Free short term let accommodation for London’s NHS workers

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The UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA) is promoting a scheme to offer free accommodation to London’s NHS key workers. Together with a number of partners who usually operate in the short term let market, the scheme, called ‘NHS Homes’

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BREAKING: Airbnb bans all bookings for ten days except to key workers and NHS staff

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The short-lets platform has reacted swiftly to huge pressure from people and government as many hosts have continued to stay open for bookings during the Easter break and beyond, encouraging people to travel unnecessarily.

Airbnb has blocked all new UK bookings for
stays up to at least 18th April unless they’re for key workers or other
essential stays.

It follows criticism from local councils around the
country who are urging letting agents and online booking platforms to follow Government
closure orders and reject bookings during the emergency period.

Councils such as Cornwall and Kent have been fielding
complaints ahead of the Easter weekend that some holiday accommodation
providers are still hosting guests and operating illegally.

Airbnb says listings that are visible on its platform won’t be open for stays until next weekend and that it will review this temporary block on calendars on a regular basis after that. Last week, the platform blocked private room stays and switched off the ‘instant book’ feature for whole properties.

Government guidance

Patrick Robinson, director of public
policy at Airbnb, says: “Restricting bookings on Airbnb to key workers and
other essential stays will allow hosts to continue supporting frontline workers
while following government guidance.”

With temperatures expected to soar this week, holiday
hotspots in Kent have been found to be flouting Government guidelines. When a local newspaper approached hosts around the
county to enquire about the Easter break it found some in Margate and
Whitstable willing to take their money. A search of beachside village Sandgate
returned 61 rental listings for a three-night stay this coming weekend.

A BBC investigation earlier this week also discovered
Airbnb hosts listing homes as being “Covid-19 retreats” and “perfect for
isolating with family” in the British countryside, with some allowing instant
booking of rentals without any vetting.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Airbnb bans all bookings for ten days except to key workers and NHS staff | LandlordZONE.

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Coronavirus lockdown: Can I get the broadband fixed?

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The internet is a lifeline in these times of lockdown, but if you, as the landlord, are responsible for utilities, can you call out an engineer?   The government has issued guidance that they CAN go into homes to fix the internet but only in certain circumstances. What have Internet companies been told? Firms have been […]

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Lettings agents and COVID-19: How to survive the crisis Webinar

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Paul Shamplina Founder of Landlord Action, Brand Ambassador For Hamilton Fraser and Star of Channel 5’s ‘ Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’, will provide practical guidance to help your lettings business survive the coronavirus crisis.

Paul will be joined by Mike Morgan from HF Assist

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RICS calls for Stamp Duty holiday and it’s not a “Whim”

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As agents close their doors due to the lockdown, the spread of the virus across the UK has led to a near standstill of the housing market. The March 2020 RICS UK Residential Market Survey results highlight that despite the first few months of the year showing a marked pick-up in market activity

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Time to take advantage of record low Interest Rates and remortgage

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During the last few weeks there has been a rush of borrowers taking advantage of all-time low interest rates. Due to the impact of Covid-19, the Bank of England has taken the unprecedented step of making two cuts to the base rate in quick succession.

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Repossession form N5B updated by government

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Landlords who want to claim possession of a property must now provide copies of their gas safety certificates, EPC and how to rent booklet as part of their application. The government has introduced the new requirements in its updated N5B form for England. The N5B is the form landlords must fill in after the use of […]

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Too early to assess long-term impact of lockdown on UK housing market

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The latest Halifax House Price index figures for quarter ending March will not yet reflect the affects the lockdown has had on the housing market.

It was reported that house prices in March were 3.0% higher than in the same month a year earlier

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Lodgers who work for NHS should be given same rights as tenants during crisis, says NRLA

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Newly-merged landlord association supports calls for front-line workers who lodge in properties to be given greater legal protection as the pandemic rages, during a BBC Radio 4 Money Box programme.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has backed calls for lodgers to be given the same rights as other tenants during the crisis.

Its spokesperson John Stewart made the comments during today’s BBC Radio4 Money Box programme, which devoted its entire coverage to the private rental market and the effect on it during the pandemic.

Presenter Louise Cooper highlighted the problem of lodgers’ rights during an interview with a nurse called Adriana, who is being asked to leave her landlady’s home where she has been lodging, and is in effect being made homeless.

Her landlady, who says she is a ‘vulnerable person’ because of her age and health, is worried the nurse will bring the Coronavirus home.

Same rights

Anny Cullum of campaigning group Acorn, who was also featured on the programme, said that for the duration of the crisis lodgers like Adriana should be given the same rights as traditional AST tenants.

The NRLA’s Stewart agreed, saying that it did not make sense to create additional home moves during such a severe national health crisis when the government is asking people to stay at home and keep travel and home moves to ‘essential only’.

The NRLA’s John Stewart also divulged more details of how the crisis is playing out among the wider landlord community during the show, which will soon be available to listened to in full on the BBC website.

He said some lenders are making it difficult for landlords to apply for a three-month mortgage holiday despite the recent government guidance, and that insurers were reluctant to pay out on guaranteed rent policies without a landlord beginning eviction proceeding against a tenant. This, he said, was becoming a significant issue during the crisis.

As LandlordZONE reported recently, many insurers including Direct Line have stopped issuing new contracts because of this problem.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Lodgers who work for NHS should be given same rights as tenants during crisis, says NRLA | LandlordZONE.

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Call of the week-coronavirus and gas safety inspections

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This week the advice team were able to assist one of our members with a query relating to how they should be managing their property in light of the coronavirus pandemic. This has, understandably, been the main topic of queries made to the advice team of late as we all face these unprecedented times together. […]

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