York councillors are warning that 20% of new homes in the city could disappear if local planning laws are not tightened up to prevent landlords from converting larger family homes into houses of multiple occupation for the city’s student population.

York Local Plan
The Local Plan sets out how many homes are needed in York between now and 2032. It also ring fences the areas of land required for building. The latest draft of the Local plan was debated by councillors, but one councillor is warning that many of the planned new homes could be converted into HMOs, which will reduce the overall amount of housing available.

Student Housing in York
Other York councillors say that student housing needs to be taken into account. Some claim that increasing availability of purpose built student halls of residence and larger accommodation blocks, particularly in the Hull Road area of the city, could solve the issue anyway.

York council leader, David Carr, has given his backing for HMO licensing in the city to be extended to smaller shared houses, including homes less than three storeys high. However, although he is still in favour of that plan, he is not willing to commit to wider planning changes until he has seen more evidence that they are needed.

The draft Local Plan says 841 homes per year need to be built in York. These will include student accommodation for people attending the city’s universities.

Property owners in Berlin can no longer let out accommodation as private holiday rentals. The government has introduced a new law banning private holiday rentals and despite protests, the courts have rejected a legal challenge against the ban.

There is now mounting concern that other European cities, in particular, London, could follow Berlin’s example and place a ban on short-term holiday lets.

The new law in Berlin came into effect on May 1. Home owners can no longer let out rooms or complete homes or apartments to travellers. Homeowners who flout the ban face fines of up to 100,000 Euros.

A Dark Day for Berlin
“This is a dark day for Berlin. We are unsettled by this decision and can’t understand it in any way. We will continue to fight for private holiday lets,” said a spokesperson for one home-sharing website popular with travellers to Berlin.

Why is there a Ban on Holiday Lets?
Websites such as Airbnb have become increasingly popular in recent years. Anyone with a spare room or vacant property can use the website to let it out to holidaymakers. Often landlords and homeowners can make a lot more money letting out properties to short-term tenants than they can if they look for a long-term tenant.

As a result, letting agents have spoken out against the trend, claiming that the rise of short-term lets in some parts of London is fuelling a lack of affordable rental accommodation and pushing property prices up.

The results are in. The majority of the people living in the UK have unanimously voted to leave the EU. Despite last-gasp polls predicting a victory for the Remain campaign, by the time the last vote had been counted, the future was clear: the UK wants out. So what does this momentous decision mean for landlords?

Economic Turmoil
In the short term, there is likely to be a great deal of economic turmoil. Sterling took a huge hit overnight as the financial markets reacted to the news, and although it rallied after the governor of the Bank of England spoke, it seems likely that the UK economy will be wobbly for a while.

The Effect on the Property Market
Uncertainty in the economy will have a knock-on effect on the property market. Many fear that prices will nosedive. If this happens, there will be some bargains to be had, but for those looking to sell, it is not so good. A weak GBP could attract foreign investors to the UK, some of whom will be on the lookout for cheap property. If house prices do fall, new builds will slow down and there will be fewer properties available to buy or rent. This could push rents up.

Economic turmoil may cause another recession, which in turn will lead to a rise in unemployment. Tenants might not be able to pay the rent.

Interest Rates to Remain Low
On the plus-side, interest rates are unlikely to rise any time soon, so borrowing will remain cheap.

Nobody knows what is around the corner, but one thing is certain: we all have to deal with the consequences of voting to leave the EU, good or bad.

Landlords and property owners in two districts of Lincolnshire are being offered cash to bring empty properties back into general use. The cash incentives on offer are part of the government’s Empty Homes Community Grants Programme. It is designed to help landlords let properties that have been unoccupied for a long time.

Do You Qualify?
To qualify for a cash grant of up to £5,000, the property must have been vacant for at least six months and the landlord must be willing to re-let it to tenants for less than the Local Housing Allowance weekly rate. Any work carried out on the property must be completed within 12 months and the property let within that time.

In some parts of the UK, there are a staggeringly high number of empty properties. In total, nearly 21,000 homes are vacant. The worst place is London, where there is £1.7 billion of vacant homes in Kensington and Chelsea. Outside London, just over 4,000 homes are empty in Bradford.

Solving the Housing Crisis
This is a huge waste of property and if just some of the vacant homes were brought back into use, it would go some of the way towards solving the current housing crisis.

The law changed ten years ago and local authorities now have the power to use compulsory purchase orders to seize empty homes. However, many experts believe that not enough is being done to get to grips with the problem of vacant properties, particularly in London, where there is a chronic shortage of homes.

A successful New York City landlord’s high-flying career has come to a spectacular end after he was arrested at dawn and indicted on 20 felony charges. He is now looking at 25 years in jail.

Harassing Tenants
Steve Croman has made a fortune in recent years buying up buildings in Manhattan’s more gentrified areas. As a result of his success, Croman has been mixing with the social elite and enjoying a prestigious lifestyle. Unfortunately, he has now been accused of harassing tenants into leaving their rent controlled homes and inflating his rental income in order to take out fraudulent loans worth millions of dollars, so at this point in time, it really isn’t looking good for Croman.

Rent Controls in NYC
Rental properties in NYC are strictly rent-controlled. Landlords can’t raise rents unless a tenant voluntarily moves out and the property requires substantial renovation. Understandably, this creates a problem for landlords who own buildings with long-standing tenants.

Whereas in the UK, a landlord can put the rent up if market conditions change, NYC landlords don’t have the same freedom. However, there is not a lot they can do about this and quite clearly, hiring a corrupt cop to threaten tenants into leaving (as Croman is accused of doing), is a one-way ticket to a prison.

As the Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said,

“My message to unscrupulous landlords is simple: if you put your own profits over your tenants’ legal protections, we will investigate you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

The two landlords trying to overturn George Osborne’s tax relief changes have launched another funding bid in the hop of raising a further £50,000. Steve Bolton and Chris Cooper have already successfully raised a first tranche of £50,000 via crowdfunding, which has paid for an application to the court for a Judicial Review.

Application Lodged
“Our application to the court for a Judicial Review was lodged in mid-February. A joint response came back from HMRC and the Treasury by way of their Acknowledgment of Service. We worked closely with our lawyers and have sent a robust response to the courts to counter the issues raised. We are now waiting for the court to rule whether we have permission to proceed to a full Judicial Review hearing.”

The campaigners expect the consent process to be concluded soon, but they warn that it could be months before the review is heard and a decision is made.

Spread the Word
The campaign, which has had a great deal of support, contends that the tax relief change written into the Finance Act 2015 goes against fundamental business principles. In a recent statement issued to supporters, the two landlords say:

“With your continued financial backing and support, we plan to take the Government all the way to court and fight the strongest case that we can.

“Please spread the word far and wide amongst your community, especially fellow landlords, tenants, letting agents and others who will be adversely effected by this ludicrous legislation.”