The End of Section 21 – YOUR questions answered in this lunchtime webinar

The End of Section 21 – YOUR questions answered in this lunchtime webinar

14:52 PM, 23rd April 2019, About 6 years ago 14

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The government have announced that they intend to remove landlords right to use the no fault ground for eviction in section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

But where does that leave people now?  For example:

1. When are the changes likely to take place?

2. What should landlords do in the meantime?

3. What new rules are likely to come info force in place of section 21?

4. Can the court procedure really be improved?

To help landlords Landlord Law have asked solicitor, housing law expert and RLA Policy Director David Smith to be our guest in a free webinar.

The Landlord Law webinar will take place on 25 April 2019 at 12.30 pm lasting 1/2 hour.

Webinar attendees will have the chance to ask David questions and we will  try to get through as many as we can.

The webinar is hosted by GoToWebinar which is very easy to use.  You can log in either with your computer and headphones or with your phone (land line or smart phone).

The webinar is now full, but there will be a link following of the video 🙂

Click Here for Webinar Recording


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Neil Patterson

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10:45 AM, 29th April 2019, About 6 years ago

See above at bottom of article for webinar recording link.

Heather G.

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17:35 PM, 29th April 2019, About 6 years ago

Did anyone notice the passing remark about GenR & Shelter looking to get compensation paid to tenants who are evicted if the LL is selling or moving back in? What next?!

Anne

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8:00 AM, 30th April 2019, About 6 years ago

I can't believe the comment that David made about the Sect 8, 2 months rent arrears. Did he say "well, you've got your money so that's ok"? Is David a landlord or just a solicitor dealing with landlord issues?

His comment shows a clear lack of understanding as to what "receiving your money" really means. Receiving a token payment to bring arrears to just within 2 months does not constitute receiving your money but it does serve to thwart the Sect 8 process meaning we have to rely on discretionary grounds (10 & 11) allowing the tenant to build up more arrears if the judge on the day finds in favour of the tenant

I hope that any revision of the Sect 8 process tightens up
this loophole

Appalled Landlord

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13:26 PM, 7th May 2019, About 6 years ago

Dr Smith thinks the consultation on how to abolish S 21 will be wide ranging and open. That does not mean anything. Abolition of S 21 was announced without any consultation with the industry, which thought it was being asked about 3-year tenancies, because the organisation that calls itself Generation Rent demanded it.

George Osborne announced Section 24 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015 without any consultation with the industry, and without any justification. https://www.property118.com/iea-paper-tax-measures-discriminate-private-rented-housing/

The government could just announce it was going to impose whatever Generation Rent demands, again. The so-called Conservative government has sprung a surprise twice. What’s to stop it doing so again?

He said “The government is alive to risks posed by ending S 21 and want to make sure those risks don’t come to pass. It wants landlords to continue to let to tenants of all types.” Of course it does! But that is not going to stop it surprising us again. That sounded to me like government propaganda.

He was dismissive of landlords’ aversion to using Section 8: “In over 75% of Section 8 cases the tenant doesn’t show up in court.”

He was dismissive of landlords’ concerns about tenants’ behaviour: “Tenants damaging properties are isolated cases, they are not the routine”.

He says May’s replacement might not carry on with this policy in the same way He thinks some of the candidates for leader of the Tories wouldn’t. But why not, if the purpose is to get votes?

He claims it won’t be immediately retrospective. “Section 21 will not be stolen from existing tenancies some time in 2020 I don’t see that happening at all”. Why not? The whole purpose is to win back votes from middle-class tenants. And Section 24 was retroactive, affecting properties that had been bought before it was announced.

In reply to a question about tenants frustrating Section 8 by paying arrears of on the steps of the court he said “The government would say you’ve got your money, what are you complaining about?”

He claims an insight into government thinking “There is no particular appetite from what I have seen so far within government for more radical rent control in terms of linking rents to RPI or anything else, but it’s certainly something I’m keeping a close eye on.”

Dr Smith is the Policy Director of the RLA. His main job is as a partner in a firm of solicitors specialising in landlord and tenant law, particularly in the residential sector.
https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/7/rla-appoints-david-smith-as-new-policy-director

He is not a landlord, and he came across as a detached adviser. His approach in the webinar was to play down landlords’ fears - which is in the interest of the government, to avoid disturbing the market. He is very experienced in landlord and tenant law, but is he perhaps too detached to be the right man to represent landlords over attacks on them by the government in relation to their right to recover their private property, and the right to deduct legitimate business costs?

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