New Rules Out Next Month For Uk Landlords

[mrbojangles]

Mods feel free to move this to another sub forum. I just thought it would get more views in here first.

As i know alot of expats from the Uk who live in Thailand, rent their houses back in the UK. This might be of interest to you. New rules out next month for UK landlords.

From the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6420801.stm

"Most private tenants in England and Wales will have their deposits protected by a new scheme from 6 April.

The aim is to ensure that tenants can get their deposits back when they leave a property and not be ripped off.

The average value of a deposit paid by tenants to cover missed rent, unpaid bill or damages is £695 in England.

All new deposits taken by the landlords of assured shorthold tenancies will have to be secured with one of three schemes, under the Housing Act 2004.

One scheme will hold the deposits directly; the other two will provide insurance cover if a landlord defaults.

If the deposit has not been protected in the proper way the landlord will forfeit his right to evict assured shorthold tenants with two months notice once the normal six-month tenancy has expired.

Fair dealing

The government believes that most landlords deal with their tenants' money fairly.

But the housing charity Shelter says this is not the case and that more than 75% of tenants who had their deposits withheld last year thought they had been treated unfairly.

"Shelter helps thousands of people each year with deposit problems and has campaigned for many years to get tenancy deposit protection introduced," said Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter.

"This money represents a sizeable chunk of cash for many tenants and losing it unfairly not only leaves thousands of people out of pocket, but can lead to homelessness," he added.

Dispute resolution

Once the new scheme comes into effect, any dispute about how much of the deposit should be returned will be sorted out by either a dispute resolution service or the courts.

In such cases, the deposit scheme that has been holding the cash will hang onto it until the matter was resolved.

The two insurance backed schemes will repay the deposit to the tenant if the landlord runs off with the money or fails to abide by the decision of the dispute service or the courts.

There are other potential sanctions against rogue landlords as well.

Should a landlord take the money but fail to use either of the three new deposit protection procedures, then as well as forfeiting the normal right to eviction, they could also be ordered to repay the money.

The court also could order that the money be safeguarded by one of the new protection schemes.

In addition, the court will levy a fine - of three times the deposit's value - which will then be paid to the tenant.

The new laws will be of relevance to the increasing number of buy-to-let landlords.

The Alliance & Leicester bank has predicted that their numbers will rise by another 40% in the next nine years."

[redrus]

Good news that.

We last moved in December as our landlords had repeatedly placed nob heads in the flat above us.

We live in a nice area and, pay to do so.

Our last 'neighbours', were Poles, nice people but, not good neighbours. Three moved in, closely followed by another three and more. This meant someone was up and moving at all times and in no way quietly.

After many talks with the agents, we found a better spot and decided to move on, explaining to the agents, we had been there for nearly four years and been model tenants and received only problems from them for our loyalty and, would be there still if they had not just wanted that space filling.

Our old place has been empty since we left... :D

Three monthly checks on the flat, continuous noise from upwards of Ten different neighbours over the four years, amongst a few. Then to be told the Landlords would not agree to redecorating our place, as one of the previous neighbours had left their garden untidy to the tune of Nine hundred pounds. Which I know (fact) one of the previous tenants payed themselves.

I got most of my bond back 'last month'....! The agents claimed the carpets were ruined beyond repair and wanted eight hundred pounds to replace them. <deleted>. My GF is one of the cleanest people I've ever known and, for a bloke am shockingly clean too....!

I told them to go forth and multiply. In no way politely.

I ended up running round and sorting it and, now have heard many more stories from this supposedly reputable Estate Agency. Too many people had just folded under the weight of posh looking letters that explained one side and left you feeling bad.

Not me. I got one over them in the end.

redrus

[GuestHouse]

The whole idea of giving over large sums of cash without that being controlled by a meanigful contract that is enforcable by both parties has always been wrong and has always been abused.

We need only look at the similar difficulties people face in Thailand when trying to recover deposits.

A long over due law.

[CarlBkk]

Yep, about time too.

I've had 5 landlords since the start of my Uni days until I left the UK and ALL kept the majority of my deposit (or my housemates') when there was no damage done. Likewise, I've had just 1 Thai landlady who didn't return it either due to a waterleak ruining some tatty laminate flooring - blamed on me the tenant.

Are all landlords/landlady's greedy cheating B*tards, or was it just me not noticing that I was a vandal 5 times over?

[SoiSong]

Totally off topic...please move to some UK board...........

[cdnvic]

Totally off topic...please move to some UK board...........

Property investments back home are what funds a great deal of people's retirements here, that makes it topical.

[jezchesters]

We were told of this by the Agent we use to let out our property in the UK a couple of years in advance - apparently the more reputable agencies have been gearing up for this for quite a while...

No problem for me as a landlord - I've been a tenant as well in my past, and I welcome the peace of mind this long overdue legislation offers, along with arbitration in the face of any possible dispute...

Mind you though, I've always been lucky with my tenants

[ThaiPauly]

Me too!

I use a reputable company to manage my place..in fact my Son works for them.

Never had any problems with tennants, the agents have not informed me about this new law as I imagine that they have it all under control...I hope!

[lampard10]

I have never got a deposit back from anybody, here or in Uk, but on the other hand I have always paid the full deposit back minus utility bills. The worst one was a guy called David, who we rented a villa from in Suk Sabai Pattaya, ten years ago. He told us when we moved in that the bath was broken and marked, so don't worry about it, yet when we left he charged us the full deposit (30,000 baht)for a new bath, saying " But it was not on paper, that it was broken"

I did inform him by letter that he probably used his hand for sexual relievement.

[mrbojangles]

Totally off topic...please move to some UK board...........

Property investments back home are what funds a great deal of people's retirements here, that makes it topical.

Thanks cdnvic. If SoiSong read my initial post he would of known why i put it here

[mrbojangles]

Are all landlords/landlady's greedy cheating B*tards, or was it just me not noticing that I was a vandal 5 times over?

I'm a landlord myself and fortunately i've never had a reason to keep the deposit. If something is wrong with the property when the current tenants are moving out, i tell them what it is and they put it right. It's cheaper for them to do it than for me to get someone in to do it.

For instance, although it might seem minor, some tenants where moving out and i went round to do a check. I found that the oven was pretty manky even though it was spotless when they moved in. For me to get someone in to clean it would cost about £50, they cleaned it for about a £5. Problem solved, the next tenants have a clean cooker when they move in and i expect it to be clean when they leave

Never had any problems with tennants, the agents have not informed me about this new law as I imagine that they have it all under control...I hope!

Yeah TP. This new law is mainly aimed at the private landlord as Agents SHOULD have already covered it, especially if they are members of the NAEA.