Another week and another Newsround, let’s see what has been in the housing news headlines this week.
Landlords reticence in accepting pets
Only 8% of rental properties currently on the market specifically state that they are pet friendly. This is causing tenants problems who currently have pets and are looking to move, according to Zero Deposits recent research.
Tenants in the North East stand the best chance of getting a property with 9% of rentals on the market accepting pets, whilst tenants struggle in the West Midlands with only 5% of landlords accepting pets.
Sam Reynolds of Zero Deposits said
While public opinion is naturally in favour of improving accessibility for pet-owners, landlord concerns do hold weight. Property damage costs money to repair. This spend can be challenging to recoup and can eat into profit margins.
This is in the wake of the Renters Reform Bill regulatory changes which will insist that a landlord does not ‘unreasonably refuse’ tenants with pets. But landlords will still be limited by the amount of money they are allowed to take from tenants as a deposit against any potential property pet damage. However, they may be able to insist on specific pet insurance to bring some protection against any damage.
We did an in-depth analysis of the new rules coming in regarding pets in our post What’s new for pets in rented properties under the Renters Rights Bill?.
Rogue landlord’s negligence and an e-bike fire
This week, we read of the sad case where a man died in a fire that was started by a charging ebike battery where he lived in a ‘grossly overcrowded’ property. The landlords have subsequently been fined nearly £100,000 for breaching a staggering nine housing laws.
The man lived in the overcrowded HMO two-bedroom flat that was licensed for three people, but was actually housing 23 individuals. Nine bunk beds were in the property with some tenants sleeping on the floor. All were using just one toilet. Mould, damp and bedbugs were prevalent. The fire was started by a faulty e-bike battery that was charging. All the other tenants managed to escape the fire.
The judge said that the landlords showed ‘blatant disregard for the law and for the occupants’ when she sentenced them, a separate investigation is still ongoing for the fire.
Here at Landlord Law, we include a clause in our tenancy agreements about e-bikes, and I have written about the dangers of e-bike batteries on this blog. Landlord Law members can read more here.
We also provide members with a pre drafted letter that grants permission to keep an e-bike or scooter, this can be found (if you are a Landlord Law member) here.
Tenant disputes at an all-time high
There has been a 13% increase in tenant disputes since last year and this is the highest it has been in the last five years. Lettings platform FCC Paragon claim that 9,784 of these disputes are concerning rent arrears. This brings disputes to an 80% year-on-year increase since 2019/20.
Bekki Leaves of Paragon says this is proof that the ‘landlord-tenant relationship has become more volatile’. Landlords need to protect themselves by ensuring that they carry out thorough referencing on any prospective tenants’ finances, credit history and employment to avoid rent disputes.
Hounslow Council to tighten its mandatory licensing
Hounslow has commenced a consultation on extending its mandatory licensing scheme to include smaller HMOs that are shared by 3 or 4 people.
They claim that this is ‘reduce anti-social behaviour and issues that stem from overcrowding’. They want to focus on HMOs that have been poorly subdivided into self contained flats without having regulation approval.
Councillor Tom Bruce says that a third of their residents live in the PRS sector and HMOs are an important part of that source of accommodation. The HMOs are also the hardest to manage and can have the highest risk to health and safety and anti-social behaviour.
You can view and comment on the consultation here, which closes on 16th May.
Snippets
Rayner and Miliband cut energy bills for renters near pylons
Green politician wants to ban all evictions during winter
Benefits change threatens more ‘financial strain’ for landlords
Shock as most Nottingham landlords say “We’re considering selling”
PRS tenants can access £1.8bn energy improvements boost
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week
