Welcome to our weekly Newsround where we bring you the housing news that has been trending this week.
Renters Rights Bill Second Reading
This took place on Thursday. After a fairly long debate the bill was passed and will now move on to the committee stage. Which will take place on a date to be announced. Although this government is looking to speed this bill through so it will probably be fairly soon.
For more information about the debate, see our post on this.
Courts need to be properly funded to cope with renting reforms
Lawyers are warning that an underfunded court system will hinder progress in strengthening renters rights.
Nick Emmerson, President of the Law Society says that it’s vital that renters are given clear rights, saying
Abolishing no-fault evictions is a critical step in bolstering these protections and we are pleased the government has prioritised this action in its Renters’ Rights Bill. The government must also balance tenant rights with landlords’ routes to repossessions. Maintaining this balance is key to reforming the rental market.
However, Law Society research shows hat 25 million people (i.e. 42%) do not have any local legal aid provider for housing advice and fewer and fewer firms are providing this. This is largely due to the drop in legal aid pay rates, which have fallen by almost 50% since 1996.
Emmerson comments
Acute underfunding of the justice system has left both a backlog of court cases and more than 25 million people without a local legal aid provider for housing advice. To ensure renters are protected when facing eviction, funding for the justice system must increase alongside efforts to reform the rental market.
Governments reforms are just tinkering at the edges
Solicitor David Smith, a partner at JMW solicitors, warned recently that housing law in England is a ‘mess’ and that the property market is ‘disfunctional’ saying
I don’t think landlords are the problem
Telling the Shelagh Fogarty show on LBC Radio that one of the main issues is underfunding local authorities to enforce existing regulations. Plus there is not enough housing to resolve the current crisis. The government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes are flawed as there are not enough skilled workers to build them.
Smith has also warned about abolishing section 21 notices before increasing capacity in the courts and criticised plans to end bidding wars as unworkable.
Landlords need to be ready for extreme weather conditions
landlords need to prepare themselves for any severe weather event this winter, including that of severe flooding.
Julie Ford, a property expert, advises that both property and tenants need to be proactive in the event of a severe weather event. She gives some good practical steps to follow:-
- Landlords need to have the correct insurance in place
- Tenants need to have their own contents insurance to cover their belongings
- Prepare your building for floods, if you are in a high risk area consider having sockets higher, have non return valves in toilets and sewer pipes. Store sandbags.
- Do general good house maintenance, clear gutters and drains, check drains, remove leaves and moss regularly. Including asking tenants to keep an eye out for blocked drains or gutters.
You can check if you are in a flood risk area here and sign up for flood warning on the government website here.
Tenants also need to be proactive and educated where necessary in keeping an eye out for blocked drains, gutters, broken downpipes. Ask them to maintain where they can and report any thing else back to the landlord.
Of course, it goes without saying that regular inspections are where a landlord will pick up a lot of these issues, and now is a good time to plan in an inspection in readiness for winter if you have not done so already.
Here at Landlord Law we have a wealth of information for our member on inspections, including our Property Inspection Kit.
We also have articles on insurance for landlords, a mini insurance course developed with an insurer which de-mystifies the complex areas of insurance for rented properties.
See also past posts on this blog on flooding.
EV chargers boost both tenant appeal & profits
Insurance firm Quotezone claim that rental properties that have EV chargers installed increases both the house value and its desirability to tenants.
They claim that it is beneficial to both landlord and tenant where landlords property value is increased and tenants can benefit from a cost effective charging point. Very often landlords can get these chargers installed for free by some electricity providers. 40% of young drivers now drive only electric vehicles making it a sensible option for landlords to consider.
Greg Wilson Chief Exec of Quotezone says
This is great way to encourage and support efforts to reduce carbon emissions, entice new tenants, boost house price value, and keep current tenants happy.
A win-win all round then!
Snippets
Shock as huge fines for HMO landlords increased after appeal flop
Activists claim 90% of tenants believe private renting affects their mental health
Abolishing fixed-term tenancies will have serious implications
Council to restrict HMOs despite ‘no evidence’ residents cause crime
Council claims doubling tax on second homes is not a penalty
Older renters fear raising concerns with landlords
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week