Posts with tag: letting agents

Scotland to Enforce Rent Controls Under New Bill

Published On: March 21, 2016 at 9:29 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

Last week, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill to end the no fault ground for eviction and to enforce rent controls across the private rental sector.

Scotland to Enforce Rent Controls Under New Bill

Scotland to Enforce Rent Controls Under New Bill

The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill will implement a rule that means that landlords and letting agents will no longer be able to ask a tenant to leave a rental property, simply because the tenancy has come to an end. Instead, tenancies will roll on automatically.

The new law will also allow the introduction of rent controls by local councils in areas where rent rises are considered excessive.

The Director of housing charity Shelter Scotland, Graeme Brown, believes that private tenants, landlords and letting agents in Scotland will benefit from the new legislation.

He states: “This bill represents the biggest move forward in private tenancy law in the last quarter of a century, and we welcome many of the changes it contains.

“It will significantly rebalance the relationship between tenants and landlords, and modernise and strengthen the rights of the growing number of private rented sector tenants in Scotland.

“The abolition of no fault eviction, combined with a flexible and secure tenancy, will help families in particular put down roots in their communities and help people to stay in their home for as long as they need.”1

The Scottish Housing Minister, Margaret Burgess, adds: “These significant changes will transform the private rented sector, creating a more modern tenancy, bringing stability to the sector and helping to meet Scotland’s housing needs.”1

Landlords and letting agents in Scotland have previously tried to challenge the new law.

Are you a landlord or agent in Scotland? What do you think about the changes?

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/scottish-government-passes-bill-bring-rent-controls/

London Council Launches Letting Agency to Protect Private Tenants

Published On: March 10, 2016 at 3:26 pm

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,,,

A London council has launched a letting agency for private tenants in a bid to protect renters from extortionate fees and charges.

Haringey Council in north London says its online letting agent, Move 51° North, is the first in the UK to provide private tenants with an alternative to mainstream letting agents.

A study by Citizens Advice last year found that tenants were paying an average of £337 in charges to letting agents, but that fees vary massively from agent to agent.

London Council Launches Letting Agency to Protect Private Tenants

London Council Launches Letting Agency to Protect Private Tenants

Costs for checking references ranged from £6-£300, while tenants also faced charges of between £15-£300 for simply renewing their tenancies.

Haringey Council’s agency will charge tenants a fee of £180 to cover administration and £72 for credit checks. There are no renewal fees for those tenants that wish to continue their tenancy beyond the original contract term.

Landlords will be offered lettings and management services at the market rate and access to the council’s maintenance services for any repair work.

The council will spend around £500,000 in the first three years to cover costs, but hopes to return this by the fifth year.

Around one third of the borough’s homes are privately rented, with an average rent of about £1,600 per month for a two-bedroom property.

Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration, Alan Strickland, believes the agency will “help stamp out rip-off fees and charges”.

He says: “Private tenants in London are too often forgotten in the noisy debate about the housing market in our city.

“Haringey is fast becoming one of London’s most popular places to live and work, and we know many people prefer the flexibility of the private rented sector, which is why it’s vital we do more to protect them from rogue landlords and unscrupulous lettings firms.”1

Dan Wilson Craw, of Generation Rent, comments on the plans: “The average household in London pays more than £400 in agent fees when they move home, so some disruption to the market is welcome.

“We hope the council will use this as an opportunity to lead the way in providing secure tenancies with predictable rents, but for the time being, not all tenants will benefit. We need much wider reform to give renters greater power in the market.”1

Would you use a letting agency like this one? 

1 http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/10/london-council-launches-letting-agency-for-private-renters

ARLA Works with Home Office to Overcome Right to Rent Issues

Published On: March 1, 2016 at 9:26 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has been working alongside the Home Office to overcome issues experienced by landlords and letting agents in East Anglia in regard to Right to Rent checks.

In Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, many letting agents and landlords deal with requests from US Air Force personnel for private rental accommodation.

ARLA Works with Home Office to Overcome Right to Rent Issues

ARLA Works with Home Office to Overcome Right to Rent Issues

However, the US Air Force staff have been informed that for security reasons, they cannot allow anyone to photocopy their identification documents, as is required under the Right to Rent scheme.

ARLA has teamed up with the Home Office to resolve this problem.

The US Air Force has now agreed to create letters specifically for the purpose of providing evidence of staff’s migration status to prospective landlords and letting agents.

The Home Office has told ARLA:

  • This letter will be used for this purpose only and therefore can be kept or photocopied by a landlord or agent.
  • The US military is happy for landlords or agents to see, but not copy, a military ID card, which will allow the landlord or agent to check the person’s identity more thoroughly and guard against abuse.
  • This process will cover family members or dependents, but details are yet to be agreed. However, the Home Office claims that it is most likely that family will be named in the letter.
  • The process will be outlined in forthcoming guidance.
  • Military personnel will be made aware of these letters and the process.

As of 1st February, landlords or their letting agents have been required to conduct immigration status checks on all prospective adult tenants before the start of a tenancy through the Right to Rent scheme.

However, it has recently emerged that many landlords are already unaware of their legal obligations, and this issue looks set to confuse those renting out private property even further.

We continue to bring you the latest in lettings law and advice for landlords.

Generation Rent Launches List of Letting Agent Fees in London

Published On: February 25, 2016 at 12:23 pm

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,,,

Tenant lobby group Generation Rent has created a new website to help London tenants find the best letting agent in their area.

The organisation has researched letting agent fees in the London boroughs of Croydon, Ealing, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. It hopes that by publishing the fees, tenants will save themselves potentially hundreds of pounds, and letting agents may bring their costs down.

Generation Rent Launches List of Letting Agent Fees in London

Generation Rent Launches List of Letting Agent Fees in London

The list of local letting agents in these areas and the fees they charge to tenants can be found here: http://lettingfees.co.uk

Since May 2015, letting agents have been required to publish details of the fees they charge to tenants and landlords on their website and in a prominent position in each branch.

Generation Rent has revealed that about one in four have not complied with this law and has reported them to their local councils to investigate.

Using volunteers, the body has been able to compile a comprehensive list of the typical fees from local letting agents.

Waltham Forest Renters was the first group to help Generation Rent, by investigating fees in the area in June. In the northeast borough, rents have increased by a third in the last two years and demand appears to have encouraged agents to charge the highest average tenant fee for the typical two-person household (out of the four boroughs) at £489.

Ealing was the cheapest on average, at £374.

Tower Hamlets has both the most expensive letting agent and the cheapest. The priciest, Skampi, charges £900 per couple, while Tabiner imposes a cost of just £40.

As competition for rental properties is very fierce, it can sometimes be impossible to choose a letting agent. However, Generation Rent hopes that by releasing this information, tenants will be able to avoid the rogues.

And the Government believes that this transparency will bring letting agent fees down. If it does, Generation Rent will update the figures on its site. Tenants can also report an incorrect fee.

Meanwhile, the group is working alongside volunteers in 13 other local council areas in England and the site is set to be updated soon. If you wish to research letting agent fees in your own area, you can register on the website here: http://lettingfees.co.uk/explore/

London Tenants Campaign Against No DSS Discrimination

Published On: February 25, 2016 at 9:51 am

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,,,

This Saturday, London tenants are set to campaign against landlords and letting agents discriminating against renters on housing benefit.

The Yes DSS campaign, led by private tenant group Digs, demands that landlords and agents end the No DSS policies that prevent renters from accessing private rental housing.

These policies, which are becoming increasingly common across London, indicate that the landlord will not accept tenants in receipt of housing benefit.

Digs contacted 50 letting agents in Hackney, finding that just one property – a one-bedroom studio flat in the north of the borough – was available to tenants who claim housing benefit.

The amount of working individuals claiming benefits to cover their rent has doubled in the past five years, according to data from the House of Commons.

When the coalition government introduced housing benefit caps, it justified the move by insisting that it would encourage landlords to bring down high rents. However, Digs has found that rent prices in the capital have spiralled way above inflation and median earnings.

London Tenants Campaign Against No DSS Discrimination

London Tenants Campaign Against No DSS Discrimination

On Saturday, tenants and campaigners will target a series of letting agents in Hackney who refuse to let to people on housing benefit. The demonstration will begin outside Hackney Town Hall.

They will publicly announce the agents that impose a standard No DSS policy.

The Yes DSS campaign calls for:

  • An end to No DSS discrimination against tenants on housing benefit.
  • A pledge from letting agents to only market rental properties that would accept tenants on housing benefit.

Heather Kennedy, of Digs, explains the cause for the campaign: “Where in the landlord rule book does it say that carers, disabled people, single parents or people on low incomes make bad tenants? These are just some of the groups of people discriminated against when agents, landlords and mortgage lenders say No DSS.

“Where are all these people expected to live? With homeownership far beyond the reach of normal people and no access to social housing, the private rented sector is the only housing option more and more of us have open to us. And yet people are being denied their last chance of finding a home, because landlords and agents, with increasing power to discriminate, unfairly tarnish everyone claiming benefits as undesirable.”

She insists: “We will no longer tolerate this kind of naked discrimination in our community from agents and landlords making huge amounts of money from people just desperate to find somewhere to live.”1

Eva, a mum of one and member of Digs, explains what the campaign means to her: “My son was 16-months-old when we moved into our rented flat. When we got our eviction notice, he was almost six. I was dreading the day the eviction notice came through the door.

“Even though I have been a model tenant, I have paid my rent without fail every month, I have maintained the property, I knew how rents in the area had shot up and I knew my landlord would be looking to make more money from the property than I could afford to pay.

“I started looking for another flat in walking distance of my son’s school. I work full-time and was able to find a couple of flats in my price range. But when I told the letting agent I claim a small amount of housing benefit each month because my wages don’t cover my rent, each and every one of them turned me away, saying they don’t take people on DSS.”1

If you are a landlord that accepts tenants on housing benefit, be aware that the new welfare system, Universal Credit, is being rolled out across the country. We are keeping you up to date with the latest areas subject to the change, to ensure that you stay informed about changes to your tenants’ financial circumstances. The most recent rollout areas can be found here: /yet-more-tenants-move-onto-universal-credit/

For a useful guide to letting to tenants on housing benefit, visit: https://justlandlords.co.uk/news/a-guide-to-letting-to-dss-tenants/

If you do decide to let your rental property to a tenant in receipt of housing benefit, remember to communicate often and effectively with them about their finances and consider rent guarantee insurance, which protects your rental income. 

1 https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/2/renters-demand-landlords-end-no-dss-discrimination

Two Peers to Call for Right to Rent Rollout to be Postponed

Published On: February 22, 2016 at 9:41 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,,

Two peers are set to challenge the Government this week over the rollout of the Right to Rent scheme.

On Wednesday (24th February), Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Hamwee will move that the commencement order of Right to Rent under the Immigration Act 2014 should be annulled.

Two Peers to Call for Right to Rent Rollout to be Postponed

Two Peers to Call for Right to Rent Rollout to be Postponed

Meanwhile, Labour peer Lord Rosser will move that “this House regrets that the Immigration Act 2014 (Commencement No 6) Order 2016, laid before the House on 11th January was laid following inadequate consultation, and asks the Government to undertake a further consultation before the commencement order comes into force”1.

The Right to Rent scheme, which went live in England on 1st February, requires landlords or their letting agents to check the immigration status of prospective tenants before the start of a tenancy.

Further rollouts to the rest of the UK are expected, but the schedule has not been announced.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) says that it supports attempts to annul the commencement order.

The organisation believes that the evidence from the pilot scheme in the West Midlands, which operated from December 2014, was insufficient to justify the rollout.

The RLA believes that landlords were not sufficiently prepared for the scheme, as they weren’t offered the necessary information. It also warns that UK nationals without a passport would find it incredibly difficult to access private rental housing.

In a recent survey of 1,500 private landlords, the RLA found that over 90% had not received any information regarding Right to Rent, either by email, from an advertisement, from a leaflet or online, and 72% did not understand their obligations.

The RLA adds that tenants may see their rents increase, as over a quarter of landlords said they are considering raising rent prices to cover the costs of conducting the immigration checks.

Almost half (44%) said they would only let their rental properties to those with documents that they were familiar with, while 45% would only accept tenants who could provide the required documents immediately.

The RLA fully supports postponing the rollout.

1 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldordpap.htm