Zero tolerance for rogue private landlords to tackle illegal behaviour

It is unlikely to come as a surprise to readers of the housing network that the private rented sector is growing exponentially, by more than 40% in the past five years. Less understood is the corresponding rise in rogue landlords taking advantage of this boom, landlords who blight the lives of tenants living in their properties.

Last week Shelter launched the latest phase of its evict rogue landlords campaign. We contacted every local authority in England to build a picture of both the scale of the problem with rogue landlords, and what is being done to tackle it.

The results showed that across the country complaints about landlords had reached a staggering 86,628 in the last year. Yet despite the sharp increase, only 270 landlords were successfully prosecuted during that period.

Click here to read the full article Zero tolerance for rogue private landlords to tackle illegal behaviour

NetRent Comment

The author of this article is Kay Boycott who is director of campaigns, policy and communications at Shelter. Shelter is an organisation that appears to have no scruples when it comes to twisting facts and figures to suit it's own propaganda.

Shelter does not believe in fair comment, Shelter does not believe in debate and Shelter has no compunction in presenting supposition as fact. For instance, Shelter claims that complaints were made about more than 86,000 landlords and does not explain that there are over 3.4 million privately rented properties in the UK. That means that just 2.5% of properties were complained against. Just 270 prosecutions were successful. That is just 0.03% of the total landlord population.

And yet if you listen to Shelter you would assume that every landlord is a crook who is fleecing poor innocent tenants. Shelter never mention rogue tenants. Shelter ignore the damage that a significant minority of tenant cause - only landlords are to blame.

Perhaps Shelter could review our Facebook pages and the photographs that make up The Damage That Some Tenants Do and explain why they choose to ignore the fact that there are many more rogue tenants than rogue landlords.

Perhaps when they've done that Shelter can actually work with the private rented sector to raise standards rather than simply run spurious campaigns designed solely to grab headlines.

Landlords failing tenants over gas safety checks

Landlords are putting their tenants' lives at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning or potential explosions by failing to carry out annual gas safety checks, according to a report from Gas Safe Register.

Landlords are legally required to organise an annual gas safety check to be carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer, but more than a third (41%) of tenants report that their gas appliances had broken down several times in the past five years, indicating that landlords aren't taking their responsibilities seriously.

Paul Johnston, chief executive of Gas Safe Register, said: "Lack of annual safety checks can create a life threatening situation. Landlords are legally obliged to carry out checks and provide tenants with a gas safety check record to prove the work has been done. There are so many things that can go wrong if appliances aren't functioning properly, including risk of explosion and gas poisoning."

Click here to read the whole story Landlords failing tenants over gas safety checks

Click here for a directory of local plumbing and heating engineers

Tenants owe £300 million rent to buy to let landlords

Landlords are owed around £300 million in unpaid rent for August – about 11 per cent of all rents due, according to LSL Property Services, the country’s biggest letting agent.

The figure was 19.5 per cent up on July’s arrears of £251 million.

Rents and inflation were both up in August, putting a strain on the money tenants had to pay rent, but David Newnes, managing director of LSL Property Services blames tenants paying for summer holidays for part off the shortfall.

Click here to read the full story Tenants owe £300 million rent to buy to let landlords

Rent rise is fastest for a year, says LSL

The cost of renting a home rose at its fastest rate in a year - with the average tenant paying £713 a month, a survey has said.

Tenants paid 1.2% more on average to rent a property in the UK in August than they did in July, according to LSL Property Services.

The cost rose quickest in Wales and the South East of England in the last month.

Tenant arrears increased for the first time since April, the survey added.

Click here to read the full article Rent rise is fastest for a year, says LSL

Over 90% of tenants want housing benefit paid direct to landlord

Nine out of 10 social housing tenants want housing benefit paid direct to landlords, new research shows, despite plans in the Welfare Reform Bill that will see it paid to tenants.

Housing benefit is one of a number of benefits, including jobseekers allowance and tax credits - that will be rolled into one monthly payment from 2013, known as Universal Credit.

Ministers believe that by paying the benefit directly to tenants it will breed responsibility and will also make it easier for claimants to move into work, removing the complications of having to cancel different benefits from different agencies.

Click here to read the full story Over 90% of tenants want housing benefit paid direct to landlord

Stories about things that tenants leave behind

We are grateful to Lets Go Professional for sending us the following article:

Every letting agent has stories about things that tenants leave behind; some silly, some sad, some revolting. Apparently ‘grown-up toys’ are the number one item left behind by tenants when they move out of a property according to a survey by the Deposit Protection Service.

In a poll of more than 1000 landlords across the UK, ‘grown-up toys’ were the most frequently left behind item that landlords had to dispose of. Animals, both dead and alive also scored highly on the list. Tenants left behind a stuffed parrot, guinea pigs, a large dead fish in a recycling bin and even a snake living under the floorboards.

Kevin Firth, Director of the DPS said “cleaning up after tenants is often a big job for landlords but this research shows that it’s not always just dirt they have to contend with”.

“One landlord told us that a former tenant, a postman, had left behind bags of unopened mail in the attic. Another told us that he found a batch of winning lottery scratch cards in the property, while another said that he had been showing a prospective tenant around a property and found a complete stranger asleep in the bedroom!”

The top 10 most bizarre items left behind

1. *** toys

2. An elephant’s foot

3. The ashes of a dead person

4. A pot bellied pig

5. A box containing nail clippings

6. A crash test dummy

7. A pair of synthetic breasts

8. A glass bowl covered with cling film containing 17 live spiders

9. A plastic hand with a fork attached

10. 7 cans of gravy


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Rogue landlords and agents flourish as demand for rented homes soars

Landlords and lettings agents are firmly in the driving seat with demand for rented property allowing them to push rents ever higher.

There are some 3.4 million rented homes in England alone, a 40 per cent rise over the past five years. Many desperate tenants are now falling victim to rogue landlords and greedy lettings agents who are cashing in.

The latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (Rics) Residential Lettings Survey shows that 25 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a rise in demand than a fall. This rental boom has seen rents soar, with the average rent in England and Wales up 0.6 per cent to £705 per month in July, according to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from LSL Property Services.

Click here to read the full story Rogue landlords and agents flourish as demand for rented homes soars

SAFEagent scheme launches nationally

The lettings industry has launched a kite mark-style scheme to protect tenant and landlords against unscrupulous operators within the sector.

Over 1,200 have already registered with SAFEagent prior to its formal launch, and even though membership is voluntary, it is expected that many more will follow fast.

All agents displaying the SAFEagent mark will already belong to a client money protection scheme operated by such organisations as the National Approved Letting Scheme, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyor and the National Association of Estate Agents.

Click here to read the full story SAFEagent scheme launches nationally

ARLA calls on Shapps to regulate private rented sector

The Association of Residential Letting Agents says it is disappointed by an announcement from housing minister Grant Shapps that he has published a series of fact sheets for tenants and landlords.

Shapps says the fact sheets will help both tenants and landlords to understand their rights and responsibilities and therefore prevent unnecessary dispute.

But the ARLA says it is disappointed that Shapps has failed to introduce any regulation of the private rented sector, and that until he does so, its own work is being undermined.


Click here to read the full story ARLA calls on Shapps to regulate private rented sector

NetRent Comment

Landlords are already heavily regulated, whilst Letting Agents have comparably little regulation. The Government is proposing to regulate agents and this move by ARLA smacks of someone calling out 'what about them?'

There is simply no need to further regulate landlords, what needs to happen is that the current legislation is applied fairly and evenly to all landlords. That cannot happen whilst local authorities are cutting back and too many landlords remain under the radar. NetRent believe that a national register of landlords and regulation of letting agents are what is required to start to address the problems facing the letting industry, not one group calling for more regulation for another group.

The Government's Top Tips for Landlords and Tenants

The Department for Communities and Local Government has produced a number of free leaflets for landlords and tenants.

They describe this as "In a move designed to strengthen tenants' and landlords' awareness of their rights and responsibilities, Housing Minister Grant Shapps (pictured) has today published helpful advice aimed at those letting or renting a property."

You can download these free leaflets from the Department's website, click on this link New factsheets give tenants and landlords the lowdown on their rights and responsibilities

Why are landlords selling when rents are high?

There is an interesting comment in the latest survey of the rental market from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). The survey reports that demand for rental property continues to outpace supply as an increasing number of would-be first time buyers are forced to continue renting.

But it then mentions, almost as an aside, that ‘surveyors report that where tenancies are coming up for renewal, some landlords – particularly those in London and the South East – are now choosing to put their properties on the sales market, leaving fewer rental properties available.’ Given that rents are rising in the face of increased demand this is surprising.

Read the full story here Why are landlords selling when rents are high?
 
Find rental properties to buy here Rental Properties for Sale