A landlord who refused to carry out repair work on his property has been prosecuted and fined £2,500, along with a £120 victim surcharge and £670 in costs. Victor Robbins of Leigh-on-Sea was found guilty in his absence of ignoring an improvement notice on his first floor flat in Westcliff-on-Sea. Southend council received complaints about damp from the tenants of the property in February. An inspection of the property confirmed it…

It’s now been revealed that a letting agent jailed for defrauding money from landlords also falsely claimed to be a member of ARLA. Roy Jackson, who ran Suffolk Lettings in Ipswich, was jailed for 20 months after fleecing clients of £68,000. The judge said: “Should the Association of Letting Agents [sic] have certified you? Probably not.” However, it now turns out that ARLA never had “certified” Jackson at all. In a…

A third (32%) of landlords in the UK – approximately 500,000 – say they have experienced rent arrears in the past 12 months, according to research from the National Landlords Association (NLA). The research shows that a typical landlord faces £1,649 of outstanding rent each, totalling £850m worth of rent arrears across the UK. The NLA research also shows that one in five (22%) landlords in the UK – approximately…

Enfield Borough Council’s landlord licensing scheme quashed at the High Court following judicial review A scheme that would force landlords to hold licences has been quashed by the High Court. The High Court today ruled that the judicial review called for by landlord Constantinos Regas challenging Enfield Borough Council’s licensing scheme was to be upheld. The council’s scheme would have required landlords to hold a £500 five-year licence from the authority for each property they owned. Non-registration…

An amendment to the Deregulation Bill on retaliatory evictions would put an impossible burden on councils and be ineffective in practice, claims the Residential Landlords Association (RLA). Existing regulations can be used to protect tenants, the RLA adds. Landlords are criticising the amendment, which follows the content of Sarah Teather MP’s Bill, defeated last Friday (28th November). The amendment is scheduled to be debated in January. The RLA believes that…

At 9am on Wednesday 10th December 2014, landlords will be able to apply for ‘vouchers’ to improve their properties under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF). £30million has been made available in vouchers as part of an additional £100million fund announced in October. Further funding will be released on a quarterly basis. EDIT: Solid Wall Insulation funding has been completely allocated and further applications will not be taken/considered. Funding…

New regulations announced today will help tackle the rising number of house fires started by fuse boards but London Fire Brigade warns more needs to be done. Around five London house fires a week* are caused by fuse boards (consumer units) which is a fivefold rise in just 5 years. The increase is thought to be because many homes have fuse boards with components which are subject to a product…

Featuring the expert advice from RICS accredited Surveyors Walker Management, our new guide to Understanding Damp and Mould explains the causes behind this contentious issue and provides you with the essential tips you and your tenants need to help tackle this common problem. We also have also launched the brand new video guide on our YouTube channel which contains all the best practice advice in a format which is simple…

Our Guaranteed Rent scheme protects landlords from the considerable exposure to possible loss of rent whilst carrying out legal evictions through the courts. We pay our landlords throughout the term of our contract with them and our landlords are not responsible for the legal & court costs involved in carrying out evictions as highlighted in this article. The consequences of delays through the courts can be extremely damaging to landlords…

As a landlord, choosing a letting agent can be a daunting and sometimes an overwhelming prospect. With occasional problem cases receiving significant publicity in the press, this can lead to landlords having a negative view of the letting agent industry, and in turn, make choosing an agency a nerve racking and scary prospect Here at Simple, we have put together a short guide with some top tips to help you…

While many landlords choose to let and manage their properties themselves, for others using an agent can be essential. The following are some of the key indicators that agents may be a good idea: You live too far away from the property and cannot easily show it to prospective tenants or manage the property if there are problems. You don’t have the time. Managing or letting a property can be…

A landlord body which opposed last month’s failed attempt to introduce legislation outlawing so-called revenge evictions has reacted angrily to the news that another attempt will be made to introduce legislation early next year. As reported in LAT last week, four Liberal Democrat peers have tabled an amendment to the Deregulation Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament. The amendment will be debated in mid-January, when peers return from…

Affordable Housing Construction Still At Snail’s Pace The latest figures from City Hall show the parlous state of ‘affordable’ house building in London. Just 2,670 ‘affordable’ homes have been built since April this year, with even fewer started. The Greater London Authority issues regular updates about how many homes have been completed (ie, built and ready for people to move in) and started (which gives an idea of what will…

Dear Letting Agent Last Friday I emailed to update you on the fact that the proposed bill to restrict use of a Section 21, where a tenant had complained about repairs, had been stopped in its tracks in Parliament due to a lack of MPs voting. What has happened today? It has come to my attention that the proposed retaliatory eviction bill has been added to the De Regulation Bill…

Two Bolton landlords have been fined after a four-month-old baby and both his parents were taken to hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning. Mr and Mrs Mehboob and Suraiya Bobat were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found four gas appliances at a property on Bowness Road were unsafe, and that they had failed to arrange an annual gas safety check as the law requires. Trafford…

A group for over 50s is “anxious” to improve health and well-being among the older generation after it emerged that people in Enfield are living longer than ever before.Enfield Borough Council’s director of public health’s annual report for 2014 shows the average life expectancy in the borough is now 80 for men and 84 for women. This is an increase from 79 for men and 83 for men in 2012…

The landlord licensing scheme in Enfield, north London, which has been the subject of heated legal debate in recent months, will be subject to a test case next week.The High Court ruled in October that part of landlord Constantinos Regas’s application to bring a judicial review against Enfield council’s licensing scheme could proceed to judicial review. The scheme requires landlords to hold a £500 five-year licence from the local authority…

Landlords breathed a sigh of relief on Friday when the Tenancies (Reform) Bill, presented by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather, failed to progress. Rather than fail on a vote, the bill failed on a technicality. MPs Philip Davies and Christopher Chope chose to “filibuster” it or “talk it out” while not enough MPs were present in the House of Commons to vote for the Bill. The debate started at approximately…

Please see article below where a landlord has been recently prosecuted for carrying out an illegal eviction. With Central Housing Group’s Guaranteed Rent scheme the legal and court costs involved in carrying out evictions are not the responsibility of the landlord and you can rest assured your rental payment will continue to be paid throughout the agreement even if the tenant is in rent arrears with their council. We have…

What happened at the vote today? Dear Letting Agent In Parliament today, there was a second reading of a private members bill to reform Section 21 notices with the effect of restricting such use when a complaint has been made by a tenant. In addition, there were some other proposals such as recognising the recent decision in Spencer V Taylor for the length of notice required for a periodic tenancy.…