Landlords are reminded of the need to register with Rent Smart Wales
The law in Wales now requires private landlords to register themselves and their properties with Rent Smart Wales. The Housing Act (Wales) 2014 requires landlords to register and self-managing landlords who let and manage properties and agents to also undertake training and apply for a licence. Rent Smart Wales aims to drive up standards in the private rented sector. A specialist team deals with queries and helps landlords and agents register and apply for a licence.
The next campaign phase will lead to the 23rd November deadline and will inform landlords of their legal requirement to comply and tenants of their right to have a properly registered and licensed landlord or agent.
Rent Smart Wales is a landmark scheme that will drive up standards in the private rented sector by requiring managing landlords and agents to undertake training to ensure they understand their responsibilities.
It will help prevent the involvement of rogue, and even criminal, landlords and agents in the management and letting of properties. The scheme will help to protect tenants and will support good landlords and agents by helping them keep abreast of their responsibilities and legal obligations, raising the reputation of the sector.
The deadline for registration is now less than 70 days away and those who have not yet complied with the law are encouraged to discharge their legal responsibilities to register as soon as possible because registration when completed online, is a simple 15 minute process, but a licensing application can take up to 8 weeks to process.
Avoid
the hassle. YOUR AGENT lettings were amongst the first ten agents to be
awarded an Agents Licence across the whole of Wales. So why not let
YOUR AGENT be your agent?
Carl Sargeant, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, will today visit the Rent Smart Wales call centre in Cardiff. His visit is to assess how the task to ensure all private sector landlords to sign up for the mandatory scheme is progressing.
Registration
The Housing Act (Wales) 2014 made it a legal obligation for all private landlords in Wales to register themselves and their property with Rent Smart Wales by November 23rd 2016. Landlords who are still involved in letting and management activities will have to obtain a licence, undertake further training and pass a fit a proper test.
Rent Smart Wales aims to improve standards in the sector. The call centre in Cardiff deals with queries from landlords and agents, helping them to register for their required licence.
In addition, the Cabinet Secretary also launched the next phase of the campaign in the run-up to the deadline. This was in order to inform landlords of their legal requirement to register, alongside giving tenants their right to have a property registered by a licensed landlord or letting agent.
Standards
Mr Sargeant observed, ‘Rent Smart Wales is a landmark scheme that will drive up standards in the private rented sector by requiring managing landlords and agents to undertake training to ensure they are clear on their responsibilities. It will help prevent the involvement of rogue and even criminal, landlords and agents in the management and letting of properties.
‘The scheme will help to protect tenants in the private rented sector, and will support good landlords and agents by helping them keep abreast of their responsibilities and legal obligations, raising the reputation of the sector as a whole. The deadline for registration is now less than five months away. I would urge those who have not yet done so to discharge their legal responsibilities to register as soon as possible because, whilst registration can be completed simply and quickly on-line, the licensing process can take up to eight weeks to complete,’ he continued.
City of Cardiff Council Cabinet Member Bob Derbyshire, added, ‘landlords and agents will have had a full year to ensure they register, get trained and become licensed under the new scheme. Although November 23 is the deadline for compliance and to many people, that may seem distant, we are keen to stress the importance of becoming licensed sooner, rather than later.’
Avoid
the hassle. YOUR AGENT lettings were amongst the first ten agents to be
awarded an Agents Licence across the whole of Wales. So why not let
YOUR AGENT be your agent?
The Mortgage Works, the buy to let lender owned by Nationwide Building Society, has been quick to reduce rates on buy to let finance following the referendum vote to leave the European Union.
Rates on two year, three year and five year mortgages have all been cut on both buy to let and let to buy offerings.
Some two year fixed term mortgages at 65 per cent loan to value have been reduced by up to 0.20 per cent and 75 per cent loan to value by as much as 0.70 per cent.
Three year fixed rate mortgages at 65 per cent loan to value have also been cut by 0.30 per cent, and five year fixes drop by up to 0.65 per cent.
Let to buy mortgage rates have dropped the most, with rates reduced by up to three quarters of a point (0.75 per cent).
The Mortgage Works led the way in increasing the amount of rent needed to cover the mortgage on all buy to let products recently, with the rental cover requirement rising from 125 per cent to 145 per cent following the announcement of landlord tax relief changes. So these reductions will be well received by buy to let investors to at least reduce one of the ever increasing costs landlords have to bear.
Managing director of The Mortgage Works, Paul Wootton, commented: ‘TMW is increasing the competitiveness of its mortgage rates for two year, three year and five year terms, helping to support landlords maintain a positive cash flow and help to manage their costs as the tax relief changes are phased in.’
Other buy to let lenders will be expected to follow suit.
The number of people living in private rented accommodation in retirement has soared by more than 200,000 in the last four years, according to a poll of private renters.
Overall, the poll shows that the proportion of retired private renters has grown by 13 per cent since 2012 – approximately 220,000 – with 17 per cent of the retired private rentin population live in the South East of England.
However, only three per cent live in London and only four per cent in the North East.
However, the proportion of landlords who let to retired renters has almost halved during the same timeframe, with nine per cent of landlords saying they currently let to retirees compared to 19 per cent in 2012.
The research - by the National Landlords’ Association - suggest that it could become harder for those approaching retirement to find suitable rented accommodation in the future, especially in high demand areas.
“More and more people are turning to private rented housing at every stage of their lives, including in retirement. Landlords appreciate the stability and assurances often provided by older households, but are finding it increasingly difficult to build businesses around the needs of potentially vulnerable tenants” says an NLA spokeswoman.
“Successive cuts to the welfare budget, uncertainty about pension provisions, and the devastating impact of the government’s tax changes are likely to mean that private landlords will soon be unable provide homes in high cost areas like central London for anyone without a well-paying job” she adds.
“As the proportion of retired renters continues to grow there’s a real worry that homes won’t be available in the private sector, forcing people to look further afield – leaving communities they have known and contributed to for decades.”
House prices would fall by 20% if we vote to leave in Thursday’s EU referendum, warns property portal Zoopla.
The prediction appeared in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, which has been fighting a fierce remain campaign.
Zoopla believes that a Brexit would wipe out nearly all of the house price gains made over the past five years, leaving some homeowners in negative equity.
The property portal says that the average house price, of just over £297,000, would drop by more than £53,000 if we vote to leave, due to the combined effect of uncertainty, increased unemployment, reduced investment and higher borrowing costs.
Altogether, a Brexit vote would cut £1.5 trillion off the total value of the UK’s housing stock, warns Zoopla.
In London, Zoopla claims that the average house price, currently at £671,989, would decrease to £550,989. Meanwhile, in the South East, it believes that prices would fall from £396,682 to £325,282.
Even in the region with the lowest house prices, Yorkshire and the Humber, the average would decline from £167,023 to £137,023.
Zoopla states that its calculations, based on Treasury projections, suggest that “most of the gains clawed back since the credit crisis would be wiped out, leaving homeowners with less equity and some in negative equity territory”.
While the portal puts the average house price at £297,000, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry indicate that the average price is significantly lower, at £225,000.
Thousands of buy-to-let landlords will share a multimillion-pound payout after winning a “David and Goliath” legal battle against one of Britain’s biggest building societies.
Court of appeal judges have ruled that the West Bromwich was not legally entitled to vary the landlords’ mortgage interest rates in the absence of a change in the Bank of England base rate, which their home loans track until the end of the term.
West Bromwich building society has been left with a £27.5m bill after being defeated in the court of appeal – but it said this “will not put the society in financial difficulty,” adding: “Our financial position remains very strong.”
The case involves a controversial 2013 decision by the West Brom to hike the monthly costs of more than 6,000 customers with buy-to-let mortgages that tracked the Bank of England base rate.
The action group that fought and won the case said the ruling “sends a clear message” to other mortgage lenders that might have considered following suit. It added there were around 1m buy-to-let tracker mortgages that could have been affected if the decision “had gone the wrong way”.
Borrowers reacted with fury when the the West Bromwich Mortgage Company, a division of the building society , said it would be increasing their interest rates by two percentage points. This was despite the fact that the base rate had been at 0.5% since 2009.
Some of those affected – for example, those paying a rate of 1.49% – saw their mortgage rate more than double at a stroke.
Scores of borrowers formed the Property118 Action Group, initially raising more than £400,000 to fight the decision. They took their case to the high court, where they were defeated, but they have now won their case at the court of appeal.
The West Brom said that while it was “disappointed”, it accepted the court’s decision and so would be contacting all 6,415 affected borrowers, most of whom were not part of the court action, to advise them of the outcome. The society said the borrowers would receive a refund of any additional interest charged.
It is not clear how or when this money will be distributed, but some borrowers look set to receive thousands of pounds. The total cost to the business is £27.5m, which, if it was all distributed to the borrowers would mean an average payout of £4,286 each.
The West Brom said: “Although this will result in the society recording a loss for the year to March 2017, underlying profitability is expected to be maintained, and the capital position of the society remains strong, and is significantly in excess of regulatory requirements.”
It is understood the affected customers took out their deals between 2006 and 2008, and are on a variety of different interest rates. All, according to the society, were described as “landlords of multiple property portfolios”.
The society had argued that the small print of the mortgages contained a clause that, under certain circumstances, enabled the lender to change the interest rate “to something more in line with the current market norm”. It suggested it had acted in part because of the plight of savers, who make up the vast majority of its 446,000 members and had suffered dramatic falls in income due to plummeting interest rates.
Mark Alexander, from the action group, said it had been a “David and Goliath legal battle”, and that justice had prevailed. He added that buy-to-let landlords often lacked the experience and finances to defend their legal rights, and Property118 Action Group Limited “will offer them a unique and powerful umbrella at a very reasonable price”.
Jonathan Westhoff, the society’s chief executive, said: “Naturally we are disappointed by today’s decision from the court of appeal. At all times, we acted to ensure we were treating customers fairly and that our approach was in the best interests of the society and its members as a whole.
“We will now contact all affected borrowers and ensure we process promptly any reimbursement they are due. In line with our prudent approach to managing the society, we had already allocated capital to cover this unexpected outcome, and so the society remains in a strong financial position.”
Landlords who self-manage their properties in Wales must apply for a licence. This is in addition to having to register.
Which landlords must obtain a licence?
If you undertake any of the following at a property in Wales for which you are the landlord, then you need a licence:
Landlord Letting Activities:
- arranging or conducting viewings with prospective tenants;
- gathering evidence for the purpose of establishing the suitability of prospective tenants (for example, by confirming character references, undertaking credit checks or interviewing a prospective tenant);
- preparing, or arranging the preparation, of a tenancy agreement;
- preparing, or arranging the preparation, of an inventory for the dwelling or schedule of condition for the dwelling.
Landlord Property Management Activities:
- collecting rent;
- being the principal point of contact for the tenant in relation to matters arising under the tenancy;
- making arrangements with a person to carry out repairs or maintenance;
- making arrangements with a tenant or occupier of the dwelling to secure access to the dwelling for any purpose;
- checking the contents or condition of the dwelling, or arranging for them to be checked as part of a current tenancy or for one which has ended;
- serving notice to terminate a tenancy
If you do anything detailed above, but on behalf of a landlord at a property you are not a landlord for, then you may need an agent licence.
How do I obtain a licence?
The licence application can be completed on this website. This can either be done in the account you have created in order to register as a landlord, or if you are a joint landlord who is not the lead registering landlord, you can start your individual licence application by creating an account.
To submit a valid licence application, all the information required must be submitted, evidence of suitable landlord training provided and the 'fit and proper' person declaration must be completed.
The training that a landlord must do in order to obtain a licence can either be done direct with Rent Smart Wales, or an approved course can be completed by a training provider authorised by Rent Smart Wales. To read more about the licensing training requirement go to the training page.
Once a complete application is submitted to Rent Smart Wales they will assess it to determine if a licence can be granted. They will make sure the application is complete and the correct fee has been paid. They will also determine that the landlord is ‘fit and proper’ (by ensuring they have no relevant convictions against them) and make sure the training they have completed is suitable for licensing purposes. Once they have assessed the application they will award a licence. Only in exceptional circumstances would a licence be refused.
Once a licence is awarded the landlord will receive notification of their unique licence number and the conditions attached to their licence. The landlord will also receive a licence card in the post.
How long does a licence last?
Once a landlord is licensed it lasts for 5 years. During that time you must keep the information in your licence application up to date (e.g. change your phone number if you update it) and also comply with the conditions of your licence. One condition will always be to adhere to the Code of Practice. The Code of Practice has been created by the Welsh Ministers as a way to ensure a consistent standard of letting and management practice in line with legal requirements in Wales. You can read a copy of the Code here.
If a licence holder fails to comply with any condition of their licence, or is no longer ‘fit and proper’ then their licensed can be revoked. This is a serious action as it means that the person can no longer undertake any letting or management activities at any rental properties in Wales. Instead, they must instruct a licensed agent to act on their behalf at all their rental properties.
Avoid the hassle. YOUR AGENT lettings were amongst the first ten agents to be awarded an Agents Licence across the whole of Wales. So why not let YOUR AGENT be your agent?
