Conservative Manifesto – Ban S21 and strengthen rights of possession

RLA Press Release:

LANDLORDS GIVE CAUTIOUS WELCOME TO TORY PLANS

Landlords have welcomed the proposals in the Conservative manifesto to strengthen the possession rights of good landlords whilst accepting there is a need to protect tenants from unfair evictions.

David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), said:

“We agree that the system for repossessing properties is in need of reform and support the Conservatives’ proposals to strength the possession rights of good landlords.

“It is vital that the reforms are got right. At present it can take over five months for a landlord to repossess a property through the courts in legitimate circumstances. We will be keen to work with Ministers to establish a new system of repossession rights and the establishment of a dedicated housing court to ensure good landlords and tenants can secure justice swiftly in the minority of cases where something goes wrong.

“It is disappointing that there is no mention of reversing some of the tax changes hitting landlords which have resulted in a drop in investment in the market making it more difficult for tenants to find the housing they want. Longer tenancies for tenants will be meaningless without landlords entering and staying in the market long term.”

The devil will be in the detail. Presumably it is intentioned that S21 won't be abolished until they HAVE got all the rest right and there won't be any of the shenanigans that have happened over Universal Credit.

Unthinkable a few years ago that it would be the Tories who abolished section 21. A reminder that we can't expect any favours from them.

As they have committed not to raise income tax, VAT or NI, don't be surprised if they try to extract more in Capital Gains Tax from landlords. Don't even be surprised if they remove the 20% tax credit for mortgage interest. Their spending promises mean they will be looking for easy targets a year or more ahead.

Also, a word in favour of those nasty foreigners who used to buy lots of flats in places like London. Research by the LSE in 2017 concluded that only around 1% of foreign homes are left empty. Most are rented out or used for accommodation for sons or daughters attending UK universities. The LSE research was actually commissioned by Sadiq Khan, but obviously buried because it didn't give him the right answer.

As usual, the Tories peddle the line that landlords (in this case foreigners but they really mean the rest of us too) add to demand and therefore it it supposed, crowd out the plucky first time buyer. But my experience is that, before help to buy, it was buy to let money, whether domestic or foreign, which gave developers the crucial confidence to build as it usually comes through at the off-plan stage. Thus landlords create demand, but they also encourage supply. And unlike help to buy, no government subsidy was required to keep developers building.

Depressing conclusion: Boris = bad, Corbyn = catastrophic.

I am more than mystified about the transferrable deposits. I recently had a pre June 18 tenant leave and the first pice of post I received was an electricity bill for the whole tenancy period in our name. Our AST stipulates that no part of any deposit will be returned until evidence of the settlement of property related services has been supplied or, subject to tenant permission, the deposit is used to settle such an account subject to there being sufficient to do so AFTER all other agreed deductions are covered. Given the now five week cap on deposits that coverage alone is impaired, if the deposit is somehow magically available to two landlords I can't imagine that Councils and utility providers will get much in future.

"Struggling to save for a deposit" is a somewhat disingenuous statement following a period of near zero returns on deposit savings and the consequential "theft by transfer" to the banks balance sheets.

Reply to the comment left by moneymanager at 25/11/2019 - 12:21
As well as low returns on savings, of course, there is the absolute necessity of having new clothes regularly and a foreign holiday every year, plus the latest tech gadgets.

Reply to the comment left by moneymanager at 25/11/2019 - 12:10
As part of my new tenancy process I always inform council, water and utilities of the movein date, any readings and new tenants name. This means bills should be put in the tenants name. If you have been billed for the entire tenancy contacating the utility company and emailing a copy of the tenancy agreement which states that the tenants are responsible for utility bills should get you off the hook. (I hope you took meter readings)

Reply to the comment left by Simon Williams at 25/11/2019 - 11:37
Landlords also create price stability by buying as prices start to fall and yield improves. Owner occupiers tend to stay out of the market when its falling prefering to dive in whilst its rising forcing prices up even more. The exception being foreign investors who are also interested in exchange rate fluctuation. Just look how many overseas buyers we see when the £ is weak and it certainly has been recently. I'm waiting to see what happens when the £ strengthens. Will overseas investors sell because they don't see the capital growth, don't see a good rental yield, see a government which doesn't value the private landlord.