Posts with tag: tenants

The Following Areas Have Now Moved Onto Universal Credit

Published On: April 11, 2016 at 2:47 pm

Tags: housing benefit,rent arrears,tenants,Universal Credit

Universal Credit is almost at the end of its rollout across the UK, with the following areas now subject to the new welfare system.

The Government’s new benefit scheme sees six payouts combined into one monthly payment for claimants. Universal Credit includes housing benefit, which means if you have tenants in receipt of the payment, they may have moved onto the new system.

The Following Areas Have Now Moved Onto Universal Credit

We have been reporting on the areas that now use Universal Credit since the start of the year. For the previous postcode areas, see our most recent piece: /many-housing-benefit-tenants-wales-now-subject-universal-credit/

Another significant change that Universal Credit enforces is that tenants will now be paid housing benefit directly, rather than it automatically going to their landlord. If you have housing benefit tenants, be aware that they will now be responsible for paying the benefit to you.

If you are worried about your tenants falling into rent arrears during the change, you can protect your investment with the ultimate peace of mind cover – rent guarantee insurance. This will ensure that you still get paid, even if the tenant defaults on the rent.

As of 28^th March, the following parts of the country are now on Universal Credit:

E1 6, E2, E5, E8, E9 and E20 3 in Eastern London.
EC1V 1, EC1V 9, EC2A 2, EC2A 3, EC2A 4, EC2M 1 and EC2M 2 in Eastern Central London.
GU34 4 and GU34 5 of Guildford.
N1 3, N14, N1 5, N1 6, N1 7, N4, N5 2, N15 6 and N16 in Northern London.
PO1, PO2, PO3, PO4, PO5, PO6, PO7, PO8, PO9, PO10 7, PO11, PO12, PO13, PO14, PO15, PO16 and PO17 of Portsmouth.
RG7 2, RG7 3, RG7 4, RG7 8, RG14 9, RG19 8, RG20 0, RG20 4, RG20 5, RG20 9, RG21, RG22, RG23, RG24, RG25, RG26, RG27, RG28 and RG29 of Reading.
SO21 3, SO24 9, SO31 and SO32 3 in Southampton.
SP11 0 and SP11 6 in Salisbury.

From today, housing benefit tenants in the following postcode areas of Scotland will receive Universal Credit:

DD6 in Dundee.
FK10 3 and FK10 4 in Falkirk.
KY1, KY2, KY3, KY4 8, KY4 9, KY5 8, KY5 9, KY6 1, KY6 2, KY7, KY8, KY9, KY10, KY11, KY12, KY15 and KY16 of Kirkcaldy.

The scheme has just two further rollouts across the country before all claimants are on the system. Look out for which areas are subject to Universal Credit next week.

The DPS and Tenant Shop Partnership Will Help Letting Agents and Tenants

Published On: April 11, 2016 at 12:31 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: letting agents,Tenancy deposit protection,tenants

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) has announced a partnership with Tenant Shop to help make life easier for letting agents and save tenants money.

The DPS and Tenant Shop Partnership Will Help Letting Agents and Tenants

Tenant Shop provides agents with a notification and management software platform that aims to reduce their workload and paperwork substantially.

The system is also designed to make moving home simpler for tenants by finding them the best deals on insurance, TV and broadband, and energy, by switching them to their chosen package.

Tenant Shop also notifies local councils and utility suppliers of new and vacating tenants, preventing abandoned bills.

The DPS, the UK’s largest tenancy deposit protection scheme, is committed to keeping deposits safe over the course of a tenancy and ensuring the money goes back to the worthy party at the end.

The DPS’s Managing Director, Julian Foster, says: “We’re delighted to be working with Tenant Shop to explore ways in which we can make life for landlords and letting agents easier – as well as saving tenants money.

“Alongside protecting deposits, the DPS is keen to work with other key providers across the industry to raise standards and improve the experiences of our users.”

Glenn Seddington, the Managing Director of Tenant Shop, adds: “We are thrilled at the prospect of working with the DPS, with whom we share a common goal of providing letting agents with the tools to make their lives easier.

“By working together with the DPS, we can reach a wider audience and promote a service that is designed to improve the efficiency of our letting agent partners and which also enhances the industry image by ensuring that tenants are able to secure the most suitable, cost-effective energy, media and insurance products.”

We will continue to provide landlords, letting agents and tenants with updates on any changes to the private rental sector and property industry.

Making Landlord Admin Quicker for You and Your Tenants

Published On: April 11, 2016 at 9:37 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: landlord admin,landlord responsibilities,tenancy agreements,tenants

With so many changes affecting the buy-to-let sector and a heap of regulations to adhere to, wouldn’t making landlord admin that bit quicker be more effective for your lettings business?

While there are certain circumstances where you must provide a paper copy (for example, with section 21 notices), there are instances when mounds of paperwork can be avoided.

If you’re looking to take on new tenants and will soon be issuing a tenancy agreement, wouldn’t it be easier to have documents returned within minutes without having to organise a face-to-face meeting with tenants and print off copies of contracts?

Making Landlord Admin Quicker for You and Your Tenants

Now, there is an online application that could help you make the lettings process more time and cost effective.

Signable is an electronic signature application, which already helps many UK landlords save time, money and become more secure. Signable allows documents to be signed on any device, meaning that tenancy agreements can be signed securely on the move at any time of day. This way, tenants can get everything back to you quickly and efficiently – Signable reports that documents are returned under 30 minutes on average.

Electronic signatures, or e-signatures, allow someone to agree the contents of an electronic message, such as an emailed copy of a tenancy agreement. With Signable, all documents are securely stored.

And don’t fear – Signable complies with the latest electronic signature laws in the UK and EU. Under the Electronic Communications Act 2000, documents signed electronically are just as legally binding than paper-based signatures.

Signable can be used for a variety of documents, including tenancy agreements and inventories. They can be created, signed and filed electronically, all from the Signable app, making the whole process easy for you and your tenants.

The firm’s Rob Bluck explains: “Along with saving time and money, landlords who use Signable are able to make the complete document-signing process easier for tenants.”

Landlords are currently using the service for the following: AST documents, application forms, guarantor forms, holding fee forms, direct debit/payment forms, deposit forms and feedback forms.

If you are an HMO landlord, it is also good to know that you can have various tenants sign the same document using Signable.

If you’d like to find out about more ways to save time and money, visit https://www.signable.co.uk

Advice for landlords-check your agreements are compliant!

Published On: April 6, 2016 at 9:18 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,landlords,tenancy agreements,tenancy deposit schemes,tenants

Concerning new research from landlord insurance provider Direct Line for Business suggests that some landlords have no formal tenancy agreement with their tenants.

According to the firm’s investigation, 10% of landlords have no legally binding contract with their renters.

Compliance

Data from the research shows that where contracts are place, landlords could be unknowingly asking tenants to sign forms that are not legally compliant. Of landlords who do not use a letting agent, 58% said that had used modified agreements for old agent contracts, other landlords (38%) or a template they found on the internet (20%).

Most commonly, the investigation found landlords utilise agents when they first rent out their property, but then use older contract templates when agreeing renewals. This lack of legally reviewed tenancy agreements could be an explanation why 13% of landlords said they have had difficulties with disputes coming from tenant’s rental contracts over the past two years.

More reason for concern was highlighted with the news that 9% of landlords admitted to not informing their tenants that their deposit had be held in a tenancy deposit scheme. This is a legal requirement and must be done within 30 days after a deposit has been taken. Alarmingly, 4% of landlords said they had not taken any deposits from their tenants!

Advice for landlords-check your agreements are compliant!

Protection

Nick Breton, Head of Direct Line for Business, noted, ‘tenants and landlords need a contract in place to protect both their interests. Contracts, deposits and deposit protection all help to make clear what is expected from each party when renting a property and which can help minimise disputes where possible. If an old contract is adapted it may not comply with new legislation or be relevant for the current market. Given the volume of disputes arising from tenancy agreements it’s important to get the contract seen by a legal professional before it’s signed.’[1]

‘We understand that getting legal documents in place can be complicated which is why we’ve launched our new Legal Documents Service for landlords. Not only can this save landlords time and money, but creating the documents is both quick and easy and most importantly, they can be reviewed by a Solicitors Regulation Authority regulated law firm to ensure they are legally compliant. Based on our research of solicitor prices, it is estimated each landlord using the service would save over £2,503’ Breton added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlords-beware-check-your-contracts-58-may-not-be-legally-binding.html

Energy efficiency improvements can be requested from today

Published On: April 1, 2016 at 1:41 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,energy efficiency,Energy Performance Certificate,landlords,tenants

Landlords are reminded that from today, tenants have the right to request that energy efficiency improvements are made in their property.

As part of the changes, landlords will be unable to refuse reasonable changes without good reason. However, tenants must ensure that the improvements come at no cost to their landlord, unless they have agreed to foot some or all of the bill.

Funding

There are concerns that funding will be difficult for a number of tenants, following the abolition of the Green Deal in July last year. It was originally expected that this scheme would provide the majority of funding for this new initiative.

It must be noted that the initiative is separate to legislation stating landlords must improve their energy efficiency standards of their property to an EPC rating of E or above by 2018.

An energy efficient property is highly beneficial for both landlords and tenants, with costs being reduced. What’s more, a recent survey from the National Landlords Association revealed that 35% of tenants considered the energy efficiency of their property to be an important feature when considering a potential home.

Energy efficiency improvements can be requested from today

Benefits

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at the National Landlords Association said, ‘we encourage all landlords to think about how they may benefit from making energy efficiency improvements, as many can be made with little or no upfront cost and can have a positive impact on the lives of tenants, their lettings businesses and the environment in general.’[1]

‘Lower fuel bills and more comfort mean that tenants may be inclined to stay for longer, thus reducing void periods,’ Lambert added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/tenants-right-to-request-energy-improvements-comes-into-force-today.html

Future of buy-to-let positive, landlords suggest

Published On: April 1, 2016 at 11:51 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,buy-to-let landlords,private rental sector,Stamp Duty,tenants

Further defiance from buy-to-let investors in the face of today’s increases in Stamp Duty alterations has been recorded by new research from Aldermore.

A study of nearly 1,000 landlords by YouGov on behalf of Aldermore looked at how the changes have affected existing and would-be investors. Questions asked included if landlords would increase rents, look to sell their property and how they thought the sector would evolve in the future.

Rises

70% of respondents to the survey noted that they expect the number of tenants in the private rented sector to rise in the next five years. 33% feel that the gross value of the buy-to-let market will fall in the next twelve months.

63% of landlords in the UK said they only own one investment property, which they rent out. 95% of respondents said they had five or less properties in their portfolio.

Future of buy-to-let positive, landlords suggest

Fearless

Charles Haresnape, group managing director for mortgages at Aldermore observed that the figures, ‘show that the majority of landlords believe there is nothing to fear for the future of the buy-to-let market in the UK.’ He feels, ‘it is clear that the vast majority of landlords fall into the accidental category and as such would be unaffected by upcoming changes as they are not actively looking to build a rental portfolio.’[1]

‘With 70% expecting the number of people in the private rented sector to rise over the next five years, it is vital that regulation does not stifle this hugely important segment of the UK housing market, particularly at a time of significant constraints,’ he continued.[1]

Concluding, Haresnape said, ‘the majority of our buy-to-let customers are committed long-term landlords. While they will obviously not welcome an increase in stamp duty, over the course of a 20 year investment the sums remain relatively small and are unlikely to significantly affect the buy-to-let market.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/3/btl-market-has-strong-future-say-landlords