Lloyds Bank slams landlords as it creates new lettings agency

Reply to the comment left by Monty Bodkin at 19/04/2023 - 10:59
Lloyds Bank is just aiding Blackrock, one of their major shareholders, in cornering the market for rented properties. Blackrock have been snapping up properties in the USA for years.

They can have an initiative and set up a new lettings agency, but why slam LLs in the process?
“Poor and exclusionary practices”? Do they mean referencing prospective tenants, and ensuring the tenants can pay the rent on a LL’s very expensive asset on which there is likely to be costly finance etc charges? Hardly poor practice, and exclusionary only if we are talking about those who cannot pay - to whom I am not unsympathetic, if they are genuine ‘can’t’ rather than ‘won’t’ pay - but PRS LLs are not here to provide for those individuals; that is the role of the government and local authorities via social housing and housing support. We all know those are in a total mess.
“Calling for 1m new social homes to be built by 2033”. Wonderful words and very noble, but good luck in implementation – and I mean that, as it will be very difficult to achieve (I speak from direct professional experience).
Besides – it’s a letting agency, or is it a housing provider?
So where will they find the housing to let prior to the new builds coming on stream? Unless there is a cast iron guarantee to existing LLs from the bank, I suspect few PRS LLs with knowledge of rent arrears, tardy eviction court processes and trashed property will be stepping up any time soon. A quick look on the Homes for Good website they reference: https://homesforgood.org.uk suggests little more than similar schemes run by various Councils - and found by 118 members as poor and to be avoided. Only the brave or foolish would sign up to that.
I wish them success and that they truly have a winning formula. Noble intentions alone are not going to fix this housing crisis.

Lloyd's tsb realised an press statement last year as they are set to become the uks largest landlord with 20k properties. This has a longer term plan to drive the prices down and make it harder for market forces to set pricing.

Hence take over more properties by buying directly from struggling landlords.
It takes time and effort to make things happen and working with other banks they will try to get rid of us.

A Directors general duties under the Companies Act 2006:

"These general duties are owed to the company, for the benefit of members as a whole; not directly to its shareholders. If a director breaches their duties, they could face civil action and, in some cases, criminal sanction. For example, section 183 makes it a criminal offence for a director to fail to comply with the requirements of section 182 (declarations of interest) and, under Part 11 of the Act, members can, in certain circumstances, bring a derivative claim against an individual director on behalf of the company. The general duties are owed by a de facto director or shadow director in the same way and to the same extent that they are owed by a properly appointed director.
This document includes:

The duty to act within powers
The duty to promote the success of the company
The duty to exercise independent judgment
The duty to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence
The duty to avoid conflicts of interest
The duty not to accept benefits from third parties
The duty to declare an interest in a proposed transaction or arrangement
The declaration of interest in existing transaction or arrangement
Consequences of breach of duty
Section 172 reporting requirements"

I cannot see how engaging in a charitable function, not by way of a capped and limite donation to an established charity but as a fucntionning(?) par tof the business operation can ever mee the test of "The duty to promote the success of the company"

What is being propsed here appears to be ultra vires.

I am all for solving the housing issue just as I am the issue of low incomes, NEITHER are solved by the communistic distribution of public, and here the distribution of private, funds but by the creation and retention, at the grass roots, of value.

Reply to the comment left by Ardee at 19/04/2023 - 11:45
Blackrock is a major shareholder in everything, are the incestuous Vanguard and State Street.

Banks do nothing for free.... I am sure that they will lend themselves money at inflated rates "to cover costs". It's also cheaper to do this for them as there won't be as much paperwork as the likes of us have to complete.

"The bank says that homeless people won’t be asked to provide rent in advance, and they won’t need to meet strict reference requirements."
😂😂… yep sign me up ASAP just what I am looking for an agency that won’t do full affordability and reference checks… why didn’t I think of that before for all my rentals.. I must be soooo stupid!.. 😂😂…

Delusional me thinks… can’t see what landlord would accept this..

Just to be clear if you have a mortgage with lloyds bank who's property do you think might be repossessed and end up owned b y this new venture

Tell me if you think this wont happen !!
Landlords are informed they have to use a letting agent approved by the council no option to self manage it so happens that agency is a subsidiary of a large bank
That agencies figures demonstrate they need 35% of your rent to operate within the regulations (I am sure you could provide figures to demonstrate that 110% of rent would be needed to manage the property at no profit of course ) saying an independent could do it for10% wont make any difference
you have no choice
Any repairs will have be carried out by the councils works department to ensure proper ethical diverse and green working practices and the letting agent will put 35% on top to manage compliance

And then !!
Let me be clear
The important thing is
After lessons have been learned
That costs have been underestimated
And inline with
The Levelling up commitment
To a fairer renting sector for all
It has been revealed
That management fees must be increased
To. 57%