Posts with tag: landlords

Proposed licensing scheme won’t work, claims ARLA

Published On: October 19, 2016 at 1:42 pm

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Yesterday, the Government announced plans to introduce a mandatory licensing scheme for landlords of multi-let accommodation. This is in an attempt to clamp down on rogues and introduce standards in the sector.

However, the Association of Residential Letting Agents believes this scheme is destined for failure.

Rules

The new rules, to be introduced next year, were outlined in a consultation published yesterday by the Department for Communities and Local Government. They propose to apply these licensing rules to all shared properties in England with five or more people from two or more households. In addition, the rules will apply to flats attached to business premises.

According to housing and planning minister Gavin Barwell, the rules will make sure that, ‘everyone has somewhere safe and secure to live.’[1]

He continued by saying: ‘These measures will give councils the powers they need to tackle poor-quality rental homes in their area. By driving out rogue landlords that flout the rules out of business, we are raising standards and giving tenants the protection they need.’[1]

Landlords failing to comply with the licence could face potential fines or even a criminal prosecution.

Proposed licensing scheme won't work, claims ARLA

Proposed licensing scheme won’t work, claims ARLA

Lack of enforcement

However, David Cox, managing director of ARLA, said that, ‘landlord licensing doesn’t work.’

Continuing, Mr Cox said: ‘Councils already have a wide variety of powers to prosecute for poor property conditions and bad management practices; with penalties ranging from fines to seizure of property and even imprisonment. But Councils don’t have the resources to undertake effective enforcement action. Imposing more burdens on councils will not mean improved standards and better conditions for tenants; it will merely mean more laws that are not being enforced.’[1]

Responding to Mr Barwell’s comments that rules for minimum room sizes will also apply to shared properties, Cox said this could have, ‘unintended consequences.’

‘Some people are happy to take small rooms to keep their costs down. If these rooms are no longer available, where are people supposed to live? What’s more, if a small room in a property can no longer be let out, the costs of that room will be spread across the other tenants living in the property; pushing up their rents. A habitable room is essential but a one-size-fits-all policy doesn’t always work,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/10/tighter-licensing-requirements-for-hmos-wont-improve-standards-for-tenants–arla

Landlords, Protect Yourself When Hiring a Tradesperson

Published On: October 19, 2016 at 11:03 am

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Landlords, you can now protect yourself when hiring a tradesperson to conduct work on your property by using home services marketplace Plentific’s new Guarantee.

The innovative Plentific Guarantee is the first of its kind, and gives landlords and homeowners added security when booking trade professionals through the website.

The latest addition to the marketplace’s offering promises work of the highest quality from pre-screened professionals, giving property owners the confidence that their project will be completed to a high standard. Customers entitled to the Plentific Guarantee are assured 100% satisfaction when booking a verified tradesperson.

Landlords, Protect Yourself When Hiring a Tradesperson

Landlords, Protect Yourself When Hiring a Tradesperson

The new policy covers all services advertised on Plentific, from architects to builders. Any verified trade professional booked through Plentific can offer the guarantee, regardless of the size of the project.

The Co-Founder of Plentific, Cem Savas, says: “This Guarantee is the next step in Plentific’s mission of connecting homeowners with reliable home services professionals. It adds a newfound level of trust which did not exist before today.

“Our homeowners can now use Plentific with the knowledge that they will only receive the best of services and will be fully covered in the event that things do not go according to plan. The introduction of this Guarantee can only attract more homeowners and trade professionals to Plentific, and we will respond by continuing to support both sides of the marketplace, whilst providing the best service possible. We want to find and recommend the UK’s best and most reliable trade professionals and, consequently, remove all common fears when hiring a pro.”

The Guarantee includes legal cover for contractor related events and covers legal fees of up to £50,000. Insurance underpinning the Plentific Guarantee has been developed in partnership with The Home Insurer, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Paula Higgins, of the HomeOwners Alliance, comments on the service: “This is fantastic news for consumers. Whilst some websites offer basic verification on the trade professionals they list, homeowners have no one to turn to if they aren’t happy with the standard of the work. The Plentific Guarantee offers consumers a newfound level of protection, should anything go wrong.”

The Guarantee has been introduced at a time when demand for home services professionals is continuing to grow, with fears of cowboy tradespeople also rising. This policy protects landlords and homeowners from the nightmare of dealing with a substandard job.

If you decide to use Plentific to look for a tradesperson, look for the gold tick with “Verified by Plentific”. This logo indicates that the selected professional has passed the comprehensive background check and can offer the Plentific Guarantee.

As the only online transactional home services marketplace, Plentific also offers a secure payment platform for booking a professional. All funds are recorded and covered by the Guarantee for additional protection.

If you are unsatisfied with the quality of the work produced by a verified professional, the Plentific Guarantee covers four key costs: the deposit, pre and post completion of the project, and any legal fees. These safeguards ensure that you have nothing to worry about.

At a time when landlords are facing higher taxes and additional regulation, it is more important than ever to protect any funds you are spending on improvements to your property.

New rental listings slide in September

Published On: October 19, 2016 at 9:56 am

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A concerning new report from crowdfunding platform Property Partner has revealed that around four in ten large UK towns and cities in Britain saw a fall in buy-to-let listings in September.

The investigation looked at rental listings in 89 locations, analysing the number of properties listed between 1st-28th September, then compared to figures recorded in August.

Falls

Research from the platform showed that 36 towns and cities saw a decrease in rental supply during September. Of these, 29 also saw a fall during August.

Grimsby saw the largest drop in new rental listings in the last month, seeing a decline of 26%. Oxford (-24.4%), Canterbury (-23.9%) and Brighton (-18.7%) also saw significant falls. This said, no region was unaffected by a shortage of supply.

London saw new rental listings rise by 1.43% in the last month, showing a significant rise from August, when supply fell by 16.4%. Other large British cities, Manchester and Birmingham, saw new listings slide by 13.04% and 13.69% respectively.

Worrying

Dan Gandesha, CEO of Property Partner, observed: ‘You’d expect a seasonal drop off in the number of new buy-to-let properties coming onto the market during August but September has also proved worryingly slow. We’ll have to wait until next month to determine whether this is just a short-term problem or something to be increasingly concerned about.’[1]

‘The new stamp duty hike in April for buy-to-let and second homes saw a rush by landlords to beat the deadline with a subsequent rise in stock levels. But now that the dust has settled, we’re seeing some significant declines in new listings, particularly surprising after the Summer. Earlier this month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warned of a critical rental shortage. Traditional landlords have been given a proverbial cold bath with recent tax change announcements. The hike in the stamp duty surcharge in April has certainly discouraged landlords from increasing their rental portfolios,’ he continued.[1]

New rental listings slide in September

New rental listings slide in September

Hassle

Mr Gandesha wonders if many landlords will continue in their role past next year. He notes: ‘Alongside tougher lending criteria and cuts to mortgage interest tax relief starting next year, many landlords will be now doubting if it’s worth the hassle, particularly in the South East. Profits have been hit hard and those landlords that decide to stick with it, may just be forced to push up rents – not a promising prospect for tenants.’[1]

‘Like RICs, we believe Britain should be building more homes across all tenure types. Over the past decade, more and more people have moved away from home ownership and become long-term renters. It’s time for the new government to make build-to-rent a key priority, encouraging the private sector to build properties for residential letting with incentives for institutional and ‘professional’ landlords,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/september-sees-further-rental-supply-problems.html

Buy-to-let mortgage sales up by 19% in September

Published On: October 19, 2016 at 8:54 am

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Categories: Finance News

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The mortgage market experienced significant growth during September, with total sales rising by 8.4% to £1.2bn.

In addition, buy-to-let mortgage figures also rose by 19% to reach £2.9bn. Residential sales also increased by 6.2% to £12.2bn.

Regional mix

By region, performance was varied over the course of the last month. The North West and London came top of the table for buy-to-let mortgage growth, with rises in sales of 12.7% and 11.7% respectively.

On the other end of the scale, Scotland and Northern Ireland saw the worst monthly growth, of just 1.9% and 0.7% respectively.

Buy-to-let mortgage sales up by 19% in September

Buy-to-let mortgage sales up by 19% in September

 

Mr Iain Hill, Relationship Manager, at Equifax Touchstone, noted: ‘With unseasonal gains in August and encouraging figures for September, the market is showing positive signs for a strong end to the year. These healthy figures are very welcome, particularly in buy-to-let, where we have seen a number of new market entrants in the last year or so.’[1]

‘Although we still have a way to go to get back to the levels of business seen in 2015, the signs are promising. We are watching with great anticipation to see what this year’s unpredictable market will reveal next month,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/buy-to-let-sales-surge-19-in-september.html

 

Landlords facing minimum room size licensing scheme

Published On: October 18, 2016 at 2:27 pm

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Categories: Landlord News

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The British Government has today announced it is to introduce minimum room sizes for shared tenant homes. This is part of a wider national clamp down on rogue landlords forcing tenants into unsafe and overcrowded properties.

Housing Minister Gavin Barwell said that the measures will affect England only and will heighten councils’ ability to solve the issue. This in turn will bring an end to rogue landlords ‘ability to exploit tenants and charge them high rents for poor conditions.

Minimum sizes

Plans outlined today will see landlords letting properties to five or more people from two or more households would have to be licenced. In addition, they would have to provide a room of a minimum size of 6.52 square metres, thus closing a loophole allowing some rogues to rent rooms much too small for an adult.

Mr Barwell said: ‘These measures will give councils the powers they need to tackle poor quality rental homes in their area. By driving out rogue landlords that flout the rules out of business, we are raising standards and giving tenants the protection they need.’[1]

Other measures to help councils raise standards in multiple occupancy lets include ensuring mandatory rules apply to all shared properties with five or more people from two or more households. Additionally, this would apply to flats above and below shops and other business premises.

At present, licensing only comes into force for homes with three or more floors and does not apply to homes attached to businesses unless they are in a three-story property.

Landlords facing minimum room size licensing scheme

Landlords facing minimum room size licensing scheme

Storage

Under these proposals, landlords of shared properties will be permitted to provide sufficient storage and disposal of rubbish and pass a fit a proper person test. Criminal record checks will be carried out.

If a landlord fails to obtain a licence they will be liable to pay an unlimited fine. Mr Barwell believes these measures will complement other Government efforts to seek out unscrupulous landlords.

Already, £5m of Government funding to 48 councils has brought about a big increase in the number of homes checked in the last quarter. In early 2016, in excess of 33,000 homes were inspected. Around 2,800 rogues are facing prosecuting as a result of these checks.

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/landlords-multiple-occupancy-lets-england-face-mandatory-licencing/

 

 

Landlord told to pay over £10,000 for breaches in regulation

Published On: October 17, 2016 at 1:19 pm

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A private landlord from Norwich has been told to pay over £10,000 in fines and costs after breaching regulation for private accommodation.

Mr Piang Fui Pun admitted 13 breaches of regulations regarding HMO’s. These included not providing adequate safety certification for electrical and gas installations in his property.

Prosecutions

David Lowens, prosecuting on behalf of the city council, informed Norwich Magistrates Court that council officers first visited the property in February. After pointing out issues, they returned three months later to find that many of these issues had still not been sorted.

Mr Pun argued that his sister usually looks after the property, but had been distracted by family affairs. He said that the defects had now been rectified.

Despite this, Chairman of the bench, Geoff Dyett, fined Pun £5,500 and told him to pay £4,600 in investigation costs.

Dyett told Pun: ‘If there had been an accident or worse there could even have been a fire, you could well have been facing more serious allegations.’[1]

Landlord told to pay over £10,000 for breaches in regulation

Landlord told to pay over £10,000 for breaches in regulation

Safety

Following the case, Bert Bremner, Norwich city council’s cabinet minister for private sector housing, noted: ‘keeping our residents safe and ensuring all housing is of a good standard are top priorities for the council.’[1]

‘This particular case required a high level of partnership working and is another excellent example of the work being done to tackle landlords who operate outside the law,” he added.[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/10/landlord-ordered-to-pay-over-10-000-for-regulatory-breaches