Major bank inks deal with Shelter to help customers fight their landlords

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HSBC banking brand First Direct has signed up Shelter to offer its customers living within the private rental sector advice to fight their landlords.

This includes help on how to fend off unaffordable rent increases and eviction notices.

The deal is to last for 12 months and will see tenants offered the service for free via a dedicated team within First Direct who will work alongside experts from Shelter.

First Direct says the backdrop of fast-rising rents within the UK private rental sector and the wider cost-of-living crisis prompted it to set up the partnership with Shelter, which will also offer debt and welfare support as well as housing advice.

Chris Pitt (pictured), CEO of First Direct says: “No-one should face the prospect of homelessness. Our partnership with Shelter aims to support private renters who find themselves in difficulty.

“We believe that our customers should feel they can come to us for help when they need it.  

“Our dedicated team and the experts from Shelter will be taking a hands-on approach to tackling the difficulties many private renters are facing as landlords pass on the costs of rising bills and mortgage payments.

“This is just part of the support we’re offering customers during this difficult time.” 

First Direct is freer than many other banks to sign this sort of deal because it does not offer landlords insurance or buy-to-let mortgages.

Frontline services

Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, adds: “Our partnership with first direct will help their customers access vital housing advice and support at a time when they need it most.

“It will also help our frontline services continue providing free and expert support to thousands of other people facing homelessness, as well as helping us campaign for lasting change.” 

View Full Article: Major bank inks deal with Shelter to help customers fight their landlords

Rising interest rates and tax changes – finding certainty in uncertain times

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Manoj Varsani, founder and CEO at Hammock, the property finance platform for landlords, looks at the implications of the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative.

Everywhere you look and in everything you do, it’s seemingly impossible to avoid reminders of the wider economic downturn and the likelihood of an upcoming recession.

View Full Article: Rising interest rates and tax changes – finding certainty in uncertain times

Should empty homes be taxed?

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Hi everyone, Would it not be a good idea to tax properties that are left empty and disincentivise them from remaining outside the available housing stock?

A residential property, in my opinion, should not be used purely as an investment as it should be used firstly as a home while the housing crisis is at such a peak.

View Full Article: Should empty homes be taxed?

Greggs wins high-profile High Court Covid insurance case

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The Newcastle headquartered firm Greggs has won an initial High Court ruling in a £150m Covid related case against the insurance company, Zurich.

Greggs’ claim was over its business interruption insurance with Zurich in which the firm claims it is due monetary compensation for interruption during the Covid pandemic.

Greggs £150mn claim

Greggs lodged its claim in the High Court for the sum of £150mn which it claims it is owed as compensation for when its estate of over 2,000 outlets stores was forced to close during Government mandated lockdowns.

Lawyers acting for Greggs, a British company employing around 25,000 staff across its 2,000 plus shops and other outlets, told the court that every single outlet suffered some interruption or interference with trading during the government imposed lockdowns.

Zurich’s defence

Zurich on the other hand, claimed that Greggs could only claim for one single occurrence of business interruption compensation under its policy, a position that if upheld would limit Gregg’s claim to £2.5mn.

Greggs’ lawyers counter argued that the company was entitled to a separate limit of £2.5m each time the UK and the national devolved Governments announced new Covid restrictions.

The judgement

Mr Justice Butcher has now handed down his judgement in which he says:

“In substantial measure I have accepted what was put forward at the hearing as Greggs’ primary case, based on the different Governmental announcements/regulations.”

Impact on Greggs’ profits

Following the first lockdown commencing March 2021, the fast food chain now famously providing its customers with vegan sausage rolls, posted its first ever full-year losses since the company came to be quoted on the stock market in 1984. The company posted a £13.7m pre-tax loss, compared to a profit pre-pandemic in 2019.

The company weathered the storm better than most business in the sector and its losses were not as big as the analysts had forecast, but still resulted in the directors failing to approve a dividend payment to stockholders until profits returned. Profits fell from record highs of over £1bn pre-pandemic in 2019 by around 30 percent.

The judge in the High Court case ruled that there had been a “single occurrence” at the first lockdown from March 2020 to May 2020, followed by separate occurrences in each jurisdiction in the UK as the restrictions were changed over the rest of the year. He also said that there were other separate occurrences within each jurisdiction where the local lockdowns and other restrictions had been imposed.

The lawyers’ response

A spokesperson for lawyers Charles Russell Speechlys, the firm acting for Greggs in the landmark BI trial, said:

“today’s judgment substantially accepts Greggs’ primary case for payment of business interruption and related losses caused by Covid-19 and its consequences.”

Insurers’ initial argument that there was only one limit available for Covd BI losses, entitled Greggs to only one limit of £2.5 million for all of its Covid BI losses had been “firmly rejected”, the firm said.

For its part, Greggs argued that it was entitled to access a separate limit of £2.5 million each time the Westminster and devolved Governments in the UK adopted a major Covid restriction measure affecting its business. This meant that there were multiple such restrictions and multiple £2.5 million limits.

The Lawyers Charles Russell Speechlys said the judge accepted the “main thrust” of Greggs’ primary case and ruled that there was a single occurrence at the outset (from March 2020 until May 2020).

This was followed by separate occurrences in each jurisdiction within the UK as the level of major restrictions in place was adjusted from time to time over the course of 2020 and also separate occurrences within each jurisdiction where there were local lockdowns or other restrictions.

The judge also held that those regulations which merely continued existing restrictions or made small changes did not provide additional £2.5 million limits.

The case has winder implications

“This outcome vindicates Greggs commencing proceedings and has wider implications for all businesses that purchased the Resilience Insurance policies. Insurers’ argument that there was only one limit available for COVID business interruption losses has been firmly rejected,” said Charles Russell Speechlys’ partner, Manoj Vaghela.

Subject to appeal, the firm said that the case of ‘Greggs plc v Zurich Insurance plc’ will now proceed to phase two, in which insurers and Greggs will calculate the value of the business interruption loss recoverable under the insurance policy.

The High Court also ruled on business interruption cases brought by The Stonegate Pub Company Ltd vs MS Amlin, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe and Zurich, plus Various Eateries vs. Allianz Insurance Plc, with varying degrees of success.

View Full Article: Greggs wins high-profile High Court Covid insurance case

Why the Renters’ Reform Bill won’t deliver the positive change tenants need

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Richard Dawson, rental sector expert at RentGuarantor, says the Renters’ Reform Bill is flawed and explains why he feels greater regulation is the answer.

At face value, the ‘Renters’ Reform Bill’ outlined in the recent government whitepaper

View Full Article: Why the Renters’ Reform Bill won’t deliver the positive change tenants need

NEW: Landlord launches tool that watches tenants’ water and electricity consumption

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You can call it snooping, or you can consider it clever tech that spots leaky taps and toilets or electric lights left on for too long.

Either way, a new service launched by leading build-to-rent behemoth Quintain, which operates a huge site with some 3,250 rental apartments adjacent to Wembley football stadium, has launched a data tool that monitors units within developments that, the company says, helps tenants live more sustainably.

Its data reporting tool has been developed in-house and measures the utilities consumption of every apartment in the company’s portfolio.

It automatically reads meters every 15 minutes and sets this data against the unique context of each home, factoring in its size, number of occupants and sunlight orientation.

The system can identify issues such as a light left on in a vacant home or excess water consumption that could indicate a leak. The Quintain Living team can then connect with residents to address any issues and get any maintenance tasks sorted.

Read more: What does BTR mean for BTL!

Specific issues include faulty toilets that are continually flushing while the company also says it can help tenants to operate their homes more cannily during the current cost-of-living crisis.

“We are committed to optimising the consumption of resources in the homes that we manage,” says Danielle Bayless, Chief Operating Officer, Quintain Living.

“Using this pioneering tool, we have proven to reduce the consumption of electricity, hot and cold water and heating across our portfolio. This has had a meaningful impact on unnecessary use of resources, with the added benefit of reducing costs.”

Read more stories about built to rent.

View Full Article: NEW: Landlord launches tool that watches tenants’ water and electricity consumption

Decorating clause in an AST?

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Does anyone have specific detail in their ASTs about decorating?

I have a nice flat neutrally decorated about to go up for rent. To avoid botch DIY attempts at redecoration can I say no decoration for the first 6 months and then at my discretion and permission thereafter

View Full Article: Decorating clause in an AST?

Daily Telegraph wants to speak with Scottish Landlords forced to sell

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The senior personal finance reporter for the Telegraph, Rachel Mortimer, is looking to speak to Scottish landlords and holiday homeowners who are being forced to sell up by rule and regulation changes in Scotland.
Is your model no longer viable?
Do you feel like you are being punished for running a business?
View Full Article: Daily Telegraph wants to speak with Scottish Landlords forced to sell

Sadiq Khan reveals more details of London ‘rent freeze’ on BBC

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London mayor Sadiq Khan says families would save about £3,000 during the next two years if he was given the power to freeze rents in the capital.

“We are asking government to give us the powers to have rent controls,” he told BBC London news. “We need to set up a commission in London, including landlords and tenants, to have a system that works for London. If it’s good enough for Paris and Vienna, why isn’t it good enough for London?”

Khan said in the long-term, London had to increase the supply of homes long term that were genuinely affordable. “For decades we’ve not built the homes we need. We need 50,000 new homes a year in London – we’ve increased the number of homes from 25,000 to 35,000-40,000 but there’s still a gap.

“Until we have enough affordable homes, we need to control the rent levels. The market isn’t working and families are being priced out of London,” he added.

“Landlords are increasing rent at the end of a tenancy and rents will go up by £3,000 over the next two years. The government needs to give us support to build more affordable homes but in the short term, freeze rents.”

Khan dodged the question about the risk of landlords leaving the sector as a result of bringing in any controls, however later in the programme Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina (pictured) explained: “Over the last five years, every year we’ve been losing 85,000 properties in London alone.

“A lot of landlords are exiting the market, so there’s fewer rental properties – mainly because of more regulation and taxation, and a lot of landlords are quite fed up.”

View Full Article: Sadiq Khan reveals more details of London ‘rent freeze’ on BBC

Coastal landlords slammed for favouring Airbnb guests over long-term tenants

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Coastal areas now have three times the rate of Airbnb listings than non-coastal areas, up from twice the rate pre-pandemic, according to new research.

Inside Airbnb calculated that in May 2019, one in every 105 dwellings in coastal areas in England and Wales was advertised as an Airbnb. In May 2022 it was one in every 67, while in inland locations it was one in every 196 properties, according to a report in The Guardian.

Housing campaigners say the trend indicates that landlords in seaside towns and coastal getaways may be favouring tourists over tenants.

New laws in Scotland require all local authorities to set up a licensing scheme, while Wales is bringing in a similar scheme and tougher planning rules.

The government is studying the impact of the short-let sector in England, but the charity Action on Empty Homes believes the registration scheme consultation is an essentially toothless proposal, which supports licensing but not limits on numbers or local controls.

Improve powers

Chris Bailey, national campaign manager, says that in Norfolk, 86% of the 7,652 Airbnb-type rentals are whole home listings, while North Norfolk alone has about 5,500 unoccupied second homes with a further 500 homes long-term empty, meaning at least one home in every nine has no one living in it, on an ongoing basis.

“Councils need improved powers to prevent properties being switched from primary residential use to short let or second home status and used as Airbnbs rather than as homes,” Bailey tells LandlordZONE. “This depletes rental housing stock and allows investors to outbid local buyers on average incomes, pushing up both purchase and rental prices.”

Airbnb questioned the accuracy of Inside Airbnb’s findings, emphasising that unusual listings such as caravans or large manor houses, used for events, may not affect the local housing stock.

View Full Article: Coastal landlords slammed for favouring Airbnb guests over long-term tenants