Landlord organisation proposes Tenant-Landlord Partnership Bill to tackle rental crisis

Landlord organisation proposes Tenant-Landlord Partnership Bill to tackle rental crisis

0:01 AM, 13th September 2024, About 2 months ago 2

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A landlord organisation is urging the Labour government to avoid taking “a piecemeal view of housing” and address the rental crisis head-on.

iHowz is presenting its proposals to MPs and Lords on what the rental sector needs, including a new Tenant-Landlord Partnership Bill.

iHowz’s proposals include fair taxation for landlords and retaining fixed-term tenancies.

Successive governments have taken a piecemeal view of housing

The landlord organisation is calling on the government to introduce a Tenant Landlord Partnership Bill to balance the rights and responsibilities of both tenants and landlords.

The organisation said: “iHowz advocates for a comprehensive ‘root and branch’ review of the current rental system, proposing a ‘Tenant Landlord Partnership Bill’. This review must address the significant issues within the PRS and avoid mere superficial changes.

“Successive governments have taken a piecemeal view of housing, especially the private rented sector (PRS). iHowz landlord association are firmly of the view that this new government has a perfect opportunity to take a holistic view, across all the different departments.”

The organisation is calling on different government departments such as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Treasury and the Ministry of Justice to work together to support the private rented sector.

Fairer tax breaks for landlords

iHowz is also demanding a review of the tax regime, arguing that it contributes to the loss of rental supply.

The organisation is pushing for fairer taxes for landlords, including some tax breaks. They suggest landlords who house homeless people should get 12 months of tax relief for that rental, and those charging rent at or below the LHA rate should get a 50% tax discount on that property.

Other proposals include removing the surcharge on capital gains tax for landlords and eliminating the extra Stamp Duty on additional properties they buy.

For no-fault evictions, iHowz is proposing a new rule in Section 8 that would allow these types of evictions. If it’s used, tenants would get the last two months rent-free as compensation.

The full list of proposals can be found here


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Comments

Jo Westlake

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10:30 AM, 13th September 2024, About 2 months ago

A more cohesive approach would certainly be welcome but some of these suggestions are problematic. Getting a one year tax break for housing a homeless person would ensure that person became homeless again at the earliest opportunity as soon as the year was up. If anyone was actually willing to take the risk in the first place.

Charging below LHA is financially impossible in large parts of the country. LHA is already hundreds a month below the cheapest properties currently listed on Rightmove in many areas.
With both of the above there would be difficulties in separating out the individual properties in a portfolio situation. It is very common to take equity from one property to pay cash for another. Certainly my units that house formerly homeless people had to be cash purchases due to short leases or being unattractive to mortgage lenders due to being above shops. The money to buy and renovate them is borrowed against other BTLs.

The last thing we need is more fragmentation and hoops to jump through.
Traditional taxation would help all sectors of the unincorporated PRS industry and would be highly beneficial to tenants. It would allow landlords to better maintain properties and have more modest rent increases.

Certain types of tenants prefer fixed term tenancies so it should be an option if that's what both landlord and tenant wants.

For genuinely impeccable long term tenants (over 2 years) who have fully adhered to their tenancy agreement I don't have a problem with the idea of refunding the last 2 months rent along with their deposit after they have vacated the property in the unlikely event I would actually want to evict them. It is an incredibly rare event for impeccable tenants to be evicted. Usually they leave because life happens and they want to live somewhere else or they aren't impeccable and Section 8 would be more appropriate. In either of those cases no compensation would be due.

Charging standard SDLT on any properties that are used as full time homes makes sense. It shouldn't matter if they are owner occupiers or long term tenants.

Indexation or taper relief would help attract new landlords into the industry (as there would be a sensible exit route) and allow existing landlords to rationalise their portfolios. It would also generate huge amounts of SDLT and VAT.

Godfrey Jones

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10:05 AM, 14th September 2024, About 2 months ago

Does anyone honestly think this Government will listen? They are hell-bent on driving out small-scale Landlords and are either oblivious or simply don't care how ultimately it will be Tenants who suffer.

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