BREAKING: Trading Standards moves to regulate sales and lettings portal listings

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Property portal listings for rented and for-sale properties will soon be required by law to have mandatory information within them following the launch of a much-anticipated initiative from National Trading Standards.

Its Estate and Lettings Team (NTSELAT) has launched Phase 1 of a programme that will see some of the basics ‘required’ on portal listings including price or rent, size of deposit, council tax band or rate and fore sales properties, whether its leasehold, freehold or commonhold.

Phase I is to go live this month with agents required to be compliant by the end of May.

Later phases will be backed by legislation will make it compulsory for property listings to include utilities available within a property, non-standard features that could influence a transaction decision and more prosaic factors too including location.

The initiative is part of NTSELAT’s attempts to make renting and buying property more transparent and fairer for buyers and tenants, and earlier this month was rolled into the government’s ‘levelling-up’ White Paper announcement.

“These technical changes will prompt all players in the property market to do things a bit differently,” says NTSELAT Senior Manager James Munro (pictured).

“Vendors and agents may find that bringing conveyancers on board at the outset helps ensure all information is available for marketing, and issues with things like restrictive covenants or boundaries can be addressed earlier.

“For consumers, a better understanding of why certain information such as a property’s tenure is important will enable them to make informed decisions when they embark on a property search.”

A further two phases are being developed which will incorporate further material information such as restrictive covenants, flood risk and other specific factors that may impact certain properties.

Sean Hooker (pictured) Head of Redress at The Property Redress Scheme, said: “This is great news for the consumer and will lead a much more transparent and consistent way of introducing properties to the market.

“It will also give clarity and assurance to agents that they are doing the right thing, will set the ground rules on what is expected and avoid the consequences of not providing a good level of information. Fewer complaints, faster transactions, happier customers, what is not to like?”

Theresa Wallace, (pictured) Chair of The Lettings Industry Council, adds: “The material information project is a crucial piece of work to ensure that consumers looking at buying or renting property can make an informed decision earlier in the process.

“The objective is to provide consumers with more information prior to viewing a property. This will be a big change for the industry who have come together to support this initiative and The Lettings Industry Council felt it was important to be a part of a project that can have a real benefit for consumers.”

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Commercial property energy upgrades could cost over £30bn

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The road to net zero is paved with additional costs for Britain, not least the amount of money it will take to upgrade commercial property, in the industrial alone.

Achieving grade “B” ratings under the 2030 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) requirements for the UK’s industrial, manufacturing, logistics and warehousing property stock has been estimated to cost up to £30.5bn, that’s according to data supplied to Property Week by commercial real estate agents, Avison Young.

The agency’s soon to be published “Building Zero: the road to zero carbon logistics” report, spells out the changes that will need to be made, and the cost of doing so to achieve the new standards. If the regulations shift to require owners to meet an even higher standard, an EPC rating of “A” for example, post 2030, to meet the 2050 net zero target, costs will be higher still.

The UK Government’s recently announced 10-point plan to accelerate progress to net zero carbon, supporting the delivery of objectives set out in the Paris Climate Change Agreement, has encouraged all industries to refocus on their environmental commitments. The push for legislation

and more industry standards, led by the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development (UKBCSD), is also gathering pace.

The Current Standards

Currently, with only a few exemptions, the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (MEES) prevent landlords from granting a new tenancy of sub-standard commercial property, i.e. property that has an EPC rating of F or G. It means that landlords must make sufficient energy efficiency improvements to their properties in time to ensure they meet the standards.

Government has estimated that approximately 18% of commercial properties are currently in the EPC ‘F’ and ‘G’ rating brackets. In future this will adversely affect the ability of landlords to let or continue to let such properties – valuation and marketability are diminished, and debt borrowing will be affected, along with rent reviews and dilapidations assessments.

2030 and beyond

MEES will not currently apply if a commercial property has an EPC of E or above, however, the UK Energy White Paper 2020: Powering our net zero future confirms the Government’s intention that the future for non-domestic MEES regulation will move to EPC rating of “B” by 1 April 2030.

Therefore, although it may be tempting for landlords to target an EPC rating of E when upgrading, this is the bare minimum standard – such a commitment could be short-sighted. Landlords who decide to future-proof their buildings will not only save money in the long-term, their buildings will immediately be more marketable, a more attractive proposition for tenants, prospective purchasers and investors.

There is now a suggestion that Government might give local authorities access to the central EPC database to assist them in identifying properties that are let in breach of MEES. This would greatly assist local authorities in enforcing the MEES regulations and put pressure on owners to comply.

Daryl Perry, head of UK insight at Avison Young has said:

“The cost of improving the UK’s industrial, manufacturing, logistics and warehousing stock – even just in terms of MEES – is immense, Taking into consideration merely recommendations for improvement for existing buildings with EPCs, we estimate that the total cost for achieving the 2030 MEES requirement for industrial stock comes to £30.5bn, at an average cost of just under £344,000 per building.”

Mr Perry says that detailed modelling on an array of buildings undertaken by the company suggests that 1980s and 1960s buildings – under the current seven-year payback guidance – would only achieve and EPC grade ‘C’.

“While a number of forward-thinking developers are moving towards net zero carbon development and on-site energy generation, arguably the greater challenge is around how to upgrade existing stock, with 80% of the UK’s industrial stock more than 20 years old,” he says. “The policy shift around MEES, and changing requirements, has the potential to create significant environmental obsolescence.”

Meeting EPC standards is a huge challenge for property owners, but it is not the only task involved in meeting overall business sustainability standards in the industrial sector. Occupier requirements will drive the work needed to minimise buildings and supply chain emissions.

Non-domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard – landlord guidance

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DODGY COURSES: Outrage as another young wannabe landlord racks up £10k debt

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A concerned landlord has highlighted the case of yet another would-be investor who has fallen foul of dubious property educators and called for the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) to take action.

The person involved is a 27-year-old, who has a degree and works for the police and who wanted advice on how to grow a buy-to-let business to help pay for her children’s education and started off by following education courses on YouTube and Facebook.

However, she then signed up for a property training course – paying more than £10,000 for the privilege – and her credit rating has now been badly affected by getting into serious debt.

The veteran investor tells LandlordZONE that the woman, a tenant’s niece, now admits she was gullible and regrets paying for information that is available for free on the internet.

Refund

“She spent the equivalent to a deposit on a low-value buy-to-let property but has come out of this without buying any houses and doesn’t have a hope of getting a refund.”

She believes something needs to be done to address the unregulated property training sector which is raking in money using smoke and mirror techniques.

“This sector is like the Wild West,” she says. “By marketing flashy cars, watches and mansions, it is showing up all landlords to be greedy and self-centred with little regard for anyone else but ourselves. We have a bad reputation to start with, without making it worse for honest landlords.”

She believes the NRLA should be proactive in advising the public about the sector and lobbying government.

She adds: “The government should also be persuaded to regulate this wealth education, get-rich-quick-through-property sector in the same way that it regulated the financial sector, which forced out the more dubious companies.”

The landlord we interviewed wishes to remain anonymous. Read more about the case here.

Read more about efforts to self-regulate the property educators sector.

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HARRY’S GAME: Meet the 22-year-old student landlord hoping to expand his portfolio

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A student landlord who bought his first rental property aged 21 is on the lookout for older and more experienced business partners to help him grow his portfolio.

Harry Chew, who’s studying at Nottingham Trent University, bought the £82,500 two-bed terraced home in the city as a buy-to-let investment with a £21,000 deposit using some savings and by working numerous jobs as a teenager alongside his studies.

However, as he’s a full-time student, Chew had to ask a family member to be on the mortgage.

Chew took his time researching the property market and knew the area has strong rental demand because it’s near the M1 and local amenities. 

After working to update the interior himself, it was ready to let in eight weeks, and the business management and entrepreneurship student is now renting out the home to a family while he lives in rented student accommodation.

The 22-year-old now plans to expand his property portfolio after setting up his own business, Harry Buys Houses, to target landlords looking to sell, and aims to raise the capital through his other firm, Fair Goose Property, which he set up to find joint venture partners.

Joint ventures

“I’m looking for private individuals who want to invest or through joint ventures but aren’t sure how to do it – we can then go through the process together,” he tells LandlordZONE.

Chew certainly has plenty of energy and ambition and, after a stint travelling after finishing university, aims to focus on his property business, with the aim of becoming financially independent before he hits 30.

He’s confident that there are older landlords with a desire for making investments, but who now want to take a back seat.

Adds Chew: “I know many people are too tired for all the running around and want to work with someone younger. I may not have much experience but my youth is a strength – I’m willing to pull all-nighters and do the leg-work to make the company a success.” 

Read more about the Nottingham buy-to-let market.

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LATEST: Infamous rogue landlord and three associates are banned for five years

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Camden Council has handed out banning orders to four rogue landlords for letting an unlicensed and unsafe home in Kilburn.

All part of the same interconnected group of London-based family and business associates – Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, 30, of Manor House Drive, Daya Ahmed Dayaaldeen, 64, of Upper Grosvenor Street, Henna Mohamed Rashid, 65, of Duke Street, and Talal Faliez Fahad Sagor Alenezi, 82, of Picton Place – were previously fined for ignoring defects at the property in Pandora Road (pictured).

A First Tier Property Tribunal heard that the building originally had six/seven rooms and two bathrooms but was converted illegally to provide 16 self-contained units. During inspections, council officers found a lack of fire safety equipment and poor management of the flats.

Last July, Rasool was slapped with the first ‘ASBO injunction against a landlord after he was found to have harassed and tried to illegally evict tenants. The High Court heard of similar reports made against him by tenants in other boroughs.

Prison

The banning orders will take effect in six months and prevent all four from letting property, engaging in letting agency work, and engaging in property management work in England for five years. If the orders are breached, penalties can include prison or a fine, or both, or a civil financial penalty of up to £30,000.

Camden’s private sector housing team is supporting the tenants of the Kilburn property. It has now secured seven banning orders against landlords – the highest of any local authority in England.

Councillor Meric Apak (pictured), cabinet member for better homes, says its HMO licensing scheme and rogue landlord taskforce are continuing to improve the standards in Camden’s private housing sector.

He adds: “Most landlords are decent law-abiding people however, for too long a minority have been able to let housing that is unsuitable while exploiting their tenants and woefully disregarding their wellbeing and safety. The legal action taken in this case was a necessary last resort.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Infamous rogue landlord and three associates are banned for five years | LandlordZONE.

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Government to stamp out ‘sex for rent’ offences with initiatives, says minister

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The government has insisted it is making a comprehensive effort to stamp out ‘sex for rent’ offences by strengthening legal guidance and reviewing the impact of current laws.

Such offences, which involve landlords who offer people free or discounted rent within their homes in return for sexual services – usually through online adverts – has led to several high-profile prosecutions.

In a written answer to a question from Labour MP Barry Sheerman, who asked what discussions she was having with the police on investigating and prosecuting landlords who try to offer housing in exchange for sexual relations, Home Office minister Rachel Maclean (main picture) said there was a need to support those at risk of exploitation from the “abhorrent” practice.

“We recognise the importance of ensuring we have the right legislation in place to tackle those seeking to exploit others through this practice,” she said, “that is why in the VAWG (violence against women and girls) Strategy we committed to working across government and with partners to better understand the effectiveness of existing offences in tackling this issue and consider whether further reform is needed.

Police guidance

In parallel, officials are working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing, for example, to ensure there is appropriate guidance for policing on the issue of sex for rent.”

Maclean pointed to two existing offences – causing or inciting prostitution for gain, and controlling prostitution for gain – which could capture instances of sex for rent, depending on the circumstances of the case.

She added that the CPS had amended its guidance on prostitution and exploitation of prostitution to include specific reference to the potential availability of charges for offences under sex for rent arrangements, as well as the availability of banning orders for rogue landlords.

The minister added that the Online Safety Bill would include offences relating to the incitement and control of prostitution for gain in the list of ‘priority offences’ which internet companies will need to take proactive steps to tackle. The Bill will capture user-to-user sites, where most sex for rent advertising takes place.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Government to stamp out ‘sex for rent’ offences with initiatives, says minister | LandlordZONE.

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Landlord with a portfolio of 200+ Buy to Lets joins the rush selling their portfolios

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Landlords throughout the UK have started to sell their property portfolios and for good reason. With Michael Gove’s Levelling Up plans likely to add even more regulations for landlords to follow, plus the property market at an all-time high, landlords have seen the opportunity to cash in on a closing window to sell while they still can.

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Sadiq Khan wants Rent Repayments Orders doubled to a maximum of two years

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan wants the amount that tenants can claim back if their home isn’t up to scratch doubled, to two years’ worth of rent, for the worst properties which pose a risk of death or serious injury.

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LATEST: Coventry to clamp down on HMOs with new planning powers

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Coventry aims to come down hard on HMO expansion within the city by introducing an Article 4 Direction.

Councillors have approved the plans which will now form part of a public consultation this summer.

They hope to change the rules which currently allow landlords to turn some residential homes into HMOs without planning permission in areas with already high levels. All HMO conversions would also need planning approval.

The move follows the council’s decision last month to introduce civil penalty fines of up to £30,000 for landlords flouting licensing conditions, including a failure to comply with over-crowding and improvement notices as well as failure to licence an HMO.

Coventry already has an additional licensing scheme for smaller HMOs controversially phased in during the worst months of the pandemic, and set up a free, voluntary accreditation scheme in a bid to raise standards in the sector.

Councillor David Welsh (pictured), cabinet member for housing and communities, says it wants to manage the development of HMOs and have the ability to control their numbers in certain areas of the city.

He adds: “Housing developments must meet housing needs in the city and that’s good quality affordable homes that serve all of our residents delivering the right amount of open space including areas for play and recreation, and that have a positive impact on our neighbourhoods.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Coventry to clamp down on HMOs with new planning powers | LandlordZONE.

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ON A MISSION: The landlord making Britain savvier about money and wealth

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Gill Fielding is annoyed that the UK does not teach its children to be money and wealth creation savvy before they leave school.

The landlord, property educator and former chartered accountant, who runs the UK’s only AQA Unit-accredited property course via her company Fielding Financial as well as money education charity Money Mum, is annoyed that so many people end up in debt rather than building up wealth.

During a career in property spanning 40 years, Fielding says she has always wanted to – and continues to – ‘light the spark’ of imagination among as many people as possible to get thinking about how to manage their money better, and create long-term wealth.

“The road to that is really a motorway with different lanes and the more sophisticated you are, the more lanes there are – pensions, property, stocks and shares and starting your own business are all options,” she says.

“But the easiest in the long run, certainly to understand for most people, is property – because we’ve all rented or owned a property at some point.”

Accidental landlord

Fielding’s own journey to wealth was more accidental than planned. After a childhood in a poverty-stricken area of London’s East End, and after leaving school to begin work, she then gained a place at Sussex University.

Before starting her course, she saved up £4,500 while working five different job (not realising that students rented together in halls or houses) to buy a property for £7,000 in Brighton.

“So instead I rented it out while I was a student and sold it after graduation for three times more than I paid for it – and used the profit to buy more, and then a lot more properties, later getting into HMOs,” she says.

These days she is more of a passive property investor – entering joint ventures, funding whole developments or helping provide finance to people who do her courses.

“I still have a handful of buy-to-lets and HMOs – it’s been a very varied journey,” she adds.

Life mission

“It’s a life mission – if I go and sit on beach on Barbados and then come back, what am I supposed to do the next day? There’s no fulfilment in that for me. 

“I decided about 25 years ago – after a life crisis following the birth of my third child – that I wanted to help as many people as possible light the spark of financial possibility during my life, particularly through property investment. And that’s how all my different initiatives started. And I still believe investing in property is one of the keys to wealth creation.

“Of course being a landlord should not be taken lightly in today’s highly regulated world. But if you do it properly the rewards are significant – it’s all about education.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ON A MISSION: The landlord making Britain savvier about money and wealth | LandlordZONE.

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