Licence to let will hit all private landlords

[BoatBoy]

Just had this article forwarded to me and am finding it interesting

I's not here, but in Pommieland

Licence to let will hit all private landlords

All private landlords would have to be registered before letting residential property under government plans to curb abuses in the growing rental market, The Times has learnt.

Easy access to buy-to-let mortgages over the past decade has meant that the number of private landlords has risen to about one million in England and Wales, and ministers are worried that a growing number of unscrupulous landlords are exploiting tenants.

Anyone letting a residential property would have to pay about £50 to register with a national body. This would include developers, buy-to-let investors and the growing ranks of “accidental landlords” who cannot sell their homes and have been forced to let them out instead.

More here, with comments

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article6223112.ece

 

[BayView]

Personally, I reckon it's a good idea.

It'll add a degree of extra credibility to the whole scene, and cull out a few of the dodgy ones.

Of course, this means us greedy specufestering Landlords will have yet another little pain-up-the-orifice beauracratic hoop to deal with in order to protect the innocent tenants.

But, as we have to remind ourselves, think: big picture, big picture....

 

[craigb]

Although its another little pain in the ***! it will be great to rid the world of those slum lords,
A nd close every bedroom that is housing 30 people at once. so they can be more comfortable in our propertys instead

 

[Project1080]

The Jury's still out for me.

The measures, which need primary legislation and will first go out to consultation, are in response to the Rugg report, which called for regulation. “Some landlords simply do not consider letting to be an activity that requires regulation, and other landlords — a very small proportion — wilfully act illegally,” it said.

"a very small proportion" they said. Whilst the idea does have some merit, sounds to me like another way for the Beauracracy to put their hands into our pockets. How about the powers go after the "very small proportion" of rogues instead? What about the slum tenants? Landlords have so many hoops to jump through just to get a bad tenant out and even then if they decide to "squat in the proprty", the powers seem powerless to help.

Until they get seroius about bringing it here, no point worrying about it. It's business as usual for me.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPs in 80 mths.

 

[BayView]

Landlords have so many hoops to jump through just to get a bad tenant out and even then if they decide to "squat in the proprty", the powers seem powerless to help.

Flash 5 "lobsters" at the Pub and you'll get your squatters evicted in 10 mins.

 

[Ausprop]

it's pretty bad over there - there is no system for holding bond monies in trust (well there wasn't, not sure if that has changed?). use to be a case of writing your bond off, call it key money. REAs don't need to be licensed so blind freddie could set up shop tomorrow

 

[The Fence]

Flash 5 "lobsters" at the Pub and you'll get your squatters evicted in 10 mins.

Classic...!

Let the govt try and regulate that...! lol

 

[allmine]

I work in the UK, some of the lads I work with have IP's. There is no incentive here to get involved at all in being a landlord. the hoops they need to jump through are incredible, nothing like our simple system of just picking a PM we like.
The rules are very much in favor of the tenant also, hard to get them out for not paying rent etc.
Yet as with most things here, there is no one organisation who takes care of all this from both sides of the coin. There are 3 different groups to lodge bond money with, and anyone can become a property manager, no training required.
The ligitamate property managers are working together to push this new change trough.
Apparenty they have been trying for some time, the new higher rental situation here has helped there cause.

 

[Piston Broke]

Registration wont clear up anything, make anybody more honest, or improve anything imo.
As for tenants rights, Australia is pretty good for landlords when compared to most EU countries & UK.
In those southern EU countries it's very very difficult to get tenants to move out. Sometimes almost impossible.
I'm talking years, not months.

 

[redwing]

This is a country where you ned a licence to watch TV as well

In the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies, one must have a television licence to legally receive any broadcast television service, from any source. This includes the commercial channels, cable and satellite transmissions, and the Internet. The money from the licence fee is used to provide radio, television and Internet content for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Welsh-language television programmes for S4C.

also see

Licence fee police may target you for watching TV on Net

Viewers who watch television only through their computers could be forced to pay the licence fee, it has been revealed.

Currently, those who solely use catch-up services, such as the BBC's iPlayer, do not need to pay the annual £139.50 charge.

But a law could be introduced to change this, amid growing evidence that more television viewers are migrating online.

 

[Xenia]

Most tenants in Australia know their rights and will hold landlords accountable. There are still those that take advantage of few tenants that don't know the laws and we have seen many cases.

One of the biggest problems with private landlords in SA at least is that they do not lodge bonds with OCBA. Every year the fines imposed by OCBA for non lodgement of bonds is astronomical.

 

[Dazz]

One of the biggest problems with private landlords in SA at least is that they do not lodge bonds with OCBA. Every year the fines imposed by OCBA for non lodgement of bonds is astronomical.

Maybe the private Landlords get confused with the misnomer Xenia.

Maybe the Landlords wrongly assume that the Tenant actually paid a bond to the Landlord so that if they wreck the Landlord's property it would be available to the Landlord to pay for repairing the damage.

Now if they changed the word from 'Bond' to 'the Tenant's money sitting there until they leave', well then maybe the Landlords would realise that the money is not for them and they would lodge it properly.

The piddly 4 weeks doesn't, imo, even qualify as a Bo, let alone a Bond.

 

[wylie]

Maybe the Landlords wrongly assume that the Tenant actually paid a bond to the Landlord so that if they wreck the Landlord's property it would be available to the Landlord to pay for repairing the damage.

If they wreck the property and the landlord has no insurance, then obviously it will not cover things.

Now if they changed the word from 'Bond' to 'the Tenant's money sitting there until they leave', well then maybe the Landlords would realise that the money is not for them and they would lodge it properly.

My mum just refunded bond today less two hours' cleaning for the windows that they didn't bother to clean, plus little bits and pieces. They got about half back and no loss to mum.

The piddly 4 weeks doesn't, imo, even qualify as a Bo, let alone a Bond.

In all our years of taking bonds, even back when we held them in our own bank account, we have rarely held any back, because most tenants have left the places pretty much as they took them.

They are not all bad, you know.

 

[Dazz]

They are not all bad, you know.

That's not the point wylie, and has nothing to do with what I wrote.

The crux of what I was saying was that regardless of the Tenant's actions, good / bad or indifferent, the legislation does not allow the Landlord to have any surety whatsoever when it all goes to custard.

If any Tenant behaves themselves, pays the rent on time, and leaves the property in a clean and tidy state, then things like leases, RTA's and Bonds become irrelevant, as we all know.

All of the laws, paperwork and procedures only ever become applicable when they do not do the right thing. When you are at this stage.....that's when I'm saying you find yourself in a sticky situation, be it a time or cost input on your part to rectify the problem - whatever it is.

I did not comment on the good/ bad ratio.