This is a question to the blog clinic from Frances (not his real name), who is a tenant in England.

My house burned down in London. The fire report could not determine the cause and so it is recorded as accidental. The House was an MHO but there were no fire doors, fire blankets or any fire extinguishers.

The fire subsequently left me homeless and although the fire started last month I have only just moved into my new accommodation.

The issue I have is that my previous letting agent is withholding my deposit from the old property even though the landlord has said both myself and the other 3 people from the house should be given our deposits back.

Where do I stand with getting the letting agents to pay my deposit back?

Answer

First, you need to find out where your deposit is protected. Either your landlord or his agents should have protected the deposit with one of the three tenancy deposit schemes. You should have been served a notice informing you of this and telling you which scheme had been used.

If this was not done, you can check all the scheme’s websites yourself:

• The DPS 
• My Deposits 
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)

Then get in touch with the scheme and ask them about the return of your deposit – they all have a telephone advice service. They will explain what you need to do.

If your landlord is wrongly withholding your deposit, the scheme can pay you direct and then reclaim the money from your landlord.

If your deposit was not protected, then you should contact the scheme’s Property Redress Scheme and complain. The agents should have the name of their property redress scheme on their website and in the footer of their emails.

The property redress scheme can order the agents to pay the money back to you.

The post Agents refusing to refund deposit to tenant appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.

Most of the discussion around the Renters Rights Bill tends to be

• Landlords whinging about the loss of section 21 and
• Tenants complaining that the changes do not go far enough!

However, what is not being covered is the swinging changes to the powers of Local Authority Enforcement Officers!

Rogue landlords are a real blight on society:

• Their poor quality housing frequently causes stress and sickness for their hapless tenants. This increases costs on the National Health Service, which we all pay for through our taxes.
• It can affect children’s education outcomes – and our children are our future.
• Poor quality housing also contributes to social instability and higher crime rates.

So it is important that the scourge of poor housing and bad landlords is dealt with.

Enter Local Authorities

Housing crime is mostly dealt with, not by the police (whose training rarely covers housing law), but by Local Authorities.

However, despite the fact that there is a substantial body of housing law designed to protect tenants, it mostly goes unenforced.

Why? Because there is no duty on Local Authorities to enforce it. Due to their parlous financial situation, this mostly results (with a few honourable exceptions) in Local Authorities deciding not to do housing enforcement work.

Enforcement work is expensive – if only because of the staff costs and the cost of training them.

This, though, will all change once the Renters Rights Bill comes into force.

Changes being brought in by the Renters Rights Bill:

The first big change is being brought in my clause 107, which says:

It is the duty of every local housing authority to enforce the landlord legislation in its area.

So, Local Authorities will now have to step up to the plate and deal with the criminal and rogue landlords in their areas. The bill gives them new powers to help them do this:

Civil Penalty Notices (CPNs)

These can currently be issued under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 for a number of offences, including failing to comply with improvement notices and breaching HMO licensing requirements and management regulations.

The advantage of a CPN for Local Authorities is that they can keep the fine money. Unlike fines awarded in the Magistrates Courts which, when paid, go to central funds.

In the hope that the money from CPNs can help fund enforcement work, the Renters Rights Bill brings in a whole new set of offences where CPNs (usually up to £7,000, but sometimes up to £40,000) can be applied, including:

• Breach of rent bidding restrictions
• Purporting to create a fixed term letting
• Failing to provide a written statement of terms (ie a tenancy agreement)
• Discrimination against families with children or benefit applicants
• Breach of the forthcoming decent homes standard, and
• Breach of ‘Awaabs law’
• Breach of the landlord database requirements
• Breaches of new rules relating to possession notices and possession proceedings

The bill also provides for Local Authorities to be able to serve a CPN for breach of the Protection from Eviction Act where landlords have unlawfully evicted or harassed tenants. Something which at present can only be enforced through the courts. Here, the higher fine limit of up to £40,000 applies.

There remains the fact that Local Authorities will only be able to keep the money if the fines are actually paid – something many rogue and criminal landlords are unwilling to do.  However, there are new services being developed to help them with this.

Piercing the ‘corporate veil’

One of the problems which Local Authority Enforcement Officers currently often encounter is rogue landlords and criminals operating behind a shield of limited companies.  These will ‘phoenix’ (ie close down and then re-start with the same directors and assets) at the slightest sign of trouble.

However, the bill provides for Local Authorities to enforce against company officers – meaning that phoenixing will no longer offer protection to criminal landlords.

Rent Repayment Orders

These are awarded by the First Tier Tribunal where landlords are in breach of specified offiences. The most significant being failure to pay and apply for an HMO or selective license.

They are very popular with tenants, many of whom have obtained significant awards of up to 12 months’ worth of rent.

If the rent is paid by benefit, then the application should be made by Local Authorities who will get the benefit of any award made. However, few claims are made by Local Authorities as:

• Many rogue landlords operate under ‘rent to rent’ arrangements where the immediate landlord has no assets. The case of Rakusen v. Jepson held that awards could only be made against the immediate landlord.
• It takes a long time for Local Authorities to be in a position to bring a claim, and the current 12-month period to apply is usually insufficient.

This will all change once the Renters Rights Bill becomes law:

• The case of Rakusen v. Jepson will be reversed, meaning that criminal landlords will no longer be able to hide behind a rent-to-rent arrangement, and
• The time limit will increase to two years.  Plus
• The award limit will go up to 2 years’ worth of rent.

If the Local Authority issues a CPM and then goes for a rent repayment order, the tribunal must award the maximum amount.  So, Local Authorities will be able to recover significant sums from rogue and criminal landlords under rent repayment awards.

If landlords fail to pay, Local Authorities will be able to obtain a charging order over the property, followed by an order for sale.

New investigatory powers for Local Authorities

These are pretty powerful, and it may be that Local Authorities will end up having more powers than the Police!

The new powers will include:

• Entering business premises without a warrant
• Entering residential premises without a warrant
• Plus entering premises with a warrant
• Removing documents and other items

This will significantly enhance their chances of gaining sufficient evidence to support successful claims against rogue and criminal landlords.

And finally

This all opens up new vistas for enforcement officers whose job will become a lot more interesting and satisfying.

So if you hate rogue landlords (perhaps you had the misfortune to live in one of their properties) and want to help rid the world (or at least your local area) of the blight of poor housing – you may just want to consider a career in Local Authority enforcement work!

The post Why this is an exciting time to be a Local Authority housing enforcement officer appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.

Another week and another Newsround, let’s see what has been in the news this week.

Landlords costly expenditures revealed

An interesting survey out this week by Together, a mortgage lender, details the most costly mistakes that landlords regret, with 18% of landlords underestimating how much wear and tear a tenant can cost during the term of a tenancy along with being unprepared for the high costs of ongoing maintenance and repairs.

With than in mind 11% of landlords regretted not taking a higher deposit to offset any damages in the future, and surprisingly 9% regretted letting to a tenant with a pet as being their most expensive mistake.

The research also highlighted that 16% of landlords who failed to vet their tenants properly lost money in the long term. This also highlighted that there 15% of landlords failed to have a financial ‘safety net’ as a buffer along with inadequate insurance.

On the positive though 62% of landlords see the Renters’ Rights Bill as a positive event along with the new ombudsman for tenant/landlord dispute handling.

Renters’ Rights Bill amendment

A new amendment has been put forward by Baroness Taylor that would allow landlords to proceed with a claim for possession, section 8 or section 21, if they have served notice before the Bill’s enactment but still need a court order to execute the eviction. This is needed to enable a court order to be issued within three months to enable possession to happen.

A spokesperson for the NRLA said

While hundreds of amendments have already been proposed, that fact that this adjustment has been put forward by Baroness Taylor, the Housing Minister in the Lords, means it will almost certainly be included in the final version of the Bill.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will be heard again on April 22nd in the House of Lords.

90% of cannabis is grown in rental properties

Northumbrian police are trying to tackle the rise in cannabis growing in rented properties and are advising landlords to carry out regular checks on all their rented properties.

This follows a large house explosion that killed two people, one a seven year old boy due to butane gas canisters in a drug making lab within a private property.

The region’s police and crime commissioner, Susan Dungworth said

Landlords and letting agents have a responsibility to check on their tenants and be aware of what their properties are being used for. I’d encourage landlords to regularly visit their properties and make sure nothing suspicious is going on. Make sure you carry out background checks on those you want to rent to.

Obvious signs are covered windows, lots of moisture, bright lights on continuously, additional pipework and electrics tampered with. The commissioner added that intelligence-sharing between landlords and the wider community greatly helps the police in breaking these drug farms.

Illegal activity is just one of the reasons why regular inspections of rented properties are essential.  Find out more here.

Significant decrease for ‘bills included’ tenancies

The market has seen a significant drop to 16% in the number of rental properties currently being advertised as ‘bills included’. This is thought to be due to the continual increase in cost of living expenses and the fact that landlords were losing money on these types of tenancies. Interestingly, tenants are less keen on ‘bills included’ with only 13% currently listed as having found a tenant.

West Midlands is the area where ‘bills included’ is the highest with 34% of all current listings offering this whilst in the south east only 21% are offering and inclusive rent.

Marc Bon Grundherr of Benham and Reeves said

Tenants renting with a more short-term plan in mind often prefer the convenience of a bill-included rental as it prevents them from having to start and end multiple contracts within a shorter period of time.

Snippets

The DPS launches dispute videos to help landlords
Rise in the number of landlords looking to end rent-to-rent agreements, claims solicitor
Delay on clearing mouldy council homes backlog
Greens say tenants should grow plants & veg – without landlord consent

See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law

Newsround will be back again next week

The post Landlord Law Newsround #383 appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.