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Election Special: Will May 7th be a black day for

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A L I F E M A G A Z I N E S P U B L I C AT I O N I N C O N J U N C T I O N W I T H E M P O

E A S T M I D L A N D S E D I T I O N

APRIL – MAY 2015

Three Things to be Frightened of in

a Manifesto

Brandon Lewis strikes a

blow against selective licensing

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APRIL/MAY 2015

Copy deadline: For June/July edition 18th May

CONTACTT: 01636 815561 M: 07812 575540 Life Magazines, 7b Church Street, Southwell NG25 0HQ

Sales: howard@life-magazines.co.ukEditorial: howard@life-magazines.co.ukSubscription: kate@life-magazines.co.uk

Published by: Life Magazines (Notts) Ltd

Editor: Howard Clemmow

Contributors: Adeela Ahmed, Howard Clemmow, Giles Inman

CONTENTS

Landlord News 6

The Secret of my Success: Irfan Ahmed 8

The Big Issue: General Election 10

The Knowledge: East Midlands Landlord Expo 14

Advertise in Private Sector Landlord 17

Letters Page 18

Subscribe to Private Sector Landlord 19

EDITOR’S LETTERHello and welcome to our April/May edition. In case you haven’t noticed, the general election is just around the corner and we’ve devoted a fair chunk of our content to it. The Big Issue examines what PRS related policies the two main political parties have implemented over the years and what they have up their sleeves should they win the election. Hint: the party with the most landlord friendly policies begins with a C. The election also features on our news pages. Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis, has dished out an unnoticed pre-election giveaway to the PRS – selective licencing schemes that cover more than 20% of a council’s territory must be approved by the Secretary of State.

Another event that happens in May is the third East Midlands Landlord Expo which takes place the day after the election. Our The Knowledge feature focuses on the show and details the many delights that attendees can look forward to. This magazine will be sharing a stand with EMPO, the organisers. Do call in to say hello.

We interview landlord Irfan Ahmed in this edition and he dispenses more of the sage advice for which our Secret of my Success article has become renowned.

Sadly, the appeal for a judicial review of the additional licensing scheme launched by NCC last year has been refused. EMPO, who put forward the appeal, are naturally disappointed but still believe that it was a battle well worth fi ghting. There is an important point to be made here. It costs peanuts to join a landlord association, they provide invaluable advice and support and are virtually the only organisations that are prepared to fi ght the PRS’s corner in an increasingly hostile political environment. Yet only 4% of the UK’s 2 million landlords are members of a landlord association. Perhaps you should consider helping them to help you.

Don’t forget to vote.

Howard Clemmow | Editor

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Landlord NewsCouncils Scramble to put through Selective Licensing SchemesBoth Liverpool City Council and Croydon Borough Council are to impose blanket selective licensing schemes across their jurisdictions before an April the 1st deadline. The rushed decisions have been made following a letter sent out to all councils by Brandon Lewis, the Minister for Housing and Planning. Mr Lewis said that under new rules about to come into effect, local authorities would have to seek confirmation from the Secretary of State for any selective licensing scheme which covers more than 20% of their geographical area or homes.

The Liverpool scheme will net over 5000 landlords who between them manage an estimated 25,000 homes. The five year licences will cost £400 for a first property and £350 for each additional property. The Liverpool Echo reports that so far 1724 landlords have applied for licences covering 8258 properties. The scheme will raise approximately £15 million in fees which the council claims will be used entirely to cover

“legitimate costs incurred by the council” such as compliance checks.

Cabinet member for housing, Ann O’Byrne stated, “Landlord

licensing will drive up the quality of the 50,000 privately rented properties in the city and help tenants plagued by rogue landlords.”

The Croydon scheme encompasses every privately rented residential property in the borough, estimated to be some 30,000 homes, and the licence fee is £750 per property, reduced to £350 if the landlord signs up within 3 months of the scheme’s implementation.

Labour council leader Tony Newman was highly critical of the new guidance, claiming, “We won’t be intimidated by a Conservative minister in the last weeks before they leave office. We will implement this scheme.” He later said, “We were elected with a clear mandate to do this and we have had many months of consultation. I don’t know if the letter is aimed particularly at us but we are the only local authority putting forward a scheme at this time.”

Landlord associations have long opposed selective licensing schemes on the basis that they go against the original intention of the 2004 Housing Act. The letter written by Brandon Lewis goes some way towards addressing these criticisms.

Illegal Eviction results in Criminal ConvictionA landlord has been given a 6 month prison sentence, suspended for 2 years, and fined £10,794 after illegally evicting her tenants.

Kathryn Dow of Fulham let out the top floor of her home to two tenants in January 2013 and received a sizeable deposit. Some weeks after moving in, the tenants complained about a foul smell in the hallway and one of the bedrooms which they suspected was caused by a dead animal under the floorboards.

They also requested that a large cabinet that was restricting access to the door to the hallway be moved. Ms Dow refused to investigate the smell or remove the fire hazard.

Housing officers from Hammersmith and Fulham Council were called to the property and, having confirmed the smell and the presence of a fire hazard, wrote to Ms Dow giving her 7 days to resolve the problems. However, she then cancelled two further

meetings with the officers. In September the tenants returned home to find the locks had been changed and their possessions put into storage. They then contacted the council again to report a wrongful eviction. Housing officers investigated the allegation and subsequently brought the prosecution that resulted in the conviction and fine.

Lisa Homan, the council’s Cabinet Member for Housing commented, “Rogue landlords

cannot mistreat residents in this manner and this prosecution shows the council’s determination to ensure that private tenants in the borough are treated fairly.”

Commentators have been quick to point out that there is already a robust legal framework in place to deal with revenge evictions, suggesting there is little need for the private members bill put forward by Lib Dem MP, Sarah Teather.

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APRIL/MAY 2015

The application, made by EMPO, for a judicial review into the Additional Licensing scheme launched by Nottingham City Council last year has fallen at the first hurdle. At a High Court hearing in Birmingham on the 20th of March to establish whether the application could proceed to a full judicial review, the judge rejected all the grounds for making the application. In summary, he concluded that the Council followed proper processes in terms of how it established its evidence base, arrived at its licensing fees, conducted its consultation and developed its formula for designating areas for HMO licensing.

He also rejected the application on the grounds of promptness. Although it was put forward within the 3 month time window, the judge ruled that,

Judicial Review Falls at the Firstbecause EMPO had made a written submission to the consultation process stating that they would challenge the licensing scheme if it was approved, they should have started to prepare their case at that time.

Giles Inman of EMPO, who coordinated the application commented, “This is disappointing news but we feel we were right to challenge the Council. EMPO represent the reputable landlords in Nottingham who are fed up of being unfairly targeted. Our members have joined the voluntary Code of Conduct that the Council promoted prior to this new scheme and have spent thousands of pounds carrying out improvements to their properties to do this.

“The Additional Licensing scheme actually represents a lower standard than the

On page 9 under the heading Young People and Students is the proposal to “Campaign with students for government to outlaw annualised student tenancy agreements and finders’ fees.” It is not clear what are categorised as a finders’ fee, though this probably refers to service fees charged to tenants by letting agents. It is also unclear why the council would want to outlaw a type of tenancy that has worked very well for students and landlords alike for many years.

On page 14 under policies for housing, point 2 states: “Create a comprehensive city-wide licensing scheme for all private rented accommodation to drive

Nasty Surprises in Election Manifesto

up standards and protect tenants across the city.” This is clearly a proposal for a blanket selective licensing scheme. Point 3 reads: “Take on the management of poorly maintained privately rented properties,” a statement that could cover a multitude of sins.

Giles Inman of EMPO wrote to Steven Perry, Housing Strategy Officer at NCC, requesting a clarification and received the reply, “This is a political document and we can give absolutely no comment upon it at all. It’s not policy and is the manifesto of a political party contesting an election!”

Third East Midlands Landlord Expo Bigger and Better than EverGiven that Nottingham City Council has been under Labour control since 1989, it is likely that some or all of these proposals will become official Council policy.

The 2015 East Midlands Landlord Expo takes place on the 8th of May between 10.00am and 4.00pm. As previously, the venue is the East Midlands Conference Centre at Nottingham University. This year there will be over 80 exhibitors

including suppliers, specialist advisors and local authorities.

A packed schedule includes a live property auction by Graham Penny Auctioneers and no less than 11 seminars during the course of the day with outstanding keynote speakers.

This magazine will also have a presence, sharing a stand with EMPO, and copies of the magazine will be handed out in the goody bags handed out to attendees.

voluntary scheme. This means the landlords who already subscribe to the higher scheme have to complete a 40 page application and pay a large fee for each property when we know that those houses are already in good order. Our very real concern is that there is no provision within the scheme to find the bad landlords who haven’t licensed or to help the vulnerable tenants in the worst accommodation. Licensing plays a role in regulating market but the blanket approach adopted by the City places additional burdens on reputable landlords who are already fully compliant with their obligations. These unnecessary costs are generally passed on to tenants through higher rents.

“The licence fee is £910 under this scheme with no guarantee the licence will be granted. The same application costs £335 in

Gedling, £340 in Broxtowe or £550 in Rushcliffe. Councils are not allowed to profit from the Licensing system so the fee has to represent their costs of processing. The question on every landlord’s lips is why it costs so much for the City to deal with their applications. Are they really that much more inefficient than the surrounding Councils?

“The Council are doing a good job of looking busy whilst not targeting the accommodation that is most in need of improvement. Last year the Council received over £1.25m in revenue from the scheme with 1300 applications. It would be interesting to know how many licenses have actually been issued.”

It is understood that EMPO do not intend to appeal the decision.

A review of the Nottingham Labour manifesto for the General Election has revealed a pair of decidedly ominous policies - from a landlord’s perspective anyway. The manifesto has been produced on behalf of the Labour candidates for Nottingham City Council.

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Like many others, Irfan Ahmed describes himself as an accidental landlord. He returned to Nottingham to study a Masters degree on a part time basis but, due to circumstances, the opportunity arose for him to take over a modest family portfolio of properties. He has now been a private sector landlord for almost 20 years.

What type of landlord are you? Full time or part time?

Full time most definitely, I have a construction business also, so that compliments the lettings side of the business.

What geographical area do you cover?

Only within the Nottinghamshire boundary; anything further afield would begin to dilute the service I could offer.

What did you do before becoming a landlord?

I have a modest academic record and was an articled solicitor in Manchester, where I studied for my degree. Hand on heart, I disliked every minute of it. I returned to Nottingham and did a Masters in Business, managed a government housing regeneration scheme and sat on Nottingham City Council’s strategic housing board.

From the experience you have gained, do you have any advice for property investors looking to embark on becoming a landlord today?

Certainly, it is much more than the cottage industry it once used to be. Being a professional landlord has to be regarded as a proper career if you want to build a portfolio (unless you are using an agent to do everything for you). It never ceases to amaze me that so many people invest heavily in purchasing property but never properly manage it. In which other industry would you spend £75k, £100k, £200k and not maintain your asset – you are going to have to be committed to your business if

you want to make a success of it.

Don’t be shy of doing your homework and go and investigate what the competition is doing. Standards in the sector are significantly improving and rightly so, so you really need to be at the top of your game. Spend some time getting to understand the legislation that now governs housing. Once upon a time it was nothing more than obtaining a gas safety certificate, now the legal requirements are significant and some of the penalties are deemed to be criminal convictions.

Is there any type of tenant tenure you would not recommend? Why are you against this type of tenure?

This really depends on an individual’s business model. It is oftena case of the greater the risk, the greater the reward. For example, if you purchase a property on a local authority estate, you are looking at cheaper housing and it will attract a relative rent. However, it’s more than likely you will have long term tenants, rather than short term tenants. Therefore, there will be no constant worrying about dilapidations and repairs. Alternatively, you may consider purchasing in the student HMO sector. You’re talking about high purchase prices, significant investment and short term tenancies (10-12months), but a greater financial return, a higher yield. It depends on you and the type of business model you would prefer.

What are the major challenges of being a landlord?

As I said previously, you need to understand and adhere to the rules of the game. Carry out your due diligence

on existing and upcoming legislation, any properties you’re thinking of buying AND the potential tenants who will rent out your properties.

What is the most satisfying aspect of being a landlord?

I’ve been fortunate enough to invest in some significant property improvements and refurbishments, so I’ve gained a great degree of satisfaction from providing a much better standard of accommodation than the original property would have offered. It becomes even more rewarding when you give your tenant a good product and it is respected and returned in a good state.

We hear a lot from politicians about how we need more regulation in the sector. Do you agree?

Whatever your thoughts on regulation are, regulation is here and it forms parts of the rules of the game. Do we need more regulation? I don’t really know if there is anything more that can be added; it’s pretty exhaustive as it is. But I’m pretty certain that all private sector rented housing will become regulated sooner rather than later.

Are you in this for the long term and, if so, will you grow your portfolio?

I’ve been doing this for almost twenty years and expanding the portfolio at the same time so I think you can say I’m in it for the long haul.

What are your main tips for financing your purchases?

Its doing all the basics, so make sure you carry out structural surveys, electrical and heating testing. If there is a potential issue, the reports will give you leverage to get things repaired or renegotiate

prices. Also consider spreading your portfolio risk across different tenures and don’t rely on just one tenure type

What are the three main tips to ensure success as a landlord?

1. Understand what the competition is doing.

2. Ask yourself, is my property at least as good as theirs?

3. Vet your prospective tenants

What has been your biggest mistake?

Thankfully, I haven’t not made many but when I do, it’s always the same mistake - renting to friends of friends or friends of family. So you forgo all your basic principles, you don’t vet, you don’t ask for guarantors or deposits… and the rest is history!

Adeela Ahmed

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The general election that takes place on May the 7th will be the most uncertain in decades, certainly since 1992 when John Major confounded the pollsters by snatching a last minute victory. It is literally too close to call. The only outcome that the pundits are united in predicting is that it will be a hung parliament with no party having an outright majority. The great unknowns are: which party out of Labour or the Conservatives will have the largest number of seats, will that party have enough seats to form a minority government or will they have to form a coalition and, if so, which party will they form a coalition with?

I firmly believe that political ideology, like religion, is personal to each voter; it is not my place to tell anybody who to vote for. However, from a purely pragmatic viewpoint the outcome of this election is likely to have a huge impact on landlords and lettings agents alike, so it’s worth taking a look at what PRS related policies the two main parties have introduced over the years, what the impact of those policies has been and what policies they are proposing to introduce if they get elected.

The history of this dates back to 1980 when Margaret Thatcher’s first Housing Act cleared away the rent controls that had dominated private rentals through the 1970s, although “fair rents” were still imposed by some city councils. However, it was the Housing Act of 1988 that really paved the way for the modern PRS; it introduced the Assured Shorthold Tenancy that is

the default form of contract to this day. Prior to that, it was all but impossible for a landlord to end a tenancy; it was also virtually impossible to increase the rent without the agreement of the tenant. John Major’s Conservative government further deregulated the market with the Housing Act of 1996, which allowed landlords to end a tenancy once the term had expired without having to give a reason, the Section 21 that is still in widespread use today.

The new Labour government that swept to power in 1997 left the PRS well alone for the first 7 years. Then came the Housing Act 2004 which is widely regarded as being one of the most badly drafted pieces of legislation in living memory, with the result that virtually every aspect of it has had to be tested in court, sometimes several times. It introduced the modern definition of the HMO and, alongside it, mandatory licensing. While mandatory licensing might seem reasonable, most of the conditions it imposes were already legal requirements, so the effect of it is to create an extra tier of bureaucracy with the expense that goes with it. Worse still, the act provided the legal framework for local councils to implement further licensing requirements in the form of additional licensing schemes and the all-encompassing selective licensing schemes. While the fees associated with such schemes are usually not too oppressive, the costs of complying with the conditions often can be. The introduction of additional and selective licensing has prompted many of the larger property investors to pull out of some cities and transfer

investment to areas with a more relaxed regulatory regime. Unfortunately, many smaller landlords do not have that option.

The 2004 Act also created the problems with Section 257 properties that we reported on in the last edition of this magazine.

The second major bit of regulation introduced under the act was the deposit protection scheme. The intention was to stop unscrupulous landlords hanging onto deposits with no justification but, again, the law was badly drafted and left open to interpretation. The result is that landlords get punished twice if they fail to protect the deposit within 30 days – they cannot serve a Section 21 notice unless they first refund the deposit in full and, in addition, they can be ordered to pay three times the deposit amount to the tenant as compensation, even if the deposit was protected before the tenancy ended. The law has also been interpreted to cover tenancies that started before the Act came into effect.

Labour’s final piece of legislation, brought in during the dying days of Gordon Brown’s government, was to create a new property class for HMOs as defined in the 2004 Act. This made possible the Article 4 Directions that have proliferated in many university cities including Nottingham and Leicester.

The current coalition has notably refrained from introducing any more landlord unfriendly legislation, but it hasn’t repealed or amended any

parts of the 2004 Act either, preferring instead to leave it up to the courts to provide clarity. However, most of the more troublesome legislation - Article 4 Directions, additional licensing and selective licensing - is made at a local level. Article 4 has almost exclusively been applied in university towns and, with the exception of Charnwood Borough Council (Loughborough), exclusively applied by Labour controlled councils. It is more of a mixed picture where additional licensing schemes are concerned, they have been introduced by both Labour and Conservative controlled councils, but the majority have been introduced by Labour. Certainly, the more draconian schemes have all been introduced by Labour councils. As for selective licensing schemes, where effectively every privately rented property in the area covered by the scheme has to be licensed, every case I have managed to identify involves a Labour controlled council.

By way of comparison, a growing trend is for councils to launch private rented schemes aimed at encouraging private landlords to take on social tenants, something they are increasingly reluctant to do. Such schemes offer a range of incentives including paying housing benefit direct to the landlord, free advertising and in some cases a breakages bond covering any damage caused to the property. The limited number of schemes operating have all been launched by Conservative councils. Interestingly, one of the first examples was introduced by Bromley Borough Council when it

The BIG IssueWhat the General Election Means for Landlords

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APRIL/MAY 2015

was under Conservative control. When the council fell to Labour last year, one of the first acts of the new leadership was to introduce a selective licensing scheme.

So much for the history; what about the proposals for the next period of parliament? At the Labour party conference last year, one of the announcements raised more than a few eyebrows, not to mention blood pressures, among the landlord community. In what amounted to a three pronged assault on the PRS, Ed Miliband proposed putting in place a rent cap linked to market rates, changing the standard term of a tenancy from 6 months to three years and prohibiting letting agents from levying fees on tenants. The proposals were approved by a vote and would presumably become policy in the event of a Labour government being elected.

As always, the devil is in the detail. Under the rent capping proposal, the landlord would be free to set the rent at the start of the tenancy but any increases during the course of the contract would be capped in line with market rate. This is where the questions begin: would they be capped at the average rent for that kind of property in the area, or would the cap be limited to the average increase in rent levels? If it’s the latter, would it be the national average or the average for the area the property is located in? The last time we had rent controls in the 60s and 70s, the result was chronic underinvestment in private rented accommodation leading to a shortage of supply and very poor quality housing. But back in the 70s housebuilding broadly met demand and the vast majority of tenants were in social housing. The

situation is very different today and the unintended consequences could be severe.

However, under the existing system of assured shorthold tenancies with a 6 month duration, this kind of rent control wouldn’t really matter. A landlord wanting to put up the rent would simply wait a few months for the AST to end and either negotiate an increase with the tenant or issue a Section 21 notice. But the second prong of the proposed legislation is that the standard term of all tenancies should change to 3 years. I can understand the desire to provide security to long term renters, but such a one size fits all solution can’t possibly meet the needs of the majority of tenants, let alone landlords. Data collated by the NLA shows that over a third of tenants move on within a year and less than 20% stay in the same property for five years or longer. This legislation would meet the needs of maybe a third of tenants and penalise the rest. Besides, landlords have the option of offering 3 year contracts if they choose to – a surprising number of them do. Surely the needs of the voters Mr Miliband is trying to target would be better served by the social housing sector.

Opposition to the third prong of the legislation, banning letting agencies from charging service fees to tenants, has been somewhat muted. The average total fees for arranging a tenancy are around £350 but can be over £500 in some cases. Then again, some agents don’t charge any fees to tenants but still manage to offer a competitive commission structure to landlords and make a profit. It would be easy to conclude that the main reason that letting agents charge fees is because they can. Even

so, an outright ban on fees is extreme. After all, credit checks, referencing and administration all cost money. Some kind of system of caps for each service would be a much better solution.

By way of comparison, the Conservatives haven’t proposed any legislation that directly affects landlords. The outlawing of zero hours contracts put forward at their party conference last year would indirectly benefit landlords because it would increase the pool of potential tenants with the income security necessary to pay the rent on time. Sarah Teather, a Liberal Democrat MP, put forward a private member’s bill seeking to outlaw “revenge evictions,” situations where the tenant is evicted simply for complaining about problems with the property. However, it received a luke warm reception from their coalition partners and was promptly kicked into the long grass. Given that Sarah Teather is standing down at the election, it is unlikely to ever see the light of day.

It is easy to forget that completely unrelated policies can have a far greater effect on the fortunes of landlords than those directed specifically at them. In the early years of Tony Blair’s government, giving independence to the Bank of England ushered in an era of low and stable interest rates that made it easy for landlords to raise finance. This was further helped by relaxing controls on banks, although landlords were among those worse burnt by the resulting financial crisis. Taking a laissez faire approach to immigration provided a pool of willing tenants (immigrants tend not to be homeowners) though, as we now see, relative prosperity and economic success have a much

greater impact on migration than immigration controls or the lack of them.

After the financial crisis, quantitative easing dramatically increased the amount of cheap money sloshing around the system and much of this was taken up by property investors. Generation Rent was created by would be homeowners who simply couldn’t get together the hefty deposits that mortgage lenders were demanding. The Funding for Lending Scheme and the Help to Buy Scheme threw a lifeline to house builders that otherwise might have been permanently damaged by a loss of skills and infrastructure, but don’t forget the fact that over half the demand for the houses they have built in the last few years has come from the PRS, so landlords perhaps deserve a pat on the back too.

Looking forward to the next 5 year parliament, the Conservatives seem to have more business friendly policies, which in turn should lead to lower taxes and more buoyant economic growth. The stronger focus on deficit reduction would also keep interest rates lower for longer. However, the promised referendum on EU membership does present a threat, although even if it does take place, I do not believe the outcome would be Britain leaving Europe.

As I said at the start of this piece, I would never dream of telling someone how to vote. For landlords though, the facts speak for themselves.

Howard Clemmow | Editor

East Midlands Property Owners Limited

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East Midlands Property Owners Limited

East MidlandsLandlord EXPO

www.eastmidlandslandlordexpo.co.uk

Thursday, May 15th 2014 - A Free Visitor Event!

We are going to be at the

VERM0121 (EMPO A4 Advert) PATHS.indd 1 21/02/2014 12:18

East Midlands Property Owners Limited

EMPO

The East Midlands Landlord & Letting Agent EXPO

Hosted by

The East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2RJ

Friday 8th May 201510am-4pm

Whether you are the owner of a large property portfolio including licensable houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), a letting agency, a small buy to let or accidental landlord, or thinking of investing in the private rented sector the

EXPO is the must attend exhibition for you.

Over 80 Exhibitors, FREE seminars, including “How to avoid a bad tenant” “Beat the Taxman” & “Why join a Landlord Association”

Live Graham Penny Auction, Networking lounge, Advice on the current PRS Legislation, Guest Speakers

Visit www.eastmidlandslandlordexpo.co.uk to book your FREE Tickets

“Empo’s vision is to be the landlord’s fi rst choice for support and advice in ensuring compliance and professionalism leading to improved housing standards across the East Midlands.”

Offi cial Sponsors

Private Sector Landlord

Sponsorship Opportunities Available

FREE VISITOR EVENT

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Visitors to the free East Midlands Landlord and Lettings Agent Expo 2015 at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham NG7 2RJ on Friday 8th May 2015, will be able to benefit from the very latest rental advice and support from the region’s property professionals.

Whether you are an owner of a large property portfolio including licensable HMOs, a letting agency, a small buy-to-let or accidental landlord or simply thinking of investing in the Private Rented Sector, the EXPO is a must attend event for you. There will be plenty of advice and guidance available, including how to effectively manage rented properties and, most importantly, information on the very latest local regulation impacting the sector.

The Expo is being hosted by East Midlands Property Owners (EMPO) a professional not-for-

profit residential landlords association. EMPO is the largest not for profit regional landlord association in the East Midlands. With over 500 members EMPO has been providing advice and guidance to residential landlords since 1942. Members own and manage in excess of 15,000 properties across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Visit www.empo.co.uk

The Expo will start at 10am and finish at 4pm and will include over 80 exhibitors, a ‘live’ residential property auction from Graham Penny Auctions, guest speakers from the property world and an action packed seminar timetable. You will have the opportunity to check out the review the 2015 calendar of first class landlord training events being hosted across the East Midlands. To find out more please visit the EMPO stand on the day.

The seminar timetable topics will range from recent legal and legislative developments in the private rented sector and the expected impacts of the housing policies being advocated by the political parties to the top permitted development loopholes and update.

Our guest speakers at the Expo are Paul Bohill and Bill Irvine. Paul is from Channel 5’s programme, “Can’t pay? We’ll take it away” and will

be discussing the role of a High Court Enforcement Officer with reference to private landlords. Paul has been an Enforcement Agent for more than 30 years. A former CID officer with the West Midlands Police, Paul is renowned for his compliance and strict ethical standards.

Bill Irvine is an ex Head of Housing and Revenues at one of the UK’s largest Councils where, amongst other things, he was responsible for rent collection from 40,000 tenants. This role included responsibility for the Council’s Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit administration.

Bill was a COSLA advisor to the Housing Benefit Standing Committee, Westminster and gave evidence to the LHA inquiry in 2010/11 where some of his recommendations about “paying the landlord” were adopted by the Work & Pensions Committee. Currently, he operates www.ucadvice.co.uk, a website dedicated to landlords needing benefits advice and support. During his guest speaker slot, Bill will

The KnowledgeWhy landlord expo will help drive up standards in the

private rental sector

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be discussing the roll out of Universal Credit, he will provide answers to your key questions on how tenants will claim; how the housing element will be calculated and paid and how to apply for “direct payments” and “third party deductions” to clear rent arrears.

A summary of the Expo’s Seminar timetable is below. Please check the Expo website for further details including timings for the seminars.

EMPO - Why join a Landlord Association

UPAD - ‘92% of tenants fi nd their next rental online, how can you reach them?’

MY DEPOSITS - Insight on Deposits & Damages

CAVENDISH LETTINGS - 25 Tips for Landlords

P&DG PLANNING & DESIGN GROUP - The Top Permitted Development Loopholes & Updates on HMO Planning Policy

LANDLORD ACTION - How to avoid a bad tenant

ATKINSON HODGSON - Legal Surgery

M-CUBED - “Landlords-Tax Investigations - Increasing-examples of what happens and tips on how to avoid.”

ARLA - Legislative Update

AQUAB - Legionella & the Private Landlord

Last year’s Expo attracted over 900 visitors with expectations to achieve more this year, with the help of big name sponsors including: Graham Penny Auctions, The Nottingham Building Society and Franklands property Insurance.

Giles Inman, EMPO spokesperson, comments, “The private rental sector is the fastest growing area of the market currently, with demand for rented properties having doubled in the last decade. As a consequence, regulation has altered rapidly, creating

much confusion and uncertainty in the sector.

“So our overall aim for the Expo is to help property investors secure the very best advice and money saving services in this ever changing market. This means ultimately that tenants will benefi t from decent and safe homes.”

This year’s Expo benefi ts from a large array of exhibitors including representation from both the public and private sectors. Broxtowe, Derby, Leicestershire and Lincoln Councils will be in attendance along with the main landlord accreditation scheme providers who operate in the area. A cross section of commercial exhibitors include Bosch Appliances, Shawbrook Bank, Willbond, My Deposits and Worcester Bosch boilers to name but a few.

Graham Penny Auctions, the number one property auction house in the Midlands, is once again hosting its May auction at the Expo and is offering free no obligation valuations for anyone wishing to enter their property into the auction.

This is the third year Graham Penny has held an auction at the Expo. Last year the packed auction room saw 49 residential properties, commercial properties and land lots from across Nottinghamshire and the rest of the UK go under the hammer with £4.1m secured in sales.

Vejay Pal, senior valuer at Graham Penny Auctions Nottingham, commented, “All types of property types can sell well in the auction room, from residential properties to commercial and mixed use units to development land and more. We have a national database of private individuals, investors, landlords and developer buyers, all of whom are active in the property market and looking to secure their next purchase.

“We only charge a

£295+VAT entry fee for all our properties and EMPO members get a 10 per cent discount on our commission fee. For that, our vendors get at least a four week bespoke national and regional marketing campaign, inclusion on our website, on RightMove and in our glossy catalogue distributed to over 10,000 buyers across the UK. Plus when the hammer falls in the auction room, the sale is secure and completion will take place less than a month later.”

To request a free no obligation property appraisal for the May auction call 0115 958 8702 or go to the website at www.grahampenny.com.

This year’s Expo will also be hosting the property investor’s networking buffet lunch event between 12.30pm-2.30pm in partnership with local property networking group, Property face2face. This event will provide the perfect opportunity for investors, landlords and property professionals to network with each other and with guest speakers and Expo sponsors. The lunch costs just £25.00 per person and includes two courses and a non-alcoholic drink. To book your ticket please contact Adeela at EMPO’s offi ce on 0115 950 2639.

The lunch sponsors are:

There is no charge to attend the Expo and parking is free. Pre-registration for the Expo and seminars is optional. If you would like to register please visit the events section on the homepage of the Expo website. To register and fi nd out more about who is exhibiting please visit: www.eastmidlandslandlordexpo.co.uk

EMPO EXPO MEMBERSHIP OFFER: JOIN EMPO BY 8TH MAY 2015 AND SAVE £20(quote EMPO1)

EMPO is the East Midlands Residential Landlord Association.

Our purpose is simple. We want to provide landlords, with the advice, knowledge and tools needed to be professional and we want tenants to have decent, safe and affordable homes in safe communities. As a professional landlords association it is our job to help housing professionals like you to manage and comply with all housing legislation and regulation necessary to be a good landlord.

EMPO was formed in 1942 and throughout this time our mission – to be dedicated to raising the profi le of responsible landlords and to encourage the improvement of standards - has remained constant and true.

EMPO is a not-for-profi t association. This means that the money we make is put back into the association and funds the activities we carry out to support our members and landlords within the wider community across the East Midlands. Membership to EMPO costs just £60 pa plus a one off joining fee of £20.00. Checkout the benefi ts of EMPO membership by reviewing the EMPO advert in this magazine.

To take advantage of the EMPO membership offer, please sign up today by telephoning 0155 9502639 or by visiting stand 49 on the 8th May.

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Q: My rented property which was built in 2006

had an electrical safety test which it has failed. The company I used won’t give me a report to say what the problems at my property were. We passed the test five years ago and now we need a new one for a HMO license

A: You should be given an EICR report. This will

state any immediate dangers (c1), potential dangers (c2) and advisory changes (c3). Any c2’s will make the report unsatisfactory and it is common for inexperienced electricians to rate c3 discrepancies as c2 potential dangers. You should get hold of the “Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide no 4” and cross reference your report before paying out for it. Certainly you should not pay any money without receiving a report.

Q: I currently have a group of 5 student tenants on

an 11 month joint AST which started on September 14th. One of the tenants is no longer going to stay at the property and has since found a replacement tenant to take on her room. The new tenant only wants to stay from now until January 15th 2015. How do I address the situation regarding the current contract and changing names? If the

new tenant takes over from the original tenant and leaves on 15th January I will have a shortfall in rent which will obviously be a problem.

A: I would recommend doing a subtenancy. That

way you don’t need to touch the tenancy agreement that has been completed. You just offset the rent from the new tenant against the old and the old tenant remains liable through the tenancy i.e. picks up the rent again after the new tenant leaves.

If these are students and the new tenant is only here for a single semester that tenant is unlikely to be exempt from Council Tax. The landlord therefore will need to be aware of this in case he has any liability to pay (technically he has if he has locks on bedroom doors).

Q: We have tenants in a property who have been

there for the past 4 years (one couple and their 2 children). They were originally on a fixed 6 month standard AST agreement which then became periodic. The lead tenant was in employment initially but has since been on benefits for quite some time. However, the tenants pay rent direct to us. We would like to serve notice to them for a number of reasons and have quite a few questions we need answering.

• Do we need to give a reason as to why we are serving notice?

• Is the process for eviction the same, given the tenants are in receipt of housing benefit?

• Do I serve a Section 21 notice as it is a periodic tenancy?

• Can EMPO supply a section 21 notice form?

• I would expect that once we serve notice the tenants will stop paying rent during the notice period. As the tenant will still be receiving housing benefit, will we be able to recover the monies directly from the housing benefit department?

• Do we need to contact the housing benefit department to inform them that we have served notice on the tenants?

• Unless the tenants are re housed by the council, I am expecting them to sit tight and refuse to move. What is the procedure then?

• Will this process be hindered because there are children involved?

The tenants have always paid their rent on time but lately they have caused disturbances in the neighbourhood. The police has been involved and the property is in serious disarray and will require extensive work to be carried out before it can be re-let.

A: Having read through your email, one thing

that stands out to me is that recent updates to legislation have created a new ground for possession under a Section 8. Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) is now a mandatory ground for possession and, although I do not know the situation surrounding the crime numbers mentioned, I would suggest that they would be regarded as ASB and therefore a Section 8 may be worth sending (a two week notice).

I would also write to the Local Housing Department and demand direct payment of LHA on the basis of the tenants being classified as at risk and unable to manage their affairs. The continuation

of this is that, as long as your AST is noted as in advance payments, then you only have to wait a month before you can make a similar demand for direct payment on the basis of arrears.

I will try and answer each question as best I can; if serving a section 21 there is no need to give a reason. A section 21 can be served within a fixed term or in a periodic tenancy; it is just the wording on the notice that changes slightly. EMPO provide access to Section 21 notices and can help with completing them, but more information on dates is needed.

Enforcing a notice to quit (Section 21 or 8) will involve going to court for a formal hearing and possession application. There are specific forms to do this and recently the costs for doing this have increased. All costs can be reclaimed from the tenant(s), but I would prepare yourself for the fact that you may not see this money. At this juncture, the priority will be to get your property back if they don’t make any further payments and as quickly as possible. Children may have a bearing on the possession hearing, but it will only delay it by another 30 days if accepted. I would argue VERY strongly that they have had ample time to find accommodation and that the fact that the Council haven’t helped (if that is the case) shouldn’t affect your right to get your property back.

If you have any questions or comments on any aspects of being a landlord, please email them to giles@empo.co.uk

Giles Inman EMPO

PROPERTY VINEQuestions answered by EMPO’s resident in house expert

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