landlords
-
Agencies & People
Don’t let property investments go to pot
Letting agents and property managers are being reminded to remain attentive when viewing or inspecting rental properties in order to weed out tenants that may be growing cannabis in properties belong to their clients, after a new report revealed that the number of cannabis seizures in rented homes soared by up to 195 per cent in 2014. New analysis from landlord insurer, Direct Line for Business, reveals that police seized 456,911 plants across the UK last year, reflecting a sharp rise in home-based cannabis cultivation. Police raids resulted in no fewer than 59,002 plants being seized in London, which was more than any other part of the country. Birmingham had the second worst record with West Midlands police confiscating 52,218 plants, while 33,547 plants were removed from homes in Greater Manchester. Although the overall volume of seizures fell by 10 per cent between 2013 and 2014, a third of police forces have seen an increase over the year, of 40 per cent on average. West Mercia in the Midlands leads the pack with a 195 per cent increase in confiscations, followed by Cambridgeshire at 110 per cent and then Wiltshire at 75 per cent. Direct Line for Business is now…
Read More » -
Regulation & Law
New protection for tenants and landlords
Letting agents are now required to publish full details of the fees they charge. In addition, agents are also obliged to state whether or not they are a member of a client protection scheme and which redress scheme they are signed up to. The new legislation contained within the Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force last week and is designed to ensure a fair deal for landlords and tenants, closing off the opportunity for a small minority of rogue agents to impose unreasonable, hidden charges. All letting agents are now required to publish a full tariff of their fees – both on their websites and prominently in their offices. Anyone who does not comply with these new rules will face a major fine. David Cox (left), Managing Director, Association of Residential Letting Agents, said, “Relevant information should be placed prominently in offices where letting agents have face to face contact with clients, as well as on their websites. Any costs to landlords and tenants must be clearly defined and comprehensively outlined, including all fees, charges and penalties that may be charged before, during and after a tenancy.” Meanwhile, more than 3,000 professional lettings agent across the UK have joined…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Regulation of the letting agents needed, says CEO
The newly elected Conservative Government should make the regulation of letting agents a priority in a bid to deal with unscrupulous letting agencies and help improve standards in the industry, according to Leaders’ Chief Executive, Paul Weller. Mr Weller (left) believes that millions of landlords and tenants in the private rented sector (PRS) would prosper from the formal regulation of letting agents. He said, “More people and families than ever before now use the PRS and the services of letting agents. Yet the vast majority are unaware that letting agents are not regulated by the Government and that anyone can set up a letting agency, with no experience, knowledge of lettings law or client money protection in place. “Letting agents can hold hundreds of thousands of pounds in rent which they are supposed to protect. But without regulation, there is no way to enforce this and there have been countless cases of letting firms losing their clients’ money, using it for their own ends, or completely disappearing with it, leaving landlords and tenants badly out of pocket. Too many people have suffered at the hands of agents like this, as well as incompetent and unscrupulous agents who fail to provide…
Read More » -
Housing Market
Labour plans for PRS would be disastrous – NLA
Labour’s plans to cap rents, ban letting agent fees, and restrict tax reliefs for landlords who do not keep properties to basic standards could have an adverse impact on the private rented sector (PRS), according to Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at the National Landlords Association (NLA). While acknowledging that Labour has tenants’ “concerns at heart”, Lambert points out that the policy will almost certainly backfire because “they don’t understand the economics of supplying private housing to rent”. The NLA’s CEO (left) insists that these changes “will have far-reaching consequences for the PRS”, and could deter many people from investing in the buy-to-let market which in turn would reduce the supply of housing stock in the PRS. He commented, “If these proposals are going to be rushed into the first Queen’s Speech, less than a month away, without time to think through the consequences, Labour’s good intentions could make the housing crisis worse, not better.” NLA research has found that around two-thirds of landlords do not increase rents during a tenancy. Lambert continued, “Capping annual price rises to inflation sounds like a great consumer protection initiative, but wherever these formulas have been introduced, it’s proved to be counterproductive because it…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Landlords’ body voice concerns over sub-letting
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has expressed concern over controversial plans to allow private tenants to sub-let their tenancies in England, announced by the Chancellor in the Budget last month. The Chairman of the RLA, Alan Ward (left), has written to DCLG Director General, Peter Schofield, seeking greater clarification over the detail of the proposals and has raised various questions as to how this would affect landlords with leases, licensing, and mortgage conditions, and why it is that this proposal has been put forward with no consultation. You can read Alan Ward’s letter in full below. Last month, tenant eviction firm, Landlord Action, also expressed grave concern over Government plans to allow private tenants to sub-let from their tenancies, claiming that it would be “catastrophic” for the rental market. “This appears to have slipped in under the radar which, if it goes ahead, will throw up a magnitude of problems in the buy-to-let industry,” said Paul Shamplina (right), Founder of Landlord Action. “We have never seen so many sub-letting cases going to court because of unscrupulous tenants trying to cream a profit from a property they have rented,” he added. Shamplina believes that “the risk of nightmare sub-tenants” and subsequently…
Read More » -
Agencies & People
Tenant bargaining power grows
New figures from the National Landlords Association (NLA) show that tenants are securing a larger proportion of private rented homes in the UK at below, rather than above, advertised rents. The data shows that 16 per cent of private rented homes are let to tenants at below advertised rents, with eight per cent of homes being let to tenants at above the asking price. Three quarters (76 per cent) of private rented homes are let to tenants at the advertised rent. The difference means that tenants in the UK are benefitting from a net proportion of 8 per cent – or an estimated 320,000 – homes let at below advertised rents. The NLA’s analysis found that more than a quarter of new tenancies in central London (27 per cent) are agreed at lower than advertised rents, with the North East and outer London close behind (both 22 per cent). However, just nine per cent of properties in the East Midlands are let to tenants below the asking price. Yorkshire and the Humber and the South West are close behind on 11 per cent. At the other end of the scale, more tenancies in outer London are agreed above the advertised…
Read More » -
Features
Using tenant deposits
Over the years, I have received a number of complaints about agents, often instructed on a tenant find only basis, who have not forwarded the tenant’s deposit to the landlord, as they have advised they will do in their Terms of Business, to allow the deposit to be protected in a tenancy deposit scheme. Instead, the agent has retained the tenant’s deposit and used it to offset the fees due to them from their landlord client, considering this to be perfectly acceptable and no more than a ‘paper exercise’ to ensure payment of their fees. I have always criticised the agent for such action. So concerned have I been by this practice, that the 1st August 2014 version of the TPO Code of Practice for lettings agents has been amended to incorporate an agent’s obligations in this regard. Paragraph 11k of the Code specifically emphasises that deposits belong to the tenant and states that where it is passed to the landlord for protection in a tenancy deposit scheme, any charges due from a landlord for fees etc must be dealt with as a separate issue and not deducted from the funds passed to the landlord. Put simply, the deposit monies…
Read More » -
Agencies & People
What is ‘fair wear and tear’ for lets?
Pat Barber, Chair of the AIIC, is weary of wear and tear disputes.
Read More » -
Features
Can landlords protect themselves against interest rate rises?
Keith Oliver OBE, has some wise words for your property buyers and investors faced with interest rate rises.
Read More » -
Products & Services
Why bother with reference checks?
Many landlords, and some agents, fail to run reference checks before tenants move in. Sheila Manchester explains their importance in today's market.
Read More »
