A landlord from Exeter had a nasty shock when he made a routine visit to one of his rental properties: The only tenants in residence were 42 cannabis plants. Unfortunately, in a misguided attempt to make it nice and comfortable for the growing plants, the original tenants had pretty much wrecked the flat in the process.

Skilful damage done

The flat had been let to two brothers. One was a carpenter and the other was an electrician. Putting up a few shelves or wiring in a new plug socket would probably have been acceptable, but these two decided to make extensive holes in the ceilings of the flat so that they could install a complicated ventilation system. They also took the decision to knock through some of the rooms downstairs to make one large growing space.

Cannabis factory prosecution

The hapless duo were subsequently arrested and later appeared in court. Amazingly the judge took a somewhat lenient approach to their crimes. Because the brothers claimed that the cannabis crop was entirely for their own use and there was no evidence to show they had planned to sell the drug, the judge decided not to send them to jail. They were, however, sentenced to do 100 hours of community service and pay costs.

How to protect your rental property from cannabis farms

Making regular checks on rental properties is an essential task for landlords. You might not be able to prevent tenants from running a cannabis farm, but at least you can minimise any long term damage to your property.

According to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks, a large
number of landlords are being forced to deal with tenants who make
changes to their property without asking permission. Unfortunately,
it can cost time and money to return a property to its former
condition—and not all tenants are happy about paying the bill.

What kind of changes do tenants make?

If a tenant has lived in a property for a long time, it is not
unreasonable for them to want to make a few changes here and there.
Often these changes affect the garden. For example, a tenant might
dig out a pond or install some timber decking around the back of the
property. It could be argued that this kind of change is an
improvement, but if you are the landlord of the property, you might
not necessarily agree, particularly if the work is of a sub-standard
quality or it devalues the property.

What should tenants be asked to do?

It is normal to expect a tenant to keep a garden in reasonable
condition. If the property is let in an unfurnished state, the
landlord does not even have to provide the tools, although you may
wish to in order to increase the chances of your tenant doing the
gardening on a regular basis. Sadly not all tenants have green
fingers and many can’t be bothered to even cut the lawn. So if you
suspect your property is being neglected or the tenant has made
changes without permission, talk to your tenants and remind them that
they are in breach of their tenancy agreement if they don’t return
the property in the same condition as they found it.

The British Property Federation is warning landlords that even if a
letting agent has signed up with an Ombudsman, their money is not
necessarily protected. So if your letting agent has some of your
money in the form of deposits and rent payments, you could still lose
it all if they go bust.

Why use a letting agent?

For some landlords, a letting agent is a useful intermediary. If you
are an absentee landlord or you don’t have time to manage your
properties, a letting agent can do much of the hard work on your
behalf. They can find you tenants and manage the everyday business of
running a rental property. All you have to do is pay their fees and
pocket the rental income. Unfortunately, not all letting agents are
scrupulous—some dip into clients money for their own use and others
simply mismanage their finances and end up going out of business as a
result.

How can landlords protect their interests?

Dealing with letting agents who are registered with an industry
ombudsman means you have an avenue for complaint if things go wrong,
but it won’t necessarily protect your money. Before signing up with a
letting agent, it is a good idea to check whether they are registered
with a client money protection scheme. If they are, your rights are
protected and if the agent subsequently goes out of business, your
money is safe. But even if they say they are registered with a
protection scheme, you should still check them out to make sure they
actually are registered.

Housing Associations and social landlords are becoming increasingly
concerned about the mental health of their tenants as the economic
downturn continues. Many deprived communities are feeling the strain
and the “bedroom tax” is already having a significant effect on many
tenants. People who have lived in larger properties for many years
are now expected to make a greater contribution towards their rent
for the privilege of having an extra room or two. In some cases, this
is causing huge strain, both financial and emotional, and at least
one tenant has been reported in the media as taking their own life as
a result.

Training in mental health issues

Staff are being trained to help them identity whether a tenant is
showing the symptoms of mental health problems and is at risk of
suicide. Housing support workers are being sent on training courses
to help them manage their tenants. Some of the concern is as a result
of other community support workers being withdrawn from vulnerable
communities because of a lack of available funding.

How can social landlords help vulnerable tenants?

If you work in the social housing sector, it is likely that one or
more of your tenants are experiencing financial difficulties.
Desperate people sometimes do desperate things, so if you suspect
that a tenant is at risk of mental health problems or could even be
suicidal, try talking to them to see of they need any extra help.

Letting agents don’t always get much good press thanks to a reputation for hidden fees and rip off charges levied at tenants and landlords. Well in the case of a North London online letting agent, the accusations have been completely justified.

Disgruntled customer

Following a complaint from an aggrieved customer, the DSSCribs agency has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for not making clear what the charges related to a premium rate contact number were on their website. The customer that made the complaint was interested in two properties listed on the agent’s website. She called the premium rate number to speak to an advisor, but was put on hold several times and despite the call lasting for half an hour, she was not given the information she rang up for.

Once a complaint had been received, the ASA investigated. They concluded that the lack of information about call charges was unacceptable and that the property listings on the website “…had not been substantiated and were misleading.”

Beware of dodgy letting agents

There have been numerous complaints about unregulated letting agents over the years and numerous landlords have ended up out of pocket and ripped off as a result of shady operators. To avoid being one of these unfortunate individuals, always read the small print when dealing with a letting agent. Not all agents are upfront about their fees and charges so make sure you know exactly what to expect before entering into a business arrangement with them. And if you need to call them, make sure you are fully aware of the call charges before dialling a premium rate number.

Scottish landlords are being warned that the deadline for registering for a tenancy deposit scheme has arrived. Landlords in Scotland were given until May 15th to sign up for the scheme and if they fail to do so, it could cost them dearly.

Stamping out unfair landlords

The tenancy deposit scheme has been introduced in Scotland to try and prevent unscrupulous landlords from refusing to pay back their tenant’s deposits for no good reason. Figures indicate that around £3.6 million worth of deposits have unfairly held each year, which is something the Scottish government is keen to put a stop to.

Tenancy deposit scheme

Landlords and letting agents are now obliged to pay all deposit monies into an official deposit scheme. If they don’t bother and are subsequently caught out, the tenant has the right to claim back up to three times the original sum. Many landlords are aware of the scheme and have already signed up, but there are still a large number who have yet to register, and it is these who face the prospect of legal action if they don’t get a move on.

According to Malcolm Lindo from SafeDeposits Scotland: “Based on the latest Scottish Government figures, we estimate there are up to 56% of tenancies eligible for taking a deposit where a deposit has not yet been paid into a scheme.”

So if you are a landlord in Scotland and you have yet to get around to registering for the tenancy deposit scheme, you better hurry or you could soon be facing legal action.

With rental accommodation in the UK so much in demand right now,
there have been lots of stories in the press about “beds in sheds”
and other miniscule homes to rent. Of course many of these so-called
bedsits are marketed at those who are desperate and who cannot afford
to pay the extra for a full sized home. Indeed, in many cases, the
resulting property is illegal and is eventually pulled down by local
housing inspectors. But sadly desperate tenants in the UK are not
alone in having to put up with sub-standard housing so small a coffin
would be more spacious.

Life in the not-so big Apple

New York is one of the most expensive places to live. The average
rent for a property in the city is more than twice that of anywhere
else in the United States. There are also rental variations within
the city itself. As you might expect, Manhattan is the most costly
place to rent a room or apartment, but Brooklyn comes a close second.
Rental properties are in great demand in the city and unless you can
afford to pay top dollar for a penthouse apartment overlooking
Central Park, you may as well get used to spending a fortune for the
privilege of living in a tiny cupboard sized room.

Unhappy tenants

One disgruntled resident has taken to blogging about his unhappy
experience of trying to find a normal sized abode for a reasonable
rent and some of the pictures on his blog defy belief. Imagine having
to live in a tiny room with no natural light and bare, concrete
walls. And even worse, imagine the pain of having to pay $1k per
month for a space barely large enough to squeeze in a double bed.

According to recent figures, mortgage lending to buy to let landlords has increased considerably since the beginning of the financial crisis. Landlord mortgages now account for just over 13% of the total mortgages in the UK. This means that lending institutions handed over more than £4 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

Funding for Lending

The rise in mortgage lending is believed to be in part thanks to the Funding for Lending (FLS) scheme. At the beginning of the recession when the sub-prime bubble burst, lenders wised up to the dangers of lending money to those who couldn’t afford to borrow and the cash pool dried up. Naturally this lender reticence didn’t help the property market and it soon became stagnant. The government introduced the FLS scheme last year to try and kick-start the market once again. The scheme was primarily designed to make it easier for first time buyers to get a foothold on the property ladder, but much of the available money has been handed out to buy to let landlords.

Buy to let is booming

Mortgage rates have fallen since last year and they are currently at an all-time low. This, in conjunction with increasing demand for rental properties in some areas, means many landlords are expanding their property portfolios. Lending to landlords has risen 1.1% since last year. The same pattern was evident in 2012 and lending to landlords rose even higher than lending to first time buyers.

Criticism of FLS

Some believe that FLA is unfairly propping up the buy to let sector and critics have questioned the validity of allowing buy to let landlords access to subsidised mortgages. But for many landlords, the current market is a win-win situation.

The Queen’s Speech has revealed that UK landlords are now expected to
weed out illegal immigrants when they take on new tenants. Employers
will also face the same burden when recruiting new employees. This
change is just one of many introduced in the new “hard line” Immigration Bill.

Hefty fines

Checking the immigration status of potential tenants is no mean feat,
but if a landlord fails to make checks or is fooled by false papers,
they face the prospect of heavy fines of several thousand pounds.
Landlords of buy to let properties will be expected to check whether
tenants have valid passports and visa documentation, although how
they are expected to establish the authenticity of such papers has
not been clarified. Nor has the role of letting agents in the process
been established—many landlords rely on letting agents to find
tenants for their properties and play no active part in the process.
It is thought that the measures are aimed at landlords of HMOs, but
all landlords are likely to be affected.

Further changes for immigrants

In a bid to reduce the spiraling cost of benefits and so-called
“health tourism”, immigrants will soon find it a lot harder to claim
benefits when they arrive in the UK and they won’t qualify for social
housing unless they have lived in the area for at least two years.
Temporary migrants will also have to pay for NHS services instead of
using them for free. The government is probably hoping these changes
will deter thousands of Romanians and Bulgarians from travelling to
the UK once the borders have opened. Whether the changes are likely
to have any effect is debateable.

Housing Charity, Shelter, is calling for tenancy contracts to be improved in order to offer families with children more stability in their home life. The charity says that 10% of children living in rental accommodation have been forced to change schools because their family has had to move home. And with 3.8 million families living in rental accommodation, this represents an awful lot of children dealing with the upheaval of disrupted education.

Greater stability

Shelter is calling for a minimum term of 5 years for renters, during which time the landlord cannot evict them unless they have a very good reason (for example, non payment of rent). The charity also wants rents to be guaranteed for the same period. Under the current rules, tenants are protected from unfair evictions and rent rises, and the property must be in good repair.

Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of the charity, says:

“Making tenancy contracts more stable could improve the lives of children across the country by giving families more stability in their homes, and would give landlords a more predictable income.”

RLA dismisses Shelter claims

The RLA has described Shelter’s claims as “scaremongering”. It says that research has shown that in most cases it is the tenant who decides to move through their own volition rather than because they have been asked to leave by the landlord. It also points out that most landlords prefer to retain tenants who pay their rent on time and look after the property.

RLA Policy Director, Richard Jones commented:

“The RLA condemns the scaremongering that Shelter is engaged in. Whilst we agree that a small minority of landlords ruin the lives of tenants and should be banned from renting property, the reality is that the ma