Posts with tag: tenants

New legal helpline for landlords launches

Published On: May 9, 2017 at 9:13 am

Tags: advice for landlords,landlords,legal helpline,tenants

A new telephone service aimed at helping landlords to resolve issues efficiently and economically has been launched by a legal firm in London.

Property+Plus is a dedicated subscription based helpline providing legal advice for landlords and property owners. It aims to give up-to-date information on legal rights and statutory obligations regarding property, landlord and tenancy issues.

The helpline has been introduced by Romain Coleman Solicitors.

New legal helpline for landlords launches

Helping Hand

Chris Baldwin, partner and head of property at Romain Coleman, observed: ‘This [new helpline] is part of our continuing drive to give our property clients – whether landlords, homeowners or homebuyers – an extra helping hand with innovative support services.’[1]

‘Property+Plus can help landlords resolve property issues with minimal cost or fuss. From covenants in leases and repairing obligations to licensing law and tenancy disputes, we are looking to provide them with greater control over their property interests,’ Baldwin continued.[1]

Concluding, Baldwin said: ‘The helpline gives them rapid access to legal advice on a range of different property matters. They benefit from an experienced team of legal specialists who can help them protect their property interests with valuable insight and advice. They will be given either an immediate answer or a recommendation on which legal course of action to pursue.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/5/new-legal-helpline-launched-for-landlords

Almost 6,300 Rogue Landlord Complaints Filed in Three Years in the North East

Published On: May 8, 2017 at 10:07 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: general election,private rental sector,rental properties,rogue landlords,tenants

Tenants in the North East of England filed almost 6,300 rogue landlord complaints between 2014-2016.

Almost 6,300 Rogue Landlord Complaints Filed in Three Years in the North East

A Freedom of Information request submitted to the Tyne and Wear authorities by local property campaigner Ajay Jagota shows that the five councils received a total of 6,297 complaints about the condition of their private rental properties or the behaviour of their landlord during the three-year period.

Some 2,075 complaints were received in 2016, which, although is up by 3.4% on the 2,007 recorded in 2014, is actually down on the 2,215 complaints received in 2015.

Jagota, the Founder of KIS sales and letting agent, says: “To put these figures into context, every day in every local authority in Tyne and Wear, at least one person complains about the condition of their rented home, yet only one rogue landlord has been convicted in three years.”

Separate research shows that just one council – Sunderland – has brought a successful prosecution against a rogue landlord in the corresponding period.

The highest number of rogue landlord complaints was received in Newcastle, where complaints rose steadily from 1,007 in 2014 to 1,127 in 2016 – an increase of 8%.

In contrast, Sunderland saw rogue landlord complaints drop from 509 in 2014 to 290 last year, while Gateshead and North Tyneside recorded declines from 2014 to 2015, but experienced growth again in 2016, leaving them 7% and 4% below 2014 levels respectively.

South Tyneside Council refused to supply the information, claiming that it would take an officer 18 hours to retrieve it, what the authority describes as “substantial effort and disproportionate exercise of trawling”. The decision has been appealed.

Jagota reacts: “As both a resident of and business owner in South Tyneside, I find their decision to refuse our request extraordinary. How can you admit that you hold some information, but at the same time claim you don’t know where it is?”

With the General Election campaign underway, all the main political parties are making a pitch to voters that rent, but Jagota fears that the proposed policies “are just tinkering around the edges when more profound reform is needed”.

He adds: “It’s critical for all good operators in the private rented sector that the rogues are brought to task, and the only way that can happen is that the local authority executes the powers invested in them and ensure they take action when complaints are made.”

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Landlord Accreditation Scheme Protecting Tenants from Rogues

Published On: May 8, 2017 at 8:18 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: accreditation scheme,landlord accreditation,rogue landlords,tenants

A new landlord accreditation scheme is protecting private tenants from rogue operators in the private rental sector.

Over the past six months, 51 landlords have completed the training and accreditation scheme in North Somerset, which aims to protect good tenants and enable the local authority to effectively target rogue landlords across the district.

Landlord Accreditation Scheme Protecting Tenants from Rogues

Since the first National Landlords Code of Excellence (NLCE UK) training day took place in November 2016, over 60 landlords and letting agents around the country have joined the scheme, with ten more becoming accredited just last week, bringing the total number of accredited members to 56.

The NLCE UK has already accredited more than 1,236 private rental properties, represented by the 56 accredited landlords.

This is broken down by several areas:

North Somerset: 1,091 properties
Bristol: 85 properties
South Yorkshire: 52 properties
Dorset: Two properties
Hampshire: Six properties

The landlord accreditation scheme allows tenants to report property maintenance/repair issues, as well as anti-social behaviour problems within their communities. Primarily, this ensures that the criteria for the Deregulation Act 2015 is met, as well as preventing bogus claims from tenants, such as that they have reported a repair and the landlord has not responded, and vice versa.

Over 20 complaints from private tenants in North Somerset have already been reported through the NLCE UK portal, about landlords unknown to the organisation. This has given these landlords the chance to deal with the problems before they escalate to the council. The most recent case prevented an unprotected tenancy deposit dispute going to court.

Those that attended the NLCE UK’s one-day course on 26^th April 2017 were able to learn more about housing private tenants and complying with legislation in the private rental sector.

Sam Jackson, the Director of the NLCE UK and an experienced buy-to-let landlord, comments: “At the NLCE, we are currently working with North Somerset Council on a weekly basis. I still get asked a lot: ‘Why should I join, if my property is already licensed?’ The accreditation day in its own right is worth joining the scheme, after attending the training day, one landlord said: ‘After 17 years of being a landlord, I thought I realised what was needed. After seven pages of notes, I realised how much I didn’t know.’

“The training day is a great opportunity to network and learn how to save thousands of pounds, run by a professional trainer who also trains landlords for the National Landlords Association.”

The NLCE UK was set up in response to North Somerset Council’s plans to introduce a selective licensing scheme in Weston-super-Mare town centre last year.

Millennials spending over one-third of their take home pay on rent

Published On: May 5, 2017 at 10:32 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: rental growth,rents,tenants,young tenants

According to the most recent Rental Index from Landbay, young tenants are spending one-third of their monthly take home pay on rent.

Those residing in a three-bed property spend 30% of their pay on rent, while those in a two bed spend 39% on average. For those living alone, rental payments hit them hard in the pocket, with them spending an average of 69% of their take home pay on rents!

Rents

For tenants aged between 18-39 renting alone, 69% of their monthly post tax-income of £1,447 is spent on £1,012 worth of rent.

For two people sharing a house, overall rent of £1,152 amounts to 39% of each tenant’s income.

Rents have continued to spiral in the last five years, rising by 9% across Britain since April 2012. London has seen rental growth of 8% over the same period. This of course is impacting on those struggling to save for a deposit, despite the pace of rental growth slowing from August 2015, from 2.66% and 0.82%.

Despite rents beginning to show signs of stabilising for young people, spending such a high percentage of their take home pay on rent leaves them little to play with for essentials, never mind for savings.

Millennials spending over one-third of their take home pay on rent

Tough

John Goodall, CEO and founder of Landbay noted: ‘For intermediaries, this generation is the future of their client base, a generation who will face a tough financial journey.’[1]

‘Whether these millennial tenants are renting as a stepping stone on the way to home ownership – or in some cases choosing to rent for life – this generation are relying on a well-served buy-to-let market to ensure rental growth doesn’t become unbearable. What is now needed is some firm Government commitment to improving standards, affordability and supply of rental properties,’ he continued.[1]

Concluding, ‘Institutional investment and the subsequent growth and professionalism of the private rental sector are already helping control rental growth and improve living standards for renters, so we hope to see some clear plans outlined in this month’s party manifestos ahead of the General Election in June.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/millennials-spend-over-a-third-of-take-home-pay-on-rent.html

Poll Shows that the General Public Supports the Ban on Tenant Fees

Published On: May 4, 2017 at 8:28 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: letting agent fee ban,letting agent fees,letting agents,tenants

A new poll by Citizens Advice shows that the general public supports the Government’s proposed ban on tenant fees charged by letting agents, while most of those in favour of the fees believe that private renters should only be required to pay a nominal amount to secure a property.

Poll Shows that the General Public Supports the Ban on Tenant Fees

The charity has found that tenant fees currently cost an average of £337 per person, but ARLA Propertymark claims that around £200 per tenant is a more realistic figure for fees relating to a range of administration, including references, credit and immigration checks, as well as the drawing up of tenancy agreements.

Yesterday, ARLA Propertymark called for tenant referencing to be exempt from the lettings fee ban.

However, the survey by Citizens Advice found that 46% of Britons think that tenants should not pay any admin fees or charges, above a tenancy deposit and first month’s rent when using a letting agent. Meanwhile, 61% supported an outright ban on tenant fees when renting property direct from a landlord.

When asked how much is too much when it comes to tenant fees, almost two thirds of respondents (61%) thought that tenants should pay no more than £50 to secure a property. This figure increases to three quarters (74%) when looking at the results for private landlords.

The findings show that many people are happy with the idea that tenants should pay a small fee to cover legitimate expenses during the tenancy application process, but less than 10% of respondents thought that tenants should have to pay more than £150 to secure a property.

Nick Marr, the Co-Founder of TheHouseShop.com, which commissioned the YouGov research, says: “Our latest YouGov survey results clearly show that there is little public support for the current system where tenants can end up paying hundreds of pounds in admin fees to secure a new property.

“In fact, the majority of people said that tenants should pay a minimal fee of no more than £50.”

He believes that there is plenty of evidence to show that a growing number of tenants are actively seeking out private landlords in an attempt to “avoid the hefty fees charged by some letting agents”.

He adds: “Many tenants are prepared to pay a small fee for legitimate expenses involved in securing a property, such as a professional reference check, as this has become common practice even among private landlords – but vague and undefined admin charges that can total hundreds of pounds are tough to defend in the current market.”

Could rent controls kick-start a seaside town property revival?

Published On: May 3, 2017 at 9:57 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: landlords,rent controls,seaside towns,tenants,Tories

A new report has suggested that the Conservative Party should build their election manifesto around rent controls, in order to kick-start a seaside town renaissance.

The Housing and Finance Institute believe that dysfunctional housing markets are driving decline in many coastal communities.

Trio

The report suggests that a ‘toxic trio’ of substandard housing, high volume of renters and a lack of new jobs are leaving tenants and taxpayers overpaying for properties that are not worth the rent.

As such, the Housing and Finance Institute wants to see the introduction of new time-limited and more localised rent controls in the more less-off coastal communities.

It has called for a locally assessed ‘fair value rent regime’ that would reflect a property’s location and overall quality. The Institute is additionally calling for more support from central Government for councils with communities feeling the effects of failed housebuilding markets.

Could rent controls kick-start a seaside town property revival?

Skills

In addition, it wants to see more financial and skillset support from central Government for deprived locations-where housebuilders, developers and investors do not want to purchase.

Natalie Elphicke, chief executive of The Housing & Finance Institute, noted: ‘There is a toxic trio of abnormally high proportions of rented housing, for that rented housing to be of poor quality, and a lack of job creation. Dysfunctional housing markets are proving fundamental to the spiral of decline in many of Britain’s coastal communities – and something radical must be done to turn the tide.’[1]

‘The proposals in this paper can help to break up the concentration of housing poverty and attract new high quality building and investment. Housing can be pivotal to securing jobs, growth and reversing entrenched deprivation. In particular, a new fair rents regime would significantly speed up the renewal of the most deprived areas, drive a fairer deal for tenants and taxpayers – and kick-start much needed regeneration,’ she added.[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/5/tories-urged-to-back-rent-controls-to-kick-start-a-seaside-town-renaissance