David Lawrenson

At rent review time, we have now started spelling out to tenants why their rents have to go up so much.

This is what we say:

“We recognise that this is a bigger increase than has been applied in the past. As you will know, our rents have always been competitive and, even with this rise, your new rent remains below most local market rents, but regrettably we have been forced into a higher increase than in past years.

This higher increase is mainly a consequence of the governments of recent years substantially increasing the way landlords in the private rented sector are taxed as well as significantly increasing the regulatory burden that responsible landlords like us face.

In addition, central government has imposed costly requirements on us to upgrade to improve energy efficiency to meet our government’s self-imposed, so called “net zero targets”. (All privately let properties must meet an energy performance certificate level of grade C by 2030).

At local government level too, there are new local taxation schemes, (so called “selective licensing schemes”), which have been introduced by your local authority. These also come with a cost.

In addition, we also face significantly higher financing, maintenance and insurance costs”.... Read More

Spot on, it is all about getting rid of the "kulaks", the Mom and Pop landlords: It is all part of the great reset - and the handing of control to global corporations who will do the bidding of the corpora-technocracy.

Same happening in farming.

Gen Rent and other clowns are all in on this too.... Read More

V good piece, v succinct.
The only homeless charity that actually tried to help people and talks a small modicum of sense is Crisis.

Shelter and Generation Rent are simply idiots.
I was once (about eight years ago) along with Carolyn Uphill, formerly of the NRLA on BBC Five Live discussing PRS out of their Manchester studios.
When I pointed out to Gen Rent (who were on the line in a live debate) that a lot of lenders (at the time) would not let landlords let to people on benefits, they did not want to know.
Later I found out they were getting funding from The Nationwide Foundation, linked to Nationwide, owners of The Mortgage Works brand.
You could not make it up!... Read More

I was writing about this 14 years ago - about how the government was determined to hand over our business to big global corporations and banks - and I have frequently revisited this topic since that time.
Glad others have woken up to it too now.

It is the same playbook as we see in farming / agriculture where the clear intent is to wipe out the family "kulak" farmers.

All the links to our many articles on this here -

https://www.lettingfocus.com/blogs/category/build-to-let/page/2/... Read More

The Mad Millipede could well come up with a stunt like this.

Net Zero and belief in climateageddon is a cult, anything is possible.... Read More

Spot on... Read More

The numpties in Shelter and Generation Rent refuse to believe there are lots of good landlords like you.... Read More

It is the Climate Cult.
These zealots behind it don't care what anyone thinks, there is too much money to be made by getting the population to believe the Man Made Climate nonsense.
As a friend of fine says, "You are the carbon they want to reduce".... Read More

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Some good comments here. Also, it seems to me that the ordering of items in the EPC is illogical, though it does show up the staggeringly poor return (I would argue negative return) on certain energy improvement measures, as I show here: https://www.lettingfocus.com/blogs/2024/04/the-ordering-of-energy-performance-certificate-recommendations-to-reduce-energy-use-are-illogical/... Read More

..it still conflicts with other responsibilities under GDPR
Rather enjoying the Jas Athwal thing in the news, the architect of Newham's Local Landlord Tax, (known as licensing) now an MP, did not license his own let properties.
You cannot make this stuff up!... Read More

Nor am I.
I have raised the above points with the NRLA and their policy people.
Lewisham are clueless and making up their own rules that are in conflict with landlord responsibilities that exist elsewhere in law, they MUST be challenged.
Idiots
Luckily they don't seem to have got round to processing mine yet.
Sorry to hear of your hounding by these clueless town hall apparatchiks... Read More

I would be interested in your comments on Lewisham’s Selective Licensing scheme requirements, which I have had a quick look at.

1. Lewisham expect the license holder to visit the property every 6 months. My view - that is unnecessary and intrusive on a good tenant and conflicts with duty to allow them to enjoy the property quietly and peacefully enjoy the property, in other legislation.
2. They want to see references obtained from tenants on demand. Really! Aren’t we supposed to get references from landlords and employers confidentially? A conflict with our duties under GDPR surely?
3. They require us to display a copy of the current gas safe cert in the property. Another thing they have made up for themselves and which is contained in no legislation that I am aware of, even that for HMOs as far as I am aware. All one needs to do is send tenants a copy by email.

Seems to me that Lewisham are seemingly making up requirements that are in no other legislation and which seems to contradict landlords’ responsibilities in other areas of law and practice.

I would be interested in your views.... Read More

But the powers that be don't want small scale builders any more than they want small scale landlords.
It is not part of the agenda of control.
Big corporations will toe the line on all the nonsense, small players will not always do that.
Fascism is upon us.... Read More

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Always a strong and enduring demand as migrant accommodation, it would appear?... Read More

I got a quote for solar panels for a property I let.
All v keen to engage.
But total silence from the company when I asked them for info on the practices of the Chinese company that make them, in particular in relation to workers rights, environmental stewardship (pollution impacts in the production process) and ahem, carbon dioxide expended in the manufacturing process and shipping to the UK.
Climateaggedon con.... Read More

Been saying this for a long, long time.
I think I am the voice in the wilderness on this, the silly "conspiracy theorist" at LettingFocus, (choose your own pejorative).
More likely to go to big pension firms though, as a sop or quid pro quo, to get them to still mop up government bonds, where the returns are crap.

"Big lodge stuff"... Read More

I feel your pain, it is getting rather silly... Read More

It's not a "stupid conspiracy theory book" unless you think the chief of the World Economic Forum is a conspiracy theorist and so is his seminal book of that title.... Read More