The LandlordZONE Journal – “LandlordLOG�

May 2006 – Issue 009

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We continue here with our series of LandlordZONE Newsletter editions on the topic of Licensing and the requirements of the Housing Act 2004.

The licensing requirement for HMOs became effective in April: the licence will be issued to “fit and proper persons� who operate HMOs and can demonstrate good management, usually for a period of 5 years.

We are already seeing differences in the way that local authorities are interpreting the rules and the fee levels they are charging according to Mike Stimpson, chair of NFRL.

Fees apparently are varying from nothing at all to just under £2,000 per property. This in itself is a worrying development for HMO landlords.

But, in addition it seems that some authorities are not discriminating between mandatory and discressionary licensing—requiring ALL HMOs to be licensed—not the intention of the legislation at all.

Clearly the situation needs to be monitored and pressure to be brought where necessary.

Tom Entwistle, Editor

This issue is wholly sponsored by Coverlet – one of the leading providers of insurance for the rental property market.

Landlord’s Insurance from Coverlet

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Landlords’ Energy Efficiency Scheme

It was announced in the Budget 2006 that the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance was to be extended to include draught proofing and the insulation of hot water systems. The scheme, which was first announced in the 2004 Budget, provides £1,500 for landlords investing in energy saving measures for their properties. There are also other measure which are eligible as well such as cavity wall, loft and solid wall insulation.

The Budget also confirmed the Pre-Budget announcement that the Wear and Tear Allowance (the 10% pa allowance given by HM Revenue & Customs for depreciation of landlord’s assets) is to be made conditional on the energy efficiency level of the property thereby incentivising the measures landlords can take to improve the energy efficiency of their properties by linking this to the forthcoming Energy Performance Certificates.

Continue reading Landlords’ Energy Efficiency Scheme…

Home Information Packs

Hipag’s seminars offer lifeline to independent estate agents and high street solicitors
“How HIPs (Home Information Packs) will impact local businesses”

London, 23 May 2006 — Hipag Services www.hipag.co.uk the leading supplier of Home Information Packs to independent estate agents and solicitors, is holding a series of nationwide Seminars explaining the impact of the Packs that will become compulsory from June 2007 under the Housing Act.

“The introduction of HIPs”, says Rob Hailstone, Hipag’s CEO, “will change the way residential conveyancing is carried out beyond all recognition. Our Seminars are an information lifeline to the local estate agent and the local solicitors practice to tell them exactly what HIPs mean and what the impact will be on their businesses.”

“Our aim in Hipag is to bring together local solicitors, estate agents, surveyors and home inspectors, working in partnership, to achieve faster completions, reduce stress and impress clients.”

Among speakers giving presentations at the Seminars will be, Jeff Whiteway, chief executive of OyezStraker, Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy, former NAEA President, non-executive director of Hipag, chairman of NALHI, Lesley Sorridimi of OneSearch Survey and Rob Hailstone chief executive of Hipag Services.

Seminar dates are planned for: Bristol (01.06.06), Birmingham (09.06.06), Brighton (20.06.06), Manchester (27.06.06), Leeds (28.06.06), Newcastle-upon-Tyne (04.07.06) and Norwich (11.07.06) — see below for further details.

Topics covered will include :
- Home Inspector numbers and certification scheme
- The regulations
- HIPs - the estate agent’s perspective
- NALHI (National Association of Licensed Home Inspectors)
- Selling HIPs in a non-compulsory market
- How working together will ensure the survival and
growth of independent estate agents and high street
solicitors when HIPs are compulsory

Roadshows venues:

Bristol Novotel 01/06/06

Birmingham Crowne Plaza 09/06/06

Brighton Seafront Holiday Inn 20/06/06

Manchester Palace Hotel 27/06/06

Hilton Leeds City 28/06/06

Newcastle Upon Tyne Thistle Hotel 04/07/06

Norwich Ramada Jarvis Hotel 11/07/06

About Hipag Services Ltd.

Hipag Services Ltd (www.hipag.co.uk) has been formed to assist independent estate agents and high street solicitor practices in England and Wales produce HIPs quickly and efficiently. Hipag currently has over 1,000 registered members, from Cornwall to Cumbria, who it will work in partnership with to produce HIPs rapidly, enabling property sales to proceed without delay.

Hipag’s membership includes local independent estate agents, high street solicitors practices and future Home Inspectors who will prepare the Home Condition Reports.

Hipag Services has the financial backing of the OyezStraker Group, the UK’s leading independent office products and business services company with 1,500 staff and £160m turnover.

Hipag Services believes its HIP will be superior to others for two main reasons. Firstly, because it will provide to the seller and the estate agent a HIP quickly that complies with legislation so that the property can be marketed without delay. Secondly, by working with its member firms it will ensure the HIP becomes comprehensive while the property is being marketed, and not after a buyer has been found, thereby providing a smoother, less stressful transaction and a quicker exchange of contracts.

Hipag can achieve these goals because its members - solicitors, estate agents and home inspectors will be local to the property being sold and will be working closely together. Their local knowledge and easy accessibility will make it easier for the property seller to meet and discuss potential problems with the professionals who will be working for them.

This local approach contrasts with that of many large HIP providers who plan to offer a service based on large centralised “call centre” -style HIP factories to prepare packs.

About The OyezStraker Group Ltd.

The OyezStraker Group Ltd (www.oyezstraker.co.uk) is the UK’s leading independent office products and business services company with 1,500 staff and £160m turnover.

The Group was formed in 1997 through the merger of Oyez and Straker, two well-known companies with strong brands in the office products and stationery market. Companies in the Group consist of: OyezStraker, Stat Plus, Lynch McQueen and Whitegrove. The Oyez brand name is synonymous with the supply legal office supplies, legal software, forms publishing, speech solutions, document production and company formations.

For further information:-

Rob Hailstone, CEO, Hipag Servies Ltd
M: 07817 630714
E: rob@hipag.co.uk
www.hipag.co.uk

or

Jacqui Green, JGMpr
M: 07885 270 349
E: jacqui@jgmpr.com
www.jgmpr.com

Affordable Rural Housing

Solving the housing crisis in the countryside is achievable – says the
Affordable Rural Housing Commission in its final report to Government

Rural communities need a major increase in subsidised housing, if the next generation is
not to be priced out of the countryside, according to the independent Affordable Rural
Housing Commission (ARHC)¹ in its report to Government launched today (Wed 17 May).

It sets out practical actions that should be taken forward across all levels of government, the
voluntary and private sectors, if this much-needed affordable housing is to be built. Without
such action, the Commission warns, rural communities are being undermined as many
people on lower, and even average, incomes are leaving the countryside to find a home
they can afford.

The 12-member Commission² has concluded that a minimum of 11,000 affordable houses
are needed a year in market towns and villages to meet identified need – as part of an
approach that allows these communities to evolve and provide homes for people from all
walks of life. In addition, it says there needs to be some private development, both to
provide the first rung on the property ladder and to generate cross subsidy to help pay for
the extra affordable housing.

It calls on the Government to provide more public funding for
rural housing, and to give the countryside a fair share of resources. And it urges, as
importantly, that regional and local planners, and rural communities themselves, should
actively encourage well-designed affordable housing as part of mainstream planning policy.
The Commission was set up last July, in response to widespread concern about the
implications for rural communities in England of a shortage of affordable housing to rent or
buy, to come up with practical solutions that would improve access to affordable housing for
those who live and work in rural areas.

Elinor Goodman, chair of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission, said: “If we don’t
act now, more and more people will be priced out of the countryside - leaving rural
communities to increasingly become dormitories for the better off and places where people
go to retire or for the weekend. This, in turn, will undermine the social fabric of rural life.

“Our investigation has shown us that much good work is already being done. We’ve seen
how affordable housing can improve the overall quality of a village and underpin its future.
But, to meet the scale of housing need in rural communities in all regions, we recommend
that 11,000 affordable homes need to be built – that’s equivalent to around six new houses
a year in each rural ward in England.

“Villages and country towns must be allowed to evolve in the way they did in the past –
they can’t just be preserved in aspic. Most can probably absorb some more houses, as
long as they are in scale and character and maintain the identity of individual communities.
We are not advocating a laissez-faire approach, but using the planning system more
effectively to identify and address rural needs, rather than treating them as an add-on after
urban needs are met.

“People have been aware of this shortage for years but never before has there been so
much evidence of the scale of it, and its impact on rural life. Since we were set up, the
Government has announced changes to the planning system, which go some way to
addressing the points made to us during our inquiry. What is needed now is for all those
involved to embrace these changes and give rural housing the priority it deserves. “

Elinor Goodman continued: “We have also looked at the issue of second homes and
concluded that they are not a major problem across the country. But, they are a matter of
real concern in some communities, where there is a disproportionately high number, and we
recommend ways of mitigating their impact locally. The need for rented and low cost
homes is spread throughout rural England and the main solution is to provide more
affordable housing.�

The Affordable Rural Housing Commission Report 2006 outlines four key elements to
solving the problem: positive planning, ensuring a supply of sites, better finance and
improved leadership. Key recommendations include:

• a fundamental change in the way the need for affordable housing is addressed in
rural areas – so that it is delivered through a plan-led approach as part of
mainstream policy in regional and local spatial strategies;
• better use of planning tools available to generate more cross subsidy from open
market development to social rented and low cost home ownership;
• ensuring that planners take account of the social needs of communities alongside
the need to protect the environment;
• an increase in public funding, as part of a fairer distribution of resources for housing
in rural areas;
• better funding for more Rural Housing Enablers (RHEs) to work with planners,
developers, landowners, housing associations and parish councils to ascertain local
housing need and locate appropriate sites;
• providing training and support for local authorities so they are equipped to gain the
affordable housing they need through high quality, well designed development;
• asking Government to explore various proposals to stem the negative impact
second home ownership can have on viable communities in specific honey pot
areas, including asking the Lyons review of local government to consider whether a
‘local impact tax’ could be levied, and introducing a Planning Use Class Order;
• restrictions and changes to Right to Buy and Right to Acquire in more rural areas –
to ensure that subsidised homes remain in the affordable sector in perpetuity;
• placing greater emphasis on the economic and social duty of National Park
Authorities to encourage the provision of affordable rural housing;
• encouraging a better supply of sites through new models for delivering affordable
housing, a new approach which brings together public land with funding and those
able to build such homes, and further investigation of possible changes to the tax
system;
• clearer guidance to speed up the release of brownfield land owned by public
authorities for affordable housing.

A copy of the full Affordable Rural Housing Report 2006 or summary is available to
download from www.defra.gov.uk/rural/housing/commission, by email at
Enquiries.ahrc@defra.gsi.gov.uk
-ends-

Renting Homes: The Final Report

Since 2001 the Law Commission has been working on a project to simplify housing law. This project, which is being led by Professor Martin Partington CBE, should eventually result in new legislation being brought in on housing tenure which will effectively sweep away more than 100 years of previous housing laws.

Eventually is perhaps the key word here as, not being of the highest priority on the government’s agenda at the moment, it is unlikely to receive enough attention for a speedy passing through the house.

According to the Commission “A third of the population of England and Wales - six million households - rent their homes. The law governing their relationship with their landlords is an irrationally complicated mess. This project seeks to replace it with a modernised, understandable, and just legal structure.�

On 5 May 2006 the Commission published its report - Renting Homes: The Final Report (Law Com No 297).

Volume 1 explains recommendations. There is an illustrative model secure contract and standard periodic contract.

Volume 2 contains the draft Rented Homes Bill.

A summary and press release are also available.

The Commission is recommending a much simplified system of housing law: basically two forms of contract for tenants: secure and standard contracts which would replace the present the present “multiplicity of tenancy and licence types�.

The Commission argues that landlords and occupiers would benefit from:

• Identical contracts for council and housing association tenants
• Improvements to council and housing association tenants’ rights;
• Government approved model contracts to make private renting easier, cheaper and more flexible.
• A clear and practical legal framework for supported housing.

The Commission’s recommendations would allow for the abolition of:
• secure tenancies
• assured tenancies
• assured shorthold tenancies
• introductory tenancies
• demoted tenancies
• various varieties of common law tenancies

Only one major existing form of tenancy would not be abolished - Rent Act tenancies, but there would be powers for the Government to do so.

You can still have your say on this important piece of proposed legislation which will no doubt have far reaching implications for landlords.

Solicitor Tessa Shepperson has now produced in association with the Law Commission an online answer form to allow landlords to respond to this easily. The form can be found either by navigating to the Law Reform section of the Landlord-Law site or via the special url www.law-reform.co.uk.

All responses will be forwarded to the Law Commission when the consultation period ends on 11 July 2006, and at that time a summary report of the responses received will be compiled and published on the Landlord-Law site.

Tom Entwistle, Editor, LandlordZONE

Private Landlords Perplexed

April and May this year brought a flood of new legislation and regulation to perplex private landlords, say Leaders, the Letting Agents.

First came a requirement to register all Houses in Multiple Occupation, HMOs with the Local Authority and to obtain a Licence at a cost that varied from one authority to another of £5-700 for a licence that lasts for five years.

At the same time the new Housing Health and Safety Rating System, HHSRS, was established which is designed to apply to all rented property although Environmental Health and Fire Officers will focus first on HMOs.

In the last week of April Leaders were briefed on Energy Performance Certificates, a Brussels requirement dating back to 2002, and not to be implemented in the UK until late in 2006 or more likely during 2007.

A Certificate will have to be made available to anyone buying or renting a home. The Certificate will be provided by a new force of inspectors not yet recruited and will last for ten years from date of issue. Costs will run from £250 for a flat when a whole block is measured at the same time to £750 or so for a 5 bed house.

The Law Commission finally on 5th May published their Report, Draft Bill and sample Tenancy Agreements all designed to replace several centuries of housing law some of which dates back 200 years or more. There is no space in the Parliamentary timetable for this draft legislation to be debated so it may go back into a pigeon hole, (it is over 200 pages long) for some time yet.

Paul Weller, Leaders Managing Director said “we will continue to publish new editions of our valuable guide to legislation and regulations – The Knowledge - so that all of our landlords are fully and accurately informed�.

Now we have to come to terms with the fact that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, ODPM, is no more although John Prescott no doubt keeps his salary, car and several homes.

We must now learn to say Department for Communities and Local Government, DCLG, under Ruth Kelly who at least established an understanding of the property industry during her stint as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

For further information contact Alan Thurlow on 0845 345 4075, email alanthurlow@leaders.co.uk

HIPs Goldrush

Independent Estate Agents could be ‘left behind in the HIPs goldrush’ says Hipag chief executive

London, 5.6.06: Britain’s Estate Agents should prepare now for the introduction of Home Information Packs – not wait until 2007 - or they risk being left behind in the HIPs goldrush. This is what Rob Hailstone, chief executive of Hipag Services, told visitors to the National Association of Estate Agents national congress held at the London Hilton on 5 May 2006.

‘Local independent estate agents are running the risk of losing their independence when HIPs are introduced,’ says Hailstone, ‘as new major corporate players enter the market in the wake of HIPs. The announcement by supermarket chain ASDA that they are to enter the home sales market and will give HIPs away free is a perfect example of what is likely to happen. In my view, local estate agents need to act now to protect their independence – not wait until next year.’

Hailstone and fellow Hipag director Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy, a previous NAEA president, were at the NAEA Congress where Hipag Services unveiled its Home Information Pack and told visitors how they can prepare in advance for June 2007.

‘Not all HIPs are the same’, says Hailstone. ‘Our approach as a membership organisation means that the local independent estate agent and the high street solicitor working with Hipag will be able to produce a HIP for the seller and the estate agent in the quickest possible time. The big corporate approach means HIP preparation will often be taken out of local hands and done remotely in ‘call-centre’ style HIP factories.’

As well as being produced with the help of Hipag members, our HIP will also be different in that it will contain a short summary of the legal contents written in layman’s language. Our HIP will be branded with the estate agent’s own logo.

‘One positive and pain-free step that estate agents can take now to protect their independence is to join Hipag Services,’ says Hailstone. ‘Estate agents can become associate members free of charge and will receive regular email updates and other benefits. In fact, we will be unveiling a new package of member benefits later this month’.

— ENDS –

About Hipag Services Ltd.

Hipag Services Ltd (www.hipag.co.uk) has been formed to assist independent estate agents and high street solicitor practices in England and Wales produce HIPs quickly and efficiently. Hipag currently has some 1,000 registered members, from Cornwall to Cumbria, who it will work in partnership with to produce HIPs rapidly, enabling property sales to proceed without delay.

PRESS RELEASE – MEDIA CONTACT: Sharmayne Weston t: 020 8774 3468

Sitting Tenants’ Rights

MENTION SITTING TENANTS AND MOST LANDLORDS would reel in horror!

A friend of mine recently asked me how they should be dealt with. His friend had purchased a property and not realised the consequences of his actions. His solicitor must have been inept. He had bought the property with the promise that it could be vacated, only to learn about protected tenancies the hard way. I’m sure this is not an isolated incident.

In these days of assured shorthold tenancies, it is easy to forget that there are still a lot of tenancies around that are either regulated or statutorily protected.

If you know what you are doing these can make good reversionary investments. With a sitting tenant in place, the property, depending on its condition and the life expectancy of the occupier, is worth a fraction of its vacant possession value. But if you are prepared for a wait - and of course it’s a gamble -these investments can pay off handsomely.

TENANTS’ EXTRA

The story of private residential tenancies throughout much of the 20th century is one
of rental market decline. It’s a perfect example of how well-meaning, socially motivated legislation can have the exact opposite effect of what was intended.

Instead of protecting tenants’ interests it resulted in the virtual destruction of the market. It also detracted from the aim of a flexible, mobile workforce by creating tenants that never move.

It is hard to believe that giving security of tenure for life - and for the lives of spouses and offspring - while controlling rents through the ‘fair rents’ system, at uneconomic levels, could ever have been contemplated. No landlord in his or her right mind would buy and supply property to let under these terms.

Most tenancies before 15 January 1989 are governed by the Rent Act 1977. It is not possible to change them, unless the tenant can be persuaded without duress to move. Grounds for possession or eviction are discretionary and very limited. The protected shorthold tenancy, which kicked off the buy-to-let revival, was first introduced by the Housing Act 1980.

It applies to tenancies that were granted on or after 28 November 1980. These had to be for a fixed term of between one and five years and, before the start of the tenancy, the landlord had to give notice in a specified form that the tenancy was a protected
shorthold - a section 20 notice.

The tenant has fair rent protection as long as it does not break the terms and the landlord has the right to get its property back, provided these conditions are met. Evidence of service of the section 20 notice is critical, otherwise it is a protected tenancy.

The Housing Act 1988 introduced assured tenancies: either ‘full’ assured tenancies or assured shorthold tenancies, thereby giving landlords a choice.

Tenancies starting after 15 January 1989 gave assured tenants security of tenure but with no restriction on how much rent could be charged. Assured shortholds gave no security of tenure after an initial six months, but did provide some rent protection. Again a prescribed notice had to be served, otherwise the tenancy would default to a ‘fully’ assured one with protected status.

The legislation was changed again by the Housing Act 1996, which made the default tenancy the assured shorthold for any tenancy commencing after 28 February 1997.
Most tenancies will now fall into this latter category.

There is therefore little risk to the landlord, even if the tenancy was created without a proper written agreement, although the tenant has a right to one within 28 days.

This article by Tom Entwistle, editor of the rental property website LandlordZONE originally appeared in Property Week 5 May 2006.

See also: Directory - Sitting Tenants

Furnished holiday lettings qualify for tax benefits, says Nick Braun of TaxCafe

ANYONE WHO INVESTS IN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY will probably know that it is treated generously by the taxman. For example, a couple who make a profit of £100,000 selling a shop could end up with a tax bill of just over £1,000, meaning they pay tax at a rate of just over 1%.

Commercial property qualifies for ‘business asset taper relief’, which means 75% of your profits are tax free. To qualify, you have to have owned the property for at least two years and rent it out to a qualifying business.

When you qualify for full business asset taper relief, your maximum tax rate is 10%, but rates as low as 1%, or even 0%, can be achieved if you sell the property in a year when you have very little other income or capital gains.

Compare that with most residential property which only qualifies for the more stingy non-business taper relief which only shelters 40% of your profits after 10 years.

Some commercial property may get off lightly when it comes to Capital Gains Tax but there is one type of residential property that also qualifies for business asset taper relief.

I’m talking about investment in ‘furnished holiday lettings’, such as holiday cottages in Cornwall and flats in popular tourist destinations such as London and Edinburgh.

BREAK POINT

Apart from business asset taper relief, furnished holiday lettings also qualify for the following tax breaks:

Loss Relief:

Ask any accountant who prepares tax returns and they will tell you that many of their clients are sitting on rental losses. Even if you invest in property with a high rental yield, once you lop off mortgage interest, agents’ fees, repair costs and wear and tear, most buy-to-let investors are in the red.

These losses cannot be deducted from your other taxable income, such as your salary. Instead they have to be carried forward year after year until you have some rental profits to set them off against. For many investors such losses are therefore largely worthless.

Furnished holiday lettings are an exception, however, because you can offset your rental losses against your other income. Why is this so attractive? Because every fl of losses is fl of salary or other income on which you don’t have to pay any Income Tax.

Rollover Relief:

Furnished holiday lettings are the only type of residential property that allow an investor to sell one property and postpone Capital Gains Tax by investing in another.

This relief allows you to sell properties in areas that are underperforming and seek out new properties in up-and-coming ‘hotspots’, without fear of losing profits to the taxman.
A furnished holiday letting business may also be exempt from

Inheritance Tax where the lettings are short term and the owner is involved with the holidaymakers’ activities.

To qualify as ‘furnished holiday lettings’, the property has to be:

- situated in the UK
- furnished
- available for letting to holidaymakers for at least 140 days a year. These must be proper commercial lets, not ‘mates’ rates’
- Actually let for at least 70 days a year
- Not occupied for more than 31 days by the same person in any seven-month period.

Although the property doesn’t have to be in a recognised holiday area, the lettings must be to holidaymakers and tourists to qualify.

Of course, many commercial property investors would wince at the idea of letting a property for just one month, especially those sitting on cushy 20-year leases to government departments and the like. And you should never let the tax tail wag the investment dog.

Nevertheless, there is a thriving market in UK holiday properties and many investors are unaware of the tax benefits.

This article originally appeared in Property Week 12 May 2006 and was supplied to LandlordZONE by Nick Braun the founder of tax guide publisher Taxcafe.co.uk ©TaxCafe

The LandlordZONE Journal - ” LandlordLOG”

The LandlordZONE Journal – “LandlordLOG�

April 2006 – Issue 008

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The UK Housing Act 2004 involves one of the biggest changes for landlords for many years and most of its provisions will be enacted in April 2006. We continue this series on the Housing Act with a primer on the The Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) which will become heavily involved in disputes to do with some of the provisions of the new legislation.

New legislation now being introduced under the Housing Act 2004 will increase the work-load of several government agencies like the Residential Property Tribunal Service—good for civil servants, but is it good for landlords? Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure—landlords will need to study the rules more closely than ever.
According to the Scotsman (Scotsman.com) ONE in four private landlords in Scotland face a £5,000 fine next week, after failing to register with the Executive’s new database of let properties.
Only 30,000 homeowners have signed up to the compulsory scheme ahead of Sunday’s (30th April 2006) deadline - just three-quarters of the estimated number of private landlords.
The legislation in England and Wales is not quite so onerous as the registration scheme now being introduced in Scotland, but this is perhaps an indication of the problems with these schemes.
Landlord’s are a diverse group and very difficult to reach by most forms of media—perhaps the LandlordZONE™ Newsletter will help with this process? Editor.

This issue is wholly sponsored by Coverlet – one of the leading providers of insurance for the rental property market.

Landlord’s Insurance from Coverlet

===========================================================
Download LandlordLOG as a web page, or in Adobe .pdf format:
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/BlogNews/LandlordLOGApr06.pdf or
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/BlogNews/newsletterApr06.htm
The links to the journal are also posted at:
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/BlogNews/newsletter-archive.htm and at
http://www.landlordlog.com/
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