I’m used to reading stories in the press about greedy landlords who refuse to spend money on their properties, but still expect the monthly rent to be paid on time. Sadly this is becoming an increasingly common situation with the rise in people moving into the private rental sector, but even so, when a BBC news story tells me that almost a third of private rented properties in a large city do not meet basic living standards, it does give me cause for concern!

According to the BBC news story (which was quoting figures given to them by Shelter, the leading housing charity), almost 30% of rented homes in Bristol are in a poor state of repair, with no modern facilities and inadequate heating.

The charity says it is seeing large numbers of people coming to them with tales of damp, mouldy, and sometimes dangerous homes. One case quoted described a completely appalling state of affairs: the young tenant had been forced to live in a rented house with a leaking roof and holes in the ceilings, but although the landlord was aware of the problems, he did nothing about them. And to make matters worse, the council housing officer bluntly told her that they could come and inspect the property, tell the landlord to do the work, but the most likely outcome would be an eviction notice served to her, which is hardly a great incentive.

The council has of course defended itself by saying it does prosecute ‘bad’ landlords, but efforts to improve the standards in the private sector are hindered by a lack of funding…

The issue of whether the buy to let industry needs to be regulated has rumbled on for some time. On the one hand, critics of regulation say it isn’t necessary as the industry effectively self-regulates itself by way of organisations such as the Association of Letting Agents (ARLA), but those who are pro-regulation insist that introducing government regulation will help to reduce the number of rogue landlords and dodgy letting agents that blight the private rental sector.

The former Housing Minister, Grant Schapps, was very much against the concept of government regulation and his policy was that no form of regulation was needed. He took the view that the buy to let industry was well governed by consumer credit law and therefore tenants were very safe.

However, Mr Schapps was unseated from his post a few weeks back when David Cameron shuffled his cabinet around and installed Mark Prisk as the new Housing Minister, and although the Communities and Local Government (CLG) minister, Baroness Hanham, further reiterated the Grant Schapps policy in response to a recent question in parliament, it now appears as if the government has done a massive U-turn.

According to a new announcement made by the CLG, a select group of MPs will now look at the private rental sector and consider a number of important issues. These include regulating landlords and letting agents in an attempt to crack down on rogue landlords and unnecessary fees charged by unscrupulous letting agents, the application of consistent standards to rental homes in the private sector, rents and rent caps, tenancy agreements and the length of tenure, and shared house regulations.

Landlords in the private sector may be rubbing their hands together with glee as rents across the country continue to rise, but the government clearly isn’t — thanks to a 37% rise in three years, increasing numbers of families are struggling to pay their monthly rent bills and are being forced to claim Housing Benefit as a result.

As with most state benefits, the rules surrounding who is eligible to claim Housing Benefit are not exactly straightforward. In general, any family with an income of less than £16k per year can claim Housing Benefit, although families earning more can also claim if their rent is a large proportion of their income.

Unfortunately, claims for Housing Benefit have almost doubled in the last ten years because increasing numbers of claimants are being forced to work in part-time jobs for less money thanks to a lack of full-time positions. Sadly for the Treasury, this pattern is unlikely to change any time soon. Demand for rental accommodation shows no signs of falling and experts are warning that unless the government takes decisive action, the Housing Benefit bill will just keep on rising, to the detriment of the economy.

The National Housing Federation has predicted that rents will stabilise through next year, but are likely to rise again over the next few years as the housing market recovers and interest rates rise again. The NHF say one solution to the chronic shortage of affordable housing in the UK is for the government to allow Housing Associations to build new housing on publicly owned ‘brownfield’ land.

What do you think?

Becoming a landlord is not as simple as many people think. There are lots of important regulations to adhere to and landlords in the private rental sector need to gain a thorough understanding of their responsibilities before allowing tenants to move into one of their properties. Sadly, even though you might expect local authorities to provide all of the important information that new and inexperienced landlords need, many are failing to do so, which could be leaving a lot of landlords in the dark about their legal responsibilities.

As we all know, the private rental sector is booming. House prices are unaffordable for many families and mortgages are difficult to obtain, so the only alternative for a lot of people is to rent a home rather than buy. Because of this, anyone with some spare cash is jumping into property investment in the hope of realising a better return on savings.

But all too many of these ‘accidental landlords’ lack the appropriate knowledge about their legal responsibilities, which is putting everyone at risk, and according to a leading property investment consultancy firm, councils are putting lives at risk by not placing the right information on their websites.

During the course of their research, the company chose twelve random London council websites to see what information was being made available to private landlords. Worryingly, they found that a lot of key information was missing or misleading. And if the information was there, it was not easy to find. So in summary, it looks like local authorities could be doing an awful lot more to help new landlords!

Following an increase in the number of private rental properties being used as cannabis farms and drug factories, Sussex police have issued a useful “help” guide to landlords in their area to enable them spot the signs and avoid problems caused when properties are misused by tenants.

Unfortunately, the issue of rental houses being used for drugs production is common across the UK. Criminals are increasingly likely to rent innocuous looking houses in the community whilst cultivating their cannabis crops and other illicit drugs, in order to avoid detection from the police.

What are the signs to watch out for?

Police often rely on information from local residents and the wider community when targeting cannabis farms and drug production rackets, so it is very important that landlords are aware of the telltale signs. Properties used as cannabis farms often have windows boarded up and very few signs of life other than random comings and goings on an irregular basis. Close neighbours may also become aware of the characteristic sweet smell emitted by growing cannabis plants. Police also advise landlords to check tenants references thoroughly and be suspicious if a tenant offers a large rent payment up front.

If you are at all concerned about your tenants, or your neighbours have complained about suspicious activities at the property, make a point of going round to the property and checking it over (with the tenant’s permission of course). And if the property is hotter than a Turkish steam bath and you discover an attic full of cannabis plants, contact the police immediately!

I feel sorry for anyone renting a home in London. Rental costs in the capital are almost twice as high as the rest of the UK, and even though there are lots of great reasons to live in London—theatres, art galleries, fancy restaurants and fantastic shops—the astronomical cost of living there makes it very difficult for a lot of people to enjoy a decent standard of living!

Rent costs have risen a whopping 6.3% in the last year and the average monthly cost of renting a property in London is £1,273, whereas the average monthly cost of renting an equivalent property outside of London is only £697, which is a lot more affordable. Obviously this is a good thing for landlords in London as well as across the rest of the UK—the good times just keep on rolling as the buy to let market continues to boom.

Some of the rise can be explained by the increase of student tenants at the start of the academic year, but although rental activity typically declines again in the run up to Christmas, experts are predicting another bumper year in 2013 for UK landlords, particularly in London. Many middle class families in the capital are unable to afford to buy their homes thanks to mortgage constraints and are being forced into the rental market as a result. Unfortunately, some of the poorer families may also find themselves priced out of the rental market and pushed out of the city altogether as demand for properties in London increases and rents continue to rise.

The old adage, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, is one any smart cookie would do well to heed, particularly in the world of property investment. Sadly, the current popularity of the buy to let market, coupled with unscrupulous companies and individuals looking to make a quick profit, has seen the emergence of several dubious “get rich quick” buy to let property investment schemes.

 Investing money in buy to let property can be a great way to see a decent return on savings, particularly when savings accounts these days pay a pittance. But although the majority of investors choose to buy properties in their local geographical area, or let out properties they already own, some are tempted by the promise of untold riches for very little effort and succumb to the lure of overseas buy to let property investment developments.

There have been several schemes in recent times offering investors great profits in return for ploughing money into buy to let property in far flung places like the US. But although on paper it sounds like a fantastic venture, most find out to their cost that the properties are in deprived areas and in such a poor state of repair nobody could possibly live in them, so any form of guaranteed income from tenants is going to be doubtful to say the least.

So the moral of this story is: always check the facts before handing over money and if it really does sound too good to be true, walk away now!

HMOs are very popular with student landlords. Rather than housing one or two students, with the right property development you can accommodate five, six, or even more students—and maximise your income as a result. However, although there are still many disreputable landlords who undertake illegal conversions and cram as many tenants as possible into their properties, many local authorities, including Reading and Bath, are now operating under Article 4 declarations. As such, they require that landlords of HMOs apply for special planning permission before letting out their accommodation.

Under the terms of Article 4, landlords wishing to let a multi occupancy property for between three and five students will have to seek planning permission first, and if the local authority deems that the property does not reach the appropriate standard of accommodation, planning permission will not be granted. However, some local authorities have suggested that planning permission will be automatically granted if the property is in a low HMO density area (subject to other criteria being met).

The changes are being introduced to try and improve the standard of accommodation on offer in multi occupancy houses. By forcing landlords to apply for planning permission before they are allowed to market their HMOs, it is hoped that standards will improve and local residents in neighbourhoods with a high proportion of HMOs will have fewer reasons to complain. And the way things are going it looks as if strict Article 4 planning controls will soon become standard practice across most towns and cities in the UK.

In what has been described as possibly the largest fine ever handed out to a private landlord, Salah Ali from Wembley has been ordered to pay £1.4 million for breaching planning regulations by illegally converting a house into twelve bedsits. If he doesn’t pay the fine within six months, Mr Ali can look forward to a ten-year jail sentence; he has also had a restraint order imposed on him to prevent the disposal of assets.

Mr Ali was accused of flouting planning regulations over a ten-year period and despite repeated warnings, he continued to offer sub-standard accommodation to hapless tenants. Eventually, planning enforcement officers from Brent Council were able to bring a prosecution against Mr Ali as part of their clampdown on illegal extensions, dubbed by the media as “beds in sheds”.

Why is the fine so large?

The majority of the fine relates to lost revenue—over the course of ten years, Mr Ali would have raked in a considerable amount of income from his tenants and naturally the Treasury wants its fair share. The rest of the fine is comprised of legal costs and monies owed to Brent Council.

Commenting on the case, Chris Walker from Brent Council was quoted as saying: “This landlord ignored planning rules designed to ensure that the quality of accommodation in the boroughs is maintained and that the environment for surrounding residents is protected. He ignored the council’s notices and as a result, he profited hugely from this sub-standard accommodation.”

Well after being handed such a massive fine, Mr Ali is unlikely to make the same mistake again…

Well according to one of the big names on the high street, yes it is: in a recent survey of the costs of renting as opposed to buying a home, the Halifax claims that buying a home is around £130 per month cheaper than renting an equivalent property. Naturally the Halifax is somewhat biased because they are in the business of selling mortgages (and therefore they want to attract new customers), but according to their report, the average monthly costs on a three bed property are 18% lower than the rent on a similar three bed home.

But, as any good politician knows, figures can always be manipulated to suit the purpose and even if you believe the claims made by the Halifax, the fact remains that taking a step on to the housing ladder is an unrealistic proposition for many families these days. The halcyon days of 95% mortgages are long gone and most lenders are still asking for large deposits before they agree to hand over funds to would-be buyers. That, coupled with the increasingly grim economic outlook in the UK, is hardly a good incentive to commit to a paying a mortgage—if the worst happens and you find yourself out of a job, the lender will repossess and you will end up homeless.

So even if the Halifax would like to convince us that buying is cheaper than renting, renting a home is likely to remain the only affordable option for many families—or at least those who want a long-term roof over their head.