Garage Space Is Top Of The Tenant Wish List For 2021

Some 21% of tenants in major UK cities want a rental home with a garage, making it the most in-demand of all rental property features, research from lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves has found. Gardens aren’t far behind (18%), while balconies also rank high, with demand at 16%. Pet-friendly properties are the wanted rental feature in Bristol, Plymouth, Southampton, Leicester, Swansea, Oxford and Bournemouth. A concierge was the most in-demand feature in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, while furnished homes were most in-demand in Belfast. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/garage-space-is-top-of-the-tenant-wish-list-for-2021/

Demand From Tenants Continues To Reach Record Levels

Propertymark’s Private Rented Sector Report for August shows a record-breaking month with the number of new prospective tenants continuing to rise, along with the average letting agent branch registering 101 new tenants, breaking July’s previous record. 208 rental properties were available per letting agent branch in August. This remained the same as the record-high figure recorded in July, which beat the previous record of 192 properties managed per letting agent branch in July 2017. Read more on the ARLA website.

https://www.arla.co.uk/news/september-2020/demand-from-tenants-continues-to-reach-record-levels/ 

Most Landlords Stood By Their Tenants During The Lockdown

Some 87% of landlords who received a received a request from a tenant for a rent reduction or payment holiday due to COVID-19 agreed to a concession. More than a third (35%) received a request from a tenant for a rent reduction or payment holiday from March to June, outlining the scale of the disruption caused by Covid-19. Despite this difficult period half (50%) of landlords plan to buy at least one property in the next 12 months. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/most-landlords-stood-by-their-tenants-during-the-lockdown/

Tenants Told To Use Lunch And Holiday Savings To Pay Full Rent

Tenants who asked their billionaire landlord for a rent reduction during the coronavirus pandemic were told to use the money they would have spent on lunches and holidays to pay the full amount due. More than 100 residents living in a block in Somerford Grove, east London, signed a letter asking for a 20% reduction in rent and an agreement that no tenant would be evicted during the pandemic. But the letting agent, Tower Quay properties, told them their request was “unreasonable” and “unrealistic”, adding that any drop in tenants’ income would be minimised by a reduction in spending on holidays, entertainment, travel, clothes and lunches. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/apr/21/tenants-told-to-use-lunch-and-holiday-savings-to-pay-full-rent

Landlords And Tenants Both Worried About Impact Of COVID-19

Three quarters (73%) of landlords are worried their tenants will not be able to pay all or part of the rent, research consultancy Opinium found. Meanwhile 70% of landlords are concerned that their tenants will vacate, leaving them with an empty property. The majority (58%) of renters who were working before the COVID-19 outbreak report they have had their employment impacted in some way, Two fifths (43%) of those whose work has been impacted have struggled to pay rent, bills or other essentials such as food. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/landlords-and-tenants-both-worried-about-impact-of-covid-19

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance For Landlords And Tenants

Non-statutory guidance for landlords and tenants in the private and social rented sectors on:

1. Measures relating to notices seeking possession as amended by the Coronavirus Act 2020

2. Court action on possession cases during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

3. Property access and health and safety obligations in the context of Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions

Download the guidance from the GovUK website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/876500/Consolidated_Landlord_and_Tenant_Guidance_COVID_and_the_PRS_v4.2.pdf

Regulator Sets Out Information For Tenants On How To Complain

The Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) has published a guide for tenants of social housing on current arrangements for how to complain to the RSH about a registered provider of social housing and what the RSH does when a complaint is received. The information contains details of:

1.       The RSH's role and objectives

2.       The roles of the RSH and the Housing Ombudsman

3.       How tenants can complain to the RSH and how the RSH handles complaints

 Read the guide on the RSH website.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/information-for-tenants

Tenants Charged Thousands For Non-Existent Lift

Tenants living in a block of flats paid out thousands of pounds over a number of years for a non-existent lift. One Housing charged residents living in Belford Court, Reading, for maintenance despite there being no lift in their block. The housing association admitted its mistake this year in a service charge booklet, before issuing a new booklet without the lift charge. A spokeswoman said residents would be contacted and refunded. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-49329600

Tenants Hit Hardest By Focus On Home Ownership

Tenants in private rented housing are bearing the brunt of the Government’s focus on boosting home ownership at the expense of the rental market. According to the latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a fall in the supply of private rented housing whilst demand from prospective tenants increases is “likely to squeeze rents higher.” Tenant demand has picked up despite the Government’s efforts to boost homeownership and RICS notes that many respondents to its latest residential market survey saw a rise in the number of enquiries from new home buyers in July. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/tenants-hit-hardest-by-focus-on-home-ownership/

Courts Are Failing Landlords And Tenants

Seventy nine per cent of private landlords with experience of using the courts to repossess properties are dissatisfied with the way they work. According to one of the largest ever surveys of landlords and letting agents, 91 per cent of landlords would support the establishment of a dedicated housing court. In a letter to the new Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland MP, the RLA, which conducted the research, has warned that with Ministers pledged to scrap Section 21 ‘no explanation’ repossessions, the courts are simply unable to cope with the increased pressures they will face. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/courts-are-failing-landlords-and-tenants/

Landlords With Tenants On Universal Credit Should Get A Tax Break

Landlords who rent to Universal Credit claimants should be given tax breaks, the architect of the controversial benefits system has said. Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who oversaw the design of the policy, told a conference in London that property barons who let homes to social tenants should pay less tax. Duncan Smith criticised sweeping changes to tax laws that increased the costs of renting a property for thousands of landlords, enacted by the government he was a part of. Read more on the Huffington Post website.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ian-duncan-smith-landlords-universal-credit_uk_5c939aaee4b01b140d3680f4

Brokenshire Announces Overhaul Of Broken Housing Complaints System

Dissatisfied homeowners and tenants will have simple and quick access to help when things go wrong, thanks to new plans announced by Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP. From broken boilers to cracks in the wall, the new Housing Complaints Resolution Service will potentially help millions by providing a straight-forward way of getting help when faced with unresolved disputes about problems with their home – such as repairs and maintenance. Establishing a single housing complaints service for all residents – no matter whether they rent or own their home – will prevent people from battling with their landlord or builder to resolve issues on their own and make it easier to claim compensation where it’s owed. Read more on the Gov UK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/james-brokenshire-announces-overhaul-of-broken-housing-complaints-system

Has The Brexit Vote Saved London Tenants £1,800 pa In Rent?

Tenants in London have saved as much as £1,800 in rent as a result of the Brexit referendum in 2016, according to an analysis of more than 100,000 rental properties listed on the Zoopla property website. Rent price growth in London is almost 3% lower than the projected rate of growth since the EU referendum announcement, leaving tenants with more money at the end of the month. Outside of London, rents have been firmer, with the Midlands recording the highest rates of increase, the company’s Landbay rental index shows. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/14/has-the-brexit-vote-saved-london-tenants-1800-pa-in-rent

Private Renting Sector Unfair To Tenants, Poll Finds

As families and children in privately rented homes soar, a new report urges a rethink to make housing more stable and affordable. The research, which included focus groups of both tenants and landlords, represents efforts by IPPR from Sky Data to gain a better understanding of the private rented sector, developing policy options for reform. According to investigations, more than seven in 10 of all privately rented houses are owned by individuals and couples, with 78% of ‘amateur’ landlords renting out a single home. Download the report from the IPPR website.

https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/the-case-for-reforming-private-renting

Tenant Services Authority – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Interim Chair of the Social Housing Regulator decided against appointing any tenants of social landlords when the regulator expanded its board in April 2018; and if he will ensure that the regulator now undertakes a process to make such appointments.

Kit Malthouse: The Assessment Panel considered applications against the essential criteria set out in the published candidate pack. Recommendations were made for appointments, which the then Housing Minister, on behalf of the then Secretary of State and the Prime Minister, agreed to. Work has begun to launch a further recruitment campaign to strengthen the board of the Regulator of Social Housing. In the recent Social Housing Green Paper, we committed to recruit someone with extensive experience of consumer regulation.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-10-11/178312

Low-Income Tenants Face 'Heat, Eat Or Pay Rent' Choices

Low-income tenants in the private rented sector face a “heat, eat or pay rent” problem because housing benefit rates have failed to keep up with the soaring cost of accommodation, a study has found. The four-year freeze on local housing allowance levels, which has been in place since April 2016, means some families must meet a shortfall of hundreds of pounds a month on their rent support, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). It said the ongoing housing benefit freeze meant even the lowest private rents were out of reach for many low-income families in most areas – making it more likely that tenants would be forced to choose between living necessities or paying the rent. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/Scotland/Benefit_freeze_puts_private_renting_out_of_reach_for_low-income_tenants_and_risks_fuelling_homelessness

Rental Demand Hits 2018 High As Supply Dwindles

The number of tenants looking for new homes increased to the highest level seen since September 2017, according to the latest PRS report from ARLA Propertymark. The number of new prospective tenants registered per letting agent branch increased from 71 in June to 79 in July. Year on year, demand is up 13% while the supply of available properties moved in the opposite direction, falling from 191 in June to 184. In June, the number of tenants experiencing rent hikes increased to 35%, but this dropped slightly in July, to 31%. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/rental-demand-hits-2018-high-as-supply-dwindles-arla.html

Special Administration Regime For English Housing Associations Comes Into Force

A new special administration regime which allows the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) to deal with insolvent housing associations has come into force. The regime, which gives the regulator powers to appoint administrators, has received the necessary approvals from parliament to come into force. It sets up a bespoke system of administration – recommended in the aftermath of the Cosmopolitan saga – which will provide greater powers to protect tenants if an association goes bankrupt. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/special-administration-regime-for-english-housing-associations-comes-into-force-57065?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Report Reinforces ‘Significant Impact’ Of Universal Credit On Landlords

A new report reinforces the difficulties social landlords are still facing from the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC). The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) report Impact of Universal Credit – The Frontline Perspective summarises a year-long study of UC, highlighting the experiences of 85 of its member organisations and their tenants across the North. Key concerns that have emerged include the following:

·         95% of participants reported that their tenants were having difficulty in meeting housing costs.

·         There is a significant impact on landlords, with 92% reporting staff were spending more time supporting people through the UC process than the Housing Benefit process.

·         Communication problems between participants (and their tenants) and the DWP

Download the report from the NHC website.

DWP Launches New Helpline For Landlords

The DWP has introduced a new helpline for landlords whose Universal Credit tenants will not communicate with them. The new number 0345 600 4272 can be used by landlords who are unable to obtain the tenant’s co-operation to get DWP to supply information when it comes to enquiries about major payments –  such as a direct payment to the landlord. This is a significant change as, before now, landlords were totally dependent on the goodwill of the tenant when it came to accessing information. The new number can only be used by landlords in areas where Universal Credit has been fully rolled out. Read more on the RLA website.