HSE issues new warning to landlords about gas appliances

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning landlords to be extra vigilant in ensuring the properties they own contain safe gas appliances that are correctly checked and certified.

It follows the sentencing on 28 October of landlord Helen Jayne Beckett, of Lodge Hill, Addingham, Ilkley, who was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,500 costs. Ms Beckett pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 36(3) of the Gas Safety (Installations and Use) Regulations 1998 and of contravening a previous improvement notice.

For more information about safe gas appliances please click here The Landlord Resource Centre - Gas Safety and for a list of registered Gas Safe engineers please click here The Business Directory - Plumbing and Heating

Conservatives call for housing benefit system to be scrapped

The Tories have today called for the current housing benefits system to be scrapped. The current system in England that pays the benefit to the tenant rather than the landlord has been the subject of widespread criticism since it was introduced in 2008.

According to a recent survey by Shelter 25% of tenants receiving housing benefit direct have fallen into arrears.

Many landlords have stopped offering their properties to housing benefit tenants due to the problems they have encountered with the system of payments direct to tenants.

The Conservatives have now announced that they will allow the tenant to choose to have the payments paid to themselves or the landlord and have called on the Government to change the system now.

Scottish Government to introduce tenant deposit scheme

The Scottish Government has announced plans to introduce a national scheme to safeguard tenant deposits.

A group representing tenants, landlords, agents, consumer groups and housing organisations will be advising ministers on the introduction of the scheme.

Housing and Communities Minister, Alex Neil, says it was time to protect tenants. He also promised strong action to protect students and vunerable tenants.

England and Wales launched a similiar scheme in 2007 but a recent survey by deposit provider DPS claimed that 1 in 3 landlords were ignoring the law.

Lloyds bank group cuts the amount it will lend by 80%

The Lloyds Bank group - the taxpayer owned bank - has announced that it is slashing the amount it will lend to landlords by nearly 80%.

Previously the group, which now includes Lloyds TSB, the Cheltenham & Gloucester, Halifax and Birmingham Midshires would have lent a combined £14m to a single applicant (subject to all the usual criteria). Last week the bank reduced that figure to £3m.

In our opinion there is no commercial reason for the bank to take this action at this time. According to all the recently published data house prices are, at worse, stabilising. Landlord defaults are reducing and interest rates are at an all time low.

The crucial point here is that we, the taxpayers, own this bank. NetRent.co.uk calls on the Government to explain why it continues to allow banks like Lloyds to take decisions like this.

The Government has continually said that it will make the banks support small and medium sized businesses. Most landlords are small and medium sized businesses and yet we see absolutely no evidence that any of the banks are proactively helping landlords. In fact they are, like Lloyds, are doing exactly the opposite.

Can you explain it Mr Brown and Mr Darling?

1 in 3 landlords breaking the law over tenant deposits

The Deposit Protection Service has issued a press release claiming that 1 in 3 landlords are not complying with the legislation regarding tenant deposits. The press release reads:

The number of landlords flouting tenancy deposit legislation has halved in the past year – but
almost one in three is still not obeying the law.

A survey by The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) revealed that 30 per cent of landlords are
prepared openly to admit to not registering a deposit – compared to 61 per cent in 2008.

The DPS has now backed proposals for a register of landlords, which would encourage
compliance with the law. Landlords have been required to register deposits with a
Government-accredited scheme since April 2007.

Kevin Firth, Director of The DPS, said: “Good progress has been made within the industry at
raising awareness of landlords’ legal responsibilities.”

“The fact that the number of landlords ignoring the law has halved is testament to the fact
that most landlords want to do the right thing.”

“But more needs to be done and ignorance is no excuse. We believe that the introduction of a
national register would make landlords more accountable and offer tenants a greater level of
protection.”

“Mandatory registration and deposit protection would leave rogue landlords with nowhere to
hide! “

The DPS is the only scheme to physically hold onto a deposit. It is provided free of charge,
and funded entirely by the interest earned from deposits held in the scheme.

Since the launch of the DPS in 2007, around 700,000 deposits have been protected, worth
over £520 million pounds.

The DPS surveyed more than 500 landlords to ask which, if any, deposit protection scheme
they registered their tenants’ deposits with.

For more information about tenant deposits please click here Tenant Deposits

The Government publishes help for people with rent arrears

The Government has published a comprehensive guide for people with rent arrears on it's DirectGov website.

The advice includes a video and advice on how to deal with your landlord. As well as being essential reading for people with rent arrears it would also make sense for landlords to ensure that they are fully aware of the advice.

Click here for more information What You Can Do About Rent Arrears

The EU Ban on 100 Watt Light Bulbs Comes Into Force

A European Union ban on the manufacture and import of 100 watt and frosted incandescent light bulbs came into force on 1st September.

The EU wants the bulbs to be replaced mainly by longer-lasting compact fluorescent lamps. According to the Energy Saving Trust the fluorescent bulbs use 80% less energy than the traditional bulbs which have been in use since the 19th century.

According to reports from shopkeepers people are now stockpiling supplies of the 100 watt bulbs. The ban will be extended to all incandescent bulbs by 2012.

For more information see European Commission (Energy efficiency advice) also Energy Saving Trust and Defra

The Nationwide says that house prices rise for 4th month in a row

Figures released by the Nationwide Building Society this week claim that house prices have now risen for the fourth month in a row. Does this signal the end of the property crash and that good times are just around the corner?

What the figures don't mention is that in the period from September 2007 to the start of 2009 house prices fell by over 25%. They also fail to acknowledge that getting a mortgage is still difficult and even more so when it comes to Buy-to-Let. From a height of over 3,000 different Buy-to-Let mortgages we are now left with under 200. Every major BTL lender has either stopped lending altogether or cut their lending back severely. The only ray of good news in the BTL mortgage market recently has been the decision by the Bank of China to enter the BTL market.

So why aren't the lenders lending? Why aren't banking groups like HBOS and Bradford & Bingley using the money that we, the taxpayers, have poured into them to help us, their customers? Why are there so few BTL mortgages and why are such large deposits demanded for the few mortgages that are available?

There is no doubt that a significant number of landlords would buy property if only they could get mortgages. There is also little doubt that many first time buyers would also like to get onto the housing ladder. The rise in 'reluctant landlords' proves that there are many thousands of home owners who would like to sell and buy. The problem is that the banks won't lend. The irony is that they won't lend the money we have lent them. The worry is that the Government still cannot or will not make them lend - even though the Government now owns so much of the banking sector.

Maybe we need to spend less time hoping for someone to wave a magic wand and more time waving the big stick at the banks that got us into the mess in the first place.

NetRent.co.uk launch a major website upgrade and a brand new Landlord Resource Centre

NetRent.co.uk are delighted to announce the launch of a major upgrade to our website and in particular the launch of The Landlord Resource Centre.

The Landlord Resource Centre is a major new source of information and help for landlords in the UK with a huge amount of information, advice and links to help you run your business safely and profitably. Best of all The Landlord Resource Centre is completely free.

Included within The Landlord Resource Centre are special sections on Working with Local Authorities and a Find a Letting Agent Service.

NetRent.co.uk will add to the already impressive amount of information available through The Landlord Resource Centre and we encourage landlords to contact us with suggestions about how we can make The Landlord Resource Centre even better.

We hope you like the changes we have made to our website and especially we hope that you will make full use of The Landlord Resource Centre. If you have any comments or suggestions please email us at enquiries@netrent.co.uk

Is the Government racing to register landlords to boost tax receipts?

John Denham, the Communities Secretary (pictured), wants to fast track the proposed database of private landlords by introducing legislation as early as this autumn. The stated aim is to crackdown on rogue landlords who fail to maintain their properties or fail to manage tenant deposits correctly.

However, according to an article in The Times the real reason could be to allow HMRC (the Taxman) to have access to the database. In particular HMRC are interested in people who rent out rooms in their own homes.

According to the Abbey homeowners taking in lodgers now earn £3.5 billion a year, with each household receiving an average of £6,412. HMRC admitted 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. In our experience Local Authorities are so badly stretched that they struggle to deal with their current workload and we seriously doubt that many could cope with an increase if the Government were to introduce such a crackdown.

So we are left to wonder what is the real purpose of Mr Denham's race to bring in legislation that most of the industry is against. In our opinion it is simply a way of raising Tax. Whilst we have no problem with HMRC raising what is due it would be nice for the Government to be honest and tell us why this Minister is in such a desperate rush.

Read The Times article here.

New Rights for Tenants Facing Eviction

Housing Minister John Healey today set out plans to give new legal protection to tenants vulnerable to being thrown out on the street with little or no notice if their private landlord is repossessed.

John Healey said "It is wrong that through no fault of their own these families can find themselves out on the street with little prior warning. That's why I want to change the law to give new protection to those tenants who have no rights when the property they live in is repossessed.

"This will give them much needed breathing space to find another home. But I also want to see more lenders use alternatives to repossession, such as appointing Receivers of Rent to collect rent."

The Government expect that between 2000-3000 households could be affected this year.

Read the full statement here Communities Website

Government Ignores Landlord Petition

The Government has made it clear that it intends to ignore a Landlord petition to reinstate direct payments of Housing Benefit.

The petition on the Number 10 website called for the Government to revert to direct payments of Housing Benefits. Two things stand out, first a shockingly low total of just 1,318 landlords actually signed the Petition and second is the way that the Government have totally dismissed the reality faced by many landlords who accept Housing Benefit.

NetRent attend many landlord events and forums. We have heard time and again landlords complain that tenants are abusing the new system and not paying landlords. Many landlords have decided to stop offering their properties to people on Housing Benefit. And yet when given an opportunity to register their concerns only 1,318 bothered to take the time to add their names to the Petition. Is it any wonder that the Government take no notice of landlords?

We have to ask why landlords did not sign this Petition in significant numbers. We would also question what landlord associations at both national and local levels have actually done about this situation. If landlords and landlord associations cannot be bothered to campaign vigorously then Government will continue to ignore their legitimate concerns.

In their reply to the Petition the Government state that they are happy that the current system works "We are satisfied that these safeguards will ensure that vulnerable customers do not fall into unmanageable difficulties and that their rental payments will be met." We are sure that many landlords will disagree.

Click here to read the full response Reply to the Petition

Electrical Safety Council issues new Landlord Guide

The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) has published a new guide – the Landlords’ Guide to Electrical Safety – as part of its campaign to improve electrical safety in privately rented accommodation.

The guide aims to help landlords understand their responsibilities for electrical safety in rental properties and offers practical advice on the actions required to meet their legal obligations and help keep tenants safe and. It also includes information on electrical certification, when it is required and who can carry out electrical work.

Phil Buckle, director general of the Electrical Safety Council said “Landlords have a legal obligation to make sure that the electrical installation in their rented properties is safe. An inspection of the electrical installation by a registered electrician, known as a ‘Periodic Inspection’, checks for any lack of earthing or bonding and can identify potential dangers. Tenants should ask to see a copy of the Period Inspection Report before moving into a rented property to check that the electric installation has been confirmed as safe for use.”

As well as working with landlords, the ESC will also be targeting tenants in privately rented homes – particularly students and migrant communities. This aspect of the campaign aims to raise tenants’ awareness of their landlord’s legal obligations and to highlight what tenants can do themselves to improve electrical safety in their rented home.

To download a copy of the Guide click here Landlords' Guide to Electrical Safety

Rent in Advance

A number of landlords are charging money from tenants described as 'Rent in Advance' to avoid taking a deposit. The belief is that by doing this landlords and tenants avoid the tenancy deposit protection rules.

However, a court case Piggot v Slaven in Grimsby earlier this year ruled that 'Rent in Advance' was in fact just the same as a deposit. The Court ordered the landlord to pay 3 times the deposit to the tenant.

The warning to landlords is clear - don't try and get around the tenancy deposit rules by charging 'Rent in Advance', it could be very expensive.

The Taxman announces plans to target landlords

Consultation documents released by HMRC on 9th July confirm the Taxman's intention to target residential landlords in an attempt to triple the amount of extra tax raised from UK landlords.

The move could force letting agents and others to hand over names and addresses of landlords, past and present. Currently the Revenue can only demand data on landlords who use an agent to receive rent. According to the Revenue the new proposals would allow HMRC to make sure that people with income from letting property pay the right tax.

According to The Times newspaper "the Revenue sifts through classified advertisements and scours Land Registry data to find undeclared properties. It has also set up a whistleblower hotline and at one stage offered landlords an amnesty on penalties to encourage them to come forward. It has also targeted 80,000 landlords who wrongly claimed a refund for their mortgage payments".

The Times goes on to say "Tax evaders who have not come forward and are discovered could face penalties amounting to 100% of tax owed for up to six years, and could be prosecuted". Click here for The Times article.

The Revenue's Property Campaign has already netted more than £100 million. The Revenue believe that there is at least another £200 million to be had from landlords. However when we alerted landlords to the Property Campaign last year we were contacted by several landlords who told us that in their opinion the Revenue had bullied them into paying tax. The story seemed to be roughly the same in each case. The landlords were presented with a demand for a relatively small amount, in the region of £100. Because of the cost involved in fighting their case they had chosen to pay the Revenue's bill rather than fight.

One landlord told us it was a straight choice between spending over £1,000 to fight the demand or paying the £100 that his Accountant assured him was not due. He chose to pay the £100, but as you can imagine he was less than happy.

We are also aware that a large number of landlords do not complete their tax returns correctly, especially so-called 'reluctant landlords'. These are generally people who have been unable to sell their homes due to the current economic conditions and have chosen to rent their property for the time being. Our surveys indicate that many of these landlords not only fail to make correct tax returns, they are also less likely to have an EPC, to have gas safety certificates or indeed comply with other legislation.

It is correct that these landlords should be made to adhere to the same standards as 'professional' landlords. Our worry is that it always seems to be the 'professional' landlords who suffer. Just like the Government proposals to register all landlords (see previous posts in this Blog) it is likely that honest landlords will be targeted first and that many 'non-professional' landlords will slip through the net. Honest landlords end up paying more tax, directly or indirectly, they have to bear more costs to comply with legislation and therefore end up making a smaller return than these other landlords. Or, honest landlords are undercut by these other landlords who have smaller costs because they do not pay tax on their rental property or incur costs complying with legislation.

If the Revenue could guarantee that they will target and catch these 'other' landlords and at the same time force them to comply with the rest of the legislation that affects honest landlords we would support this initiative. Sad to say, we believe that this is unlikely to be the case. In our opinion is it is likely that it will be honest, professional landlords who will be targeted simply because it is too difficult to target landlords who are expert at 'staying below the radar'.

For more information about the HMRC proposals click here HMRC consultation document.

If you have any comments you would like to make you can make them on our forum The Landlords Club. You can also contact NetRent.co.uk by email at enquiries@netrent.co.uk or use this form Contact NetRent.co.uk.

We would welcome your comments.

Foxtons ruling means landlords can recover £millions

A landmark High Court ruling against London letting agents Foxtons could mean that landlords throughout the UK are able to recover £miilions in fees previously paid to agents.

Mr Justice Mann ruled that leasing agreements made by Foxtons unfairly overcharged commission to landlords. Foxtons was among many letting agents in London and the South East to run these agreements. As a result of the court ruling, landlords across the country can now issue proceedings to recover overpaid charges for the past 14 years on existing contracts.

For more information click here The Times article.

Warning over landlord licence scheme

Introducing a licence scheme for the private rented sector in England may not lead to significant improvements in conditions for tenants unless it gets good buy in from councils, landlords have warned.

British Property Federation director Ian Fletcher told the Chartered Institute of Housing annual conference that councils in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where such schemes already exist, “have made little use of them” to crack down on bad practice.

Under the proposals on which the government is currently consulting, all private landlords will have to apply for a licence which will be revoked if tenants are offered a poor service, for instance if maintenance or repairs are not undertaken.

Councils will police the system, which has been estimated to cost £2.5bn.

Mr Fletcher told the Local Government Chronicle: “The reason councils have not made the most of the schemes in Northern Ireland and Scotland is possibly down to resources but if it is going to work in England, councils need to be a bit proactive about it.

“The landlords we represent want a good system but they need to see that it is going to be useful and not something that they pay for and then bad landlords continue operating as they have done before.”

Landlords reminded to check gas appliances regularly following HSE prosecution

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urging landlords and property agents to ensure that their gas appliances are serviced and maintained and that landlords’ gas safety checks are completed. It follows the prosecution of a Tamworth man, after four people were taken to hospital suffering suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a rented property.

Paul Bird was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £2,220 in costs at Burton on Trent Magistrates Court on 8 June, after pleading guilty to four charges under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

The incident occurred in a property on Prospect Street, Tamworth on 11 December last year. The four people who were taken to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, were released the same day.

Mr Bird was the managing agent of the property. The court heard that following the incident, British Gas and HSE visited the house, to inspect the appliances. They identified that the back boiler, gas flue and gas fire were immediately dangerous.

It also emerged that a landlord’s gas safety check had not been completed at the property and there was no evidence that the gas appliances, which were almost 30 years old, had been serviced in recent years.

Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Andrew Bowker said:
“Approximately 20 people are killed every year by carbon monoxide poisoning due to unsafe gas appliances and flues. Landlords and managing agents must ensure that their gas appliances are checked for safety on an annual basis and are suitably serviced and maintained. Mr Bird fell well below the required standard and it was fortunate those affected recovered quickly.

“HSE would also urge any private tenant in a property with a gas appliance installed, to ensure that their landlord has provided them with a current gas safety certificate.”

Presentation by Julie Rugg in Bristol

A special meeting has been arranged by Bristol City Council where Dr Julie Rugg will present the Government Plans for Further Regulation of the Private Rented Sector.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday 22 July at 7pm at the Council House, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR.

The discussion notes taken from this meeting will then be incorporated into the joint response from the four West of England local authorities to the Government.

To reserve a seat at this unique meeting please contact Julie Norris on 0117 353 3867 or email her at Julie.Norris@bristol.gov.uk

Government Plan to Licence Landlords could cost £2.5 billion

We reported the Government response to The Rugg Report earlier in this Blog, we can now tell you the anticipated costs of licencing Landlords in England.

According to the Government's own Impact Assessment it could cost a staggering £2.5 billion.

Included within the Impact Assessment is a proposal to charge Landlords a Licence Fee of £500 PER PROPERTY. This is Option One under the plan. The Licence would last for 5 years and would cover every rented property in England.

Even under the Government's own preferred option, Option Two, Landlords would have to pay between £30-£50 every year.

The Impact Assessment goes on to explain how the schemes would work and sets out a timetable for the introduction of Licencing for Landlords.

The Government is currently carrying out a consultation exercise which will end on 7 August 2009. We strongly urge all Landlords and Letting Agents to visit the Communities and Local Government website and read both the Government Response to the Rugg Report and also the Impact Assessment.

We would also strongly urge every Landlord and Letting Agent to let the Government know what you think about their plans. You can write or email the consultation team at:

William Tandoh
Private Rented Sector Team
Department for Communities and Local Government
1/C4 Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU

PRSreview@communities.gsi.gov.uk

The Response and Impact Assessments can be found here Communities and Local Government Website.

Please remember - you only have until 7 August 2009 to let the Government know your views. Please act now.

You can share your views with other Landlords and Letting Agents by visiting our own forum The Landlords Club, the free forum for everyone involved in the Lettings Industry.

Landlords warned about Deposit scams

Landlords are being warned against bogus websites which appear to be one of the 3 official, Government approved tenant deposit schemes.

Unwitting landlords have been placing their deposits with these on-line companies only to find out that the deposits are not protected and the landlord could be liable for fines and penalties.

The 3 official websites are:

My Deposits

The Dispute Service

The Deposit Protection Service

If you take a deposit from a tenant and fail to lodge it with one of these 3 companies you will be liable to fines and penalties. For full details please see the Government's own website:

Direct.Gov.UK

Council of Mortgage Lenders publish new guidance on Buy-to-Let arrears

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have published new guidance to lenders to ensure that they act fairly when dealing with Buy-to-Let arrears.

The CML guidelines for Buy-to-Let mortgages come into effect in September but they claim that much of these guidelines are already being upheld.

The CML guidance includes the lenders options, implications for tenants and non Buy-to-Let tenants. For more information please click here CML Guidance on Buy-to-Let Arrears.

Landlords could be forced to pay tenants water bills

According to an article published by The Times newspaper residential landlords could be made liable for unpaid water bills left by departing tenants under a government review of water charges.

Ofwat have drawn up plans and submitted them to the Walker Review which is reviewing charging and metering for water and sewerage services on behalf of the Government.

The read the full Times article click here Landlords could pay tenants water bills.

The Government outlines the future for Landlords and Letting Agents

The Government has published it's response to the Rugg Report in it's publication "The private rented sector: professionalism and quality - The Government response to the Rugg Review Consultation".

The 37 page report lays out the proposed changes that Landlords and Letting Agents face if this is turned into law. Some of the main highlights are:

• A national register of Private Landlords


• Compulsory registration of Letting and Managing Agents


• Mandatory written tenancy agreements


• Assured shorthold tenancy limits raised from £25,000 to £100,000


• Greater protection for tenants whose Landlord defaults on mortgage payments


• Greater focus on how Local Authorities work with the Private Rented Sector


• Encouraging institutional investment into the Private Rented Sector

Of most immediate concern to Landlords will be the national register. Under the proposals Landlords will have to register themselves and each property they own - each year. The plan is to charge Landlords around £50 a year to register. It is unclear what this data will be used for and how freely available it will be.

If this scheme is used to weed out irresponsible and bad Landlords then many may support it but all too often these Landlords simply disappear beneath the radar and carry on as before. If the scheme is to benefit good Landlords then it will require a serious amount of policing. The question is who is going to police the scheme and what penalties are there for Landlords who fail to comply?

The Report makes it clear that one aim of the Register is to "drive up standards". The Report asks Landlords for their views on this and other proposals. Our suggestion to every Landlord is to fully read the Report and to submit your views to the Government. In our opinion it is vital that as many Landlords and Letting Agents as possible make their views known.

You have until Friday 7 August 2009 to make your views known. The Report contains both the postal and email addresses where your responses can be sent.

For a copy of the Report please click here The Government Response to the Rugg Review

If you have any comments you wish to make to NetRent.co.uk please email us at enquiries@netrent.co.uk

Government Plan to Licence Landlords and Letting Agents

This morning in a front page 'exclusive' the Times newspaper announced that the Government is set to introduce mandatory licencing of Landlords and Letting Agents throughout England and Wales. Scotland introduced mandatory licencing of Landlords in April 2006.

The Times claims that anyone letting a residential property would have to pay around £50 to register with a national body. Registered Landlords would then have to comply to certain standards. Landlords who fails to carry out repairs or intimidate tenants could be struck off.

These reforms are to be set out in a Green Paper in the next 10 days.

At the same time Margaret Beckett (pictured), the Housing Minister, also plans to introduce statutory legislation for Letting Agents. Ironically the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is today launching it's own voluntary licencing scheme.

According to the Times Simon Gordon, of the National Landlords Association, said: “We can see the thinking behind this but we need to see the details and be reassured that this is not simply a mechanism for tougher regulations.”

NetRent.co.uk have been predicting such a move for some time and we believe that much tougher regulations will be imposed. There has been an explosion in the number of Landlords in the past 18 months fuelled by the influx of so-called accidental Landlords.

In addition many new Letting Agents have sprung up, many started by Estate Agents who cannot sell sufficient property and have turned to letting to make ends meet.

It is clear that the current legislation affecting Landlords is being ignored by a number of Landlords, either deliberately or through ignorance of the law. The majority of Landlords do comply with the law and provide decent housing, but there are an estimated 1 million Landlords now and even a small percentage of rogue Landlords adds up to a very significant number.

We will, of course, keep you informed of the progress of this proposed legislation. If you have any comments please visit The Landlords Club, our free Forum for Landlords and Agents. For more information please read The Times article.

The Budget and Private Landlords

On Wednesday the Chancellor Alistair Darling will deliver his Budget. We predict he will have a lot to say about how the Government pledges to help businesses large and small, of how much help has already been given and how business is the very life blood of the UK.

However, we predict that there is one group of businesses that will not even get a mention in the Budget - Private Landlords.

Before the Credit Crises there were already over 800,000 private residential Landlords in the UK. This figure has been considerably swelled by the huge increase in 'accidental Landlords'. These are people who would like to sell their home but are unwilling or unable to sell and are therefore now renting out their property.

The sudden increase in the number of available properties to rent created by these 'accidental Landlords' is beginning to seriously depress rents in many areas of the country. But what choice do these accidental Landlords have? They cannot sell their property at a fair market value and even if they could most potential buyers cannot persuade the Banks to lend to them. But their effect on existing Landlords is profound. In addition to this influx of new Landlords the Government and the Banks have seemingly abandoned private Landlords.

All Landlords, accidental or not, are running a business. Some run huge businesses with hundreds of properties, many have just one property, but they all are running businesses according to the Taxman. So why is it that Landlords are the forgotten businesses of the Credit Crises?

The Government has pumped £billions into the lenders that just 18 months ago offered Landlords a range of over 3,000 Buy-to-Let mortgages. The £billions that have rescued the banks from their greed are our £billions. But those same lenders who lent their money to hair-brained schemes all over the world are now offering less than 175 mortgages to UK Landlords. Last week the Cheltenham & Gloucester (part of the hugely expanded Lloyds/HBOS group) announced radical changes to their Buy-to-Let mortgages.

In an already devastated Buy-to-Let market the move by Cheltenham & Gloucester is shocking. What they and the other Buy-to-Let lenders are saying is that they don't care what happens to the residential lettings market. The Government, who actually own or control the Banks that provide the bulk of Buy-to-Let lending in the UK, are standing by whilst the businesses of nearly 1 million landlords and the homes of over 3.5 million privately renting tenants are threatened.

The Government have reacted to media pressure and have promised to help tenants who face eviction when their Landlord defaults on loans. But the silence about what help they will offer Landlords is deafening.

According to some research there are now over 70 pieces of legislation affecting Landlords. From this month HMRC (the Taxman) has extra powers that it intends to use against Landlords. Landlords are reporting that more and more tenants are defaulting on their rent. And on top of this the Banks are simply walking away from the lettings industry.

Private Landlords are businesses like any other, so Mr Darling we have a simple question for you - where is the help for Landlords?

We will find out his answer on Wednesday.

Conservative Party pledges to scrap HIPs

Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps has reconfirmed his pledge to scrap Home Information Packs (HIPs) in the Conservative Party's new housing green paper.

He also plans to move Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to the end of the house buying process if they win the next election. Shapps said "We will scrap the discredited HIPs, liberating EPCs to genuinely help people improve the environmental standing of their property".

Another worthwhile petition

A number of Landlords have contacted us about the Local Housing Allowance expressing their concern and anger that direct payments of rent have now been stopped. In their place payments are being made to tenants and in too many cases this has meant that the Landlord never sees the rent.

We are pleased to bring to your attention a petition on the Number 10 website which calls for an end to this system of payment.

If you would like more information and would like to add your name to the petition please follow this link Reinstate Landlord Direct Payments.

Obviously, like all petitions, the more Landlords that sign this petition the more likely it is that the Government will listen.

Pass the Rate

Our business partners Pebble have organised an on-line petition to protest at the way banks are failing to pass on the reductions in base rates to Landlords.

NetRent.co.uk is pleased to support this initiative. The Government has consistently stated that it wants to see the banks support small and medium sized businesses and yet it has done nothing to help the 800,000 plus Landlords in the UK.

The Government is now effectively in control of most of the major Buy-to-Let lenders including HBOS and Northern Rock. It has facilitated the sale of brands like the Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester but all that has done is make the situation worse for Landlords. We have seen the number of Buy-to-Let mortgage products reduced from over 3,000 to less than 175. At the same time lenders have increased their rates in real terms and significantly increased the costs associated with Buy-to-Let mortgages.

The Government has pledged support for tenants who are made homeless from repossessed property but they have been silent about the one of the major causes of repossession - the cost of Buy-to-Let mortgages. It is our belief that even modest help for Landlords would prevent the majority of these repossessions happening in the first place.

We call on the Government to force the banks they have bailed out to begin lending to Landlords again. At the same time those banks should pass on the rate cuts in the same way as they are being told to do to residential customers. In short, the Government must ensure that an element of competitiveness returns to the Buy-to-Let mortgage market. Without it many more Landlords will face financial ruin and many more tenants will become homeless - and that will benefit no-one.

For more information about the Pass the Rate Petition please click here - Pass the Rate.

If you have any comments please email NetRent.co.uk at enquiries@netrent.co.uk

How will the Northern Rock announcement affect Landlords?

Yesterday's announcement that the Government intends to use Northern Rock to pump £14billion of mortgage lending into the UK market could kick start the mortgage market.

Landlords know just how desperate the Buy-to-Let mortgage has become over the last 18 months and whilst it seems that none of this £14billion will end up being directly lent to Landlords there is little doubt that it can only help the overall mortgage market.

As with most things that the Government do the devil will be in the detail but if £14billion is really going to be pumped into the mortgage market this will be a very significant step. Alistair Darling confirmed that Northern Rock would be offering mortgages up to 90% which is of huge importance to first time buyers. It has been calculated that this £14billion will fund around 46,000 average mortgages.

This initiative is likely to push other lenders to offer competitive deals as they will not want to be left behind. The hope is that this will generate increased activity in the mortgage market. In itself this will not help Buy-to-Let Landlords as none of this money is aimed at Buy-to-Let, but it is probable that lenders will eventually begin to look to other ways to generate income and so, in time, lenders will return to Buy-to-Let.

Most commentators think that even if the residential mortgage market recovers quickly it will be some time before Buy-to-Let and Commercial lending returns to anything like the previous levels. It is our belief that competition in the Buy-to-Let market is unlikely to return during 2009 and probably well into 2010. It is probable that if residential lending returns to some normality then lenders will turn their attentions to commercial lending next. Buy-to-Let lending is likely to be a distant third. Even then it is highly unlikely that we will ever see a return to the situation of just 18 months ago when there was around 3,000 Buy-to-Let mortgages available.

But Landlords who wish to buy properties should be aware that the prospect of homeowners returning to the market is likely to reduce the amount of properties available for Buy-to-Let. At this moment Landlords have a golden opportunity to secure bargains on both new and second hand houses.

Through our business partners Accuro we can offer thousands of brand new homes and apartments at up to 25% discount from recent valuation and most of these properties come with 12 month rental guarantees. Finance, subject to status, is available on all these properties. For more information contact us now on 01352 721300 or email us at enquiries@netrent.co.uk. Please also check the Rental Property for Sale section of our website.

There is a long way to go before any normality returns to the housing market but perhaps we have seen the first real signs of an upturn.

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