Bombshell as Cameron announces mandatory licensing of landlords

Written by: ROSALIND RENSHAW | MAY 22, 2015    Property Industry Eye

Prime Minister David Cameron is set to introduce a mandatory licensing regime of private landlords.

What is being described as a bombshell is outlined in a speech Cameron gave yesterday on immigration.

Most commentators have so far focused on his announcement that the current ‘right to rent’ trial in the midlands whereby landlords or their agents must check the immigration status of tenants is to be rolled out nationwide.

But Cameron added that a new mandatory licensing regime will be introduced. There are no details, for example as to whether it will include letting agents. However, this does seem highly likely given that agents act for landlords and can legally  bear responsibility for ‘right to rent’ checks and other duties.

Until now, the Tories have always walked away from such a policy. The last Labour administration said it wanted landlord – and letting agent – licensing but never introduced it.

But this is what Cameron said: “There are other ways we can identify those who shouldn’t be here, for example through housing. For the first time we’ve had landlords checking whether their tenants are here legally.

“The Liberal Democrats only wanted us to run a pilot on that one. But now we’ve got a majority, we will roll it out nationwide, and we’ll change the rules so landlords can evict illegal immigrants more quickly.

“We’ll also crack down on the unscrupulous landlords who cram houses full of illegal migrants, by introducing a new mandatory licensing regime. And, a bit like ending jobs when visas expire, we’ll consult on cancelling tenancies automatically at the same point.

“It’s not just through housing and jobs; we can track down illegal migrants through the banking system too.”

 

The full speech is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-immigration

Tax Relief Changes for Landlords

Landlords can no longer claim tax relief for the replacement of free standing white goods in unfurnished residential lettings, HMRC have confirmed. This measure came into effect in April 2013 and will therefore affect rental accounts and tax returns for the 2013-14 tax year onwards.

Unfortunately another rule prevents residential letting agents from claiming capital allowances. That is why the Wear and Tear allowance for residential landlords exists. In April 2011 the concessionary 10% allowance was replaced with a tighter statutory basis giving the same relief. It covers the provision of movable furniture such as beds and suites, televisions, fridges and freezers, as well as soft furnishings such as carpets and curtains.

A previous concession originally provided incentives for residential landlords to maintain their unfurnished properties by offering tax relief for the costs of replacing white goods and other furnishings. This incentivised landlords to replace items such as worn out furnishings and broken fridges. It is this incentive that no longer exists. Furniture which has a useful life of less than two years doesn't count as capital expenditure so a tax deduction can be claimed for the full cost in the year of purchase.

Under the new rules landlords who provide some furniture but not enough to qualify for the Wear and Tear Allowance won't be able to claim for the cost of renewing it unless it is permanently fixed to the building. This seems inequitable but there is a solution. Furniture to be provided to tenants can be leased by the landlord. The rules only require that an asset be provided not owned in order for it to qualify for a tax deduction. By renting furniture instead of buying it you can obtain a tax deduction for the cost of partly furnishing a house.

Despite this the withdrawal of the renewals allowance could give rise to additional costs for private landlords and these costs may be transferred onto the tenants, thereby increasing tension between landlord and tenant over costs and maintenance.

What can be classed as a ‘replacement’ or a ‘repair’ is sometimes complex turning on fine distinctions. Given the removal of the renewals allowance we may see more arguments with the tax office about what can be justified as a repair instead of a replacement on the basis that repairs are allowable but replacements may not be. It is advisable to seek professional guidance from a tax adviser to ensure that you are maximising your deductions against rental income, given that the tax rules regarding what can be claimed have now changed



Robert Bradley is principal of Bradley & Associates
http://www.concentriclettings.co.uk/about-us/news/tax-relief-changes-for-landlords/

New rules on when to serve a Section 21 notice

From October 2015 The Deregulation Act 2015 s36 will bring in new legislation to set time limits on when a Section 21 notice can be served.

Landlords and letting agents will not be able to issue a section 21 notice at the commencement of a tenancy, this is currently normal practice.

A section 21 will not be able to be served on a tenant until 4 months have pasted from the start of the tenancy.

For Periodic tenancy, a section 21 now no longer needs to end on the last day of a rent period

For example if rent is due on 12th the last day of a period would be 11th.

This has been removed by the insertion of subsection (4za) into Section 21 of Housing Act 1988

Retaliative Evictions

From October 2015 The Deregulation Act 2015 s33 will bring in new legislation to protect tenants from retaliative evictions.

Tenants in private rented accommodation only, will be protected from eviction if they have made a legitimate complaint about the condition of the property to their landlord.

However the law, as always is not as cut and dried as this, the New Retaliative Eviction law will come with rules which must have been followed Before a Section 21 notice is served by the landlord

•              Tenant must make a formal written complaint to the landlord of the disrepair/condition

•              Landlord has 14 days to respond (an adequate response by the landlord is a response in writing which—provides a description of the action that the landlord proposes to take And sets out a reasonable timescale within which that action will be taken)

   The Section 21, if served now would be invalid.

•              Tenant must then report this unresolved issue to Local authority

•              ONLY once the local authority has confirmed that the repair needs to be carried out to prevent a potential risk to health and safety, will the new rules come into play.

•              The landlord will not be able to evict a tenant for 6 months

A landlord will also be prevented from evicting a tenant where they have not complied with certain legal obligations such as

•              Supplying Gas Safety Certificates

•              Supplying Energy Performance Certificates.

    This restriction would be lifted as soon as these documents are provided

If a Property is in the market for sale, then it is likely the new rules will not apply to Section 21s regardless of the condition of the property

.  These new regulation only apply to tenancies commenced or renewed on or after the day the provisions came into force.

 

 

Gas Safety is no Joke



 

Research has found that private rental landlords in the UK are openly ignoring Gas Safety regulations, It would appear this is not just an oversight, with 75 % of tenants left without a valid record for their entire tenancy

Annual Gas safety inspections (GSI) have been a legal requirement in rented properties for some years now and i would think that even the most naive of landlords would at least know about this one piece of legislation if nothing else.

So you can imagine my shock when this week i have dealt with 3 cases where a landlord has not had a GSI carried out.

The first, bit of an accidental landlord, had a new boiler installed 2 years ago and assumed it was like a new cars' MOT and he didnt need a GSI for 3 years, happily a quick phone call and some advice and a recommendation of a good Gas engineer and crisis averted.

The second, not so cut and dried, the landlord had purchased the property 5 years ago with the current tenant in occupation, the previous owner/landlord has religiously had GSI carried out, when the new owner took over, in his wisdom decided that as there had been no issues reported with the last lot of GSIs and he had all intentions of replacing the boiler in a year or two he couldn’t really see the point in paying to 'service' something he was indenting to replace.

A phone call this time didnt do the job and a strongly worded letter has been sent his way, if no reply and no GSI is done, we all know what my next step must be.... HSE

Now for my personal favourite, this landlord rented out his property for the first time in 2008 using a local letting agent, a GSI was done.

when the first tenancy expired the landlord ditched the agent and took over the rental himself.

There were a further 7 tenancies.... but no further GSIs

After a little investigation it transpired that the gas engineer instructed in 2008 was actually the landlords own contractor this would show the landlord was fully aware of his legal responsibilities.

This case has resulted in a call the HSE and an immediate investigation, going by the information on HSE website a landlord can face a fine of upto £20k for every GSI not carried out and if the case is taken to High Court can face imprisonment.

A recent case Health and Safety Executive v Raymond Williams 2015 A landlord from Torquay illegally carried out annual gas safety checks at his properties despite not being a registered gas engineer, a court has heard.

He potentially put his tenants’ lives at risk by carrying out the statutory safety checks himself between April 2013 and October 2014. He also fraudulently filled out landlord’s gas safety documents using a fake Gas Safe Register number.

 HSE prosecuted the landlord at Torquay Magistrates’ Court after his work was investigated following a complaint from one of his tenants.

The court heard that the landlord carried out his own safety checks at five properties in Torquay and one in Newton Abbott. The checks should only have been carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer to ensure the highest standards are met.

The landlord pleaded guilty to four breaches of gas safety legislation and was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £418 in costs.

Carbon Monoxide is a silent killer, Department of Health research showed that around 4,000 people will present themselves at hospital with CO symptoms in a twelve month period. In the last year there have been more than 50 deaths as a result of CO poisoning, with 16 of those attributable to faulty gas appliances

As a landlord if your tenant dies and no GSI has been carried out this is a criminal offence and you maybe up on a murder charge.

For the sake of £60 per year, why put lives at risk and face huge fines that outweigh any pennies you may have saved.

The Deregulation Act 2015 & Tenancy Deposits

 

The Deregulation Bill received Royal Assent on 26^th march this year and became The Deregulation Act 2015.

This Act contains important changes to deposit legislation which hopes to clarify the headcahes created  by the court cases of Superstrike vs Rodrigues and Charalambous vs Ng.

 A brief reminder of the cases

In Superstrike vs Rodrigues the judgement stated that a statutory period tenancy which arose after the fixed term had ended, should be seen as a ‘new’ tenancy and ruled that a deposit taken on Tenancy agreements entered into  before the Tenancy law was in place on 6 April 2007 and which then either renewed or continued as a periodic tenancy should have been protected (or re-protected) with the up to date prescribed information (PI) served on the tenant.

In Charolambous vs Ng the judgement stated that even though a deposit was taken before tenancy legislation on 6th April 2007, because it had not been protected and PI served, a Section 21 notice served on the tenant was invalid.

So what had  the Deregulation Act 2015 put in place?

1.If you took a deposit on any Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) before April 2007 and have not protected it.

You must protect the deposit and serve Prescribed Information by 23rd June 2015, otherwise you will not be able to issue a Section 21 notice at any point in the future.

However, it’s important to note that there are no penalties for any landlords who don’t protect deposits in these circumstances. This effectively confirms the decision in Charalambous vs Ng.

 2.If you took a deposit on a tenancy after  6 April 2007 and protected and served the PI, and the tenancy has since either rolled into a periodic or been renewed, then as long as the deposit is still protected in the same scheme and the tenancy details have not changed you will be deemed to have complied. In other words, this specific change overturns Superstrike vs Rodrigues judgement.

 3.If you took a deposit on an AST before April 2007 and the AST subsequently rolled into a Periodic or was renewed after April 2007, then the deposit must be protected and PI served by 23rd June 2015. You will not be able to serve a Section 21 notice and WILL be liable for penalties for non-compliance until you’ve protected the deposit.

 4.The final change (which isn't in relation to Superstirke or Charlambous) allows the agent’s details to be used on the PI where they have taken and protected the deposit on the landlord’s behalf. Previously there was doubt as to whether the agent’s details could be provided instead of the landlord’s when the agent took the deposit and protected it on the landlord’s behalf.

Why is Private renting such a dirty word?

On a daily basis I advice people on their housing situations and the options available to them
Most people are couples living with the in-laws overcrowding a house that really isn't made for 2 couples and the kids

When advising people of their options I must give all information both good and bad
Even now I am still surprised at the amount of people who still immediately disregard the option if private renting
Most say they can't afford it without even taking the time to look into local market prices, the others are scared by media horror stories of rogue landlords terrorising tenants and not allowing them to live in a property as their home

Yes, I admit the upfront money required to rent is a big hurdle, 1st months rent, 6 week deposit and letting agent fees and you are suddenly laying out the wrong side of £3k
And yes, you do have the worry of being asked to leave hanging over your head
BUT on the plus side of private renting you can chose exactly where you wish to live, rent a property within your own budget and if something goes wrong such as the boiler, you pick up the phone and its sorted
There are more and more products coming onto the market to help people to access private rented as a viable long term option
Many local council have renting incentive schemes which will help with the financial burden and pay rent and deposits
If you are employed you can now get a deposit bond for a minimal fee which covers the length of the tenancy for the full amount of the deposit but for as little as £60 up front

Most people still have the general belief that getting a council house is easy and the answer to everything for long term hassle free living
But the reality since the Localism Act 2011 is very different, councils overhauled their allocation policies meaning it is harder to get a property, and once you have a council property you will more than likely be given a 1 yr introductory tenancy, after which you can be quickly evicted if you have breached the terms, if you are not evicted you will probably be issued a flexible tenancy with a maximum term of 5yrs, there are no more life time tenancies and if your children have fled the nest by the time 5 yes is up, councils have every right not to renew your tenancy and downsize you

The security that used to come with a local authority property no longer exists, with this in mind the sensible thing to do would be to streamline the private rental sector to make it more attractive as a first housing option, longer tenancies, more structure to evict if tenants breach the terms and financial incentives for people looking to move and improve their circumstances

Private rented should be the first and best option available for our generation not a tabo that puts the fear of god into people