News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the October / November 04 issue RPI news archive

Speaking on behalf of landlords - October / November 2004

Quite often belonging to an association devoted to a particular trade, industry or ideal is something of an act of faith. It must be better, we reason, to be involved with like minded people, to gain the benefits of networking and training, and to have the comfort that 'proper standards' are being maintained by those with whom we might be associated.

So although the Government's Housing Bill (by now a Housing Act) may not have been welcomed for a variety of reasons, it has at least provided a rallying point and a clearly discernible reason to belong to and support a landlords' association. After all, many voices are stronger than one.

The RLA cannot be said to have disappointed its members and supporters in its enthusiastic defence of their rights. It has devoted considerable effort to making sure that the voice of landlords has been heard by politicians during the progress of the Bill through Parliament.

Of course its points have not always been accepted. But there has been an impressive list of victories that have helped to dull some of the more outrageous proposals of the original bill.

For example, lobbying has brought about a change that means housing authorities must, rather than may, grant HMO licences where conditions are met. And HMO landlords may now collect rents during the periods in which their licences are being processed.

The debate is hardly over, since there will undoubtedly be features of the regulations that will contain much of the detailed rules which will be unsympathetic, unwieldy or simply unworkable and unjust. With the support of members, the RLA will continue to put the landlord's point of view with force and energy.
 

other artilces from the October / November 2004 issue

• Speaking on behalf of landlords
• Wales for high returns, Scotland for potential
• Irish landlords must register
• In brief
• House prices down, annual rise continues
• Sentence too lenient
• Repair costs are rising faster than inflation
• Cambridge flats most costly
• Devil is in the detail
• A woman's touch