Everyone Appears To Be Taking A Pop At Landlords
I don’t think I am becoming paranoid but have you noticed that public attitude towards landlords has changed over the last couple of years?
I know opinion can be like the property cycle and generally rolls around, but have you spotted a few subtle and […]

UK landlords are societies new favourite target for criticism
Everyone Appears To Be Taking A Pop At Landlords
I don’t think I am becoming paranoid but have you noticed that public attitude towards landlords has changed over the last couple of years?
I know opinion can be like the property cycle and generally rolls around, but have you spotted a few subtle and not so subtle digs being aimed at our profession?
Targeting the private rental sector and the landlords who provide tenants with much needed housing used to be the reserve of newspapers such as the Daily Mail, but now the derision is much more widespread.
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RLA Find Serious Drafting Error In Rented Housing Regulations Of Proposed Deregulation Bill
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have called on the Government to delay the implementation of the proposed Deregulation Act after they found errors in the wording of the document that would expose private rental sector landlords to a legal minefield.
The RLA […]

RLA find errors in wording of proposed deregulation act
RLA Find Serious Drafting Error In Rented Housing Regulations Of Proposed Deregulation Bill
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have called on the Government to delay the implementation of the proposed Deregulation Act after they found errors in the wording of the document that would expose private rental sector landlords to a legal minefield.
The RLA published the following on their newshub
A major drafting error in Government regulations affecting the private rented sector risks undermining confidence in new legislation being applied to the sector.
The Deregulation Act, passed prior to the General Election, provides Ministers with the power to introduce a new standard form for landlords to complete and provide to a tenant when seeking to regain possession of a property on a no fault basis, known as a Section 21 notice.
With the form due to become legally binding from the 1st October, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has written to the Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis MP, to seek a delay following the revelation of a serious drafting error.
The standard form, as currently drafted, notes that where a fixed term tenancy ends and then turns into a rolling or periodic tenancy the Section 21 notice would only be valid for four months from the date that it is served on the tenant*.
This contradicts the Deregulation Act, which makes clear that the required period to regain possession of a property where a tenancy is a rolling or periodic tenancy, should instead be four months from the date the Section 21 notice expires**.
Despite having engaged thoroughly with the Government on its proposals, the final version of the standard form, published last week, had not been shown to the RLA.
The RLA is warning that the drafting exposes landlords to a legal minefield, and is calling for the implementation of the plans to be delayed to give more time to get them right.
RLA policy director, David Smith, said “The RLA continues to share the Government’s ambitions to ensure that all landlords understand and properly implement their legal responsibilities and obligations. In light of the major changes being introduced for the sector it is vital that all documents published by the Government are clearly understood. This drafting error will serve only to dent the confidence of landlords in the legislation. Whilst Ministers are understandably eager not to let these new measures drift, it would make more sense not to rush their implementation than face the potential legal difficulties that will now arise for landlords.”
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Was The Budget Really That Much Of A Surprise?
The first Conservative budget for 20 years was expected to be good for Britain; however, the reality was not what many landlords wanted to hear.
The decision to target private rental sector landlords and property investors wasn’t too much of a surprise, as the Government can […]

Budget Targets Landlords
Was The Budget Really That Much Of A Surprise?
The first Conservative budget for 20 years was expected to be good for Britain; however, the reality was not what many landlords wanted to hear.
The decision to target private rental sector landlords and property investors wasn’t too much of a surprise, as the Government can plainly see where the profits are being made and they, like all the rest of the political parties, want a slice.
On the run up to the general election in May 2015 every other political party openly stated that they intended to target landlords, whilst the conservatives remained quiet, prompting a few political commentators to predict that policies would be introduced surreptitiously that would effectively put money into Government coffers.
That’s exactly what we got last week!
The key points that affect landlords from George Osborne’s budget statement include:
Benefit Cap Lowered To £20,000 (GBP)
The total amount of benefits a family can receive over the course of a year has been reduced from £26,000 (GBP) to £20,000 (GBP) – (£23,000 in London).
This is a particular concern for landlords as any loss of income from the reduced benefit cap will hit tenants’ housing benefit first.
Many private rental sector landlords are now worried about increased rent arrears and the probability that many areas of the UK will become unaffordable for large families to live in.
The Government have said that they will allocate £800 Million (GBP) of discretionary housing payments for councils to help affected tenants.
Housing Benefit Abolished For Under-21s
From April 2017 the automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18- to 21-year-olds will be scrapped for new claimants.
Exceptions will be made for vulnerable young people, including those unable to return to their family home and claimants who were in work for six months prior to making a claim.
Working-Age Benefits Frozen For Four Years
The freeze means Local Housing Allowance (LHA) will fall further behind inflation as the chancellor seeks to stop the housing benefit bill soaring with increasing rents.
Buy To Let Landlord Mortgage Relief Cut
In a £2bn tax bombshell, from April 2017 landlords will no longer be able to claim tax reliefs worth 40% or 45% of the interest payments on their buy-to-let mortgages. Instead, the maximum tax relief will be set at 20%, although the change will be introduced over a four-year period.
Effectively it looks as though 40%/45% taxpayers will only get around half of their mortgage interest (and arrangement fees) offset against their rental income.
20% taxpayers shouldn’t see much change as all mortgage relief will be limited to the basic rate of income tax.
The effect of this will be staged meaning that
- 25% of this extra tax will be payable on profits made in the April 2017 – April 2018 tax year,
- 50% in April 2018 – April 2019,
- 75% in April 2019 – April 2020
- 100% in April 2020 – April 2021 meaning that the full effect of this change won’t be felt until the January 2022 personal tax bill is due.
Despite the staged introduction many PRS landlords have warned that this could see costs passed on to tenants in the form of higher rents.
Wear And Tear Allowance Tightened
Landlords will have to prove they have improved or maintained their rental property before they can deduct the costs from their taxed profits.
Currently, landlords can deduct 10% of the rent from their profits to account for wear and tear regardless of whether they have improved the property or not.
From April 2016 this is set to be replaced by a new system that only allows landlords to get tax relief when they replace furnishings.
Changes To Non-Domicile Rules
This change in entitlement could affect property investment and buy to let, particularly in London as people born in the UK to parents domiciled here will not be able to inherit non-dom status and people will not be able to have permanent non-dom status.
Anyone resident in the UK for 15 of the last 20 years will have to pay full UK tax.
Rent A Room Tax Free Income Threshold Raised
After 18 years, the Rent A Room tax free income threshold is being raised to £7,000 (GBP) per year. There are an estimated 19 million empty bedrooms in owner-occupied properties in England alone. Freeing up just 5% of those rooms would accommodate 1 million people. This move will also fuel the growth in short, informal lets such as the type offered by Airbnb and the like.
The tax reliefs that have been cut by Mr Osborne were hugely important for landlords in being able to offset other astronomic property costs such as lettings agent fees, landlord insurance, maintenance and repairs costs, as well as council tax.
It is still early days and we need to see how HMRC will implement some of these changes, because they may also try to find additional ways to stop property investors and landlords from profiting from property, however, there are ways to get around some of the changes introduced, including:
Tax Relief
Limited (Ltd) companies appear to be excluded from the mortgage relief cuts meaning that property investors and landlords could potentially look to purchase their future investment properties through Ltd companies.
Buy To Let mortgage lenders could become more open to this method of purchasing properties similar to the way that commercial lenders already facilitate.
Landlords who already own properties personally or in a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) may want to transfer them to a Limited (Ltd) company; however, they will be subject to capital gains tax and stamp duty.
An alternative method to transfer property ownership whilst retaining the current mortgage would be by using a deed of trust, which would transfer the beneficial ownership to a Ltd company. A good solicitor can draw one of these up for you.
Property investors and landlords could also switch their focus slightly and purchase more properties that need refurbishments.
As long as the property is in a habitable condition when purchased but still needs redecoration and comes into the lettings market before the refurb is done, most repairs such as kitchens, bathrooms, paint etc can be offset against all property income from a whole rental portfolio.
We will always try to keep our sector alive and rents affordable as we are providing services to people who need them, we don’t set out to rip people off, we’re not politicians, we are the ones who take the financial risks, we’re the people who provide housing and it’s our name on the deeds not yours.
You see Mr Osborne, whilst you may think that you are being clever and are tapping in to wealth generated by other people’s hard work and risk taking, well, we as landlords won’t be beaten!
Green Party Leader Under Attack For Demonising
Private Rented Sector Landlords
The leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett has attracted a great deal of criticism after she attacked buy-to-let landlords operating in the private rented sector (PRS) blaming them for helping to cause the UK’s housing crisis.
Ms Bennett cited extremely high […]

Green Party Leader Blames Landlords For UK Housing Crisis
Green Party Leader Under Attack For Demonising
Private Rented Sector Landlords
The leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett has attracted a great deal of criticism after she attacked buy-to-let landlords operating in the private rented sector (PRS) blaming them for helping to cause the UK’s housing crisis.
Ms Bennett cited extremely high rental returns for landlords with property in the UK private rental sector in the recent television debate between the opposition leaders.
She referred to a report published by the Wriglesworth Consultancy and lenders Landbay stating that there had been a 1,400% return for buy-to-let landlords since 1996.
But the report’s authors suggested that the calculations and methodology involved were far more complex than the Green Party leader had portrayed.
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RLA Think Tenant Sub-letting Will Be Catastrophic For Landlords
Following on from last week’s pre-election budget delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, landlord organisations and their landlord members are expressing grave concerns over the Government’s plans to allow private rented sector tenants to begin sub letting their rental properties.
The
Following on from last week’s pre-election budget delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, landlord organisations and their landlord members are expressing grave concerns over the Government’s plans to allow private rented sector tenants to begin sub letting their rental properties. The Budget document published after Mr Osborne delivered his speech contains a clause about sub letting on page 51, under the title “support for the sharing economy”. Continue reading »RLA Think Tenant Sub-letting Will Be Catastrophic For Landlords
How Landlords Are Affected By 2015 Pre-Election Budget
During the pre-election budget last week, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP announced some significant changes that could have a detrimental impact on landlords the UK’s private rental sector (PRS) and residential property owners.
Below are the highlights of the pre-election budget that are of relevance […]

How Landlords Are Affected By 2015 Pre-Election Budget
How Landlords Are Affected By 2015 Pre-Election Budget
During the pre-election budget last week, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP announced some significant changes that could have a detrimental impact on landlords the UK’s private rental sector (PRS) and residential property owners.
Below are the highlights of the pre-election budget that are of relevance to landlords and property owners:
- £13 Billion (GBP) sale announced of the mortgages of UKAR – Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley (Mortgage Express) to reduce national debt which followed the bailing out of the banks.
- Introduction of 20 new housing zones.
- The economy of the North grew faster than the South during 2014.
- The UK has the highest rate of employment in its history!
Employment is growing fastest in the North West, Yorkshire having the biggest employment. - Living standards are higher in 2015 than 2010.
- Inflation forecast downgraded to 0.2%.
- Low interest rates to be “locked in”.
- Original target of debt reduction set in 2010 budget has been met.
- 13 years of rising national debt has now been stopped.
- UK achieved the largest and most sustained debt reduction of any major economy according to the IMF.
- Government borrowing is falling.
- The wealthy are making the biggest contributions to reduce debt.
- End of austerity in 2019.
- The annual tax return is to be abolished. New digital tax accounts to be created.
- The personal tax free allowance has been raised to £10,600 (GBP) and will be raised to £11,000 (GBP) in 2017.
- The higher rate tax threshold will rise to £43,300 (GBP) by 2018.
- Class 2 national insurance contributions abolished for self-employed.
- Stronger measures against tax avoidance and tax evasion.
- Review of avoidance of inheritance tax through deeds of variation.
- New penalties for tax evasion and those professionals who assist them.
- Crime down 20%.
There was some good news contained in the 2015 pre-election budget too:
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PRS Landlords Victory On Selective Licensing By Local Authorities
Government Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis MP (pictured right), has announced that the selective licensing of private rental sector (PRS) landlords by Local Authorities will require Government approval from 1st April 2015, if they plan to license a large geographical area within borough or city boundaries.
Local […]

PRS Landlords Victory On Selective Licensing By Local Authorities
PRS Landlords Victory On Selective Licensing By Local Authorities

Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis
Government Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis MP (pictured right), has announced that the selective licensing of private rental sector (PRS) landlords by Local Authorities will require Government approval from 1st April 2015, if they plan to license a large geographical area within borough or city boundaries.
Local authorities have had the power to licence landlords across an entire borough since 2010, in an attempt to combat community issues, such as anti social behaviour in troublesome areas. This blanket approach has seen a sharp increase in the number of selective licensing schemes being introduced by local authorities across the UK, much to the chagrin of landlords.
The changes to local authority selective licensing powers mean that councils will now need Government approval before they are allowed to implement a selective licensing scheme that covers a large geographical area of their council borough or covers an area that contains a proportion of private rented properties, expected to be around 20% of the local private rental market.
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HMRC Want To Share Your Data With Private Companies …For A Fee, Of Course
New proposals could see HMRC sharing personal tax data with private sector companies, if the plans being considered by Her Majesties Revenue & Customs (HMRC) come to fruition.
If the proposal gets the go-ahead from the Government it would allow HMRC to […]

HMRC want to sell tax details to private sector companies
HMRC Want To Share Your Data With Private Companies …For A Fee, Of Course
New proposals could see HMRC sharing personal tax data with private sector companies, if the plans being considered by Her Majesties Revenue & Customs (HMRC) come to fruition.
If the proposal gets the go-ahead from the Government it would allow HMRC to lease tax data to third party companies including private firms, researchers and even public bodies, earning them a nice amount of additional revenue.
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New Government Measures Intend To Regulate Private Rented Sector
The Government has announced that there are to be new regulations introduced in 2014 to provide private rented sector landlords, tenants and leaseholders with additional protection when working with lettings agents or property managing agents.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) […]
New Government Measures Intend
To Regulate Private Rented Sector
The Government has announced that there are to be new regulations introduced in 2014 to provide private rented sector landlords, tenants and leaseholders with additional protection when working with lettings agents or property managing agents.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) want the introduction of compulsory redress schemes for lettings and property managing agents will ensure that they can be fully investigated where information is not made clear on additional charges, administration fees or any other property or tenant related issue. The proposed measures are intended to provide a cheaper, easier way for landlords, tenants and leaseholders to pursue compensation from lettings and property managing agents if they have a complaint.
The conditions that have to be met by lettings and property managing agents to be a part of a redress scheme have now been published by the Government.
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RLA Argue Over Wording of Immigration Bill
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have won a victory for private rental sector (PRS) landlords after raising concerns that it would have imposed a double penalty on landlords and effectively legalised squatting.
The RLA had a meeting with Immigration Minister, Mark Harper on 17th October and […]
RLA Argue Over Wording of Immigration Bill
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have won a victory for private rental sector (PRS) landlords after raising concerns that it would have imposed a double penalty on landlords and effectively legalised squatting.
The RLA had a meeting with Immigration Minister, Mark Harper on 17th October and highlighted the concerns of its landlord members over the wording of the Bill.
Clause 17 of the proposed Immigration Bill was originally ambiguously worded and the RLA have argued that unless the specific wording of Clause 17 were to be left as it was, it would see landlords facing a double penalty for breaching legislation. Landlords would face hefty fines and be unable to enforce the payment of rent and they would be unable to take back possession of the property, allowing the tenants to reside in rental properties rent free.
Under the current wording of Clause 17, landlords could argue against the fine by checking identity documents that were not obvious forgeries but they would lose the right to claim rent for the property because the tenant was residing illegally in the country pending deportation or an appeal.
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