks.

Rent arrears and legal expenses

Landlords can mitigate the risk of lost income, time and property damage if they have to bring possession proceedings to court with legal expenses insurance and rent guarantee insurance.

Tom Cooper added:

“We know that rent arrears are high up on the list of landlord worries. Possession claims by private landlords have risen by 3.5% in the last two years. Over the same period we’ve seen a 61% increase in take-up of rent guarantee insurance in addition to legal expenses cover as landlords feeling the pinch from tax and regulatory changes try to mitigate the risk of repossession.�

More detail on the analysis can be found here.

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LBC’s Clive Bull to host RLA’s Future Renting conference

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LBC presenter Clive Bull has been confirmed as the host of the RLA’s next Future Renting Conference. Clive, who presents The Property Hour, has had a radio career spanning three decades and is one of LBC’s longest-serving and best-loved presenters. The Property Hour sees Clive and his panel of experts guide callers through all aspects of […]

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SIX hot weather problems landlords may not be aware of

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The current heatwave that the UK is experiencing is the longest in 42 years, and for now the blazing hot sunshine looks set to continue, but thunderstorms also look to be on the horizon. Here, we take a look at some of the problems that landlords could find themselves facing because of the very hot […]

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Proud to be a Landlord

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Within the last ten minutes I have received proof that being a fair, kind and friendly landlord who provides good quality accommodation and communicates with their tenants, pays off and is appreciated.

During the last couple of weeks it has been necessary to get a couple of minor repairs done at two properties.

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Fed up with all the landlord bashing – What’s the alternative?

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I am a portfolio landlord and now fed up with all the legislation and landlord bashing from the government.

Can your reader advise us of any safe alternatives to BTL investments.

We want to retire and ideally like hands off investment if possible.

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Fergus Wilson’s response to “Hero or Villain”

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Please see the response from Fergus Wilson to the article “Kent Landlord – Hero or Villain“:

“Hi, I have noted the Property118 article this morning.

Property 118 talks about Zealots. We call them Petty Little Hitlers (PLH).

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Estate Agent expelled from RICS over price fixing cartel

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Estate Agency:

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year imposed fines totalling £370,000 on five estate agency firms based in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset.

Six firms were found guilty of breaking competition law by fixing minimum commission rates at 1.5%, which meant none of the agents would lower their fees beyond that margin, ensuring they all made a higher profit.

Now, following a disciplinary hearing at RICS, agents Greenslade Taylor Hunt, were formally charged by RICS with being a party to fixing minimum fees, lacking integrity and acting dishonestly.

The RICS disciplinary panel found that Jeremy Bell, a partner at Greenslade Taylor Hunt, had taken part in the cartel, and had been dishonest but did not uphold the alternative charge of lack of integrity and the panel found the charge against Greenslade Taylor Hunt unproven.

However, the RICS disciplinary hearing found Greenslade Taylor Hunt was guilty of a charge of failing to have adequate controls, and proper training and monitoring procedures in place.

Bell had co-operated fully with the RICS during its investigation, also voluntarily sharing information with the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, which suspended him for a year, and Propertymark, which imposed on him a £1,000 fine.

It also emerged that Bell, who it was said has an unblemished 30-year track record in the industry, and had never discussed the price-fixing cartel with his other partners in the firm, had been made personally liable by his firm to pay the full £170,549 CMA fine, plus the fine of £1,000 imposed by Propertymark NAEA. Bell was also put on enforced leave of absence from Greenslade Taylor Hunt.

The firm had co-operated fully with the RICS investigation and said in mitigation that the cartel had been an “isolated incident involving one individual in one office�. It said it was “determined to learn from the matter� and had put a number of procedures in place to prevent it happening again.

The firm has now asked Bell to return to work after an absence of six weeks, and has changed his responsibilities in the firm, limited his role to agricultural work that did not require RICS accreditation.

The RICS disciplinary hearing follows on from a CMA investigation into the alleged cartel operation last year involving the six Burnham-on-sea agents:  Greenslade Taylor Hunt, Abbot and Frost Estate Agents, Annagram Estates, Gary Berryman Estate Agents, Saxons PS and West Coast Property Services.

The sixth firm, Annagram Estates Limited, trading as CJ Hole, had not been fined along with the others as it was the first to confess its involvement in the arrangement and cooperated fully with the investigation.

The six estate agents, who had a market share between them in Burnham of around 95 per cent, met up to agree their minimum commission rates at 1.5 per cent, effectively removing competition from the local estate agency market. They had used a sophisticated system to police price control within the group.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that it had taken action against estate agents before with a Fleet in Hampshire case resulting in penalties totalling more than £735,000. It said that these cases raised concerns that the sector “does not properly understand the seriousness of anti-competitive conduct and the consequences of breaking competition law�.

Codes of Practice for Agents – here

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Great Yarmouth licensing consultation proposals ‘unlawful’ – RLA

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Several of the proposals that have been included in Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s plans to introduce selective licensing in the Nelson area of the town are unlawful-the RLA is warning in its consultation response on the plans. Under Section 80 of the Housing Act 2004, Great Yarmouth Borough Council is proposing to bring parts of […]

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