Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

We are wasting our time the general public journalists MPS even accountants don't understand the policy they just like the fact it attacks landlords

All your energies should be focusing on your own situations whilst you have the chance all these letters etc are regrettably a waste of time and energy.

I am not being pessimistic it's just the facts we will get no favours from anyone as we are treated like criminals.

All focus should be on easing the blow to your livelihoods as we will get no sympathy from anyone

Reply to the comment left by "NW Landlord" at "14/12/2015 - 17:12":

I can do both

Reply to the comment left by "Bill Morgan" at "14/12/2015 - 16:59":

I am busy issuing section 21's to all my HB tenants in anticipation of Universal Credit. I need to be in a position to speedily evict all those who fail to pay. The new rules mean that I will have to issue S21's at four monthly intervals but I am busy automating the process to minimise the problem. This is an immediate effect on tenants caused by the introduction of Universal Credit in January in my area.

All the government has to do to avoid all the problems is to allow the tenant to choose to have payment made direct tot he landlord.

I shall be increasing my rents to cope with the new tax rules early in the new year and I know that this will price most of my tenants out of the market but I have to survive.

When will the government, Generation Rent, Shelter, Crisis and the public at large realise that it is the end user, in this case the tenant, who pays all the taxes.

I really hope im proved wrong

I agree universal credit is up and running in our area and it is a farce

If they fail to pay for two months you have to apply to the department of work and pensions in London to get the housing split from UC and this can take a MIN of two months. Four months plus for arrears to be cleared

I clearly state on my adverts no UC and focus on Easter euro workers they are great

Yet again it is the end user the poor tenant who suffers due to this government Ill thought out attacks on decent people

Reply to the comment left by "NW Landlord" at "14/12/2015 - 17:22":

I will not take any new UC tenants, the northern trial was a farce which IDS brushed under the proverbial carpet (hand woven Wilton I believe!). My concern is those tenants for whom I have direct payment who will be transferred to Universal Credit. The B****rs will not pay a £10 top up so how can they be trusted to pay the full rent?

Reply to the comment left by "David Price" at "14/12/2015 - 16:50":

Hi David.
Maybe you could drop him a quick line, stating exactly that, as it is an excellent point? This is his address, for anyone else who would like to write:

ian.cowie@sunday-times.co.uk

I'm with you Gareth, we can campaign for all landlords whilst also planning our personal strategies; they're not mutually exclusive.

Simple they won't party time for them that's why I steer clear now as there are many Eastern Europeans looking for accomodation who pay on time or even early and keep properties mint it's only gunna get worse as UC gets rolled out yet another farce of a policy from a gang of useless public school boys

Hi David Price

Can you not arrange with tenants when UC starts to open a credit union account so the rent goes there then directly to landlord and tenant cant touch it.
Which means you can not be subject to a reclaim for housing benefit.

What I would like to know is how when benefits are paid certain types of false claims are fraud. but not when there is a landlord. It is tough.

So If someone claims to be single but lives with someone that's fraud.
If someone claims to be unemployed but works that's fraud.

But if someone claims housing benefit to pay rent but don't give it to the landlord then that's ok. It has to be fraud as they are only entitled to claim if they have a tenancy for a property which rent is due.
So they claim stating it is to pay the landlord then don't is that not deception in other words fraud.

Reply to the comment left by "Ros ." at "14/12/2015 - 16:13":

"the Bank of England recently described BTL as presenting a major risk to economic stability."

I think this is the ONLY bit of sense in his reply. It is a leveraged product, buying property on a high mortgage ratio, if mortgage rates shot up AND house prices crash there will be a significant number who might have foreclosures by the banks, so it is right for the BoE to flag that up, but not chuck the baby along with bath water.

But he is too blinkered to see it that way, and uses it to advocate the wrong solution, 'CLAWS24', instead of reducing future loan percentages - something that should have been done long before it overheated.

Although I don't have mortgages, I can see this is dumb.