I think this might be of interest to landlords and others who feel under the cosh of government. A new book (albeit with an American perspective) Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for A Flourishing...
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’...
Mark, I agree with you. Sad to say it was an allegedly Conservative Government that did most of this. As a group of voters, private sector landlords are (or perhaps, now, used to be) the most conservative-leaning people in the country apart from Tory party members themselves. We were stabbed in the back and betrayed by those we thought our friends. We were vilified and our legitimate rights and interests cast aside.
The Chancellor imposing an additional 2% surcharge has added to the pain but it was the Tories who started it. Labour must be thinking: "Well if the Tories give their own supporters such a damn good kicking, we should do so as well" and why wouldn't they? Soak the "rich" and virtue-signal to your supporters that you are helping tenants, even though in reality they are making matters worse by pushing up costs.
I worry what comes next. Perhaps rent controls or the removal of any mortgage interest relief?... Read More
"The guarantor has to be informed of any changes to the tenancy agreement." Yes, but it depends on the wording of the tenancy. Tom Jenkin was perhaps fortunate.
If there was "a clause in the AST saying [the tenant] had to get permission from the landlord for any pets" then that was in the purview of the guarantor when the guarantee was signed. We have not seen the reasoning in Mr Jenkin's case but if the consent of the landlord could not be unreasonably withheld, it is hard to see why the guarantor was excused.
When the Renters Rights Bill comes into force and such a term is implied, the result might be different.
The best course for landlords is to draft guarantees with "no discharge" clauses and to make it clear the guarantor remains liable notwithstanding variations to the tenancy.... Read More
As Mark Twain didn't quite say: "The reports of the death of the PRS are exaggerated." Yes, the Budget is bad and things are going to get worse for landlords and also for tenants. No, section 21 is not the cause of homelessness but its abolition will likely lead to more homelessness. The 2% hike in SDLT will put up the price for investors but that will feed through into higher rents. Crusader is right that "it’s always tenants that pay."
As a professional landlord, I intend staying in the market. There will always be a demand for rental property and landlords will be there to fill it.
One little-discussed problem is the difficulty of selling residential property with a tenant in situ. With commercial property (I am a solicitor specialising in that area) it is normal to buy and sell a tenanted property and having a reliable income stream is valuable. The law provides a balance between the rights of tenants and landlords. With resi, the risks are much greater and all the legislation has been skewed in tenants' favour for the past 10 years. (So much for levelling the playing field. The law is tilted heavily in tenants' favour.)
If you are unfortunate to take on someone else's dodgy tenant, you are stuck for months, face financial ruin and kick yourself for not buying with vacant possession and choosing your own tenant. Wanting to sell to an investor is not a ground for eviction. Whether we will see more buyers willing to take on someone else's tenants remains to be seen. On the other side of the coin, no landlord will have more than two months guaranteed income as tenants can leave on a whim.
Paradoxically, if Labour want to help tenants, they should reduce the SDLT where a property is sold subject to a lease to an occupational tenant and also protect landlords from massive arrears. Unfortunately, for ideological reasons they are doing the opposite.
I expect to have higher costs but higher rents and some capital growth as Labour fail to hit their target of 1.5 million new homes.... Read More
Dear Tay
On the basis of the limited information you have given, it is impossible to answer.
Is the agent also the letting agent? Is not, how are they responsible for damage? Even if they are, it will be hard to make them liable. Did they fail to take up references or received bad references but failed to inform you? Did they accept a tenant on benefits without your agreement?
You write that they "refused to move out" the tenant. That's not how it works. If the tenant does not want to leave at the end of the contractual term, the landlord needs a court order to evict them.
You say the "keys were left with a neighbour with no handover/takeover done". Did the agent ask the tenant to do this or did the tenant just leave? I cannot see how the agent is responsible for the lost rent.
You seem to have unrealistic expectations that having an agent means you will have no problems. Welcome to the reality of landlording.... Read More
She may be in breach of the tenancy depending on its terms. Not every hole made in a wall or staircase will be a breach of the AST. Even if you get over the first hurdle and it is a breach, you have to prove financial loss caused by the breach. Until you get to the end of the tenancy and the tenant fails to remove the stairlift and make good any damage caused, I doubt you will have a claim for financial compensation.
I doubt the landlord will get much sympathy from the judge if the tenant's partner is registered disabled. Whether the stairlift was purchased outright or is on a credit agreement is irrelevant.
I am astonished at the number of people on this thread jumping to adverse conclusions, suggesting benefit fraud and assuming the worst. No wonder tenant lobby groups get a good hearing from MPs if tenants are treated like criminals!
Tracey (the OP), you now have plenty of contradictory advice to go on. Good luck!
I've said my piece and don't intend to add to this.... Read More
"The point is the tenant should have asked BEFORE carrying out this type of installation."
I acknowledged this point but people are jumping the gun here suggesting benefit fraud and proposing issuing a s21 notice. Unless there is other evidence that something fishy is going on, I would do nothing. Inviting the council to come and inspect is not a move I would advocate.... Read More
That's pure speculation. If the tenant is illegally subletting or sharing, that may be grounds to start an eviction.
The tenant's reason that "it’s for a person she cares for who isn’t on her tenancy apparently it’s her partner who has an adapted bungalow round the corner on full state benefits and who has a car" seems entirely legitimate.... Read More
Peter, see my earlier post: https://www.property118.com/pennycook-we-dont-want-an-exodus-of-landlords/#comment-184095
It may be true that the size of the PRS has doubled since the early 2000s. So what? The demand has more than doubled. We need to fight on the right territory and calling someone dishonest when the figure they give may be true harms your case.... Read More
Of course we want decent and safe homes. I want to provide them and tenants expect them. As to affordable, well they are all affordable (in the sense that no property sits empty because it is too expensive) but renting is very expensive because of:
• Landlords being taxed on their mortgages
• Costs of licensing
• Limit of 5 weeks’ rent as a deposit regardless of the risk
• Having to wait for 2 months (soon to be 13 weeks) arrears to accrue before commencing action for possession
• Defaulting tenants being allowed to stay because of a trivial mistake in the landlord’s paperwork
• Delays in getting a court hearing to get defaulting tenants evicted
• Delays in getting bailiffs to evict tenants who don’t obey court orders to leave.... Read More
You are absolutely right. We recently increased rent for the first time for a tenant who had been with us for 5 years.
If there is to be some arbitrary maximum increase that does not properly take into account the time since the last increase, that will only cause prudent landlords to increase rents every year by the maximum possible.
Perhaps the headline to this article should be:
"Shelter calls for annual rent increases for all tenants!"... Read More
Whenever a politician makes a statement such as that "the size of the PRS had ‘doubled since the early 2000’s’" it is worth saying "So what?" It does not prove or disprove his claim.
It is very hard to find statistics for the number of landlords leaving the market but with an increasing population you need tens of thousands of new properties and landlords every year just to maintain equilibrium. Pennycook knows it is a problem and that because of 10 years of anti-landlord policies there are fewer houses available to rent than there would be (NB "would be" not "were") if landlords had not been persecuted.
If landlords leaving the PRS is not a problem, why mention it? Of course it is a problem as tenants are finding out with higher rents, more stringent referencing and more of them being required to provide guarantors.... Read More
I used to rent a 4-bedroom house to students. The problem was not that they wouldn't leave (so the abolition of s21 is not relevant - in any event s21 does not guarantee they will leave on time). The problem was the two months in the summer after exams. We used to sign them to a 12 month AST but with nominal rent for the last two months. They remained as tenants and so the Council Tax exemption applied for the whole year.
You won't be able to make them pay for a full twelve months. It will be pro rata'd down. If they leave after 4 months they pay one third of the annual rent.
Another problem is that if the students fall out with each other, they may leave part way through the academic year meaning the landlord has a void.... Read More
Theresa Wallace is right. The Bill will lead to more homelessness not less. The Labour Party, NRLA and much of the Tory Party (including the previously intelligent Michael Gove) were seduced by Shelter's claim that section 21 causes homelessness. This is a post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Yes, many people who are homeless received a s21 notice but they are homeless because there are not sufficient homes in areas they want to live at rents they can afford. The s21 notice is not the cause of their becoming homeless.
To take an analogy, are notices of dismissal or redundancy notices the cause of unemployment? No, of course not. No sensible person would argue that the way to reduce unemployment is to ban employers from dismissing workers or making them redundant.
Unfortunately, our foolish politicians have fallen for this line. Homelessness will be made worse if fewer properties are available to rent. Not building enough new houses and frightening landlords into withdrawing their properties will result in fewer houses available to rent than there might otherwise be.... Read More
The discrepancy can be less than 1 penny. If the full 5 weeks' deposit is taken but the calculator or Excel spreadsheet rounds up. (Always ensure your spreadsheet shows numbers to at least 2 decimal places)
For example, take a tenancy with a rent of £1000 a month. £1000 x 12 divided by 52 and multiplied by 5 gives £1153.84. If you take a deposit of £1154 you cannot serve a s21 notice and are liable for a fine.... Read More
Registered with
Property118.com Monday 8th July 2013
Total Number of Property118
Comments:
1810
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.
11:15 AM, 6th November 2024, About 6 days ago
Mark, I agree with you. Sad to say it was an allegedly Conservative Government that did most of this. As a group of voters, private sector landlords are (or perhaps, now, used to be) the most conservative-leaning people in the country apart from Tory party members themselves. We were stabbed in the back and betrayed by those we thought our friends. We were vilified and our legitimate rights and interests cast aside.
The Chancellor imposing an additional 2% surcharge has added to the pain but it was the Tories who started it. Labour must be thinking: "Well if the Tories give their own supporters such a damn good kicking, we should do so as well" and why wouldn't they? Soak the "rich" and virtue-signal to your supporters that you are helping tenants, even though in reality they are making matters worse by pushing up costs.
I worry what comes next. Perhaps rent controls or the removal of any mortgage interest relief?... Read More
12:01 PM, 5th November 2024, About 7 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 05/11/2024 - 09:01
... Read More
10:30 AM, 5th November 2024, About 7 days ago
Reply to the comment left by Tom Jenkin at 04/11/2024 - 17:01
"The guarantor has to be informed of any changes to the tenancy agreement." Yes, but it depends on the wording of the tenancy. Tom Jenkin was perhaps fortunate.
If there was "a clause in the AST saying [the tenant] had to get permission from the landlord for any pets" then that was in the purview of the guarantor when the guarantee was signed. We have not seen the reasoning in Mr Jenkin's case but if the consent of the landlord could not be unreasonably withheld, it is hard to see why the guarantor was excused.
When the Renters Rights Bill comes into force and such a term is implied, the result might be different.
The best course for landlords is to draft guarantees with "no discharge" clauses and to make it clear the guarantor remains liable notwithstanding variations to the tenancy.... Read More
11:15 AM, 1st November 2024, About 2 weeks ago
As Mark Twain didn't quite say: "The reports of the death of the PRS are exaggerated." Yes, the Budget is bad and things are going to get worse for landlords and also for tenants. No, section 21 is not the cause of homelessness but its abolition will likely lead to more homelessness. The 2% hike in SDLT will put up the price for investors but that will feed through into higher rents. Crusader is right that "it’s always tenants that pay."
As a professional landlord, I intend staying in the market. There will always be a demand for rental property and landlords will be there to fill it.
One little-discussed problem is the difficulty of selling residential property with a tenant in situ. With commercial property (I am a solicitor specialising in that area) it is normal to buy and sell a tenanted property and having a reliable income stream is valuable. The law provides a balance between the rights of tenants and landlords. With resi, the risks are much greater and all the legislation has been skewed in tenants' favour for the past 10 years. (So much for levelling the playing field. The law is tilted heavily in tenants' favour.)
If you are unfortunate to take on someone else's dodgy tenant, you are stuck for months, face financial ruin and kick yourself for not buying with vacant possession and choosing your own tenant. Wanting to sell to an investor is not a ground for eviction. Whether we will see more buyers willing to take on someone else's tenants remains to be seen. On the other side of the coin, no landlord will have more than two months guaranteed income as tenants can leave on a whim.
Paradoxically, if Labour want to help tenants, they should reduce the SDLT where a property is sold subject to a lease to an occupational tenant and also protect landlords from massive arrears. Unfortunately, for ideological reasons they are doing the opposite.
I expect to have higher costs but higher rents and some capital growth as Labour fail to hit their target of 1.5 million new homes.... Read More
11:06 AM, 30th October 2024, About 2 weeks ago
Dear Tay
On the basis of the limited information you have given, it is impossible to answer.
Is the agent also the letting agent? Is not, how are they responsible for damage? Even if they are, it will be hard to make them liable. Did they fail to take up references or received bad references but failed to inform you? Did they accept a tenant on benefits without your agreement?
You write that they "refused to move out" the tenant. That's not how it works. If the tenant does not want to leave at the end of the contractual term, the landlord needs a court order to evict them.
You say the "keys were left with a neighbour with no handover/takeover done". Did the agent ask the tenant to do this or did the tenant just leave? I cannot see how the agent is responsible for the lost rent.
You seem to have unrealistic expectations that having an agent means you will have no problems. Welcome to the reality of landlording.... Read More
11:00 AM, 29th October 2024, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Ron at 29/10/2024 - 06:29
She may be in breach of the tenancy depending on its terms. Not every hole made in a wall or staircase will be a breach of the AST. Even if you get over the first hurdle and it is a breach, you have to prove financial loss caused by the breach. Until you get to the end of the tenancy and the tenant fails to remove the stairlift and make good any damage caused, I doubt you will have a claim for financial compensation.
I doubt the landlord will get much sympathy from the judge if the tenant's partner is registered disabled. Whether the stairlift was purchased outright or is on a credit agreement is irrelevant.
I am astonished at the number of people on this thread jumping to adverse conclusions, suggesting benefit fraud and assuming the worst. No wonder tenant lobby groups get a good hearing from MPs if tenants are treated like criminals!
Tracey (the OP), you now have plenty of contradictory advice to go on. Good luck!
I've said my piece and don't intend to add to this.... Read More
14:58 PM, 28th October 2024, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 28/10/2024 - 14:51
... Read More
12:53 PM, 28th October 2024, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 28/10/2024 - 12:01
"The point is the tenant should have asked BEFORE carrying out this type of installation."
I acknowledged this point but people are jumping the gun here suggesting benefit fraud and proposing issuing a s21 notice. Unless there is other evidence that something fishy is going on, I would do nothing. Inviting the council to come and inspect is not a move I would advocate.... Read More
11:53 AM, 28th October 2024, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by John Bentley at 28/10/2024 - 11:38
That's pure speculation. If the tenant is illegally subletting or sharing, that may be grounds to start an eviction.
The tenant's reason that "it’s for a person she cares for who isn’t on her tenancy apparently it’s her partner who has an adapted bungalow round the corner on full state benefits and who has a car" seems entirely legitimate.... Read More
11:36 AM, 28th October 2024, About 2 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 28/10/2024 - 10:37
... Read More
10:08 AM, 25th October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Desert Rat at 25/10/2024 - 05:58
I am a bleu landlord, not a rouge one.... Read More
10:14 AM, 24th October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Peter Merrick at 23/10/2024 - 17:18
Peter, see my earlier post: https://www.property118.com/pennycook-we-dont-want-an-exodus-of-landlords/#comment-184095
It may be true that the size of the PRS has doubled since the early 2000s. So what? The demand has more than doubled. We need to fight on the right territory and calling someone dishonest when the figure they give may be true harms your case.... Read More
14:54 PM, 23rd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Of course we want decent and safe homes. I want to provide them and tenants expect them. As to affordable, well they are all affordable (in the sense that no property sits empty because it is too expensive) but renting is very expensive because of:
• Landlords being taxed on their mortgages
• Costs of licensing
• Limit of 5 weeks’ rent as a deposit regardless of the risk
• Having to wait for 2 months (soon to be 13 weeks) arrears to accrue before commencing action for possession
• Defaulting tenants being allowed to stay because of a trivial mistake in the landlord’s paperwork
• Delays in getting a court hearing to get defaulting tenants evicted
• Delays in getting bailiffs to evict tenants who don’t obey court orders to leave.... Read More
12:38 PM, 23rd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Martin Thomas at 23/10/2024 - 11:31
You are absolutely right. We recently increased rent for the first time for a tenant who had been with us for 5 years.
If there is to be some arbitrary maximum increase that does not properly take into account the time since the last increase, that will only cause prudent landlords to increase rents every year by the maximum possible.
Perhaps the headline to this article should be:
"Shelter calls for annual rent increases for all tenants!"... Read More
10:42 AM, 23rd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Whenever a politician makes a statement such as that "the size of the PRS had ‘doubled since the early 2000’s’" it is worth saying "So what?" It does not prove or disprove his claim.
It is very hard to find statistics for the number of landlords leaving the market but with an increasing population you need tens of thousands of new properties and landlords every year just to maintain equilibrium. Pennycook knows it is a problem and that because of 10 years of anti-landlord policies there are fewer houses available to rent than there would be (NB "would be" not "were") if landlords had not been persecuted.
If landlords leaving the PRS is not a problem, why mention it? Of course it is a problem as tenants are finding out with higher rents, more stringent referencing and more of them being required to provide guarantors.... Read More
10:29 AM, 23rd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Niwdog at 22/10/2024 - 19:41
... Read More
16:11 PM, 22nd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Peter Charon at 22/10/2024 - 11:41
I used to rent a 4-bedroom house to students. The problem was not that they wouldn't leave (so the abolition of s21 is not relevant - in any event s21 does not guarantee they will leave on time). The problem was the two months in the summer after exams. We used to sign them to a 12 month AST but with nominal rent for the last two months. They remained as tenants and so the Council Tax exemption applied for the whole year.
You won't be able to make them pay for a full twelve months. It will be pro rata'd down. If they leave after 4 months they pay one third of the annual rent.
Another problem is that if the students fall out with each other, they may leave part way through the academic year meaning the landlord has a void.... Read More
14:28 PM, 22nd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Luke P at 22/10/2024 - 13:39
... Read More
12:27 PM, 22nd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Theresa Wallace is right. The Bill will lead to more homelessness not less. The Labour Party, NRLA and much of the Tory Party (including the previously intelligent Michael Gove) were seduced by Shelter's claim that section 21 causes homelessness. This is a post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Yes, many people who are homeless received a s21 notice but they are homeless because there are not sufficient homes in areas they want to live at rents they can afford. The s21 notice is not the cause of their becoming homeless.
To take an analogy, are notices of dismissal or redundancy notices the cause of unemployment? No, of course not. No sensible person would argue that the way to reduce unemployment is to ban employers from dismissing workers or making them redundant.
Unfortunately, our foolish politicians have fallen for this line. Homelessness will be made worse if fewer properties are available to rent. Not building enough new houses and frightening landlords into withdrawing their properties will result in fewer houses available to rent than there might otherwise be.... Read More
12:15 PM, 22nd October 2024, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul at 22/10/2024 - 11:15
The discrepancy can be less than 1 penny. If the full 5 weeks' deposit is taken but the calculator or Excel spreadsheet rounds up. (Always ensure your spreadsheet shows numbers to at least 2 decimal places)
For example, take a tenancy with a rent of £1000 a month. £1000 x 12 divided by 52 and multiplied by 5 gives £1153.84. If you take a deposit of £1154 you cannot serve a s21 notice and are liable for a fine.... Read More