The new HMO licensing regulations are now effective and the three month ‘grace period’ has now ended. Landlords who have failed to obtain a license face fines of up to £20,000, plus risk tenants applying for rent repayment orders while being unable to evict them via the section 21 procedure. But have the government played…
When a South Tynside landlord tried to evict his tenants rather than get an HMO license he was asking for trouble. And he got it. When one of his tenants applied for re-housing the Council realised his landlord was acting in breach of the law. The Homelessness Team alerted the Environmental Health Service who tried…
Local Authorities are shortly to get new powers to take over empty properties and rent them out to homeless families. Some press reports have greeted this with outrage, as the regulations apparently state that properties in good condition which have only been lying empty for six months can be repossessed. For example a report in…
I read in the excellent Legal Action magazine that the government is late in publishing guidance to Local Authorities on the new Housing Health and Safety Rating System (“HHSRS”), which comes into force on 6 April. The Governments own published program provided for it to be distributed in January. Legal Action say it is not…
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More problems with HMO licensing
It looks as if the additional administration associated with HMOs is putting landlords off landlording. A survey by RICS, reported here finds that landlords are either selling up or are just letting to three or less people, in order to avoid licensing. Which would mean that although licensing is cutting down on rogue landlords, this…