Croydon yet another area to introduce Selective Licensing

Reply to the comment left by "David Lawrenson" at "27/08/2014 - 16:51":

Thanks, David - it just means I won't have to go next week, as opposed to not having to go tomorrow! 😀

Reply to the comment left by "Mandy Thomson" at "27/08/2014 - 16:54":

Yes, it is not just at the Guardian, also the Telegraph comments.
Would not go there with my LF hat on.

For many people, we are responsible for the housing crisis.
It is mostly private landlords fault, not far eastern investors gobbling up most of the new build in London, nor that of the bulging population, nor the lack of a coherent house building strategy, nor the selling off of council housing stock, by users of the "F" word. ... that is the "Frit" F word, not the other one, you understand.

David Lawrenson
LettingFocus

Reply to the comment left by "David Lawrenson" at "27/08/2014 - 17:10":

Yes, most people are not interested in looking fully into these issues, just hanging blame on the obvious scapegoats. This then makes for ready vote winners for the kind of politicians (at national and local level) who want to get elected, regardless of whether their policies are likely to work or not.

If anyone has property in Oxford....... or indeed if you feel that you could assist OCC in their consultation.......
http://consultation.oxford.gov.uk/consult.ti/Standardsinhmos/consultationHome
Recent RPT cases may have triggered this review of standards?

Reply to the comment left by "David Lawrenson" at "27/08/2014 - 16:14":

David,

I have to say that your statement about the cancellation of the meeting at Southwark is just simply untrue.

We postponed the meeting because the consultation paper is not yet approved internally. NLA are fully aware of the circumstances of this and what we are proposing to do. We can't have a meeting until we have a paper to discuss.

the whole statement is untrue or ?

As my mother is currently ill and was unexpectedly hospitalised last Tuesday night, I have been out of the loop and managed to miss Croydon Council's publication of its "Selective" Licensing Survey last Wednesday: https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=140966799889. The deadline is 17 October.

Further information on the proposed scheme can be found here http://www.m-e-l.co.uk/media/13124/selective%20licensing%20leaflet%20croydon%20v2.pdf. The proposed fee is £1000 per property (see third page of leaflet); this is the highest fee I have so far heard of - even Newham charge only half that!

I'd also like to remind anyone interested that the NLA are hosting a meeting about Croydon's proposed scheme in Croydon on Thursday 25 September – opens 6:30pm for registration, meeting from 7:00 – 8:30pm at Imperial Conference and Banqueting Centre, Hampton by Hilton Croydon, 29/30 Dingwall Road, Croydon CR0 2NB.

Representatives from Croydon Council have been invited, but have so far failed to respond...

Reply to the comment left by "Mandy Thomson" at "23/09/2014 - 07:10":

The Croydon Advertiser published accurate minutes of the meeting mentioned above that was hosted by the NLA and Gavin Barwell, MP for Croydon Central http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/Landlords-rail-Croydon-Council-s-unjust-licence/story-23005748-detail/story.html

In addition, the NLA have just published their "Response to Croydon Council proposal for Selective Licensing": http://i.emlfiles4.com/cmpdoc/8/4/3/1/files/241567_croydon-council-proposal-for-selective-licensing.pdf?dm_i=11G,2V7XN,CADIQD,ADZEH,1

Today is the deadline for the landlord consultation. I have therefore sent the below email to members of the council cabinet detailed in Gavin Barwell's publication that I've copied in my earlier post:

'I've no doubt that you've heard all the general arguments both for and against mandatory selective landlord licensing so I'd like instead to demonstrate to you the direct impact that this will have on ordinary people, both landlords and tenants, on average and below average incomes, who live in the borough or who may not live there but still provide much needed homes for the borough.

Despite the image of landlords being wealthy fat cats, or at least comfortably off people, most landlords in fact own no more than one or two rental properties, and according to NLA figures published in September, 27% of these landlords are either just about breaking even or even struggling. In the same article, Carolyn Uphill, the NLA Chairman, says:

“These findings point to a significant number of landlords who struggle to make ends meet, and show that for many, being a landlord isn’t just about watching rent money roll in.”

This is certainly true of both me and at least three other landlords I know who let properties in Croydon.

Since letting my former home 4 years ago, I have had to pay maintenance costs of more £5000, and currently face maintenance charges in excess of £1400. I have also twice fallen prey to unscrupulous builders, and most of my current costs will be incurred in putting right their shoddy workmanship.

Although my rental property is my former home, I wasn’t an “accidental” landlord, simply letting because I couldn’t sell, as I had wanted to become a landlord for some time. In order to meet my maintenance costs, I lived for a year as lodger after I moved out and rented to tenants.

Despite the fact I operate to very tight margins, my tenants can always reach me any time by email, phone or text and I respond promptly to all maintenance issues. Where possible, I ensure the issue is put right on the day. For example, earlier this year my tenant contacted me because the shower fuse had blown. This was totally unexpected, not least because I’d paid a reputable Trustmark rated electrical firm to replace the consumer unit just over a year before, and therefore hadn’t budgeted for it. Nevertheless, I borrowed the money from my father, and the electrician replaced the consumer unit that same day. I subsequently took out a home maintenance insurance policy to cover the majority of such costs in future.

At least one other Croydon landlord I know is in a similar position, and told me that she once had to borrow money to make an essential train journey because high maintenance costs had left her out of pocket.

Yet another landlord I met at a recent Croydon landlord networking event told me she did a cleaning job to supplement her rental income. The event was held just before the Croydon landlord licensing scheme was first announced. I found it odd that no representatives from Croydon Council were there, as councils usually attend these.

Most Croydon landlords will undoubtedly be forced to put up rents to recover the licensing fee, but this will be the knock on effect that will have the least impact on tenants.

Tenants’ quality of life is likely to be affected by landlords simply not having available cash to carry out maintenance work, should licensing go ahead. It is obvious that a large proportion of landlords will struggle to pay the £1000 upfront license fee, and this will no doubt have to be taken from maintenance budgets. Remortgaging as an option to replenish sinking funds, refurbish properties and add to property portfolios is not as widely available as in the past, and with recently announced Bank of England proposals, is likely to become even less so. This is true even for some landlords with large portfolios.

Many Croydon landlords will sell and transfer their BTL business to other boroughs or simply stop letting out their properties. As a large proportion of PRS properties are landlord’s former homes, they will be subject to little or no capital gains tax (CGT) if sold. I intend to sell my Croydon rental property (my former home) and replace it with another BTL property in Sutton or Bromley. A number of landlords I met at the recent meeting hosted by Gavin Barwell and Gavin Dick (that again, no Croydon Council representatives attended) are also going to do this. Where rental properties are subject to CGT, there are ways around this, for example by setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Therefore, if licensing goes ahead, certainly in its current proposed format, as well unnecessarily alienating good landlords the borough needs, Croydon will lose a lot of much needed affordable housing for ordinary people on average incomes, and the quality of remaining private housing will decline. The NLA have estimated that BTL landlords put more than £20bn into UK homes, and according to the Office of National Statistics, the 2013 census showed 4.2 million households in the private rented sector, compared to 4.1 million who rent from social landlords. I have no doubt that Croydon is no exception to this nationwide trend.

This will mean much less PRS housing choice in the borough, with only luxury housing for high income tenants (where increased licensing costs can be absorbed), single room lets in people’s homes and substandard accommodation let under the radar by rogue landlords (who will doubtless ignore licensing rules) to the poor and desperate remaining unimpacted. This will naturally mean more people turning to the Council for already scarce social housing.'

Mandy Thomson