A round up of news from the world of London Renting this week:
- Pimlico gets a new inspector to stop dog fouling and litter, the city inspector who has so far issued 50 warnings to businesses and residents dumping rubbish in the streets and has dealt with almost 300 issues reported by residents such as dog fouling, dumped waste or streets that need cleaning.
- Two landlords have been heavily fined after failing to obtain a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licence from their local councils.
- Mayor of London Boris Johnson has pledged to step in and plug a funding gap after the Government reneged on promises to fund homes in the capital, he believes the Government is ignoring London’s acute need for more new homes by cutting its share of the affordable housing budget and diverting funds to the regions with comparatively less need. In particular, north east England sees its share of the budget double, when it only has 300 households living in temporary accommodation, compared to 48,000 households in London.
- Research has detailed that 30% of landlords have experienced rent arrears in the last 12 months. This latest quarterly survey shows that out of 500 private landlords polled in June, 30% had suffered rent arrears against a figure of 21% for the year before.
- Estate agents are flouting race relations laws by discriminating against migrant workers on behalf of landlords, a BBC investigation found. Firms in Boston, Lincolnshire, were found using illegal techniques to stop foreign workers viewing properties. Three agents rejected a Polish worker sent by the BBC, while a BBC employee was allowed to view the properties.
- Renting to Students is booming – there is no doubt that the student letting market continues to buck the trend in other areas of the economy. The resulting down turn has resulted in record numbers of students applying to enter higher education this year up by 57,000 on last year. Total student numbers have grown from 1.8 million in 1997 to 2.5 million in 2007, expect this to hit 3 million full and part time students by 2014, and London requires an additional 100,000 student bedspaces.
- In contrast new government proposals have been mooted to control the effects of Student Housing on local communities. The plan to redefine houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs) could put many so-called “accidental landlords” into a difficult financial situation. At present, an HMO is defined as a property occupied by six or more unrelated persons, in an attempt to address the impact of pockets of student accommodation that emerge in certain areas, the government has put forward their proposals to reduce the limit before a property becomes an HMO to just three unrelated persons, meaning that for a very large number of properties, a “change of use” process would have to be started, which could lead to long void periods. The proposals have received criticism from Landlords and Tenants alike.
