A new year, a new decade and with that, there are many new rules and changes which Landlords should be aware of, here are the key dates to remember and the important new rules to be informed about:
The Conservative pledged to end ‘no-fault’ evictions, following on from a Government promise to scrap Section 21 evictions. This makes it very probable that the tenure reforms may be handled within the first year of operation by our brand new parliament but full implementation could be years away.
We await information yet to be released by the government however a session on the plans regarding Section 21 closed in October 2019 is presently being “reviewed” by the MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), it appears that Section 21 of the Housing Act (1988) might be revoked, with Section 8 being bolstered so that landlords (and lenders) can nevertheless repossess their belongings if the proper grounds exist.
What will be taken into consideration under these grounds (Section 8) is one of three major questions we have about the plans being reviewed.
From April, landlords will not be authorized to let homes with poor energy efficiency ratings, those who do will face fines of up to £5,000. The rules apply to homes in England and Wales; similar policies exist already in Scotland. If you need more information about energy efficiency have a look at our previous blog.
The new minimum strength performance standard (MEPS) is E, meaning landlords with homes rated F or G can be fined. These guidelines have applied to new tenancies since April 2018, however, this year might be applicable to all present tenancies from April and onwards.
If you’ve got belongings rated F or G, you then don’t have long left to make improvements, you can get a new certificate on our website and post it to your tenants.
Right to rent checks were ruled “discriminatory” and a breach of human rights law by the High Court in March last year. The Government released an assessment of the scheme in October 2015.
However Landlords were still obliged to undergo the check, we count on this to change in 2020. Labour and the Liberal Democrats pledged to stop the checks in their election manifestos strongly suggesting the tide has turned against this centrepiece of the ‘antagonistic environment’ policy.
The ‘adverse environment’ was related to Theresa May, starting for the duration of her lengthy tenure at the Home Office, persevering with into her premiership and the Windrush scandal. With May now not leading the country, it’s far probable that 2020 might be the year that the right to rent is crossed off landlords’ to-do lists for good.
Last year, PwC research discovered high road property agent branches to be last at a fee of knots. During the first half of 2019, it was observed that there was a net closure of a hundred branches of high streets across the UK: the worst overall performance of all sectors bar-style retail and restaurants.
We count on the trend of high street agent branch closures to continue well into 2020. The Tenant Fees Act came into place halfway through 2019, banning the rip-off expenses that many retailers required to stay in business. Agents were also asked to comply with other pieces of legislation introduced in the latest years, such as Client Money Protection scheme.
This will exacerbate a problem for excessive avenue marketers. Trying to bypass the expenses onto landlords will set off landlords to look someplace else for much better deals which isn’t given at a high street agent.
At LetBritain we provide landlords with a fair and affordable means of advertising their home on Zoopla & Rightmove, by providing three packages depending on the landlord’s needs and urgency.
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