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9:05 AM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago 24
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Following on from the onslaught against the PRS emanating from Government, Councils and other anti-landlord bodies, the Alliance has now published its housing policy.
We have stated our case at the Fair Possession Coalition summit regarding the abolition of section 21. As the curtains come down on May’s failed Premiership, there is an opportunity for the new PM to address the housing issue, not by taking cheap shots and jumping on the hate band wagon, but by listening to the real stakeholders and acting accordingly.
We call upon our fair coalition partners to join us and sign off on this declaration. No more weak protests or words. Let us all give a reason to our members for joining our respective organisations. Landlords as hard working tax payers deserve real representation.
Join the Alliance here >> https://landlordsalliance.co.uk/
Our housing policy is designed, to stimulate the market, provide much needed accommodation, while providing choice by facilitating mobility and keeping prices down by offering real choice as well as helping Benefit tenants in to homes.
We must point out that Shelter who profess to want to help benefit tenants, have refused to bond said tenants and certainly do not provide accommodation for them, unlike hard pressed Landlords.
We now outline our blueprint for progress:
– Scrap Section 24 immediately. This measure subverts normal accounting rules. It failed in Ireland and is failing here.
– Retain Section 21. The threat of abolition is already driving shortages. The Landlord who purchased the property, maintains it and pays the mortgage naturally his rights overriding those of a tenant who pays a monthly rent. That’s the reality. To pursue the abolition is to undermine property rights.
– Remove Stamp Duty on all property under £500k.
– Remove Stamp Duty on all BTL property where the property has been empty for 12 months or requires major repairs.
– Remove Stamp Duty on properties being refurbished as HMO’s or converted in to 3 or more self contained units.
– VAT on building materials at 10%.
– Housing Benefit claimants – Introduce tax breaks to encourage landlords to accept this riskier demographic with UC paid direct to the landlord from day one. Parity of treatment with respect to contractual agreements. Both landlords and tenants to abide by the terms of the contract and where tenants break the contract and leave their UC continues to be paid to the LL until expiry of the contract.
– Reset the clock on Planning. Centralise it, removing council employees from any decision making on building and planning.
– Put all legislation for rented property on a single footing, no more anomalies applying different standards to the PRS and social housing.
– One government body to oversee all housing regulation removing activists and charities who bring nothing, but negativity to the table. Ensure this new body has representatives from the legal sector as well as government and the PRS.
– Amend the housing act 2004 to ban all Council Licensing Schemes which are nothing more than revenue raising scams by bankrupt councils introduced and given an appearance of legitimacy by biased consultations.
– Introduce a national database of landlords nationwide costing £50 per landlord for 5 years.
– No landlord to obtain housing benefit payments unless registered and cleared by HMRC.
– In areas of high homelessness, scrap min room sizes to get people off the streets until these measures kick in and more rooms come to the market.
We urge the Conservative leadership contenders to adopt these measures as a matter of urgency and invite the NLA and RLA to endorse them now. Lets get the rental market moving again. Lets give investors confidence and tenants choice.
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Dr Rosalind Beck
9:37 AM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
This is an excellent, balanced and rational housing policy. I am looking forward to it being endorsed by the other landlord bodies and also to it being presented to the Conservative Party and the Brexit Party for their consideration.
There is no point showing it to Labour (although it should be sent to them anyway) - they have welcomed a Marxist report (they call it 'independent') at the moment which would take away private property rights and attempt to crash the housing market and the wider economy with it.
In that context, it is even more essential that we have clear messages like the one above.
Chris @ Possession Friend
10:55 AM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Looks good to me.
Hamish McBloggs
11:10 AM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Capital gains?
Mick Roberts
11:23 AM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Some very good points there, especially this one for me:
In areas of high homelessness, scrap min room sizes to get people off the streets until these measures kick in and more rooms come to the market.
As here with Nottingham CouncilNotGotAClue Selective Licensing http://www.selectivelicensingtruth.co.uk they want us to start evicting tenants when they've had a baby. Where they gonna' go? Der Mr Council Man Hello wake up Smell the coffee.
RichDad
12:57 PM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
All the regulations only ever hit those of us already "on the radar". The real "rogues" aka criminal landlords are barely affected. If councils have too little resources for proper investigation and enforcement, they will always go for low-hanging fruit.
If the proposed national register of landlords (ideally to include all their BTL properties) could be implemented, then the local authorities could focus resources on investigating properties that were obviously tenanted but not registered (i.e. "off the radar").
For example, tenanted properties could include those where the person responsible for council tax was not the person on the Landreg title, or if the property had BTL insurance (exceptions would be noted on the file).
Chris @ Possession Friend
12:59 PM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Chris Daniel at 02/07/2019 - 10:55
I'd add this ;
Fair Civil Justice system
Record and make available to Registered landlords, - defaults in Rent payments from those in receipt of Housing allowance / U.C
Registered Landlords should be able to enquire with U.C on an immediate interactive web platform, whether a direct payment of Housing allowance element is payable to the Landlord.
Tenants in receipt of Tax-payers money in form of Housing allowance, who are reported to Local Government or U.C for ANY Rental default are added to a web-based secure list where Registered landlords can access an immediate answer, Yes, or No, as to whether Housing allowance will be payable direct to them for a period of 5 years after a rental default.
Reduce wastage of Tax-payers money, both in the illegal diversion of Housing allowance, and also the social housing costs of providing Emergency accommodation when such defaulting tenants are evicted
Such measures will give ‘Some’ assurance to landlords to offer rental properties to prospective tenants in receipt of housing allowance.
Relatively small financial outlay in web interface with Local authorities in putting name and date of rent default reported and verified.
This would be off-set by savings in UC staff time in dealing with requests for direct payment.
Mick Roberts
15:24 PM, 2nd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Brilliant simple ideas Chris.
Yes, they'd save a fortune in Emergency accomodation & UC staff time, if Landlords could see who hasn't paid before.
And then stop keep trying to pay tenant (Whom a lot don't want the Housing element paid direct to them anyway) when they already defaulted.
Also no joined up thinking between Govt & UC & Local Homeless offices etc.
Laura Delow
11:09 AM, 3rd July 2019, About 5 years ago
We need a "positive disrupter" like Larry and the Landlords Alliance otherwise we will get nowhere fast. Evil only prevails where good men (& women) do nothing. What's being thrown at landlords these last few years with still more to come is tantamount to evil. As Richard Peters said in this thread; we are low hanging fruit & "we" have let them get away with it. Without the disruption caused by protests against the Poll Tax which was stopped dead in it's tracks & recent protests in Hong Kong against the controversial extradition bill, Governments like China will definitely get away with such flagrant abuse. If landlords don't band together aggressively against the government, they will continue to get away with their attacks on us (and if G_d forbid Labour get in....besides all forms of wealth tax imaginable, anyone who owns property over £125,000 will be deemed wealthy as announced the other day by the awful Shadow Chancellor; John MacDonnell who wants to slash the IHT threshold to £125K from £325K and tax above this at income tax rates which they say would raise over £9 billion in tax). We have to fight. Politely writing to MP's has to date achieved zilch. The NLA & RLA are not lobbying aggressively enough & are not good enough negotiators. They're too polite. Hence why to date we lost in Brexit negotiations with the EU. Our side lacked "b*lls". The Brexit Party MEP's at the opening of the EU Parliament showed more b*lls with a simple statement of turning their backs when the EU Anthem was played. To get noticed, you have to do something of note even if sometimes it requires head on childlike tantrums. Kids learned this trick from a very young age & although It shouldn't work - it does. It's down to each landlord to get out there & fight bare knuckle (coordinated by a passionate leader e.g. the LA). But it's not just landlords that need to stand & up fight but anyone & everyone that have saved & worked hard over the years, sometimes struggling to make ends meet yet always standing on their own two feet with no expectation of Nanny state support, who have built up savings, investments or just own their own homes who will eventually also come under attack. I mean, someone's got to pay for the poorly run central & local government that as a business would have gone bankrupt by now, and someone's gotta support the ever growing benefit claimants many of whom have got a Phd in the subject. Sorry for ranting but I'm fed up being forced to give to these charities I don't fully support because of how they're run.
Seething Landlord
11:10 AM, 3rd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Larry, have you posted this blueprint to inform us of Alliance policy or do you want a debate on the merits of each item?
Luke P
13:06 PM, 3rd July 2019, About 5 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Laura Delow at 03/07/2019 - 11:09
Laura...Marry. Me.