Here’s a radical idea – Stop Shooting Fish in a Barrel

£848 for a renewal!! Crazy, they have done the work and should just issue a new piece of paper to fully compliant landlords rather than making a meal of it while rogues continue to let without a licence

A different  angle!
I am tired of landlords buying properties on my block (the subletting convenants are ignored during the conveyancing process as are subsequent requests for retrospective permission) that have no intention of being good landlords!

They take on benefit tenants with major problems such as drink, drugs and mental health issues. The landlord is never checked as to whether he is fit for purpose and is prepared to offer the level of support such tenants inevitably need. The properties are not checked as to whether they are safe or fit for human habitation and once the tenants are in, these landlords just sit back and accept the money. Even when the council is made aware of tenants that are classed as being vulnerable adults under SOVA (Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults) it takes a considerable amount of effort to go through the system.

How do I know?

I have two situations under SOVA at the moment. One is the alcoholic tenant who has now turned yellow, indicating liver problems. How did he get on the council radar? Not by the landlord but by my asking for an HHSRS inspection because this landlord has recently been fined £8,000 for letting out the worst property my neighbouring council of Newham had ever seen. When neither the landlord or the council could get in, the matter was going to be dropped but the tenant was referred to social services. No one has yet told me what they intend to do about the landlord so we're going to try and forfeit his lease.

The other is a tenant who came straight from a refuge and despite being welcomed by us and others she has turned out to be a malicious and aggressive individual who has launched a vendetta against her owner-occupier neigbours in the flat below (pensioners in their 80's). She accused them of harassment, they were interviewed by the police and their good name besmirched. They don't even yet know if they are going to have to go to court!

The landlord does nothing under landlord and tenant legislation or the terms of the tenancy agreement and again I have had deploy SOVA because of the ongoing bullying of our neighbours makes them fall under the guidelines.

Another lease we are attempting to  forfeit but nothing gets done in the short term!

It also means we have to initially spend our valuable resourses on legal fees until we can recoup them from the landlord.

I never thought that my role as Management Support Consultant to the Directors of our RMC (Resident Management Company) would extend this far into other peoples lives.

I don't like doing it. I'm not comfortable doing but until my block stops being used as an equivalent  to social housing (without the support) then if using legislation is where it takes me then this is where I shall have to go!

Ben Birmingham City Council used an RRO last year (or it might have been 2010) and reclaimed the rent for a year on a large HMO.  I was delighted to add this story to my seminars and talks because the good landlords were really pleased to see that, for once, those who had broken the law were penalised by a big hit in the pocket.

This is what I mean when I say that local authorities should use their exisiting powers - there are many that are unused that could bring in revenue and at the same time send a clear message to those landlords who laugh at the law.  They will  not laugh if they loose a years rent believe me.

I am not easily shocked but you have shocked me Ben by saying this

"RROs, the little known Rent Repayment Orders." 

LITTLE KNOWN? As my grannie used to say "No wonder this country is in the state it is in"

Necessity being the mother of invention how has this and other legislation been overlooked?

 If you want to know how how easy it would be for local authoroties to increase their revenue and get the job done spend one day with me and we can discuss "little known" legislation that is not being used!!!!!!!

On the bright side you have given me a great opening line for my seminar tomorrow and at the national meeting of all NLA reps on Wednesday and Thursday - I won't name you when I say..

A local authority officer told me that Rent Repayment Orders are not being used by local authorities because they are "little known."

I am not mocking you Ben I know that you are right but you must admit it is very funny given the fact that you guys think of nothing but money making at the moment.

Sharon I am really sorry for the position in which you find yourself.  Ironically I am in a similar situation with a couple of my own rented flats. In one the problem is being caused by a tenant and in the other by an owner occupier and the Management Company seem unable to get either the owner occupier or the landlord to resolve the issue.

Many is these issues are cause by what was known as "care in the community" and there are now people, owners and tenants, who are living in the community without the support that they need.

The owner occupier that is causing a problem to a young couple in one of my flats is a very sad situation.  She is an elderly lady who is clearly in the early stages of dementia, she lives alone and has no visitors.  My flat is not directly above hers but is on the floor above and my tenants cannot make her understand that they are not "pouring water through her ceiling".  She bangs on the door at all hours of the day and night and if they don't open the door she stands on the landing shouting that she knows that they are in there.  This couple are expecting a baby and need their sleep, they are very kind young people but they cannot cope with this problem.  Other tenants in the block have had the same issues but she is now focused on my tenants.  My tenant has now made the police aware that this lady needs support because the other day she was locked in her own flat calling through the letter box that she was trapped - she could not find the key.

So you see the problem is not about tenants V owner occupiers it is about people, some of whom need help and support and some who need to be made to behave themselves.

I wish you luck in resolving your problems.
 
 

No Mary, us guys in the front line see everyday what needs to happen, we are enforcement officers but the very nature of our work means we are on first name terms with our landlords and appreciate the nuances of the PRS/Council relationship as a holism, but all our ideas and decisions are mediated by policy and strategy teams who have a different agenda, more closely aligned to central government needs. I could name and have indeed put forward many ideas for income generation that comes from both whacking the rogue landlords and selling useful services to decent landlords, there are no layers between me and the real renting world, but senior managers have different targets.
 
It is a mistake to think of the council as a unified whole, that is part of the problem. We could hit a landlord with an RRO but the income generated doesn’t get generated for the housing revenue account because money reclaimed through HB payments goes to the finance department so cant even be used for housing issues. In this context a housing solution generates no income for housing.
 
That’s what people outside the council fail to grasp.
 
It really depresses me that nobody understands how we work and, like Shelter,  just slags us off for not doing our jobs when they don’t realise individual officers are part of a network with little influence over the big picture, which is largely political in nature. My only response to that is to just do my thing regardless, which mainly involves breaking rules and procedures on a daily basis. I have a reputation for doing this and amazingly I get away with it but my loose cannon status is also why nobody will ever make me a manager, so I will never have any effective influence. Seniors like my energy and enthusiasm but I cant be trusted to tow the line.
 
You can mock Mary, I don’t mind and you can even use my name tomorrow in your seminar. I don’t post blogs anonymously and I’m happy to stand behind what I say. When they finally sack me for being too leftfield, watch the insider tales I have to tell then haha

You seem to just accept these laws. Have you never considered that the need for the laws and the exaggerated myth of the rogue landlord are tools setup by / used by LABOUR who simply don't like the idea of individuals making money. We are in fact closer to the communist red flag than the British red tape. They like the big firms (eg. building purpose built student buildings) and the back handers for planning permission that go with the organisations around it, they don't like the small man. woman going out there, ‘out of their control doing it for themselves and getting a piece of the money. Licence fees put people off, they bring back in a piece of the money and more than that (which does include a slight deterrent against bad accommodation which is a good thing admittedly) that is all there is to it. I would imagine the CONSERVATIVES would rather let this any-capitalist ridiculous ball of red tape system just die, but given that it is seen on the surface as good in purpose it is difficult for them to do that. I am not one way or the other, but if you saw the remuneration packages for some of the ‘quangos’ or as we say today, private-public partnerships, set up as control buffers by Labour in league with local councils you would perhaps not consider yourself as ‘good’ simply because you adhere to these ‘laws’. To do so is to be squeezed back down to ‘one of the little people’, which is what they want.

Hello, Hello, Hello – I can’t believe this is such an
emotive issue whoever said an “English mans home is his castle” was naive from
the very beginning. We all have to abide by rules and regulations, pay our
taxes and conform to society “if you can’t stand the heat get out of the
kitchen”.

First instance Mr. landlord live up to your obligations
both to the Tenant and the State don’t worry about those that don’t conform they
are not your business you only have yourself to answer to if you want to sleep
soundly at night. Quality always wins and pays a fair rent invariably providing
good people to rent, calculate your costs (with the additional costs) and
charge accordingly, if you cannot attract decent people to pay the right rate
then don’t get into the business in the first place. If you don’t like doing
business on these regulatory terms then cross the line and become one of the
underclass landlords but accept the territory that goes with it.

Next the Council charges; Ben says there are 13,400 HMO’s on
his patch to attend to by my reckoning at £880 a throw that’s 10.72 million
pounds a lot of dosh for just two guys. You people at the Councils and Boroughs
have to live up to your responsibilities too, try “a can do” instead of a “cannot
do” attitude and things will get done it’s a two sided coin so why not try
working together towards a common cause and in time most of the bad guys will
be gone. Stop winging about the “big society” we are all part of it work
together embrace the good and come together on the bad but above all enjoy your
lot.

Tony Woods.

Tony if you were familiar with my writing you would know that this is exactly what I do and what I espouse, this is why I write on this blog and why Shelter hate me

First
instance Mr. landlord live up to your obligations
both to the Tenant and the State don’t worry about those that don’t conform
they
are not your business you only have yourself to answer to if you want to sleep
soundly at night.

As a representative of private
landlords for the last 25 years it is very much my business.  For the record I do not let licensable HMO’s
and  I am speaking for the many excellent
HMO landlords who I am proud to represent. 
I sleep very well thank you not least because I respect my tenants as
you will see if you read this http://www.property118.com/index.php/landlords-lets-make-december-celebration-of-good-tenants-month/18762/

Quality
always wins and pays a fair rent invariably providing
good people to rent, calculate your costs (with the additional costs) and
charge accordingly, if you cannot attract decent people to pay the right rate
then don’t get into the business in the first place. If you don’t like doing
business on these regulatory terms then cross the line and become one of the
underclass landlords but accept the territory that goes with it.

After 40 years of providing nice
homes to great tenants and making a decent living I think it’s rather late to “calculate”
my costs.

I seem to have missed the point of
your post, was there one?

This discussion has rather strayed away from some of Mary's original points, which questioned why HMO licensing is so incredibly expensive and why there is so little accountability to justify the level of fees being charged. The impression HMO landlords get, as so often when dealing with public sector staff, is that they are seen as profiteering Rachmans intent on exploiting always-"vulnerable" tenants, and are therefore cash cows to be milked wherever possible as well as generally treated with disdain. In my view the majority of HMO landlords should be feted and celebrated: who else is providing this sort of affordable, practical, furnished living accommodation to young people - working or on benefits - in our towns and cities, helping them to move jobs, make friends and form relationships, without the burden of having to rent a whole flat, furnish it, and commit to a one-year contract or more?

One thing that puzzles me is why judges give out such paltry penalties to rogue landlords and why there aren't more severe options available, such as confiscation or temporary possession orders over the property, until such time as the landlord proves she will comply with the court's requirements. These people need to be hit on their capital side, not just allowed to pay feeble fines out of their income.

I would also take a similar line with tenants who sub-let and effectively set themselves up as landlords. My brother-in-law recently took a job as the chief fraud officer for a large housing assocation with about 10,000 properties scattered all over the country. His bosses were a largely new team and suspected they had inherited a serious fraud problem from the previous slack administration. In three months, in addition to the existing problems of unpaid rents, he has found *800* suspect cases where the rent is being paid but there is no record of the supposed tenant at the address - no electoral roll entry, the wrong name on the utility bills, etc. Of the 50 cases investigated on site so far, there are some amazing stories: the 3-bed house rented by a single Romanian woman who is actually living in Germany and sub-letting the property to a collection of Polish builders, who are paying her four times the rent she pays the housing association. As a private landlord, I am just astonished by the apparent casualness with which some council and housing assocation properties are being rented to people with a sob-story to tell, and by Ben's account of an HMO with 20 HB claimants in it: does no-one in the benefit offices notice this sort of concentration of claims, or check the quality of the properties that are being paid for out of everyone's taxes?

Sorry if Ben thinks I'm trying to teach him to suck eggs: I'm just a decent but naive landlord and developer who's still unused to the ways of the world!