RichDad

Stopping RTB for council housing should also extend to killing the idea of tenants having a legal right to buy from their private landlords at a discount.... Read More

Well done Julie, that's very helpful!

Further leverage from CCJs is that, depending on the former tenant's job/profession, it can badly affect their career path if they cannot have CCJs against their name.

I don't know if there is a single list of such non-CCJ jobs/professions ... but it might be a good selection criterion for future tenants.... Read More

Common Fallacy: “Even something as simple as getting a new gas or electrical safety certificate means that home is safer than it was before.”
If I go for an eye test, the test on its own does not improve my vision. Nor does a driving test on its own improve my road safety.
*Testing the gas or electricity systems might *reveal faults and risks, but the testing itself does not *make them safer!... Read More

Kudos Mark! Before reading your post, I didn't know your whole backstory ... wow, you've certainly gone through the trenches! I remain ever-grateful for when you took on West Brom and won (I had two with them at the time), and hope there maybe a few pounds left of my contribution from that time to get you a couple of stiff drinks and/or massage sessions. Both have a calming effect for me! :-)... Read More

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Thank you all very much for that feedback! We will fit induction on this first one to try it and see how it goes (and yes, that image above is an "artist's impression", not mine) :-)... Read More

*Minimum room sizes* - another poorly-thought-out policy idea with “unexpected” consequences.

When the Govt increased minimum room sizes to supposedly “improve living standards”, thousands of previously affordable and comfortable-enough bedrooms were taken out of the market overnight, especially in HMOs.

Landlords were left with fewer lettable rooms to spread their fixed costs, so the prices of their other rooms had to go up. The larger rooms were already more expensive (because larger!), so were then pushed even further out of reach of those who could only afford a smaller room.

Where do those at the lower end go, if they cannot afford the smallest “compliant" room? Either to the councils for social housing, or to the “rogue landlords” for rooms that they can afford.

Then the added demand with reduced supply pushes up the rents of those larger rooms, causing affordability issues at the next level up as well. This inflation then ripples outwards along a city’s commuting routes too.

It’s rather like the “friendly fire” euphemism!... Read More

If you tried to increase the rent too much in one step, it would be thrown out out in Court if the increase were judged to be "unreasonable" and the new rate to be substantially higher than local market rates. There are restrictions on how soon you can raise the rent again too. So this approach would not be a quick fix, but it would show your tenant that things are changing to his disadvantage.... Read More

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We had a similar situation with 4 of the 5 working tenants of the HMO already gone or happy enough to go when we served the separate S21 notices, but the 5th refused. The refurb included a new boiler (in the loft), splitting a large room to create the 6th bedroom, adding two more showers and another toilet. We worked hard to plan the refurb around him, but he called in the council who sided with him and halted the works. It was a heat wave summer, but we had to accelerate the new boiler works, so that the engineer had to fit a temporary air conditioner in the loft space to complete it.

He had stopped paying rent, but he restarted just before the 1st court hearing. The court wasn’t happy when he sacked his solicitor, so on the 3rd hearing we were finally granted possession, but still had to pay for the bailiffs to appear. Our tenant was in his mid-40s, and was very keen to get a good reference on his way out, but his biggest worry was that his Mum would find out about his eviction.

Altogether, our HMO rent was reduced to less than one sixth what it should have been, had the 6-bed refurb been finished 18 months sooner as scheduled.

You should expect a long-term scenario like this if you cannot get him out much sooner, so bear than in mind when coming up with the “encouragement package”!

Try to find a mix of sticks and carrots tailored to his needs, including finding a new home and helping with relocation and new deposit.... Read More

I agree too: there was already what everyone called a "housing crisis", which has been trumped but not eliminated by the "virus crisis". It must therefore be "essential" work to reinstate a dwelling to be fit for occupation by someone who needs it.

Imagine a nurse, or one of the 600,000+ new NHS volunteers needing a room for a few months. Surely it is an essential service to make such rooms in a HMO or a flat to be available quickly for them?... Read More

Self-Cert is the way to go, even with the risk to Govt of abuse of the support.

My next concern is that, once this pandemic has passed, the authorities and lenders will go on a witch hunt, demanding evidence for all the self-certs. Tenants might have moved on by then (including some via the Pearly Gates) leaving the landlord to have some of this support clawed back.... Read More

I spoke to Topaz/Jasper (successors of Mortgage Express) earlier, and they don't have a clear position yet, either on process or evidence that might be required.

I can see a big problem in a HMO scenario (our main concern), if they need evidence from the affected tenants, because they might try to pro-rata the "mortgage holiday".
Now that the BOE rate has dropped to 0.1%, it would be far easier and more efficient for all, if the mortgage lenders simply gave this without red tape, as soon as a landlord applied for it, even in the HMO scenario with only one tenant in arrears or at significant risk of arrears.... Read More

Many thanks Mark!
Ours is not structured as a Trust, so there are no complications with Nominees.
As you say "Tax follows beneficial ownership", so they should be protected from IHT.
Since title and mortgage security do not follow tax, then they remain at arm's length for insolvency purposes, either way.... Read More

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Can anyone (owners or R2Rers or mortgage advisers) recommend ANY mortgage lenders who are happy to lend on R2R properties?... Read More

This is (yet another) worry! We have HMOs matching two of the above examples:
1. "HMOs with little or no adaptation"- some with no adaptation other than door locks (of course as HMOs they would have fire doors, smoke alarms etc) >> VOA should not be able to subdivide te property.
2. "HMOs with adapted letting rooms" - where we have added an ensuite (shower, WC and wash basin) within a bedroom of an otherwise non-adapted house >> VOA might potentially consider this as a separate rateable unit, even though there is only a shared kitchen in the property.

If the Govt's aim is to dissuade private landlords, they are doing a great job!... Read More

Thanks Mark!... Read More

Hi Mark, without wanting to copy the whole thing, in 1.1 it mentions "Permitted Use … for a maximum of [ ] residents.", and in 22.10 it mentions "Not to sing or dance or play any musical instrument … as to be audible outside the Property or any other occupiers of the Property.", but otherwise no mention of multiple occupiers. but not really mentioning maximum number of sub-tenancies.

This could mean this agreement could work for a student let with one joint -and-several AST, but not individual agreements for working occupants. I am hoping to be corrected there, please.
Robert: as an owner with mortgaged, licensed HMOs. No-one is keen to provide a copy of their agreement!
Can any of the R2R trainers out there shed more light on these dark corners, please?... Read More

Spoiler alert: as it stated, the only difference between those two is that one has the Owner doing maintenance. The first one that I had was identical to the other one.
It would be helpful to have a HMO version, also to allow for ownership by Ltd-Cos, and to allow for leasehold.... Read More