Grampa

The media doesnt help and most of the time tenant biased and whenever some hard done by tenant story is reported the media very rarely give 2 sides to the story. No fault evictions (S21) are very rarely given to good tenant without good reason. Landlord don't evict good tenants. I have managed few hundred properties for about 20+ years and can only recall one landlord increasing the rent by a large amount (£300) and not prepared to negotiate to allow the (good) tenant to stay because they couldn't afford such a large increase. Mould is the other landlord/agent issue that get reported on the media a lot. How many times have you seen a tenant complaining about mould on the TV swearing blind they clean it down regularly and the camera pans round to a mould infected area that obviously hasn't seen a cloth or a wipe down for months and there is also a good chance you will see clothes drying on a airer in the back ground and the windows closed. However, there are many landlords who want max rent for a worn out very dated property with original kitchen and bathroom from the 70s/80s. They do the minimum amount of work to keep compliant, moan about every quote obtained (after getting us to get 2 or 3 for a 100 quid job) then want their mate down pub to do the job who then makes a pigs ear of it. A lot of the above type of landlords never visit their properties in-between tenancies which is the ideal time to assess and improve. We spend so much time putting forward recommendations that just get ignored or an half-arsed attempt is made at min cost.

In my view any landlord who chose the manage their own properties than use an agent has to be either very switched on with access to upto dates documents and law changes or is a penny pinching fool.

This has been going on for years with a drip drip tactic adding an extra obstacle to evicting tenants. 20 years ago all you had to contend with was either getting the one page section 21 wrong mainly by incorrectly choosing the fixed term s21(1b) or the periodic s21(4a). Or by irritating the judge who would then go out of their to to strike the hearing out rightly or wrongly. It then started with big jumps in the court fees which used to £100 and were nearly doubled then regularly increased to the current level of about £350+. Protection of deposit came in with all the numerous ways of getting it wrong therefore invalidating a S21 and also getting a fine. Ambulance chasing law firms jumped of this to line their pockets and to the benefit of the tenant. Failing to do one and then prove you provided tenants with Gas certs, EPC'S, EICR'S, How to rent guide (and all the updates that came out without notice) are further ways to invalidate a S21. A new trick they have come up with is the 2020? "Easy read" version of the How to rent guide. It is exactly the same as the normal one that came out at the same time but basically large print. The government own website says it only needs to be given if required. But courts are now starting to striking out possession hearing unless you can prove you have given this easy read guide to everyone Now the ridiculous thing is this was the one and only easy read version and numerous other versions have been updated & superseded it, without a new version easy read version being available. So the government in their wisdom decide a normal size print version is now not needed for anyone. But unless you can prove an out of date easy read version was given to everyone, it is used as a defence to strike out the possession hearing. Courts are now looking very closely as gas certs to make sure they are correctly signed and correct addresses of tenancies and contractors otherwise another potential strike out. There are numerous other reasons as well to scupper an eviction and thats without even looking at the HMO'S and all the laws that goes with them.

I'm not-----YET

The Torys in their rent reform proposals were going to add further grounds to section 8 and selling your house was going to be one of the grounds to regain possession. . I have no idea if Labour will do the same but I guess they will.

They are just being bloody minded and churlish not to post or email the info to keep good customer relations. If it was my last block managing agent who really were terrible and they did that to me I would return the compliment ask for a morning appointment turn up in my scruffyish clothes, take a radio, a very smelly packed lunch, keep asking numerous questions and be at disruptive and possible without being obvious, purposely keep jamming their photocopier and asking for help to unblock and then block their toilet up and stay all day and refuse to leave until finished even if it took them past closing time. Take pictures of all docs on your phone and print at home. Then once home put in a formal request under the data protection act of all certain info they hold on you which they legally have to repond to in a certain time frame. https://www.gov.uk/respond-data-protection-request https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/individual-rights/right-of-access/ Not that I am/can be bloody minded at all.

Dont forget the lovey David Lammy is now the foreign secretary. How that going to work out when Trumpy gets in? It is well know how thin skinned Trump is and Lammy has called him a neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath, dangerous clown and woman hating to name a few. Labour hid Lammy away during the election campaign. I suspect he will be binned on the first cabinet re-shuffle due to being a liability and an idiot. Oh, and how many days will it be before Labour state they cant deliver on their promises due to some perceived fault of the previous government.

The correct way is for the freeholder to generate a budget to include all the overheads to maintain the building ie: grounds maintenance, utilities, building insurance reserve fund for and general works that may be required, fire alarm servicing, Asbestos report (legal requirement), electrical cert for common ways (legal requirement), fire risk assessment etc. Then a service charge invoice is then generated for all the leaseholders by the freeholder. The lease will dictate the % per unit but likely to to equal amounts. The leaseholders pay the funds into an account dedicated for that purpose set up by the freeholder. Or one owner could take ownership of the utility bill, pay it then ask for the appropriate share from the others.

So just to clarfy you own the freehold of the building and there are 3 flats with leases. Do you also own all the 3 flats/leases or is there another person who owns one of the flats?

I've had the opportunity to buy cheap properties up north a few times but I am just not comfortable buying in a area I'm familiar with and not within a 30 min drive away.

Awaab’s Law if anyone is curious require social housing landlords to adhere to strict time limits to address dangerous hazards such as damp and mould in their properties, and forms part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. 1. Damp and mould growth 2. Excess cold 3. Excess heat 4. Asbestos and MMF 5. Biocides 6. Carbon monoxide and fuel combustion products 7. Lead 8. Radiation 9. Uncombusted fuel gas 10. Volatile organic compounds 11. Crowding and space 12. Entry by intruders 13. Lighting 14. Noise 15. Domestic hygiene, pests and refuse 16. Food safety 17. Personal hygiene, sanitation and drainage 18. Water supply 19. Falls associated with baths etc. 20. Falling on level surfaces etc. 21. Falling on stairs etc. 22. Falling between levels 23. Electrical hazards 24. Fire 25. Flames, hot surfaces etc. 26. Collision and entrapment

Not that it will effect the outcome Labour have said that they “will immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and take steps to decisively raise standards, including extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private sector.” The Conservative Party would bring back the Renters Reform Bill and abolish Section 21 with Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party making a similar commitment. Reform, however have said they would drop the Renters Reform Bill entirely and abolish Section 24 of the Finance Act to enable landlords to claim 100% of their mortgage interest when filing their tax returns.

The landlord would also not be able to use a section 21 as it would be invalid and its also liable for a chunky fine. This landlord is leaving himself wide open for a bit of student blackmail.

I generally agree and sold some of my first BTL leasehold properties for the above reasons. But I have since purchased a house that has been converted into 2 one bed flats that includes the freehold and therefore none of the normal service charges and block management fees. I have also purchased an fairly modern 1st floor ex-council flat and although leasehold with a long lease the only "service charge" payments I get billed is for by the council is buildings insurance of approx. £180pa. There is no garden or common-ways to maintain.

The days of single property landlords are numbered. Ideally you need 3+ properties to iron out the up's and down's. The legislation is gradually getting worst, and its becoming harder and harder to evict tenants and the potential to getting a eviction struck out on a technicality is huge. Now add rent caps in which will likely rear its ugly head i guess in the near future you have a PRS that is just going to reduce.