Posts with tag: tenants

Tenants could pay more if told they can decorate

Published On: November 18, 2015 at 10:23 am

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Tenants could be willing to pay more if they are allowed to decorate their rental accommodation, according to a new report.

Research from insurance provider Endsleigh found that on average, tenants would be happy to fork out an extra £149.52 a year, if landlords gave them the green light to personalise their home.

Increased revenue

At present, two million landlords let out five million homes in Britain. Endsleigh calculates that there is potentially an extra £530m in revenue to be had for landlords who promote the fact they are happy for tenants to decorate their property.

43% of tenants were found to be willing to pay more rent, with only 29% of those surveyed saying they had the freedom to decorate their home. It also showed that 20% said they would be very reluctant to invite friends or relatives into their property due to being embarrassed about the décor.

19% expressed a desire to paint the walls the colour of their choice, while 17% wanted to hang pictures or mirrors up. 10% said they wished to put wallpaper up in their rental property. In addition, the research revealed that 9% of tenants questioned wish to use blu-tack to put things up, with another 9% wishing to mount a television onto the wall.

Tenants could pay more if told they can decorate

Tenants could pay more if told they can decorate

Reluctance

However, many tenants are reluctant to ask their landlord for permission to go ahead with interior alterations. Just 28% said that they would ask for the go ahead to decorate. Encouragingly, of those that did ask, 76% said that their landlord agreed to the request, despite it going against the terms of their tenancy agreement.

David Hadden, manager for landlords and lettings at Endsleigh, noted, ‘with it being so difficult to get on to the property ladder, people are now renting for longer, so naturally they are going to want to decorate the property they are living in long term.’[1]

‘Landlords who allow tenants to personalise their property could be favoured over those who don’t and may be able to command a higher rental price. If tenants feel at home in their property they may also have longer tenancies,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-tenants-landlords-decor-2015111811218.html

 

 

Rogue landlord ordered to pay over £200,000

Published On: November 16, 2015 at 11:43 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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A rogue landlord has been fined a whopping £200,000 after it emerged he illegally converted two properties into sub-standard flats without planning permission. In addition, the landlord subsequently ignored enforcement notices requiring them to restore the properties back up to an adequate state of repair.

Mr Vijay Kara was found guilty of his offences at Harrow Crown Court by Brent Council after entering a guilty plea.

Orders

Kara was served a confiscation order totalling £187,600 for both properties, in addition to fines and costs amounting to a further £20,000. A confiscation order is intended to take the profit from any crime by making the defendant pay a fee to the Crown representing the benefits of the crime.

Rogue landlord ordered to pay over £200,000

Rogue landlord ordered to pay over £200,000

Councilor Margaret McLennan, lead member for housing and development at Brent Council, said that, ‘it’s staggering that Mr Kara thought that he could get away with letting out illegal sub-standard accommodation, despite a conviction for the same offence in 2009’.[1]

‘Thanks to our hard working enforcement team, he has been caught out again and landed with a hefty bill. It is so important for planning rules to be upheld, not just to protect what our streets look like, but to protect tenants from poor standard accommodation,’ she added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/landlord-ordered-to-pay-over-200000-after-illegal-rentals/

 

 

Proposals to tackle rogue subletting criticised

Published On: November 11, 2015 at 10:54 am

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A tenant eviction specialist has poured scorn over latest Government proposals designed to prevent subletting scams that ultimately lead to tenants being placed in unsuitable and cramped accommodation.

Founder of Landlord Action, Paul Shamplina said that the proposals would require a larger scale of enforcement resources in order to ultimately be effective.

Alterations

The Government plans to alter the scope of mandatory licensing of HMO’s to smaller and medium-sized properties. It believes that by expanding the number of properties to which the rules apply, this will make it easier for local authorities to bring standards up in properties used as shared houses.

While welcoming the ideology behind the plans, Shamplina said that some landlords will continue to abuse the system. He notes that these landlords, ‘are guilty of exploiting the vulnerable whilst profiting from the housing crisis, particularly in the capital. Therefore, anything which helps to eliminate this problem and impose proper sanctions in the case of violation is a positive step forward.’[1]

Hindrances

Shamplina feels that, ‘one of the biggest problems with implementing any new legislation is enforcement.’ He said that, ‘local councils do not have enough resources as it is, with environmental health officers already responsible for monitoring overcrowding, subletting, poor conditions, and most recently retaliation eviction.’[1]

‘There is no room in our sector for rogue landlords, but to tackle the problem properly, legislation needs to be backed up by more boots on the ground,’ he added.[1]

Proposals to tackle rogue subletting criticised

Proposals to tackle rogue subletting criticised

Culprits

Continuing, Mr Shamplina said that the leading instigators responsible of setting up uninhabitable rooms are not just rogue landlords, but also tenants posing as landlords.

‘Landlord Action has never seen so many subletting cases as it has over the last two years, with an 18% increase. This has been fuelled by sky high rents preventing some tenants from being able to afford even single-unit accommodation, forcing many to resort to bedsits or shared accommodation,’ he noted.[1]

A recent North London subletting case handled by Landlord Action uncovered a home where partition walls were erected in order to create more bedrooms.. Most rooms were just large enough to fit a single mattress in, with the rogue tenant subletting each room for £750 per calendar month.

‘Cases like this are not only damaging to the property and financially devastating for landlords, but are also extremely unsafe, creating untold health and safety issues, particularly relating to fire safety and sanitation issues,’ said Shamplina, ‘They should also act as a reminder to landlords of the importance of carrying out thorough tenant referencing checks, as well as regular property inspections,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/11/eviction-specialist-warns-about-subletting-scams

 

 

Tenant demand up across UK

Published On: October 27, 2015 at 10:03 am

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An encouraging new survey suggests that 40% of landlords reported an increase in tenant demand during the last three months.

Regional rises

A survey by the National Landlords Association indicates that the East of England saw the largest net growth in tenant demand, with a 48% increase. This was followed by the South West (45%), the South East (41%) and Outer London (40%) respectively.

In addition, research found that just 6% of landlords on average reported a decrease in tenant demand during the last three months.

Landlords in the North East reported the highest net decrease in demand in all regions, with a 15% fall. Wales and Yorkshire recorded a 12% drop, while the North West posted an 11% dip.[1]

Tenant demand up across UK

Tenant demand up across UK

Selling

Carolyn Uphill, chairman of the National Landlords Association, said, ‘our research indicates that 5% of landlords will sell up following the government’s plans to remove mortgage interest relief for landlords, which could affect some 600,000 tenancies.’[1]

‘The government’s planned changes, which will be phased over a period of years, gives landlords time to review their finances, but some will still be forced to sell or trade at a loss which is unsustainable and the projected impact will mean that ultimately renters will lose out as a dwindling stock drives up prices and competition for homes,’ Uphill added.[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/10/tenant-demand-up-across-most-of-uk-survey-reveals

 

 

Should landlords pay for tenant damage?

Published On: October 22, 2015 at 11:34 am

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A new report shows that the majority of tenants strongly believe that their landlords should foot the bill for damages they have caused at the end of a tenancy agreement.

The survey from PropertyLetByUs.com found that 80% of tenants believed that this should be considered normal practice.

Damage limitation

90% of tenants said that they have tried to hide damage from their landlord, with 10% owning up to causing in excess of £500 worth of damage to their rented property. 72% of tenants said that they ended up disputing damage with the property owner.[1]

Findings from the investigation show the most common cause of damage by tenants is staining floors and carpets from food, wine and paint (69%). This was followed by pat damage (51%), cigarette burns (47%), damage to kitchen cabinets (33%), scratches on skirting boards and door-frames (28%) and marks on the kitchen surface (19%).[1]

Tenants should pay for property damage

Tenants should pay for property damage

Struggles

Jane Morris, Managing Director of PropertyLetByUs noted, ‘landlords face an uphill struggle with tenant damage.’ She said that, ‘many tenants have little or no care for the property they are renting and because they don’t own it, they feel no sense of responsibility. There is a common view among tenants that it is someone else’s problem. So it is not surprising so many tenants think landlords should pay for any repairs to damage they have caused.’[1]

‘It is so important for landlords to make regular checks on the property during the tenancy so that they can see the condition of the property and speak with the tenants about any damage. If many tenants are left unchecked, they can cause costly damage to the property with often exceeds any deposit held,’ she continued.[1]

Concluding, Morris stated that, ‘it is also vital that landlords have a full, independent and professional inventory, with a check-in and check-out, attended by the landlord and the tenant. Finally, all tenants should be thoroughly referenced to ensure that landlords illuminate potential bad tenants.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/80-of-tenants-think-landlords-should-pay-for-damage.html?utm_content=buffer7d9e1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

Getting rid of tax-relief will drive-up rents

Published On: October 20, 2015 at 12:02 pm

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Removing tax-relief for buy-to-let landlords will ultimately restrict the supply of rented property and ultimately make life more difficult for tenants, according to a leading lenders’ group.

The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) stated that measures discouraging investment into the private rental sector in this period of population growth and limited supply would only serve to drive up rents.

Losses

By removing the higher-rate tax relief, as proposed in the July budget, investors would be forced in losses and lift the effective tax above 100% as a result.

In its investigation, the IMLA said the changes may, ‘slightly skew the market in favour of owner-occupied house hunters,’ by cutting the price landlords are willing to pay for a property. However, it also warned that by, ‘discouraging investment in the private rented sector the changes will put more upward pressure on rents.’[1]

In addition, the firm expressed concern about the chances of the Bank of England’s financial policy committee moving to regulate the sector. This comes after the committee stated it was monitoring the buy-to-let sector, with concerns that the ongoing popularity of investment could magnify any rises or falls in prices.

Popular

After a sustained drop in popularity following the recession, the market has surged back to form. The £16.6bn advanced to landlords during the first part of 2015 was more than four times the figure recorded in the same period in 2010.

Lending volumes are below their previous peak but there has been rumbling discontent from potential buyers who feel they are being beaten to purchasing a home by investors who do not have to go through the same strict affordability checks.

Yesterday, property website Rightmove stated the average first-time buyer homes were popular with investors. Increased competition between these one and two bed properties have driven up asking prices by nearly 10% over the last year.

Getting rid of tax-relief will drive-up rents

Getting rid of tax-relief will drive-up rents

Warning

IMLA’s warning came in its report on the mortgage market as a whole. The overall investigation found that first-time buyers who could raise deposits were benefiting from monthly repayments being at a record low.

‘Even though the first-time buyer house price-to-earnings ratio is, at 4.0, high by historical standards, first-time buyer mortgage affordability has never been better,’ the report states. ‘In the second quarter of 2015, the average first-time buyer spent 10.2% of their income on mortgage interest, the lowest figure on record and less than half the proportion recorded at the end of 2007.’[1]

Executive director of IMLA, Peter Williams, said, ‘Comparing market segments, first-time buyer volumes have actually held up best over the period from 2007-2014, while buy-to-let has been clawing its way back from a deep recession as demand for private rental properties has grown.’

‘Until there is a broader policy push to tackle the chronic lack of supply, homeowners and renters in both private and social sectors will all remain vulnerable to the effects of the current lack of fully joined-up policymaking,’ Williams concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.tenantvet.co.uk/scrapping-buy-to-let-tax-relief-will-push-rents-up-warns-lenders-group/