News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the May / June 2005 issue RPI news archive

Home truths - May / June 2005

Since the last magazine, the Residential Landlords Association has been exceptionally busy, concentrating much effort in particular on the Housing Act. What counts now is the secondary legislation, for the devil, as they say, is in the detail. Richard Haley, for example, attended a meeting at Manchester City Council which made it clear that it will introduce both mandatory licensing and selective licensing. The latter will cover areas where many ASBOs have been issued and where there are empty properties.

On this basis it sounds reasonable enough, but as Richard Haley points out, most bad landlords and those with empty properties are not known to the council – and therefore it will be the registered landlords on their books who will effectively be paying for the rogues.

Even more worryingly, Manchester’s steering group appears to be arguing that if a landlord has no licence, then tenants can withhold rent. Yet the Housing Act does not say this: what it says (currently, at least) is that provided a landlord has applied for a licence and not been refused one, then that is sufficient. Moreover, existing legislation makes it clear that it is not unlawful to collect rent that is due. As our chairman, Alan Ward, says: “If tenants are given this type of misleading information, it will lead to a lot of disputes.” Please do tell us if you encounter similar problems or anomalies.

Mark Butterworth attended a meeting at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where he made it very clear that local authorities are jumping the gun and that the Act’s sloppy drafting is allowing local authorities to place their own interpretations on its requirements.

As for licensing fees, figures of up to £180 have been mentioned, with housing minister Keith Hill stating that he is as keen as everyone (really?) to ensure that landlords’ costs are kept to a minimum. He says: “We also wish the licensing regime to become self-financing.” However, it does not take a genius to work out that some local authorities will operate well-run, costefficient licensing schemes and that others will not.

You can read more about these crucial issues in this magazine, and do please let me know of any other topics you would like to see covered in future editions.

One change this issue is to the finance pages, as it was felt that a list of mortgages in a bi-monthly magazine would be out of date before the end of our shelf life. I hope you agree with this, but again, do let me know. The magazine’s main function is, after all, to add value to your membership.

Rosalind Renshaw, Editor
 

other artilces from the May / June 2005 issue

• Home truths
• Landlords relieved by landmark ruling
• Homes Direct must abide by law
• RLA BRIEFING
• RLA unveils scheme to recognise top landlord
• Housing Act ‘badly drafted’
• Highlights of a busy year
• Tax