Posted: August 26th, 2009 | Author: hirsty | Filed under: Politics | No Comments »
It appears that the communities secretary, John Denham, wishes to Fast Track the legislation required to introduce the proposed database of every private landlord in the country.
Sadly, what might be seen as a sensible and small step in the right direction, is vociferously opposed by many of those who it seeks to register.
Whether on the grounds that agreeing to a minimum standard of conduct and registering as a landlord is too “beurocratic”:
“The last thing the Government should be doing at the moment is discouraging homeowners from taking in lodgers by over-legislating and forcing people to sign up to a national register,”
said Matt Hutchinson, director of Spareroom.co.uk, a house share website.
“Falling property prices have left thousands of homeowners in negative equity and struggling to make ends meet, and being able to bring in some extra income by taking in a lodger has proved a lifeline for many people.”
or over fears that the database will be used by tax officials to track down those who are evading the correct tax payments on their investments:
Richard Price, director of operations at the National Landlords Assoc, said he was also against any extension to spare-room landlords:
“There should be more effective ways for HMRC to find tax evaders that do not result in homeowners withdrawing their contribution to the housing shortage.”
Revenue and Customs admitted yesterday that it has few details about tax income from private landlords, as it is split between personal self-assessment forms and corporate returns. Nor does it have any idea how many evade payments.
Officials from the Department of Communities and Local Government said that the measures were not intended as a tax crackdown but to strengthen local authorities in tackling bad landlords with a record of exploiting vulnerable tenants. Those failing to undertake essential repairs or improperly not returning deposits would incur penalty points and serial offenders would be struck off the register and barred from letting their properties, he said.
source: http://property.timesonline.co.uk
Posted: August 26th, 2009 | Author: hirsty | Filed under: Politics | No Comments »
The Government has completed its consultation on a proposed internet based register for all landlords, suggesting that this would help remove bad landlords along withe educating new landlords of their responsibilities.
However, Shelter says that many of the three million private rental households will continue to be let down unless the regulation system is more robust.
Shelter chief executive Sam Younger: ‘With more people now entering the private rented sector, either as a tenant or a landlord, it is now time to bring this sector up to scratch and create a better deal for everyone involved.
‘We cannot continue to recognise the importance of licensing and regulation for other sectors, whilst failing to properly regulate a sector that is responsible for housing three million households.’
Source: www.shelter.org.uk
Posted: April 16th, 2009 | Author: hirsty | Filed under: Assured shorthold tenancy, Letting agents | No Comments »
We are looking to redress the balance between tenants on one side and letting agents/landlords on the other. In this case the OFT is tackling contract issues between landlords and lettings agents, perhaps next we can encourage them to take on contract issues between letting agents and tenants…
Essentially the OFT is looking to see whether the practice of charging a comission to landlords when an existing tenant renews is an unfair contract term.
We will be following this case with great interest to see whether there is a willingness to take on these inequalities.
http://www.citywire.co.uk/personal/-/news/money-property-and-tax/content.aspx?ID=336181&Page=1
Posted: March 17th, 2009 | Author: hirsty | Filed under: Letting agents | No Comments »
From the Guardian:
It seems that estate agents up and down the country, unable to sell property, are pouring into the lettings business instead. Like rental properties themselves, the market for letting agents is now saturated. The influx has been so great that the Association of Residential Letting Agents has warned about a flood of “unqualified” agents without professional qualifications or standards hitting our high streets.
An interesting article highlighting the unregulated, poor quality of the private lettings agency business.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/mar/17/patrick-collinson-letting-agents
Posted: February 26th, 2009 | Author: hirsty | Filed under: Credit Checks, Eviction, Landlord repossession, Letting agents | No Comments »
This story is been run by the BBC, including a few case studies of blameless tennants evicted due to landlords in arrears.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7912025.stm
When asked for comment on why letting agencies credit check tennants, but not landlords, I think the response from Townends (a large agency in Surrey) sums up the problem:
“Credit checks are not something any agent would do on a client. Landlords sign a contract, and have to make sure everything runs smoothly, and we conform to a code of conduct.”
So no argument against credit checks on landlords, other than the fact that they dont already do it. In this market, with more and more agents attempting to sign up landlords as their sales businesses collapse, it would be a brave agency who tried to credit check a landlord! This is why legislation or at least changes to the code of practice are required as it will never happen without this change.
Agents are there to represent the interests of landlords and derive their income from the landlords, not the tennants. Unless that can be changed through legislation, I dont see any way of improving the lot of private tennants.
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