The Government is trumpeting that the Renters Reform Bill will help landlords deal with anti-social behaviour. A number of commentators have been taken in by this spin. Ben Beadle of NRLA has said: “We...
By abolishing fixed term tenancies, the Renters’ Reform Bill will cause serious problems for landlords of student accommodation. The issue is not that the tenants may stay after the end of the tenancy...
It is only a Bill and has just been published but the Renters’ Reform Bill appears at first sight worse than many have feared. All tenancies are to become periodic, meaning landlords will have no...
Please can Property118 post a request for interested landlords to respond to this consultation. The deadline is 31st March.
NC7 (New Clause 7) is Dame Caroline Dinenage’s amendment to the Levelling-up...
The Government’s White Paper “A Fairer Private Rented Sector” sets out proposals to allow tenants in private rented properties to keep pets. As always, the devil will be in the detail but things...
Sir, Paul Grover (letter, Jun 17; report, Jun 16) is mistaken that landlords forced to accept pets “will require much larger deposits”.
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 prohibits deposits exceeding five weeks’...
Landlords, especially any in Bristol, may be interested to listen in to this event: Click here
Bristol Renters Summit 2022: Wed, 2 March 2022 18:30 – 20:30 GMT
“Our city is facing a rent crisis...
This week, the House of Lords will scrutinise the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill 2021-22. When enacted it will impose onerous penalties and yet it signally fails to tackle what most MPs and the public...
Many people will have heard on the radio over the Bank Holiday weekend reports about the eviction ban ending. A Joseph Rowntree Trust claim that 800,000 households face losing their homes was repeated...
Given current economic circumstances, many more landlords than previously will accept tenants who are or may in future be in receipt of benefits. With the ending of furlough and possible widespread redundancies,
2020 is upon us and the Government has announced it intends to remove so-called no-fault evictions and magically to make one tenancy deposit serve two masters (details awaited). Last year’s Tenant Fees...
Landlords are concerned that the Government has announced it will abolish section 21. Labour and Liberal Democrats are also in favour. I may written elsewhere about why abolition is a very bad idea: ‘Removal...
The Government consultation on “A new deal for renting: resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants” closes on 12th October. I would urge all landlords to make...
The Government (or at least the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)) has got it into its head to interfere with tenancy deposits to make it easier for tenants to move house.
The Tenant Fees Act 2019, which came into force on June 1st, is causing concern amongst landlords and agents. ARLA Propertymark, which represents residential letting agents and has over 9,000 members,
Landlords and agents will need to be especially careful taking holding deposits when the Tenant Fees Act 2019 comes in to force on June 1st. No more than “one week’s rent” may be taken. That is defined...
Landlords be warned – From 1st June 2019 if you take a holding deposit (which must not exceed one week’s rent) ahead of a new letting, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 says it must be repaid if you go...
Imagine this scenario. A prospective tenant, T, answers an ad and phones up and arranges to view a property. T meets the Landlord, L, and agrees to rent the property for 12 months starting in 14 days’...
Neil Cobbold "warns though that landlords need to be confident they can gain possession of their property when they need it."
Ay, there's the rub. I very much doubt Labour MPs are interested in the problems caused to landlords by delays in the courts system. Yes, some Tory MPs in the last Government were "prepared to listen" but Labour has not said they will fix the courts before abolishing section 21. Because s8 cases take up more court time, expect delays to get even worse.
As I have said repeatedly, and I urge landlords to make this point to politicians, we are involuntary creditors. If a plumber carries out work on credit and the customer does not pay, there is a debt of £X on which interest may accrue. The plumber does not have to continue to provide £1000 to £2000 of service per month to that customer. Landlords are obliged to. Moreover, no customer ever smashes up the plumber's van and damage his tools.... Read More
Hi Chris, I am not sure if your post supports or opposes my argument. As I understand it, Gallup and other political polls often use a sample size of 1000.
My concern is that if landlords who are non-experts in statistics trespass on statisticians' territory we can look (a) foolish and (b) in cases such as this, uncaring.
It is obvious that many tenants are having a very bad time. The fact that the CAB and Shelter over-state their case and are not fair to landlords does not negate the problems tenants face.... Read More
I am not a statistician but many surveys have a sample size of 1000. It does appear that the survey was properly conducted. One of the notes is: "Quotas supplied by Citizens Advice were set on age, gender, region and social grade, whilst custom weighting was applied to ethnicity and disability to ensure data were representative of private renters in England and comparable to a 2023 survey Some figures based on additional analysis conducted by Citizens Advice using English Housing Survey data."
Before people dismiss this out of hand I would like to see commentary from someone qualified to criticise the methodology.... Read More
Good point. If a house is cold, apply heat! Mould is caused by not heating properly, not ventilating properly (perhaps in an attempt to keep heat in) and not attending to it promptly and with the right cleaning products.
Why are there not a similar number of complaints about mould from owner-occupiers? Oh, I know why. Because they cannot pass the buck to someone else.... Read More
I should perhaps have added waiver applies to forfeiture of the lease. However, a delay of 20+ years in seeking to enforce the breach and require the leaseholder to undo the alterations is extremely unlikely to succeed.... Read More
Let us assume the subdivision of the room is a breach of the lease. As such it is a "once and for all" breach, as opposed to a continuing breach. If you (or a previous freeholder) have waived the breach then you will not be able to require the alterations to be undone.
Given that you have known about the breach for some time, the likelihood is that waiver has occurred. If you demanded or accepted ground rent or recouped insurance premiums with knowledge of the breach, that may constitute waiver. However, I would need to be instructed and to review papers to give a full answer. The cost will be more than the £500 offered. If waiver has occurred the new leaseholders do not need you to sign anything. However, they will prefer to have a written confirmation from you so it might be worth taking £500 plus your legal costs.... Read More
Beaver, with respect I think you are missing my point. Even if Labour deliver "robust grounds for possession where there is good reason [for landlords] to take their property back" that is of limited value if it takes ages to get to court. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Magna Carta said "To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice" (emphasis mine) It is bad enough for anyone to have a lawful claim delayed. It is worse for landlords as we are involuntary creditors, compelled to continue to provide a service to defaulting tenants.... Read More
Because they are Socialists and have no grasp of economics and of the concept of trade-offs. They think you can solve a problem by diktat and don't think through the consequences. When, predictably, bad stuff happens they double down on foolish policies and make matters worse.... Read More
That is not correct and if it were a law against it would be logically impossible.
It is perfectly possible that a landlord might receive two offers, one at £1200 a month and one at £1250. He might then ask the bidder at £1200 if he/she is prepared to bid higher than £1250. Alternatively, the landlord might receive two offers at the same price and then invite both to increase their bids. That is what Labour wants to ban.... Read More
Others have made plenty of valid points. I would add two. Labour talk of:
"Making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or with children when choosing to let their property – so no family is discriminated against and denied a home when they need it."
Sorry, some families that "need" a home will not be able to afford one in the private sector. Landlords will discriminate (meaning choose wisely) if the tenants are unable to pay the rent and/or cannot provide decent references from a previous landlord confirming that they looked after the property and that he would rent to the tenant again.
The second point is the criticism about mould. Awaab's case has triggered this. (Incidentally, the landlord was Rochdale Boroughwide housing association). That was tragic and the tenant was not at fault.
Generally it is in only a minority of cases that mould is the fault of the landlord. Most of the time it is caused by tenants not ventilating their homes, not heating them adequately (perhaps through shortage of money but that is not the landlord's fault), drying laundry indoors, not cleaning regularly with appropriate products and waiting until the problem is really bad before complaining by which time serious and expensive damage may have been caused. It is noteworthy that owner-occupiers don't have mould problems when living in similar houses to tenants.... Read More
In principle I would agree with you. However, given the shortage of landlords, something bold needs to be done. How about restoring wear and tear allowances? Grants for EPC upgrades and help with renewables?
Unless landlords see that a corner has been turned, their confidence will not be restored.... Read More
Generation Rent and Shelter are doubling down on their own foolishness. The Renters Reform Bill will not deliver on commitments. When, as is inevitable, it is re-introduced by Labour (probably with some anti-landlord bells and whistles on) I predict it will make the housing crisis worse.
The Government has "delivered" a series of anti-landlord policies since Osborne's disastrous s24 tax hike. Has this made things better for tenants? No. Has it hurt landlords? Yes, undoubtedly. Will more of the same achieve a different result? Only an insane person would think so.
The Government should be subsidising housing providers (AKA private landlords) not persecuting them. Until HMG and the tenant lobby groups get that into their thick skulls and start helping those who are providing accommodation, matters will not improve.... Read More
The Building Safety Act is going to make the problem of conveyancing of flats worse over time. Much worse. A major problem is the "strike date" of 14 February 2022. The status of the owners and their wealth at that date is critical. As time goes by and properties transfer on death or at auction or with incomplete information, it will become hard if not impossible for solicitors to advise buyers and sellers with certainty as to liability because the facts will be unknown or unknowable.
The legislation was rushed through in response to Grenfell and problems of defective cladding. It created the appalling precedent that civil liability for something a person had not done and perhaps had little control over, depending on how wealthy they were and not on the usual principles of negligence. To borrow a legal saying, hard cases make bad law.... Read More
I assume you are unrepresented. I also assume that nobody else, such as an agent, might have demanded such payments (e.g. did the letting agent charge a prohibited payment?)
If the solicitor does not respond within a reasonable time (a few days as, by definition, they should know the basis of their assertion),I would write to them saying that if they cannot prove their assertion (a) they may be in breach of the Code of Conduct https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors/
and (b) the comment is defamatory and that you will draw this to the attention of the court.... Read More
I disagree with the thesis of this article. As I have said elsewhere, the RRB is bad but it is coming. If Labour get a working majority (and even if they need to rely on other parties), they will reintroduce the Bill or an even worse Bill.
The Tories have ended up pleasing nobody. The Bill may even become law sooner than if Rishi had not called the Election.... Read More
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Property118.com Monday 8th July 2013
Total Number of Property118
Comments:
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Bio
Solicitor specialising in commercial property since 1985. Residential BTL and HMO landlord.
Platinum Property Partners franchisee since 2012. Advocate for fair treatment of landlords and tenants.
10:53 AM, 26th July 2024, About 15 hours ago
Neil Cobbold "warns though that landlords need to be confident they can gain possession of their property when they need it."
Ay, there's the rub. I very much doubt Labour MPs are interested in the problems caused to landlords by delays in the courts system. Yes, some Tory MPs in the last Government were "prepared to listen" but Labour has not said they will fix the courts before abolishing section 21. Because s8 cases take up more court time, expect delays to get even worse.
As I have said repeatedly, and I urge landlords to make this point to politicians, we are involuntary creditors. If a plumber carries out work on credit and the customer does not pay, there is a debt of £X on which interest may accrue. The plumber does not have to continue to provide £1000 to £2000 of service per month to that customer. Landlords are obliged to. Moreover, no customer ever smashes up the plumber's van and damage his tools.... Read More
17:15 PM, 25th July 2024, About A day ago
Reply to the comment left by Chris @ Possession Friend at 25/07/2024 - 16:54
Hi Chris, I am not sure if your post supports or opposes my argument. As I understand it, Gallup and other political polls often use a sample size of 1000.
My concern is that if landlords who are non-experts in statistics trespass on statisticians' territory we can look (a) foolish and (b) in cases such as this, uncaring.
It is obvious that many tenants are having a very bad time. The fact that the CAB and Shelter over-state their case and are not fair to landlords does not negate the problems tenants face.... Read More
13:00 PM, 25th July 2024, About 2 days ago
Reply to the comment left by SimonP at 24/07/2024 - 19:12
I am not a statistician but many surveys have a sample size of 1000. It does appear that the survey was properly conducted. One of the notes is: "Quotas supplied by Citizens Advice were set on age, gender, region and social grade, whilst custom weighting was applied to ethnicity and disability to ensure data were representative of private renters in England and comparable to a 2023 survey Some figures based on additional analysis conducted by Citizens Advice using English Housing Survey data."
Before people dismiss this out of hand I would like to see commentary from someone qualified to criticise the methodology.... Read More
12:48 PM, 24th July 2024, About 3 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Keith Wellburn at 24/07/2024 - 12:35
... Read More
10:03 AM, 24th July 2024, About 3 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 24/07/2024 - 09:45
Good point. If a house is cold, apply heat! Mould is caused by not heating properly, not ventilating properly (perhaps in an attempt to keep heat in) and not attending to it promptly and with the right cleaning products.
Why are there not a similar number of complaints about mould from owner-occupiers? Oh, I know why. Because they cannot pass the buck to someone else.... Read More
14:10 PM, 23rd July 2024, About 3 days ago
I should perhaps have added waiver applies to forfeiture of the lease. However, a delay of 20+ years in seeking to enforce the breach and require the leaseholder to undo the alterations is extremely unlikely to succeed.... Read More
13:57 PM, 23rd July 2024, About 3 days ago
Let us assume the subdivision of the room is a breach of the lease. As such it is a "once and for all" breach, as opposed to a continuing breach. If you (or a previous freeholder) have waived the breach then you will not be able to require the alterations to be undone.
Given that you have known about the breach for some time, the likelihood is that waiver has occurred. If you demanded or accepted ground rent or recouped insurance premiums with knowledge of the breach, that may constitute waiver. However, I would need to be instructed and to review papers to give a full answer. The cost will be more than the £500 offered. If waiver has occurred the new leaseholders do not need you to sign anything. However, they will prefer to have a written confirmation from you so it might be worth taking £500 plus your legal costs.... Read More
12:39 PM, 22nd July 2024, About 5 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 22/07/2024 - 11:13
Beaver, with respect I think you are missing my point. Even if Labour deliver "robust grounds for possession where there is good reason [for landlords] to take their property back" that is of limited value if it takes ages to get to court. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Magna Carta said "To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice" (emphasis mine) It is bad enough for anyone to have a lawful claim delayed. It is worse for landlords as we are involuntary creditors, compelled to continue to provide a service to defaulting tenants.... Read More
10:56 AM, 22nd July 2024, About 5 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 22/07/2024 - 10:37
... Read More
12:19 PM, 19th July 2024, About A week ago
Reply to the comment left by john luckit at 08/07/2024 - 11:09
And how about a commensurate fine for tenants who interfere with the proper functioning of smoke detectors and fire alarms?... Read More
12:14 PM, 19th July 2024, About A week ago
Reply to the comment left by dismayed landlord at 19/07/2024 - 11:45
"Why keep picking on landlords!!"
Because they are Socialists and have no grasp of economics and of the concept of trade-offs. They think you can solve a problem by diktat and don't think through the consequences. When, predictably, bad stuff happens they double down on foolish policies and make matters worse.... Read More
11:42 AM, 19th July 2024, About A week ago
Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 19/07/2024 - 11:27
"technically T's don't bid against each other."
That is not correct and if it were a law against it would be logically impossible.
It is perfectly possible that a landlord might receive two offers, one at £1200 a month and one at £1250. He might then ask the bidder at £1200 if he/she is prepared to bid higher than £1250. Alternatively, the landlord might receive two offers at the same price and then invite both to increase their bids. That is what Labour wants to ban.... Read More
10:17 AM, 19th July 2024, About A week ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 19/07/2024 - 09:45
... Read More
16:34 PM, 18th July 2024, About A week ago
Reply to the comment left by jane macswayne at 18/07/2024 - 16:01
If you can remember the gas engineer who issued the certificate, try asking them for a copy or duplicate.... Read More
15:50 PM, 18th July 2024, About A week ago
Others have made plenty of valid points. I would add two. Labour talk of:
"Making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or with children when choosing to let their property – so no family is discriminated against and denied a home when they need it."
Sorry, some families that "need" a home will not be able to afford one in the private sector. Landlords will discriminate (meaning choose wisely) if the tenants are unable to pay the rent and/or cannot provide decent references from a previous landlord confirming that they looked after the property and that he would rent to the tenant again.
The second point is the criticism about mould. Awaab's case has triggered this. (Incidentally, the landlord was Rochdale Boroughwide housing association). That was tragic and the tenant was not at fault.
Generally it is in only a minority of cases that mould is the fault of the landlord. Most of the time it is caused by tenants not ventilating their homes, not heating them adequately (perhaps through shortage of money but that is not the landlord's fault), drying laundry indoors, not cleaning regularly with appropriate products and waiting until the problem is really bad before complaining by which time serious and expensive damage may have been caused. It is noteworthy that owner-occupiers don't have mould problems when living in similar houses to tenants.... Read More
15:46 PM, 13th June 2024, About a month ago
Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 13/06/2024 - 13:35
In principle I would agree with you. However, given the shortage of landlords, something bold needs to be done. How about restoring wear and tear allowances? Grants for EPC upgrades and help with renewables?
Unless landlords see that a corner has been turned, their confidence will not be restored.... Read More
12:11 PM, 13th June 2024, About a month ago
Generation Rent and Shelter are doubling down on their own foolishness. The Renters Reform Bill will not deliver on commitments. When, as is inevitable, it is re-introduced by Labour (probably with some anti-landlord bells and whistles on) I predict it will make the housing crisis worse.
The Government has "delivered" a series of anti-landlord policies since Osborne's disastrous s24 tax hike. Has this made things better for tenants? No. Has it hurt landlords? Yes, undoubtedly. Will more of the same achieve a different result? Only an insane person would think so.
The Government should be subsidising housing providers (AKA private landlords) not persecuting them. Until HMG and the tenant lobby groups get that into their thick skulls and start helping those who are providing accommodation, matters will not improve.... Read More
11:59 AM, 13th June 2024, About a month ago
Reply to the comment left by moneymanager at 13/06/2024 - 11:38
The Building Safety Act is going to make the problem of conveyancing of flats worse over time. Much worse. A major problem is the "strike date" of 14 February 2022. The status of the owners and their wealth at that date is critical. As time goes by and properties transfer on death or at auction or with incomplete information, it will become hard if not impossible for solicitors to advise buyers and sellers with certainty as to liability because the facts will be unknown or unknowable.
The legislation was rushed through in response to Grenfell and problems of defective cladding. It created the appalling precedent that civil liability for something a person had not done and perhaps had little control over, depending on how wealthy they were and not on the usual principles of negligence. To borrow a legal saying, hard cases make bad law.... Read More
10:12 AM, 3rd June 2024, About 2 months ago
I assume you are unrepresented. I also assume that nobody else, such as an agent, might have demanded such payments (e.g. did the letting agent charge a prohibited payment?)
If the solicitor does not respond within a reasonable time (a few days as, by definition, they should know the basis of their assertion),I would write to them saying that if they cannot prove their assertion (a) they may be in breach of the Code of Conduct https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors/
and (b) the comment is defamatory and that you will draw this to the attention of the court.... Read More
14:10 PM, 31st May 2024, About 2 months ago
I disagree with the thesis of this article. As I have said elsewhere, the RRB is bad but it is coming. If Labour get a working majority (and even if they need to rely on other parties), they will reintroduce the Bill or an even worse Bill.
The Tories have ended up pleasing nobody. The Bill may even become law sooner than if Rishi had not called the Election.... Read More