Tag: Evictions

Section 21 saved – for now…

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
Section 21 is still in force – but for how long?

Good news for landlords this week. The government has indicated that Section 21 evictions won’t be scrapped for the foreseeable future. The Renters Reform Bill – of which removing the right of landlords to no-fault evictions is a key part – will be put on hold until at least 2021.

As far as we’re concerned, this is a victory for common sense. At Ringley, we have always urged the Government to think long and hard before it ditches Section 21, so we believe this is the right decision at the right time. With the courts facing a backlog of evictions once the possessions ban is lifted, there will be enough litigation to wade through without an impending rule change to deal with.

Official figures point to the fact that only 10% of tenancies are ended by the landlord, not the tenant. This is because a long term tenant is a good investment. There is no void rent loss and less move-in, move-out wear and tear.  But there are legitimate reasons why a buy-to-let landlord may need to evict someone when they have a change of circumstances. At the end of the day the property belongs to them and, within reason, they must be able to repossess it. Section 21 is a useful – and polite – way to evict a tenant when this becomes necessary.

Pre-lockdown the average time it was taking for a private landlord to repossess a property was nearly four months. That was far too long – and will now take even longer. So it is vital that repossessions are supported by an efficient court process.

Regardless of how useful a tool Section 21 may be, the Government proposes to effectively make tenancies open-ended, while at the same time strengthening the rights of landlords who want to recover their properties by giving the Section 8 process more teeth. As we have said in this blog before, getting this right will make or break any planned change in the law.

Last year, more than a third of buy-to-let landlords told a Landlord Today survey that they would consider selling their properties if the government axes Section 21; Another 33% said they would only continue being a landlord if “significant changes” are made to Section 8 first. The study also found that 70% of landlords would be less willing to consider a longer-term tenancy if Section 21 was no longer available to them, while 85% said they would be more selective with their choice of tenant. 

So a change in the law could have unintended consequences. Our view is that all those calling for Section 21 should be careful what they wish for. If Section 8 is not strengthened to give landlords the ability to evict rogue tenants when they need to – and without excessive delays – the market may not be able to meet the demand for more rental homes that we will surely see as the economy inevitably falters post-pandemic.

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog too: www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk

All evictions are equal – or are they?

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
Which type of evictions should be dealt with first when the ban is lifted?

Evictions for anti-social behaviour and domestic violence should be given top priority when the evictions ban is lifted. This is what the National Residential Landlords Association said earlier this week and the NRLA is calling on the courts to push these cases to the top of the list, alongside evictions for rent arrears, when the ban is lifted at the end of August.

This has become a serious issue because cases of domestic abuse and problems with anti-social behaviour have rocketed during the lockdown. Research from the University of Bristol reveals that more than a third of victims of domestic abuse live in private rented housing. And Landlord Today reports that there has been a 66% increase in calls to the Domestic Violence Helpline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In normal circumstances, where domestic violence is found to be happening in a rented property, landlords will often end the tenancy agreement and offer a new one to the victim independent of the abuser.  At the moment, due to the ban, this isn’t happening and this lends even more weight to the NRLA’s call for the courts to deal urgently with these evictions when repossession cases can be heard again at the end of the summer. 

At Ringley, in our opinion, the problem will be made far worse by the Government’s proposal to axe Section 21 – which is what we have always considered as the polite method for landlords to use to evict difficult tenants.

Section 21 made it easy to evict a tenant at the end of their tenancy agreement with no questions asked.  We have always supported this simple, non-confrontational way to end a tenancy and we see no signs that any of the proposed alternatives will be as straightforward or as effective. What do you think?

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog too: www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk

How PlanetRent makes rent collection easier

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
Help your tenants pay their rent on time with PlanetRent

The evictions ban was extended earlier this month until 23 August. Great news for renters facing financial hardship but, as we blogged last week, not so good for landlords with no other income to fall back on.

The National Residential Landlords Association is rightly highlighting the problems being faced by landlords whose tenants were already in significant rent arrears before the Coronavirus lockdown. They now have two more months without rent, plus the time it will take to repossess their properties once the ban is lifted. This could be financially devastating for landlords whose rental homes provide the entirety of their income and who have no savings to fall back on. Given that a third of Brits have less than £600 in savings, the outlook for many landlords following the extension of the ban is pretty bleak.

In response the NRLA is calling for:

  • a clear statement from the Government urging tenants who can pay their rent to do so;
  • support for tenants in the form of a boost to the Local Housing Allowance, developing interest-free hardship loans for tenants;
  • providing compensation to landlords who have existing possession orders from the courts but can’t evict tenants until the ban is lifted;
  • ensuring the courts process legitimate possession claims quickly once they open again; and
  • giving priority to possession cases that that began before the lockdown, to those related to pre-pandemic rent arrears, and cases of tenants committing anti-social behaviour or domestic violence.

Our new automated lettings platform PlanetRent is designed to help landlords reduce the likelihood of rent arrears. Here’s how it works. PlanetRent collects rent from joint tenants individually – which improves the collection rate – and then jointly from other tenants if one should default.

Landlords can turn on Collect my rent by direct debit, allowing PlanetRent to sort out the paperwork and send tenants a direct debit mandate when they e-sign their tenancy agreement. Not only do direct debit payments mean that landlords can collect the rent straight from the tenant’s bank account but they have the advantage of apportioning payments to a regular date. Some tenants may worry that their landlord can take money out of their account whenever they want. But in fact, customers who pay by direct debit are fully protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee.

PlanetRent automates and simplifies rent collection, There’s no subscription and we have a great pricing model. Our new platform is pay-as-you-go, so why not check it out today and help your tenants pay their rent quickly, easily – and on time!

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog too: www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk