The Work & Pensions Select Committee has published its Fifth Report – Local Housing Allowance – on 22 March 2010 on its examination of LHA. Members should be able to access this at a cost of circa £15 on the UK Parliament’s website. Look for Select Committee Reports – http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmworpen.htm I’ve only has a cursory [...]
In July 2008, “Housing – Fire Safety: Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing” was published by LACORS in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Chief Fire Officers Association. In December 2008, the housing fire safety steering group met to discuss feedback on the new guidance. The [...]
Information about late payments of commercial debts – advice for landlords on collecting debts.
My tenant is telling me – through my agent – that he has a right to my name and address – otherwise, he claims, he is legally entitled to withhold rent. Can this be right? Surely, if I employ and agent or solicitor to manage my property I have a right to remain anonymous? Some [...]
My tenant entered the property last month and she promised to sign the agreement later. Despite several attempts, I have still not got her to sign 3 weeks later. What can I do? I never cease to be amazed at the number of times this happens. Some landlords (and I must say most of these [...]
Furnished or Unfurnished? What is the legal definition? My tenant claims I have not provided what I should have done. In fact there is no legal definition of furnished, unfurnished or even part-furnished in the UK – these are terms which have come about through custom and practice - in reality they have no industry standard so [...]
Squatters – my property has been unoccupied for only a short time and I have discovered that squatters have moved in. What can I do? This is a question that comes up quite often. Most landlords are surprised to learn that squatting in itself is not a crime. Occupying a property without the owner’s consent [...]
I understand that if I let on a license my tenant has fewer rights under the law. Can I simply call my agreement a license instead of a tenancy agreement? Landlords would often prefer to let under a license as it does indeed give the tenant fewer rights under the law. However, this is far [...]
My tenant has abandoned the property, or at least it appears to be the case, since there’s been no sign of him for 3 weeks now. He owes me 2 months’ rent but he has left all his possessions in the property. What can I do? This is a common story and one which we [...]
Barrister Mark Warwick, who acted for Mott Macdonald in the case discussed in this article, describes how the courts have now ruled that landlords must strictly follow the terms of leases when recovering service charges. An important case decided in the Court of Appeal last week (note to eds: July 23rd 2008) has sounded a [...]
