Build-to-rent giant in ‘secret talks’ with London mayor to offer NHS staff accommodation

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Deal between City Hall and Greystar would be a major step forward in securing apartments for front-line staff who need somewhere to self-isolate in between shifts.

One of the UK’s largest build-to-rent operators and corporate landlords, Greystar, has confirmed it is in secret talks with the Mayor of London to offer empty properties within its 1,800 strong London property portfolio to frontline staff tackling the Coronavirus crisis.

It has properties available to rent at 20 locations within London at mostly central developments including within Kings Cross, Highbury, Islington (pictured) and Aldgate, as well as suburban sites in Harrow and Twickenham.

Other sites include on the South Bank at Old Street, White City, Nine Elms and Fulham.

LandlordZONE understands that the spare capacity will be offered to NHS staff who are seeking alternative accommodation to avoid living with their own families or co-residents if they’re living in shared accommodation.

Greystar has suspended face-to-face viewings at its residential sites but is keeping concierges open to serve existing tenants and manage properties, but not allowing direct meetings with residents.

The company’s statement on this indicates that tenants are able to move in if they are happy to only see the property ‘virtually’ prior to moving in, an arrangement that would also enable NHS staff to use the properties without having to interact with Greystar staff directly.

Greystar has spent £5.5 billion on developing build-to-rent and has 37,000 student and general market properties built or under management, with a further 4,000 in the pipeline in London alone.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Build-to-rent giant in ‘secret talks’ with London mayor to offer NHS staff accommodation | LandlordZONE.

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Councils move to shut down Airbnb listings ahead of Easter break

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Councils and tourism bosses are contacting short-lets landlords and asking them them stop offering properties to rent in a bid to get the message across that people should not travel over the holiday weekend.

Cornwall has been leading the charge, with
the county council fielding complaints that some holiday accommodation
providers are still hosting guests and operating illegally.

It’s urging letting agents and online booking
platforms to follow Government closure orders and reject bookings during the
emergency period.

With temperatures expected to soar this week,
other holiday hotspots in Kent have also been found to be flouting the new law.
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. Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston labelled these hosts “incredibly irresponsible” and said they could face fines of up to £960 for breaking the rules.

Airbnb has stepped in to block listings for shared properties, remove the instant book feature and ban adverts seeking to exploit the Covid-19 outbreak.

A banner in the ‘host dashboard’ on the platform reminds hosts to review the latest Government guidance and regulations before accepting any new bookings and guests are reminded about local travel restrictions when searching. 

A spokesman says: “We want to help hosts and guests follow the rules and we are working on further measures to help everyone follow government guidance and keep people safe.”

The site enables hosts to offer accommodation during the crisis and, although some are offering theirs exclusively to NHS and frontline staff (see an example here) there is no blanket shut-down yet by the platform. Instead it has published a statement at the top of all its listings saying: “Check travel restrictions before booking.The health and safety of our communities come first. Please follow government guidelines and travel only if it’s essential.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Councils move to shut down Airbnb listings ahead of Easter break | LandlordZONE.

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Most affordable rental areas for self-isolation

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Ome, has investigated the most affordable locations across the UK with the lowest population to maximise the chances of successful self-isolation.

Ome looked at the estimated population of every area of the UK coupled with its size to find the number of people populating each square kilometre.

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£89,000 at one HMO! Landlord fines continue despite Coronavirus lock-down

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Magistrates’ court in Essex hands down one of largest landlord fines this year after rule-breaking HMO was found in terrible state of repair.

A rogue Southend landlord faces a
whopping £88,976 fine after inspectors found his HMO in a shocking condition.

Freeholder Mr Arise was found guilty
of 17 offences following an investigation into anti-social behaviour and the
management of the property in Satanita Road.

It failed fire safety measures as the
kitchen and hallways were obstructed, while an electrical installation test
certificate was 12 months overdue.

Inspectors also found the property had been poorly maintained and had a catalogue of problems including boarded up windows, defective guttering, leaking pipes, window joints held together with tape and uneven flooring. Outside, a shed had collapsed and there weren’t enough bins or any recycling arrangements.

£5,000 each offence

Southend magistrates (pictured) found Arise guilty in his absence and fined him £5,000 for each offence along with costs and victim surcharge.

The property’s other operator was
granted an adjournment after pleading not guilty to the charges, and a trial
has been set for 26^th June, dependent on the Coronavirus crisis.

Councillor Ian Gilbert, leader of the
council with responsibility for housing, says: “Seeing the extent of the
problems at this property was quite frankly shocking.

“There is no excuse for allowing a
property to fail on so many different safety measures, which is supported by
the severity of the fine given.

“We hope this fine serves as a deterrent to those who fail to maintain their properties appropriately.”

This is not the first time Satanita Road has been in the headlines. Earier this year two mean were convicted of murdering of a tenant after attempting a ‘DIY eviction’ at another property on the road.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – £89,000 at one HMO! Landlord fines continue despite Coronavirus lock-down | LandlordZONE.

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New model AST for longer fixed terms – MHCLG

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The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government have released a new model tenancy agreement and guidance specifically to be used for longer term tenancies of 2 or more years.

Although this does not take into account that most lenders criteria will only allow a 6 or 12 month tenancy maximum

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Property educators accreditation scheme code of practice public consultation

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The Property Educators Accreditation Scheme (PEAS) Code of Practice is now open to public consultation.

The three main objectives of PEAS are as follows:

– To help credible property investment educators differentiate themselves from less credible operators.

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LATEST: Government’s aid package for commercial landlords ‘doesn’t go far enough’

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Leading association says industry needs help from government to persuade lenders to be more flexible on debt arrangements, otherwise repossessions and job losses will follow.

The Government’s SME package
doesn’t go far enough to help safeguard the capital’s commercial landlords,
says a leading property group.

The London Property Alliance, which represents 420 of Central
London’s commercial property owners, investors and developers, has welcomed Chancellor
Rishi Sunak’s announcement that companies with a turnover of between £45m and
£500m will now be able to access a loan of up to £25m through the Coronavirus
Large Business Interruption Scheme.

But it says that while property owners provide tenants with
as much flexibility as possible to try and prevent closures and protect jobs,
they’re still severely constrained by their own debt covenants and loan
obligations. 

The group recently wrote to the
Chancellor warning that their financial stability will be at risk if banks and
lenders don’t start to show flexibility towards landlords who’ve stopped
receiving rent.

It believes lenders could seize properties if unpaid rents and falling values lead landlords to breach debt covenants. It adds that many landlords are among the 30% of SMEs which have debt that is not accredited by the British Business Bank, so will not benefit from the scheme.

Business closures

Executive director Charles Begley tells LandlordZONE that flexibility
from lenders is vital so that landlords can support tenants with rent deferrals
and holidays, helping safeguard against permanent business closures.

“Unless the Government can exert pressure on lenders – and
work with other governments and financial regulators around the world to do
likewise – the ability of the property sector to support their tenants will be
seriously restrained.” 

He adds: “We are not calling for specific legislation to tackle this issue, just unequivocal political support and a concerted effortto ensure the finance industry, which encompasses the full range of funders and lenders beyond the big banks, is explicitly advised to grant property owners the flexibility they require.”

Visit the London Property Alliance.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Government’s aid package for commercial landlords ‘doesn’t go far enough’ | LandlordZONE.

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Thangam Debbonaire MP named as Shadow Housing Secretary

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Thangam Debbonaire MP has been appointed as the new Shadow Housing Secretary, as part of the Labour Party cabinet reshuffle, after Sir Kier Starmer was named the new leader of the party at the weekend. Bristol West MP MP for Bristol West, Ms Debbonaire is the member of parliament for Bristol West, a seat she […]

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Development funds stuck in queue – Is CBILS funding available?

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I am in the midst of a development of a pair of semi-detached houses in South London. I am more-than half-way though the build. Labour and materials continue to find their way to site, so, the show continues. My builder and his contractors seem happy to be working.

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Landlord and lettings agency join forces in unusual #NHSHomes enteprise

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Take a recently-completed 20-unit studio apartment development, a letting agency and its landlord and the result is… free accommodation for NHS staff in London. LandlordZONE found out more about the scheme.

A landlord and a lettings agency
have got together to house frontline NHS staff rent-free in the capital for
three months.

Hemmingfords in North
London and the landlord, who wants to remain anonymous, are offering 20 newly
converted studio, one and two-bed fully furnished flats in Finsbury Park to
workers at nearby hospitals needing to isolate from their families.

Director Rose Parsons says when
it knew a lock-down was imminent a few weeks ago, the company decided it would
be difficult to rent out certain properties using only video viewings so
approached a few landlords with the charitable suggestion.

“This landlord was keen to
do it,” she tells LandlordZONE. “The flats were serviced apartments which had
only recently been refitted as long-term lets. Although it’s hard to swallow a
loss like that when you’re left with vacant properties, he wanted to do
something to help the crisis.”

The landlord is taking a big hit as the studio
flats would normally rent for £1,150 a month. He has
also promised that once the tenants move in, he will contact utility companies
and ask them to waive their bills – and if they don’t, he’ll pay them himself.

Hemmingfords, which is not
charging a fee for co-ordinating the offer, or for getting references, has had
a good response so far, with seven NHS workers either already moved in or
signed up, and another five in the pipeline.

Says Parsons: “They’re signing a three-month contract with the potential to extend if needed. We’ll look at it on a case-by-case basis for each person, as when the Government relaxes rules we’ll probably get more interest from paying tenants.”

Why do these studios matter?

One of the key reasons why free accommodation is needed for frontline NHS staff is that many desperately need to self-isolate away from their families during the crisis while they are working.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord and lettings agency join forces in unusual #NHSHomes enteprise | LandlordZONE.

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