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Em Morley

Evictions Firm Pushes for Quicker Procedures

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 12:58 pm

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Categories: Landlord News

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Eviction firm Landlord Action is pushing for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to speed up evictions by allowing more cases to be transferred to the High Court.

Landlord Action says that the time it takes to get a county court bailiff appointment once a possession order has been granted is having a detrimental impact on landlords’ finances.

Evictions Firm Pushes for Quicker Procedures

Evictions Firm Pushes for Quicker Procedures

Some bailiffs do not have free appointments for up to three months.

Founder of Landlord Action, Paul Shamplina, states: “During this period, the tenant will most likely not be paying rent and the landlord will not be able to recover that lost rent from the tenant.

“Nor will the landlord be able to let the property out or even make future preparations to do so.

“We have even had instances of bailiffs not turning up at all, which results in the landlord having to wait a further eight to 12 weeks – a total of six months’ additional lost rent.

“Only recently, a bailiff who attended an eviction for one or our clients told us she had 14 evictions that day.”

Landlord Action has urged the MoJ to enforce a clear directive to be given to county court district judges.

Shamplina continues: “We feel that the judges at hearings should have sight of the bailiffs’ diaries and if dates go over 4-6 weeks, then cases should automatically be transferred up.

“Cases still have to rely on the court administration to obtain the warrant for the High Court enforcement officer to act where delays can be encountered, but generally it is much quicker.

“We always try and make sure that seven days’ notice of the eviction date is given to the tenant, allowing them time to remove their items and vacate, as well as take the notice to the council for rehousing.”1

The court transfer process is fairly quick, easy and cost-effective. The average time to undertake an eviction is then around 10-14 days.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/campaign-launches-for-landlords-financially-crippled-by-waiting-times-for-bailiff/

Scottish house prices and sales up in June

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 12:24 pm

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Categories: Property News

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Scottish house prices rose in June, with the average price of a property north of the border now £169,227, according to new index figures.

Data from the report by Your Move shows that sales rose by 25% month on month, with year-on-year prices increasing by 1.2%.[1]

Changes

There have been a number of changes in the property market during the last twelve months, including the introduction of the new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in April.

After a surge in sales in the upper end of the market before the tax was introduced, sales tailed off soon afterwards. However, the latest figures show that the price revival in June was driven by a resurgence of sales for million pound plus properties.

A rise of 25% in home sales in comparison to May was the highest month-on-month growth since July 2014. By region, Glasgow saw the greatest increase in sales activity during the second quarter of the year, recording an increase of 18% year-on-year.

‘The calm annual house price change of 1.2% recorded in June 2015 belies tumultuous currents of activity beneath the surface,’ said Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland. ‘The Scottish housing market has been buffeted around by taxation.’[1]

Improvement

Campbell pointed out that in 2014, there were on average 12 £1m plus properties sold north of the border. In June 2015 alone, there were 6, indicating a marked improvement in the sector in just one month.[1]

On the mainland, the largest monthly rises were recorded, unsurprisingly, by the two most expensive local authorities in Scotland. East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire shows jumps of 26% and 21% respectively during the month.[1]

Campbell said that, ‘more generally, the LBTT front loaded sales into the start of the year and activity dragged its heels throughout April and May, with the general election adding to the dampening effect.’[1]

Scottish house prices and sales up in June

Scottish house prices and sales up in June

For example, in Aberdeen, sales of detached homes fell by 39% between March in April but in June, there was a 25% month-on-month rise. In Scotland overall, there were 9,265 sales during June, the most activity since July 2014 and during the second quarter of 2015, sales of flats saw a significant year-on-year rise of 7%.[1]

Affordable

Campbell feels that the improvement, ‘stems from the stamina of the first time buyer market, as this property type tends to be the most affordable for those getting their first footing on the property ladder. This is especially the case in cities and Glasgow and Edinburgh accounted for 45% of all Scottish flat sales during the second quarter of 2015.’[1]

She went on to say, ‘affordability is the biggest steer to Scottish housing market at the moment. At £200,000, the average price of a flat in Edinburgh is more than one and half times as much as the cost of the typical flat in Glasgow which stands at £120,000.’[1]

‘As a result, Glasgow has experienced the strongest jump in house purchases overall, with sales up 18% in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2014, while Edinburgh sales have seen just a 2% upswing over the same period.  Low interest rates, competitive mortgage deals, and higher average earnings have caused a swell of confidence and buyer demand, particularly in cheaper areas,’ she said, adding that a lack of supply will keep the market open to stronger price surges,’ Campbell concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/scotland-property-prices-sales-2015081910880.html

 

Landlord Who Required Admin Fee Could Have Broken the Law

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 11:57 am

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A landlord demanded their tenant pay an admin fee of £30 to have their tenancy deposit protected. They then requested £50 when the tenancy was renewed after six months.

Landlord Who Required Admin Fee Could Have Broken the Law

Landlord Who Required Admin Fee Could Have Broken the Law

The landlord’s six-month renewal letter reads: “As discussed, if you want your deposit protected, please forward payment of £50. Alternatively, I’ll just leave it as it is.”1

However, it seems that the deposit was never protected at all.

The tenant, who is due to move out, is worried about getting her deposit back. But it appears that landlord has broken the Housing Act 2004 twice.

Property law expert, David Smith, says the landlord “cannot make the protection conditional.

“Also, as this is a non-optional fee, it should have been advertised at the point of advertising the rent. If it has been paid it can probably be recovered under the new civil recovery powers linked to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations [CPRs].”1 

Smith believes that the tenant could make a double claim against the landlord for two breaches of the law, and advises the tenant to report the landlord to Trading Standards.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) has given its view on the matter: “It’s very clear cut. The landlord must protect the deposit within 30 days and provide the tenant with written details of their protection [prescribed information], also within 30 days of receipt.

“The Housing Act is silent on administration charges to tenants for deposit protection, but this has no bearing on the landlord’s responsibility to protect.

“At TDS, we regularly get well-meaning but ill-informed landlords contacting us because they find out too late that deposit protection regulations exist.

“We advise them to protect as quickly as possible, and should it come to court, a judge may look favourably upon this when deciding the amount of the penalty.”1

It has been over eight years since tenancy deposit protection became compulsory, so landlords should definitely be aware of the rules.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/landlord-who-demanded-admin-fee-for-tenancy-deposit-may-have-broken-law/

97% of homeowners to get tax-free income from April

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 11:08 am

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A new report has suggested that the upcoming Rent a Room Scheme will be beneficial to the vast majority of homeowners.

Research conducted by SpareRoom.co.uk shows that homeowners in 29 of Britain’s 30 largest towns and cities will be able to earn tax-free rental income when the scheme comes into effect in April 2016.

Rents

Data from the report shows that only rents in the capital are greater than the £7,500 eligibility threshold. Under the current scheme, those letting furnished rooms to lodgers below the £4,250 per year threshold must declare tax on earnings in 73% of the 30 largest towns and cities.[1]

Average rents in Aberdeen were found to be £520 per month, the highest in Britain outside of London. This means that a live-in landlord letting a furnished room to a lodger could earn £6,240. Brighton represents the next highest rent of £510, equivalent to £6,120 per year. From April 2016, when the threshold is raised to £7,500 per year, these earnings will be completely free.[1]

In terms of UK capital cities, the largest annual lodger increases over the past twelve months were in Cardiff, where rents were up by 10.7%. Edinburgh came in next with a 10% rise, with Belfast seeing growth of 8.7% and London 5.3%.[1]

Good news

‘The increase to the Rent a Room scheme threshold is long overdue, having remained fixed since 1997,’ said Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom.co.uk. The extra cash could really help when interest rates rise and mortgage payments follow. It’s great news for renters too,’ he continued.[1]

97% of homeowners to get tax-free income from April

97% of homeowners to get tax-free income from April

‘In the midst of a housing crisis and with building levels lagging well behind required targets, the new Rent a Room Scheme threshold should incentivise more cash-strapped homeowners to let their spare rooms, increasing the supply of affordable accommodation and reducing the pressure on rents. It’s something we campaigned for over six years, so we were thrilled to get a call from the Chancellor’s office on budget day to let us know it was happening. Even if we build at the levels we need we’ll only increase housing stock by 1 or 2% a year so making better use of existing stock is vital,’ Hutchinson stated.[1]

Concluding, Hutchinson said, ‘It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the run up to April. It’s likely many will start taking advantage of the current tax break this tax year. Freeing up just 5% of the 19 million spare rooms in England alone would accommodate almost a million people, the equivalent of a city the size of Birmingham. Watch this space.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/97-eligible-for-tax-free-rental-income-from-april.html

 

 

Forthcoming Changes to the PRS

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 10:56 am

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The private rental sector in England is experiencing great change at present and landlords must be aware of all of their responsibilities.

The following measures are due to be implemented in the lettings industry imminently. Ensure you understand your duties.

  1. Section 21 changes

Section 21 notices will be soon be changing. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Anti-retaliatory eviction measures – These will restrict a landlord’s ability to serve a valid section 21 notice if the tenant has complained about the condition of the rental property and if the local authority has already served an improvement or similar notice to the landlord.

Property lawyer, Tessa Shepperson, comments: “This measure should not affect landlords who respond promptly to tenants and who keep properties in good condition. Local authority EHOs [Environmental Health Officers] are mostly overworked and do not have enough staff to deal properly with their case load, so are not going to want to waste resources on anything other than clear cases of bad practice.”

  • A new section 21 notice – Shepperson explains: “I have seen a draft of this, but no doubt it will be amended before the final version is released. This is really good news for landlords, as most of the problems in the past with section 21 evictions have been about the correct drafting of the notice.”
  • Forthcoming Changes to the PRS

    Forthcoming Changes to the PRS

    Additional preconditions for serving a section 21 notice – Currently, these requirements are compliance with tenancy deposit rules and having a license on a licensable House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). The new conditions are: Installing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and serving the tenant a gas safety certificate, an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and a copy of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s How to Rent guide.

  • Time limits – Landlords will not be able to serve a section 21 notice within the first four months of a tenancy and will not be able to issue proceedings regarding a notice more than six months after it was served.

The new section 21 measures are set to be implemented on 1st October 2015, but the preconditions and time limits will only apply to new tenancies created after this date.

  1. New health and safety rules

Landlords are required to fit smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Local fire and rescue services have been given free alarms to offer to landlords, so it is worthwhile speaking to your local service.

  1. Right to rent checks

The right to rent checks were included in the Immigration Act 2014 and have been piloted in the West Midlands over the last six months.

It is believed that they will be rolled out nationwide, “as fast as the Government can manage it.” Shepperson adds: “New measures are also being planned for a new immigration act, which will involve harsher penalties for landlords who fail to carry out the checks, including imprisonment, and also the power to evict tenants without getting a court order first.”

  1. HMO licensing

“The Government has indicated that it is going to revisit mandatory licensing and widen the definition so more properties will come within it,” states Shepperson. “So if you manage a property that is an HMO but not a licensable one, this may change in the not too distant future.”1

  1. Penalties for rogue landlords

The Government has suggested that it will crack down on rogue landlords by introducing new penalties. The best thing to do to avoid these penalties is to act within the law and follow our advice.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/important-changes-are-imminent-for-private-rented-sector/

House Prices Rising Further

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 9:55 am

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Categories: Finance News

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House prices grew by 5.7% in the year to June, standing at a UK average of £277,000.

House Prices Rising Further

House Prices Rising Further

The average price in England was £290,000, £169,000 in Wales, £154,000 in Northern Ireland and £192,000 in Scotland.

The highest price within England was in London, at £513,000. The lowest average price in England was found in the North East at £156,000.

Excluding the capital and the South East, the average UK house price was £211,000.

Although average UK house price inflation was 5.6% annually, there are great differences between countries. Inflation was 6.1% in England, 9% in Northern Ireland, but just 0.8% in Wales. House prices dropped by an average of 0.6% in Scotland.

The average first time buyer in the UK paid 5.1% more for their starter home this June than last year.

Chief Executive of Spicerhaart, Paul Smith, says: “In a drastic reversal of regional trends, it is not London driving national house price growth, but other areas such as the East of England and Northern Ireland, which have seen price increases of 9.2% and 9% respectively.

“This demonstrates that the supply shortage is now a far-reaching problem that needs to be tackled imminently.

“The new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Planning needs to drive national action from the centre and it needs to think innovatively to effect real change in the UK’s housing market, which may include decisions that aren’t universally popular.”1 

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/house-prices-on-the-up-but-london-no-longer-in-driving-seat/