Another week and another Newsround, the team has been busy this week but let’s see what has caught their eye in the housing news.
PRS Ombudsman now expected in 2028
The Housing Ombudsman has clarified that the new compulsory Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman is expected to go live in 2028. The Government has not yet chosen its operator.
Nearly all private landlords will ultimately have to join. The Housing Ombudsman currently offers a voluntary membership application, but it is unconnected to the new scheme.
Out of hours tenant calls on increase
New figures out this week claim that 43% of calls from tenants are now outside of normal working hours (9am-5pm Monday to Friday). LightWork AI who ran the research has broken this down further with 28% are phone calls and 49% are emails or portal enquiries.
These findings have come as a surprise to LightWork, Leonard Charlton their co-founder said
The result is that [agents] never really finish work. They’re under pressure, they’re dealing with clients in times of high stress, and then their evenings and weekends disappear too. It’s no surprise the industry is struggling to keep good people.
The out of hours calls puts extended pressure on agents and landlords to remain available at all times, as they never know how serious a call will be.
Tenant demographic is changing
The typical tenant ‘model’ is changing as aspirations to own their homes gets further from their grasp. 76% of renters want to buy their own home yet 44% expect to now rent for the rest of their lives.
This means that tenancies are now becoming longer, the average tenancy is now 4.7 years up by a year from a decade ago. Furthermore, 30% of tenants would now like to rent in social housing; this is up from 21% last year. 47% of over 65’s would prefer social renting, along with 39% of those with children and 35% of tenants living with a health condition.
There is a growing demand for alternatives to just private renting showing that there is a lack of choice for renters and the role of private renting is changing and becoming more long term rather than a stepping stone to owning your own home. This survey from the TDS Charitable Foundation say that it is ‘important that housing policy keeps pace’ with the changing rental sector.
EPC targets still out of landlords’ reach
Everybody is becoming a lot more energy efficient when it comes to homes and data out this week shows that 42% of renters now take energy efficiency into account when deciding on a home.
Landlords are in a similar mindset with 52% of them having made improvements over the last three years. However, 38% of them are struggling to comply with the proposed minimum energy efficiency standards changes that are coming into force and claim that they are having to spend on average £9000.00 per property.
The report carried out by Barclays said that landlords are struggling because there is very little clear guidance on ‘how to improve your EPC rating’. They are asking the government to provide more support for landlords and to offer some incentives. They want finance options for the higher cost energy efficient improvements.
National Landlord Register should replace licensing schemes
This week Propertymark is calling on the government to end all local discretionary licensing schemes once the national landlord register is fully implemented as they claim that this is pure duplication.
It claims that ‘broad schemes impose significant costs and administration on responsible landlords and agents without improving enforcement’. They say that the new database should the be councils main focus and source and they should not be charging them to submit documents that will be readily available on the new national database.
This comes as the NRLA also slams the government for the new database fee, that it is three times the cost that they originally suggested, and that the new database is simply replicating what landlords provide councils with through their licensing schemes.
Snippets
HMRC sends Making Tax Digital reminder to landlords
Shelter CEO to leave role after just one year
Reform MP raises concerns about second homes – then buys one for £800,000
Spain’s rent protests could serve as a warning for UK
Ombudsman expels firms over unpaid compensation
Newsround will be back again next week. In the meantime, check out our Daily Tips service.
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