Government says it will ‘end injustice’ with new deal Renters Reform Bill

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Michael Gove, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, have followed up on the Queen’s speech with exactly what their intentions are for the Renters Reform Bill.

Apparently, 21% of private renters live in homes of an unacceptable standard and 22% did not end their tenancy by choice (ignoring the fact this could be for rent arrears or anti-social behaviour etc.).

View Full Article: Government says it will ‘end injustice’ with new deal Renters Reform Bill

Guaranteed Rental agency – Can’t get my property back after 3 years

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Back in 2013, we signed a contract with a Guaranteed Rental letting agency for a 3 year period. The contract stated that if/when we wanted our property back (after the 3yr period) we would give 2 months notice, but the actual time taken to return vacant possession could be delayed due to eviction proceedings etc.

View Full Article: Guaranteed Rental agency – Can’t get my property back after 3 years

EXCLUSIVE: Controversial landlord Fergus Wilson to appeal £125,000 fine over ‘harassment’

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Multi-millionaire landlord Fergus Wilson has vowed to appeal against a High Court ruling ordering him to pay £125,000 to Ashford Council for harassing staff.

A defiant Wilson tells LandlordZONE that he continues to dispute claims and believes the authority is now suffering the fall-out of his decision to sell off hundreds of rental properties in the area.

Last year, he was slapped with an injunction not to contact the council after the High Court heard he had sent hundreds of letters and emails and made needless phone calls and formal complaints against officers, councillors and legal representatives.

An unrepentant Wilson says: “I didn’t harass them. They said I made ‘needless phone calls’ but I could never get through on the phone so I had to email them – and of the 454 letters they said I sent over four years, that only works out at a couple of letters a week relating to my 300 houses.

“We housed people who couldn’t get a house elsewhere but all the thanks we got was them saying I was harassing them.”

It prompted him to exit the sector and he has now sold the last of his 150 houses – from an original 970 properties around Kent – and points to news this week that the council-run private rental sector lettings agency, ABC Lettings, is launching an advertising campaign to win private landlord clients, saying that “the private sector landlord market is considered to be a hard to reach audience”.

Wilson adds: “Ashford Council told me they couldn’t cope if I pulled out of the area – and now they’re having a terrible time. Do they think any private landlord will want to invest in Ashford when they see this?”

The High Court has now ruled that the controversial landlord must pay £125,000 by 17th May as a part payment while the full costs are assessed. The council believes this value, just under 75% of its estimated costs of £170,000, represents a reasonable sum.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: Controversial landlord Fergus Wilson to appeal £125,000 fine over ‘harassment’ | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: EXCLUSIVE: Controversial landlord Fergus Wilson to appeal £125,000 fine over ‘harassment’

This is simply not good enough

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Responding to confirmation in the Queen’s Speech that the Government will bring forward its planned Renters Reform Bill to abolish Section 21 repossessions, Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said:

“We welcome the Government’s acceptance that reforms to the rented sector need to strengthen the ability of landlords to tackle anti-social tenants and those with repeated rent arrears.

View Full Article: This is simply not good enough

SHOCK drop in number of HMOs blamed on growth of council licensing schemes

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HMO numbers in England have dropped by 3% during the past 12 months many landlords offloaded their buy-to-let stock instead of negotiating more legislative hurdles.

Market analysis by Octane Capital reveals that while there were 511,278 HMOs in 2019/2020, this fell to 497,884 in 2020/21, driven by the London market which saw a 13% reduction in numbers, by far the biggest drop of all the regions.

In the capital, 11 different boroughs have reported a decline, with the biggest in Ealing where the number of HMOs are down by -59%, followed by a -58% drop in Lambeth. Other big losers were Redbridge, Barnet, Greenwich, Enfield, Wandsworth and Croydon.

Licensing

Octane blames the regulations introduced in 2018 that require an HMO licence for all properties occupied by five or more people who are not members of one family, while all rooms must exceed a minimum size and can only sleep a certain number of people over 10 years old.

However, another of the lender’s recent studies found that the average HMO is now worth £364,508, 32% more than the typical house, with professional buy-to-let investors still hungry to expand in the sector, infused by the benefits of greater rental incomes and capital growth.

CEO Jonathan Samuels (pictured) says the changes mean that those reliant on the rental sector now have even less choice when it comes to finding suitable, safe accommodation.

However, he adds: “We’ve continued to fund a high number of quality HMO deals throughout the pandemic and this sustained level of interest from professional investors is yet to show any signs of decline.

Read: The complete guide to renting an HMO property.

“This includes a large number of refurbishment transactions whereby investors are looking to drastically improve the quality of existing HMOs, so while volume has certainly fallen, we don’t believe this will be a long-term trend.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – SHOCK drop in number of HMOs blamed on growth of council licensing schemes | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: SHOCK drop in number of HMOs blamed on growth of council licensing schemes

Queen’s Speech – Landlord Reactions

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In the State Opening of Parliament, the Queen’s speech (this year given by Charles the Prince of Wales) sets out the laws her government wants to pass and the priorities for the months ahead.

For the Property Sector the main headlines are:

Her Majesty’s Government will introduce legislation to improve the regulation of social housing to strengthen the rights of tenants and ensure better quality

View Full Article: Queen’s Speech – Landlord Reactions

New Shelter video attacking letting agents and rental conditions

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Shelter claims Landlords and letting agents have got away with cutting corners for far too long and have released a satirical video with an agent played by comedian Rory Marshall.

In the latest press release, Shelter’s ‘research’ also indicates one in six private renters in England (equivalent to two million people) are forced to accept poor conditions to find somewhere they could rent.

View Full Article: New Shelter video attacking letting agents and rental conditions

CGT return – Have I got this right and can I use paper?

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My net income for the tax year ending April 2021 will be £20,000 and I expect it to be the same next tax year ending April 2022. However, I now have a vacant property and am considering selling it.

I have roughly worked out that after initial purchase costs

View Full Article: CGT return – Have I got this right and can I use paper?

LATEST: What could tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech hold for landlords?

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Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech is set to contain a raft of property-related legislation including at least a reference to the highly anticipated Renters’ Reform Bill.

Empty properties

Landlords will be forced to rent out empty shops and retail units under a new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, giving local authorities powers to take control of empty buildings through tougher compulsory purchase orders.

It could also allow councils to double council tax for owners of second homes if they don’t rent them out for at least 70 days. Other homes simply left empty could see the standard council tax rate doubled after 12 months – as opposed to the current two years.

Planning

Following comments by Housing Secretary Michael Gove, a new Planning Bill could include policies aimed at ‘gentle densification’, giving residents a say on drawing up local design codes for housing developments using ‘street votes’. Gove has also expressed his support for streamlining building procedures for brownfield land.

Rogue landlords

Almost two years after the government’s social housing white paper was published, the Queen’s Speech is expected to include a Social Housing Reform Bill aimed at driving up safety standards, data collection and increasing accountability for rogue landlords by naming and shaming those who perform poorly.

Leasehold reform

A Leasehold/Commonhold Reform Bill is also expected to be included, as the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Lord Greenhalgh, announced last summer that a “second tranche of reforms” following the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill would come in the third session of Parliament.

Renting reform

While the Renters’ Reform Bill falls under the category of ‘bills announced but not yet introduced’ and was announced last year but was not taken forward, it’s expected that it will at least be referenced in tomorrow’s speech as the white paper is due to be released in spring 2022.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: What could tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech hold for landlords? | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: LATEST: What could tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech hold for landlords?

LETTER: Sadiq Khan begs Boris to freeze rents in London for two years

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London Mayor Sadiq Khan has repeated calls to be handed rent control powers in the capital to prevent a potential homelessness crisis.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, he says tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech is an opportunity to commit to the strategy, adding: “I have repeatedly asked for the powers to design and implement a system of rent control for London which would help to reduce the financial pressure on renters, without choking off supply.”

Although currently in the US on a tourism boosting trip and promising “major announcements”, Khan cites the Homelet rental index for March 2022 which shows that renters in London now spend 34% of their income on rent.

Freeze

He wants the government to implement an immediate two-year rent freeze to relieve the pressure on already-stretched renters, in a bid to save Londoners an average of almost £3,000.

Khan also reiterates his plea for more powers to push property licensing and pledges his support for the government’s commitment to ending section 21, as well as introducing open-ended tenancies and creating a public national landlord register.

“However, affordability is clearly the most urgent issue facing the majority of renters, and currently the government remains silent on this issue,” he adds.

“I am asking you to take the action necessary to prevent a major crisis now and to work with me to build a better London for everyone.”

The NRLA has previously labelled rent controls a potential disaster for London as they would mean tenants actually paying higher rents than leaving them to market forces. Rent controls were recently scrapped in the Catalan region of Spain after they failed to make housing more affordable.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LETTER: Sadiq Khan begs Boris to freeze rents in London for two years | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: LETTER: Sadiq Khan begs Boris to freeze rents in London for two years