Grampa

Also housing benefit rates have shot up in my area. A 2 bed property limit was £728pcm and has just increased to £822pcm. Not good for the poor taxpayer but the landlord with HB tenants has just had a result. Mmmmmmmm do I kick out my retired couple tenants paying 740pcm from their pension and put in a single mum on full benefit of 822pcm. That was tongue in cheek and i wouldnt do that but there will be a lot of landlords that would seriously consider that and would.

From a agent perspective the tenant could argue having a water softener was part of their decision making in choosing that property in the first place. (unlikely but possible) so therefore they are entitled to it being replaced. You could just tell the tenant it will not be replaced or ask them their thoughts on it not being replaced. I would think making the big jump from soft water to hard water would be quite noticeable (extra limescale on showers, taps etc) and would be surprised if they dont make a little issue of it. Would you question it if all of a sudden you had all this extra limescale cleaning to do. This has got me thinking now, should I have a extra clause in the tenancy to cover this? It could be a slight amendment to a current clause in the agreement I am using at present.

I did look into that but I'm not prepared to pay the extra cost and apparently you cant remortgage for 6 months after purchase anyway so those extra fees/interest will be quite substantial. There certainly appears on the face of it a agenda to make it harder to be a Landlord. But we have all known this for a few years and the writing has been on the wall.

Just encountered a EPC problem with a BTL property I am purchasing. Now we are all aware you cant rent out a property with a EPC rating below a E. But having just had a offer accepted on a BTL property and a BTL mortgage agreed in principle I was surprised to just be told the lender TMW will now not lend on it because the EPC rating is a F/G. The rating is this because it hasn't got any heating, but I plan to renovate with new combi boiler and rads etc, which I know will bring it up to a E/D. The lender will release funds if the works (to bring up EPC rating) are under 5k and put a retention of 5k for 3 months on the mortgage. If over 5k NO MORTGAGE GRANTED But the lenders valuer who didn't even visit the property says it needs 21k of works to bring it up to a E rating and he comes by that figure by totaling the all the suggested works on the original EPC such as under floor heating, internal & external wall insulation and solar panels. There wasn't even a option for boiler even though the property doesn't have one. So it looks like I have to get another report from a EPC assessor to state if I instal a combi boiler, loft insulation and LED lighting and provide quotes totaling under 5k I can request the decision is overturned. So anyone trying to sell a property with a low EPC rating they will struggle to sell to the rental market unless the purchaser is a cash buyer.

I like your thinking RL regarding your marketing tool suggestion . Unfortunately most the properties we sell dont generate great rental returns thats why my own personal rental purchases are a little out of my business area.

Well, we have re-opened our offices with social distancing precautions and the market is very very active both for lettings and sales so cant complain. However, the common view in the industry is the knock on effect of the lock-down, impact on businesses failing and anticipated redundancies is chasing our tails and will hit the property world in Sept/Oct which is about a month before the industry traditionally starts slowing down for Xmas. Being an optimistic person I disagree and dont think there will be a huge impact then, maybe just a little drop. Thoughts

You are not the first person to find renting to family or friends often doesnt work out. Mainly because the tenants think they can get away with paying late etc and for some reason they think the landlord hasnt the same bills and obligations as other landlords. I aways say if you want to rent to friends or family THAT is the time to use a agent so you can distance yourself.

Just make sure your solicitor is on the ball and prompt. I find they dont have the sense of urgency as they should. He will probably be using grounds 8,10,11 but only ground 8 (2 month in arrears) is a mandatory possession if proven during the court hearing. Grounds 10 & 11 (late payment of rent) is discretionary so ideally you dont want the tenant to pay enough rent to get the arrears below 2 month. The below is based on pre COVID-19 days After service of the s8 on the tenant the solicitor can apply for a court hearing 14 days later and you should get a hearing date within 6 weeks & if the tenant is still at least 2 months in arrears you should get a possession order 14 days later. If the tenant hasn't vacated after those 14 days you need to apply for a court bailiff and depending how slow they are in your area that could be another 2-6 weeks approx. Ask your solicitor how fast the bailiffs are in your area and if there is a long wait your solicitor can ask at the court hearing you have the possession transferred to the high court so a high court sheriff (bailiff) can kick the tenant out which is a lot faster. This will cost more but if the rent isn't being paid at all it could be cheaper than waiting for normal court bailiffs. With all the constant changes in laws to be a landlord you either have to be very switched on and join a landlord association such as the guild of residential landlords for guidance and docs or use a letting agent.

Is the tenant more than 2 months in arrears?

From the details of your post it obvious you are a little green in being a landlord. (we all have to start somewhere) but I would seriously consider instructing a professional eviction company for this. You only need to get one small bit wrong with your application and/or have a missing or invalid document and the your claim will be struck out and you will be back to square one. ONLY USE a solicitor who specialises in housing law and evictions or an company that solely deals with evictions. Act fast otherwise these issues will drag out especially if you start believing all the sob stories

We are all over this with a handfull of sparkys lined up on fixed pricing for certs. However, watch out for the ones who will give a good price for the cert but over inflate for any works that are required we have had that all ready. Going back to the legal requirement this is another badly drafted law. With a gas cert the requirement is it has to be safe but this new law it is requiring the electrics to meet the standard of the 18th edition which potentially has huge expensive ramifications for landlords which means replacing plastic fuseboxes for metal, changing circuit breakers and even some cables . This could mean some sparkys telling you, you have to upgrade everything to 18th edition. The penalty for non-compliance it as much as 30k. Also make sure any cert you get states 5 years until next inspection if less you will obliged to act on any lower one. However, I did speak to my local council and they are not insisting on an upgrade to 18th edition as long as the property has a cert. But other councils may take another view and if having one is linked with the correct service of any S21 you potentially could have a smart arse solicitor arguing that any s21 served is invalid. On that happy note enjoy your weekend fellow landlords.

You make a number of valid points RL. Unfortunately, I think benefit tenants as a whole do get a bad reputation mainly because only horror stories are reported by L/L's on these type of forums. I have many benefit tenants who have have been housed in the same property for 10 years plus. and far less needy than "professional" tenants. A large percentage of horror stories are also written by inexperienced landlords who should take larger blame for the situation they have found themselves in due to bad management. (not all I might add) I do think your list though doesn't tell the whole story: My mortgage lender doesn't allow it. Mortgage lenders are under pressure now to remove this restriction and I believe a lot have and eventually all will be forced to * My rent guarantee insurers don't allow it. I am no great user of RG products but know of at least one that does accept benefit tenants * My letting agents don't deal with benefits tenants. Nice to be in a position to do this, however, I think all agents should have the knowledge and skills to manage this type of tenancy as it can be common for a tenancy to fall/change into this category by accident and if a agent doesnt know what they are doing they will just muddle through at the LL expense * They cant provide a home owning guarantor. Many can in my experience * They can't pass the affordability criteria. Agreed * They have cats & dogs which my leases don't allow. No more than other working tenants in my experience * There are better applicants. I think this depends on many factors such as area and demographics * I don't want to let to them. Quite right. However, if Shelter have their way you may not be able to "openly " discriminate but fairly easy to get around. (at the moment) i do acknowledge RL you have your own business model that works for you and many L/L's. Other reasons to avoid benefit tenants you dont mention are: The rent is limited to the benefit rate cap (foolish to expect the rent to be paid if a large top-up has to be paid) Higher wear and tear Can sometimes be more labour intensive. Payments can sometime be erratic. ( only with some)

That must mean now is the time RL for you to dip you toe into the water of benefit tenants.😀. No worries (well not as much) about not getting the rent in the current climate. Hard hat on, waiting for incoming fire

Just had a offer accepted on a end of terrace 3 bed house or 175k (75% Ltd Co mortgage) but needs about 15k+ of work. I sold a mortgage free flat for 81k just before the lock down. The thinking was what else is there to do with the cash other than stick it in property. The service charges were creeping up on the 2 flats I have on that block. They were 1k pa 5 years ago but now 1.5k pa which certainly hampered the sale of the sold one. The flat was generating 530pcm and the house when finished 920pcm and will be first to go in a LTD Co just formed. The other flat to go on the market in the coming weeks. Good idea or pure madness????

let us know the outcome.

The question to ask is how come the debt collection agency got in touch with the lettings agency? Who gave them that address? If they had that address and the letting agency details then surely there should have been some previous correspondence from the council tax dept to the letting agency regarding outstanding bills before it got to stage of the council them instructing Jacobs. If so WHY didnt the letting agency forward any mail/bills. I would first ask the letting agent if they were aware of any outstanding bill before the Jacob letter and then contact the council requesting copies of the correspondence and letter chain leading up to them instructing Jacobs to see where they were addressed to. You could have a claim against the letting agency which could put pressure on them to help you resolve the issue with the council.

yawn yawn

Is this a contract you wrote or the clause in question? If you wrote it yourself it is very easy to get it wrong and she may have a get out. If it is a professionally drawn up contract just stick to your guns and advise her to take legal advise or come to a mutual agreement. People are still looking for properties to rent at this present time.

My thoughts are you have given a discount with one hand and taken it away with the other which will cause confusion if you try to may any claim from the deposit or serve a section 8 for rent arrears.

Review sites can be a right pain for agents. In the letting industry especially as most tenants who have a deposit deduction are not happy about it. Communication and fairness is the key to reduce the malicious, exaggerated or false ones. However, if you do get a a false one it can be virtually impossible to get it amended or removed on many sites. I find the facebook reviews have more value because you have to have an account it also puts a picture of the person making it more personal and people can look you up. Doesnt stop dodgy ones completely though. You have to try and get as many review as possible and on a regular basis and most people viewing can see through the odd ify one. We had a 1 star rating on google from a person we had no connection with and a false grossly exaggerated one on yell that they wouldn't let us amend.

It is a very simple thing to request the HB or UC to be paid direct to the landlord when there are arrears. If you dont have the skills or knowledge to do it yourself it just emphasizes how important it is for you to join a landlord organisation.

You dont need me to tell you the numerous mistakes you have made from day 1. So moving forward i suggest you join the Guild of Residential Landlords https://www.landlordsguild.com/ which will cost you only £90 pa and they will be able to advise you on all the legalities on your next steps. I have no connection with them other being a member, landlord and letting agent.

I not 100% sure this is correct for MCOL. Evictions yes. MCOL is an online excise and if it doesnt get defended will not need to go to court.

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): ADVICE FOR LANDLORDS The HSE have provided the following guidance for landlords. Landlords have a duty of care to their tenants. This is a legal duty to repair and maintain gas pipework, flues and appliances in a safe condition, to ensure an annual gas safety check on each appliance and flue, and to keep a record of each safety check. During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, there is a balance between ensuring people, including the vulnerable, are protected from possibly fatal risks arising from carbon monoxide exposure or gas explosion, while doing what we can to protect people from COVID-19. Current guidance from HM Government states that work can still be carried out in people’s homes where necessary, eg for reasons of safety, provided that the GOV.UK guidance on social distancing is followed. See ‘Advice for engineers’ for guidance for engineers and their employers regarding working in peoples’ homes. The law is flexible and where it is not possible to carry out a gas safety check, it will normally be enough to show that you took reasonable steps to do so. In the event you are unable to gain access to the property, eg refusal of access due to tenants self-isolating, or if you are unable to engage a registered gas engineer to carry out the work due to a shortage of available engineers, you will be expected to demonstrate that you took reasonable steps to comply with the law. This should include records of communication with the tenant and details of your engineer’s attempts to gain access. You should seek to arrange the safety check as soon as all parties are available.

Well I am feeling fairly optimistic and wouldn't be surprised if the housing market goes mad with a flood of properties coming up for sale. All the current ones for sale, venders who had already made the decision to sell this year, landlords who have got into recent difficulties, marital break-ups due to current situation and all the properties that have to be sold due to normal deaths in the last few months piling up and sadly the ones because of the virus. Cant say what will happened to prices but expect them to take a little tumble and if you have a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket there could be some bargains out there to be had. But then again I could be miles off the mark.