Shared House Was Worst Housing Officers Had Seen in a Decade
Landlord David Green owns the worst letting property housing officers have seen in Birmingham for a decade. Inspecting his four-storey shared house split into 10 flats, they recorded a catalogue of shameful breaches of fire, health and safety rules. The home had...
Judges Rule Council’s HMO Licence Fees Unlawful
Landlords may be overpaying shared house licensing fees and could claim hundreds of pounds in refunds from local councils, according to a ruling from the High Court. The shock decision came from a legal challenge by landlord Peter Gaskin, who refused to pay £1,799...
The Changes to HMOs You Need to Know About
From 1 October 2018, significant changes are being made to which HMOs are licensable and minimum room sizes in HMOs in England. Changes to mandatory licensing Currently, a property requires a mandatory licence if all of the following apply: the property is a House in...
Landlord Crammed 40 Tenants in Dilapidated Former Pub
A landlord ended with a £15,000 court bill for shoehorning 40 tenants into a dilapidated former pub. Hayden Rogers failed to turn up before magistrates at Mold, Flintshire, to plead to 12 breaches of house in multiple occupation regulations. He was convicted and fined...
Councils Crack Down on Bogus Landlords Ripping Off Tenants
Councils are cracking down on tenants ripping off other tenants by posing as bogus landlords often in death-trap properties. One tenant running a sub-letting scam in London was fined £20,000 for breaking shared house management rules and health and safety breaches. A...
Landlord Licensing Scheme Nets 32,000 Homes to Rent
The UK’s second largest landlord licensing scheme is about to launch. Councillors in Nottingham are putting the final touches to a selective licensing zone that covers an estimated 32,000 private rented homes across the city. The largest scheme started in January...
Government Concerns Trigger Selective Licensing Review
The government has put selective licensing of shared houses under the microscope with a review as landlord and letting agent groups slam the system. Selective licensing is a tool for local councils to exert strict controls over landlords and rented property standards....
Government Finally Reveals New HMO Guidance
The government has finally revealed to landlords how health and safety rules for shared houses will impact their property businesses. From October 1, private landlords renting out homes to five or more tenants from two or more separate households must have a local...
Landlord and Agent Legislation in the Pipeline for 2018
We thought it would be useful to provide a summary of upcoming legislation in 2018 affecting landlords and agents. This will be useful for our own use as a reminder for dates and articles too! It’s quite a busy year coming up but some of the legislation in the...Overcrowding & Room Sizes
Introduction In particular with the introduction of licencing, the size of bedrooms can matter. Sometimes a local authority can limit the number of occupiers depending on the room sizes or in rare cases can state a room is not suitable for occupation at all. At the...
Council Had No Power to Demand Landlord Licence Conditions
Local councils have had a strict limit applied to the conditions they can add to a selective licence for private rented homes after the Court of Appeal upheld a legal challenge from a landlord. Property investor Paul Brown complained Hyndburn Council was overstepping...Does my HMO / Bedsit type property require an EPC?
There have been changes to the regulations since this article was posted. Please see new guidance here. Residential From 1 October 2008 sellers and landlords will be required by law to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for all buildings or parts of...
Introducing Buy to Let Finance for Landlords
We are pleased to inform you about a new service we are able to introduce to for landlord finance such as buy to let mortgages via Commercial Expert. But first, a little background as to how we got here and our personal experience with the company. As most know, in...
Paying Tax May Become a Council Landlord Licence Condition
Landlords signing up to council licensing schemes will have to pass a tax check if HM Revenue & Customs gets its way with a new policy proposal. HMRC says most landlords pay the right amount of tax but claims some are dodging what they owe. To tackle the problem,...
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