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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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
Property Optimism Falls To Lowest Level For 18 Months
UK property price optimism among private rental sector landlords and residential property owners has dropped to the lowest recorded level for 18 months after buy to let mortgage lending in January was reported to be decidedly sluggish.
Traditionally, the UK property market generally experiences a slow […]
Property Optimism Falls To Lowest Level For 18 Months
Property Optimism Falls To Lowest Level For 18 Months
UK property price optimism among private rental sector landlords and residential property owners has dropped to the lowest recorded level for 18 months after buy to let mortgage lending in January was reported to be decidedly sluggish.
Traditionally, the UK property market generally experiences a slow start that incrementally builds to a summer buying frenzy before reaching another plateau and then a further period of increase followed by a gradual easing at the end of the year.
The latest Halifax House Price Index (HPI) found that UK property prices increased by just 2% in January 2015, reaching a new UK average property price of £193,130 (GBP).
Combined with figures released by the Department of Communities and Local Government, showing a slowdown in the number of new homes being built, and it is clear why landlord and residential property owners optimism has fallen.
60% of landlords and property owners, surveyed for the lender’s latest housing market confidence tracker report, expected the average property price to be significantly higher in 12 month’s time.
This means that house price optimism has fallen by 10 points from 62 to +52, the lowest level of consumer confidence since June 2013, when 52% of private rental sector landlords and residential property owners expected a large rise in property prices.
So what’s different?
- In June 2013 UK inflation was at 2.9% compared to the current 0.3%
- Employment was just over 30 Million compared to today’s figure of 30.9 Million
- Mortgage lending levels were at £15 Billion (GBP) compared to the current £17 Billion (GBP).
Despite the fact that the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2014 increased by 2.6% and all members of the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to hold interest rates at 0.5%, the dip in confidence levels over UK property prices reflects public concern over the UK economy in general.
Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at the Halifax said that “More than half of consumers still believe UK property prices will be higher than they are now in a year’s time; however optimism has continued to weaken. Despite this we’re now seeing a return to the seasonal trend for house price activity”.
But he pointed out that of more concern are the figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government showing a slowdown in the number of new homes being built. ‘It’s widely acknowledged that the UK needs an increase in the amount of new housing being built,’ said McKinlay.
‘The Lloyds Banking Group Commission on Housing targeted 2 to 2.5 million new homes built by 2025 new homes to be built before 2025. If we are to address demand the increase in new homes coming onto the market needs to be sustainable,’ he explained.
Warrington Letting Agent Closes Owing ~
Landlords Thousands Of Pounds
Aspire Lettings based on Padgate Business Park in Warrington, Cheshire have vanished leaving more than 200 landlords without thousands of pounds in rental payments.
Landlords are still waiting to receive rental payments from Aspire Lettings, and they have tried to contact the owner of […]
Failed Warrington Letting Agent Rips Off Landlords
Warrington Letting Agent Closes Owing ~
Landlords Thousands Of Pounds
Aspire Lettings based on Padgate Business Park in Warrington, Cheshire have vanished leaving more than 200 landlords without thousands of pounds in rental payments.
Landlords are still waiting to receive rental payments from Aspire Lettings, and they have tried to contact the owner of the company, Becky Westby, on numerous occasions, via telephone and email, but have been unable to get anywhere.
Any landlords using Aspire lettings in Warrington (Company number 09042816) should contact their tenants immediately and stop any further rental payments being made to Becky Westby and Aspire Lettings in Warrington and make alternative arrangements.
Affected landlords are also being encouraged to contact The Property Ombudsman and their local trading standards offices.
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Fire Service Calls For 2013
Smoke Alarm Law To Be Enacted
The Government passed a law back in 2013 requiring private rental sector (PRS) landlords to provide smoke alarms in all UK rental properties.
However, this new bill is still under public consultation and as yet it has not been brought into force and […]
More Calls For Smoke Alarms To Be Compulsory
Fire Service Calls For 2013
Smoke Alarm Law To Be Enacted
The Government passed a law back in 2013 requiring private rental sector (PRS) landlords to provide smoke alarms in all UK rental properties.
However, this new bill is still under public consultation and as yet it has not been brought into force and some local authorities claim that this is putting tenant’s lives at risk.
Now there are further calls from the fire service for more new laws to be introduced to make sure all landlords, both social and private sector, install smoke alarms in all rented properties.
Mandatory smoke alarms are among the key issues to be discussed at the Local Government Association’s (LGA) annual fire safety conference due to be held in Gateshead next month 10th – 11th March 2015.
The call for UK landlords to install smoke alarms in rental properties forms a central part of the LGA’s key report ‘The Fire and Rescue Service: Making our Nation Safer’, which was launched on Saturday 7th February 2015.
The report highlights a series of proposals on how UK fire services can improve fire safety for tenants, including calls for electrical wiring in rented properties to be inspected annually, the same way UK PRS landlords are obliged to obtain gas safety certificates (CP12’s) every year.
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If You Think Our Housing Laws Are Crass
Try Being A Landlord In Germany
There are always plenty of stories in the media about landlords and letting agents and their idiosyncratic practices, but a recent news article about a German landlord published in The Telegraph and picked up by LandlordToday.com really does take the […]
If You Think Our Housing Laws Are Crass Try Being A Landlord In Germany
If You Think Our Housing Laws Are Crass
Try Being A Landlord In Germany
There are always plenty of stories in the media about landlords and letting agents and their idiosyncratic practices, but a recent news article about a German landlord published in The Telegraph and picked up by LandlordToday.com really does take the p**s!
UK landlords have faced a great deal of criticism for reasonably, and in some cases unreasonably, withholding a tenants’ deposit for all kinds of damage caused to rental property by tenants but now a German landlord has ended up in court for trying to claim damage to a bathroom floor caused by a tenant’s urine.
The landlord had withheld €1,900, equivalent to around £1,400 (GBP) from the tenant’s €3,000 deposit for damage allegedly caused to a marble floor in the bathroom of a rental property by a male tenant missing the toilet bowl while urinating standing up.
The tenant sued his landlord after the refusal to pay back the €1,900 claimed for damages to the marble floor but the judge ruled that the tenant had the right to take care of business standing up.
The landlord had brought in a “technical expert“, who had the unenviable task of confirming that wayward droplets were indeed the cause of the damage to the marble tiles.
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National Housing Federation Reveals
Most Unaffordable UK Areas To Rent Property
Towns and cities such as Oxford and Brighton have overtaken many London borough’s as the most unaffordable places in the UK to rent, according to the National Housing Federation.
London boroughs may have the monopoly on the most expensive rents in the UK’s […]
National Housing Federation Reveals Most Unaffordable UK Areas To Rent Property
National Housing Federation Reveals
Most Unaffordable UK Areas To Rent Property
Towns and cities such as Oxford and Brighton have overtaken many London borough’s as the most unaffordable places in the UK to rent, according to the National Housing Federation.
London boroughs may have the monopoly on the most expensive rents in the UK’s private rental sector (PRS), but when factored against average local earnings, UK towns and cities such as Oxford, Brighton and Bath are calculated to be more unaffordable than many London boroughs.
The most expensive area outside of London is the Three Rivers area in Hertfordshire, where the average PRS rent swallows up over 50% of the average income of residents in the area.
Other places such as Oxford, South Bucks and Brighton are now more unaffordable than London boroughs such as Greenwich and Lewisham, with renters spending over half their salary on rent before they’ve covered any other bills.
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Four Out Of Five Tenants Happy
With Their Landlords
The majority of tenants living in private rental sector (PRS) rented properties have nothing but good things to say about their landlords, according to a survey conducted by Saga Home Insurance.
In a poll of UK tenants conducted by the insurance company, 77% of tenants […]
Recent Survey Discovers UK Landlords And Tenants are happy!
Four Out Of Five Tenants Happy
With Their Landlords
The majority of tenants living in private rental sector (PRS) rented properties have nothing but good things to say about their landlords, according to a survey conducted by Saga Home Insurance.
In a poll of UK tenants conducted by the insurance company, 77% of tenants who responded rated their landlord as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
Fewer than 8% of tenants, (1 in 10) described the quality of service they received from their landlords as ‘poor’, which the insurance firm claimed to be contrary to popular stereotypes.
The survey surmised that UK landlords are largely a morally sound, ethical group of business people!
However, 56% of the tenants polled by Saga still identified room for improvement in their tenant-landlord relationships. With:
- 23% of tenants complaining about hard-to-reach landlords
- 21% of tenants had reservations about the quality of tradesmen used for repairs.
The insurance firm also spoke to landlords themselves about their relationships with tenants, and the biggest obstacles to a cordial co-existence with their tenants were:
- Late rent payments cited by 37% of landlords,
- Damage to rental property – 32%
- Failure to provide notice when vacating rental property – 20%.
Finally, the insurance company also discovered that at least 10% of landlords, an alarming one in ten, had not paid tenants’ deposits into one of the three the Deposit Protection Schemes currently in operation, which as well as being illegal, can result in problems when tenant eviction becomes necessary.
Saga’s head of home insurance, Sue Green, commented on the survey results, saying “In the age of housing shortages and escalating rents, landlords have been getting some bad headlines, but the research shows the extent to which this portrayal is unfair. The vast majority of landlords are conscientious and ethical, although tenants do believe more can be done which is why we have released a guide with practical tips to help them improve their ethical credentials.”
Tenants Thoughtlessness
May Go Against Tenancy Agreements
According to new research conducted by Ocean Finance, the majority of tenants in the private rental sector could be guilty of breaching their tenancy agreement for their rented properties.
The study found that 94% of tenants in private rented sector properties admitted to acting in a manner […]
MPPT Spotlight are focusing on Tenants this week with a series of articles on getting the best out of tenants
Tenants Thoughtlessness
May Go Against Tenancy Agreements
According to new research conducted by Ocean Finance, the majority of tenants in the private rental sector could be guilty of breaching their tenancy agreement for their rented properties.
The study found that 94% of tenants in private rented sector properties admitted to acting in a manner that could be considered to be in breach of their tenancy agreements, as not all tenancy agreements include restrictive clauses, but many do.
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Tenants Admit Having Problems With Landlords And Letting Agents
55% of tenants in the UK’s private rented sector (PRS) have experienced problems with their landlord or their appointed letting agents according to the latest research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).
The most common issue which affected 31% of PRS tenants was the […]
MPPT Spotlight are focusing on Tenants this week with a series of articles on getting the best out of tenants
Tenants Admit Having Problems With Landlords And Letting Agents
55% of tenants in the UK’s private rented sector (PRS) have experienced problems with their landlord or their appointed letting agents according to the latest research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).
The most common issue which affected 31% of PRS tenants was the length of time taken to fix problems in rental properties including issues with boilers, heating and electrical outlets.
Once a problem was raised, tenants have waited an average of 36 days for the problem to be fully resolved. However over 14% of PRS tenants never had their rental property problems fixed at all, according to the research.
18% of tenants surveyed also reported frustrating delays with landlords not replacing worn out fixtures and fittings on demand, including requests to replace old or damaged kitchen cupboards or tired and worn carpets.
14% of the tenants surveyed, felt that their complaints about repair issues were either ignored or brushed off by landlords or their appointed letting agents.
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There Will Never Be A Better Time To Invest In Property
