In areas where property is in short supply, it is not unusual for would-be tenants to be caught out from fraudsters pretending to be the legitimate owner of the property. What usually happens is this: the tenant sees a property they like and arrange a viewing. They like the property, hand over a deposit, and then make arrangements to move in. Unfortunately, when they try and gain access, the “landlord” is nowhere to be seen and can’t be contacted, and their cash has gone walkabout.

Property Scam
This is pretty much what happened in the above case. The fraudster, Atiqul Islam, scanned online adverts from tenants looking for a place to stay and contacted them, offering them the chance to view a property. Otila Baublyte viewed a house in East London and gave Islam a £1,000 deposit to secure the tenancy. When she went back to the house to organise a moving date, she was told by the occupiers that they had no plans to move out. Meanwhile Islam refused to repay her deposit.

Police Involvement
So, desperate to get her money back, Otila pretended to flirt with Islam and arranged to meet him for a date. He fell for the ruse, but when he showed up, Otila’s brother and boyfriend were waiting for him. At that point, British Transport Police got involved, which cued intervention by the authorities.

Islam ended up in court and was handed a suspended sentence, but the judge warned him that if he was caught committing any new crimes, he could expect to a prison sentence next time.

Rent Smart Wales was introduced last year and will become mandatory later on this year. Landlords should already be aware of what they need to do to comply, but the experts are concerned that the new Renting Homes (Wales) Bill that is currently making its way through the Welsh Assembly could have far-reaching effects on Welsh landlords.

Working with the Government
Because of the wording of the “Key Matters” document, private tenancy agreements may need to be rewritten. As a result of this and other issues, the Residential Landlords Association has been working with the Welsh Government to ensure that landlords’ views are taken into account.

They have also worked hard to make sure a retaliatory eviction clause within the legislation is not able to be used as a weapon against Welsh landlords. Indeed, the RLA has submitted over 60 amendments to the Welsh Government to help make the Renting Homes Bill more acceptable to landlords and letting agents.

Protecting Landlords
“Although we have protected landlords from many of the provisions that are being introduced in other parts of the country, for example Scotland where they have introduced Rent Controls and are doing away with Section 21 notices, we still have areas we are fighting on and our work is far from done”, the RLA say.

However, there has been a significant U-turn by the government on the six month moratorium on minimum fixed term tenancies, so the RLA still has a way to go.

Selective licensing has been a bone of contention with landlords for some time now. It was introduced to help local authorities identify which properties in their area are landlord owned, the idea being that criminal landlords would find it harder to hide amongst legitimate landlords. Unfortunately the schemes are costly and the cost is inevitably passed on to the tenant in the form of higher rents, which is why these schemes have been dubbed as a ‘tenants’ tax’.

RLA Campaigning for Change
The RLA has been campaigning for a long time for such schemes to be scrapped in favour of a far simpler approach. They have pointed out that council tax registration forms can include a section asking for further details of whether a property is rented (and if so who the landlord is) or owner occupied.

New Housing and Planning Bill
The new Housing and Planning Bill published this week now contains measures that will allow councils to collect the information they need via council tax bills. This negates the need for expensive selective licensing schemes that serve only as a ‘cash cow’ for local authorities.

“The Housing Bill makes clear that landlord licensing schemes are not needed and serve only as a money raising exercise by councils,” says RLA Policy Director, David Smith.

“Local authorities now have serious questions to answer. Why are they charging good landlords when they can collect the information they need to drive out criminal landlords using council tax registration forms for free? It’s time for councils to think again and bring to an end to the tenants’ tax once and for all.”

We are accustomed to hearing terrible tales of rogue landlords and the kind of treatment meted out to hapless tenants, but hardly ever do we hear the views of regular tenants living in the private rented sector. Until now!

Media Research
A recent survey carried out by a leading media research group, BDRC Continental, generated some interesting responses and despite what the tabloids would have us believe, most tenants are actually very happy with their landlord.

Tenants Quizzed
More than 700 tenants were quizzed about their experiences of living in rental homes of all shapes and sizes. Only 5% of them had been refused a longer tenancy and more than a third had been in their current home for more than four years. A further 70% were happy with the length of their tenancy and only 7% were concerned that they might not be able to stay as long as they might like. This rather flies in the face of all the arguments in favour of forcing landlords to offer extended tenancies.

75% of tenants were very happy with their rental home and felt safe and secure there. Only 5% of those quizzed said they felt renting as opposed to buying was preventing them from having a happy family life.

“Although no one would want to trivialise the impact of terrible treatment by landlords on their tenants, it is important that a proper perspective is maintained when thinking about the scope and scale of these issues,” says Mark Long from BDRC Continental.

Most law-abiding tenants would prefer not to end up in prison, so for some the thought of living in a police station in London must have been a bit alarming. But with so much pressure and demand for affordable housing in the private rental sector, particularly in big cities such as London, rogue landlords continue to cash in by providing vulnerable tenants a place to live.

Anonymous Tip Off
Following an anonymous tip-off, police and housing officials from Barking and Dagenham Council’s Enforcement team raided a disused former police station in Barking, East London, and discovered that the place had been turned into a “beds for hire” illegal hostel.

Up to 30 people were living in five rooms. There were mattresses, cupboards and suitcases full of clothes, a washing machine and television. There was even a polite notice asking residents to wash up their pots, indicating that at least one person was house-proud.

Raid a Big Success
According to the council’s deputy borough commander, the raid was a big success:

“Local neighbourhood police officers supported the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Enforcement Officers in their closing of this venue.

“The excellent work by the local authority has ensured that this venue can no longer be used for illicit purposes.”

Councillor Laila Butt said: “Our war on rogue landlords will be relentless. We will not tolerate overcrowding in Barking and Dagenham and anyone making a mint out of others’ misery.”

So the message is clear: rogue landlords, your days are numbered!

Would-be tenants looking for a place to live in San Francisco are facing similar problems to those in London: housing is very expensive and there simply isn’t enough to go around. A recent advert on popular website Craig’s List has revealed just how cramped some rental properties now are.

Bunk Beds for Six
The advertisement was for a room in a shared house that apparently slept six. The room, which was located above a Thai massage parlour, had six bunk beds crammed into one room. There was also a small kitchenette and a table with two chairs (presumably the other four people would need to go eat out instead).

Communal Living
Would be tenants were expected to pay approximately £350 per month, so the landlord was raking in £2100 for the room. Since landlords prefer not to show reporters around these places for fear of adverse publicity, a stooge was sent to take a look around another similar setup.

The prospective “tenant” was interviewed over Skype and then offered a place in a two-person bunkroom with a small desk, for £1,170 per month. The building was for 30 people in total, so there were communal kitchens and shared bathrooms. For a student this might not be too bad, but for anyone else, it is expensive and cramped.

To be fair, living in a hostel really isn’t so bad if you are twenty something student, broke, and into partying all night long, but if you work full-time and want some privacy, it is unlikely to appeal.

Airbnb is a popular casual letting website for landlords wishing to let properties on short-term lets. All you have to do is create a listing for your property and it will be seen by millions of people all over the world. Lots of landlords use the website to advertise their properties, but some of them could soon be in for a nasty surprise in the form of an unexpected tax bill.

Letting Income Disclosure
Irish and U.S. tax authorities have forced Airbnb to disclose details of the letting income earned by people using their site and it looks like HMRC won’t be far behind. Many landlords don’t think income earned from casual lettings is tax deductible, but unfortunately this is not necessarily the case.

The UK arm of Airbnb has said it will not be sharing details of UK landlords, but experts think state of affairs won’t last long, as HMRC has the power to force the company to hand over relevant information.

Section 36 Legislation
Section 36 is a legal provision that allows HMRC to demand third parties hand over information if it suspects wide-scale tax evasion. HMRC have used Section 36 legislation to great effect before – Ebay and Amazon sellers are one of many groups of people successfully targeted for tax evasion this year.

Some landlords will be exempt under the new “Rent a Room” allowance of £7,500, but those who don’t fit the criteria or who have earned in excess of this amount, should think about seeking expert advice very soon.

It is not unusual for tenants to sneak unauthorised pets into their rental properties. Cats, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs can cause all kinds of damage, from digging up the garden to chewing electrics, but one landlord had a bit of a shock when he went back to visit his rental property and discovered a fifty stone Vietnamese pot bellied pig in residence!

No Pets Allowed
Pets had been banned in the well-maintained bungalow, but after a workman reported a dog living in the property, the landlord requested that the animal be removed. Unfortunately, the tenants had managed to hide the pig away during previous visits, so despite evident damage to the house, he had no idea a pig was living there as well – until he turned up one month later to perform another property inspection.

“On a previous inspection we had been kept out of one room where I suspect the pig was hiding, “ he told reporters.

“The house is in a shocking state. On a personal note, its so upsetting to see a much loved family home ruined.”

Monster Pig
He says he was utterly shocked at the size of the pig: “I mean it was huge – it had tusks.”

The landlord estimates that the giant pig has caused at least £7,500 worth of damage to the property.

“As you can imagine, a pig living in the house equals a lot of dirt, the walls are filthy.
“The house absolutely stinks and is full of long pig hairs. The garden is a state.”

There has been a lot of media coverage in the wake of the news that private sector landlords will be expected to check tenants’ immigration status and evict them if they don’t have the right to stay. Some think the scheme is a good idea; others are highly critical. However, data released to the Economist has shown that the original pilot scheme was not a success so rolling out the scheme nationwide could have many unwelcome consequences.

Black Country Pilot
The pilot was implemented in the West Midlands in December 2014. Since then, only
Seven landlords have been prosecuted, with average fines of around £800 each. The idea behind the scheme is that landlords must check a tenant’s passport or visa documentation in order to establish their right to stay in the UK, but a survey carried out by a charity indicated that only half of landlords and letting agents bothered to do this.

Landlord Discrimination
In a separate survey, more disturbing information came to light that indicated many landlords in the pilot discriminated against overseas tenants, blocking them from renting properties.

This information raises fresh fears that the scheme is unworkable and will encourage landlords and letting agents to discriminate against non-UK tenants. Experts are also quick to point out that any landlord found guilty of discriminating against foreign tenants faces expensive litigation.

A Home Office spokesperson says: “The evaluation of Right to Rent is currently being completed, but there are no indications so far to suggest landlord checks are being carried out unfairly.”

The Green Deal Finance Company was set up in 2013 to offer cash-backs and financial incentives to homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient. Unfortunately, however, the scheme didn’t work as well as the government planned and the government has decided to scrap it.

Tenants Eligible for Green Deal Scheme
Tenants as well as landlords were eligible for the Green Deal scheme, with the cost of the work added to future energy bills for the property, so landlords didn’t have to pay for a thing.

Critics of the scheme think it’s a good thing that the government has pulled the plug. Consumer organisation, Which? said the government was throwing good money after bad, so it needed to end. The home insulation industry is not happy, however. They say there is too much uncertainty because the government hasn’t figured out whether (or indeed if) a replacement scheme needs to be put in place. They say homes in the UK have the worst levels of insulation in Europe and saving energy is a cheaper way of lifting poor families out of fuel poverty.

ARLA Unhappy
The Association of Residential Lettings Agents is also unhappy with the demise of the Green Deal scheme:

“Just as the Green Deal looks like it will finally succeed, the government seems determined to sabotage its own policy. The NLA advise all landlords with a draft Green Deal plan to act immediately in order to benefit from the previous funding incentives.”

Unfortunately, until the government makes a decision, landlords will have to fund their own energy efficiency measures.