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Em Morley

Insurance-Based Deposit Protection Announced

Published On: October 6, 2012 at 3:29 pm

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The UK Government have supported the introduction of an insurance-based deposit protection scheme in England and Wales, from the Deposit Protection Service (DPS).

The new system is in addition to the DPS’s current custodial scheme.

Insurance-Based Deposit Protection Announced

Insurance-Based Deposit Protection Announced

Presently, the DPS holds the only custodial-based deposit protection scheme in England and Wales, and will be the only service offering both options to landlords and letting agents.

The number of approved insurance-backed schemes in England and Wales will also rise to three.

The introduction of the new insured scheme will launch in April 2013, however, landlords and letting agents can register in advance from October 1st.

Similarly to the custodial scheme, registering can be done online or by phone, and both can be organised through one online account.

Registration fees will not be charged for the insured scheme, and the DPS aim to provide competitive protection fees to landlords and letting agents.

All private landlords can use the insured scheme on a pay as you go basis, and letting agents must be members of a professional body, with Client Money Protection insurance.

Director of the DPS, Kevin Firth, says: “We’re delighted to be able to announce a new insurance-based deposit protection scheme from the DPS brand.

“We strive to provide the industry with an excellent service, and offering both insured and custodial options will ensure landlords and letting agents have the choice of protection from the leading supplier of TDP [tenancy deposit scheme] in the UK.”1

 The DPS protect more than 900,000 deposits, following its launch in 2007.

1 http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Landlords-to-have-another-choice-in-tenancy-deposit-protection

Complaints About Landlords Increase

Published On: October 4, 2012 at 2:26 pm

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An investigation from charity group Shelter has presented concerning findings regarding the relationship between landlords and their tenants.

According to the research, complaints about landlords to relevant local authorities have risen by 27% over the past three years.[1]

Complaints

Following Shelter’s freedom of information request to all councils in England, the results showed that 85,000 complaints have been made to local authorities in the past twelve months.

Complaints About Landlords Increase

Complaints About Landlords Increase

 

Worryingly, 62% of complaints lodged were in regards to serious or life-threatening hazards. More concerning still was in 781 cases, landlords’ actions or neglect led to health services becoming involved.[1]

In addition, there was an increase of 77% in prosecutions against private landlords, with 487 instances. Notably, they were primarily handed out by a small minority of councils, including Manchester and Leeds.[1]

Speak Out

In the wake of the report, Shelter is urging more tenants to speak out against rogue landlords. Chief Executive of Shelter, Campbell Robb, said: “Despite the significant increase in complaints, we believe that the number of rogue landlords is still underestimated.” He went on to suggest: “Some local authorities don’t keep records of complaints and tenants often hold back from complaining out of fear of the consequences.” This is hard to believe, Robb believes, considering “such a high proportion of complaints are about life-threatening issues.”[1]

Thankfully, in response to over two years of campaigning by Shelter, the Government has announced plans to set up a taskforce dedicated to eradicating rogue landlords. In addition, there are plans to invest £1.8m into tackling so-called beds in sheds and fines imposed on rogue landlords will now have no limits.

Welcoming the changes, Mr Robb warns: “There is still much to be done.” He believes that it is “ultimately local authorities that must do everything in their power to support people who are suffering by cracking down on the worst offenders in their area.”[1]

[1] http://england.shelter.org.uk/news/previous_years/2012/october_2012/complaints_about_landlords_up_almost_30

 

 

 

Police Ask Agents to Help with Drugs

Published On: October 4, 2012 at 11:17 am

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A new leaflet is being sent to letting agents in the London area to help them identify and crackdown on drug use in their properties.

Police Ask Agents to Help with Drugs

Police Ask Agents to Help with Drugs

Crackdown

Operation Hawk is a London-wide scheme aimed at cutting drug offences.

Police in the Wandsworth area have sent pamphlets to over 120 agents as part of the operation. The document, entitled Keeping Illegal Drugs Out of Rental Properties, contains useful information on how to spot telltale signs that their property is used for the storage and taking of illegal substances. These signs could include stained coffee filters and a large quantity of small plastic bags.

The document also contains useful advice on how to spot cannabis and amphetamine factories. Things to look out for include:

  • Discarded allergy medicines
  • Overwhelming chemical odours
  • Large numbers of people smoking outside the property
  • Sharp rise in electricity bills
  • Damaged wallpaper

Katy Shepherd, Acting Sergeant, called on agents to take the time to read the pamphlets. Shepherd said: “We are asking agents to disseminate the leaflet to the landlords that they have got on their lists.”[1]

[1] http://old.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Police-ask-agents-for-help-against-drugs-war

London Council Shake Up Social Housing

Published On: October 2, 2012 at 2:35 pm

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Hammersmith and Fulham Council has announced a drastic change to legislation in their borough in an attempt to solve social housing tenancy term problems.

New measures

From 2013, the Council plans to bring in fixed-term tenancies for those wishing to live in social housing. As part of their proposals, Hammersmith and Fulham Council plan to cut tenancy periods to five years, dropping to just two years for 18-25 year olds.

Also included in the proposals are plans to introduce a household income cap of £40,200. This is designed to deter more people from registering for social housing, with the waiting list already standing at 10,300 people.[1]

London Council Shake Up Social Housing

London Council Shake Up Social Housing

 

The new measures are due to be considered at a council meeting later this month. Hammersmith and Fulham Council has put forward the plans on the back of the Localism Act 2011, which gave local councils more authority to give flexible tenancy guidelines.

This led Barnet Council to introduce fixed-term tenancies with a household cap of £36,200 for families with children, decreasing to £30,800 for those without.[1]

Trim waiting lists

Hammersmith and Fulham have moved quickly to say that the new changes will not affect existing tenants. In addition, vulnerable tenants will still have the option of a more secure tenancy, with local workers and the armed forces also receiving priority.

The Council believes that the income cap on social properties will cut the waiting list, which currently amounts to around a 36-year wait. Councillor Andrew Johnson, cabinet member for housing, said: “We believe that the notion of a tenancy for life is outdated and that it’s wrong to expect to inherit a welfare benefit in the form of a subsided house irrespective of housing need.”[1]

Unaffordable

However, housing charity Shelter is strongly opposed to the introduction of income caps, stating that many families will end up “locked out of a decent place to live.”[1]

Kay Boycott, Director of Communications at the organisation, said that their research this year, “found that renting a two-bedroom home in Hammersmith and Fulham is unaffordable for families earning less than £74,100.”

She continued: “An income cap for social housing around the £40,000 mark could therefore see a huge swathe of the population locked out of a decent place to live, too well off to access social housing but not affluent enough to find an affordable place to rent privately.”[1]

Contrast

In a different move, Sutton Council has recently released its Tenancy Strategy, which pledges its support to open-ended tenancies. Council leader Ruth Dombey, believes: “It is very dangerous to create transient neighbourhoods where few people have any real stake in the community.”

She went on to say: “I’m not embarrassed to say that we looked to the past for inspiration.”[1]

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19793965

 

 

 

High Rents Could Hold Back Economic Recovery

Published On: October 2, 2012 at 11:45 am

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Research from the charity Shelter seems to suggest that rising private rents are detrimental to the recovery of Britain’s economy.

High Rents Could Hold Back Economic Recovery

High Rents Could Hold Back Economic Recovery

Ex Labour party employee Peter Jeffreys, argues that there is evidence that high rent costs are making tenants hold back on their spending on consumer goods. Instead, rising numbers of tenants are turning to costly credit in order to pay their way.

Concern

Jeffreys is concerned that rising rent is increasing the gap between costs and wages. He argues: “Coupled with falling household incomes, that means that rents are eating up even more disposable income.”[1]

Jeffreys continues: “Given that there are 8.5m renters in England, and one in four Londoners, and that in the capital renters pay on average between 42% and 46% of their wage in rent, there is a strong case that a lot of potential consumer spending is being lost.”[1]

Mr Jeffreys also said it was not a case of the high rents simply finding their way back into the recovering economy through landlords. As he makes clear: “The majority of landlords are individuals or couples renting out just one of two homes. Many of those landlords are using the rents to pay off their mortgages and make a small yield.”[1] Jeffreys was also circumspect about the effect on the overall economy: “A huge amount of money paid in rent is not recirculating into the economy, but rather it is financing mortgage debt.” [1]

Jeffreys’ thoughts in full can be seen at http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/are-high-rents-holding-back-the-recovery/

[1] http://old.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/High-rents-are-holding-back-Britains-economic-recovery

 

 

Tenants Pile into House Shares

Published On: September 29, 2012 at 3:28 pm

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Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) are getting more popular, as tenants look for cheaper rooms in house and flat shares.

The house and flat sharing website SpareRoom.co.uk has revealed that the fastest expanding property type on their site is houses with six or more bedrooms. This is growing in both supply and demand.

Tenants Pile into House Shares

Tenants Pile into House Shares

In the last year, there has been a 59% increase in rooms vacant in six or more bedroom homes on SpareRoom, with a further 51% rise in rooms in five-bedroom properties, and 43% more in four-bed houses.

London’s figures are higher still, with rooms in six or more bedroom houses rising by 79%, and another 74% in five-bedroom homes.

In the current economic market, large flat shares are becoming ever popular, due to high living costs and expensive rents.

Across the UK, a room in a two and three-bedroom flat or house shares will cost you £426 a month, whereas four to six-plus bedroom properties cost an average of £397 per month. This saves £348 a year in rent, says SpareRoom.

In London, rent in a two-bedroom flat is £809 per month, while a room in a six-bedroom share is £710, saving you £1,188 a year.

Director of SpareRoom, Matt Hutchinson, explains: “Faced with stubbornly high living costs, jobs uncertainty and, in many cases, reduced incomes, renters are increasingly looking to make savings wherever they can, and sharing a larger property with more people is a simple way to do that. Not only is the rent cheaper, but monthly bills are lower when divided amongst a bigger group, too.

“Landlords can reap higher yields from larger properties and tend to rent by the room in bigger house shares, as it can be difficult to find a big enough group of sharers that will move in al ltogether, unless their property is located in a university town or city and they are targeting the student market.”1

If you are looking to invest in a larger property, landlords should be wary of HMO licences and whether the local council requires them.

1 http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Tenants-in-search-of-cheapest-rents-pile-into-bigger-flatshares