Tag Archives: homes
UK’s new housing minister urged to get on with tackling major challenges
The new housing minister Gavin Barwell has been urged to tackle the major challenges facing the property industry including lack of supply and new home building. Estate agents and letting agents welcomed his appointment in the new government under new Prime Minister Theresa May and said that his appointment as Minister for London should help tackle the housing issues that particularly affect the capital city. ‘This is a crucial time for housing, with demand greatly outstripping supply and an urgent need to reshape Britain’s housing mix,’ said David Cox, managing director of the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) and Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents, in a joint statement. ‘We worked closely with the previous administration to increase transparency in the UK property and sector and remain very supportive of the need for a beneficial ownership register,’ they pointed out. ‘Property transparency is particularly a problem in London where housing stock has increasingly become a vehicle for money laundering operations, so we applaud the decision to provide the Minister with a duel oversight for London,’ they added. The statement pointed out that the Government’s decision to sell the Land Registry risks reversing its good work on transparency and they are calling on the new minister to work with the new Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Department to think again on this proposal. They say it is also essential to honour the commitment of the previous Housing Minister to bring forward a review of the need for mandatory Client Money Protection (CMP) for letting agents, following the discretionary powers that were brought in as part of the Housing and Planning Act as they believe that only this can provide the adequate level of protection for landlords and tenants alike. ‘These challenges are not insurmountable and we greatly look forward to working with the new Minister to find a solution to these issues in the months and years ahead,’ the statement concluded. Barwell said that he is looking forward to working with councils, housing associations, developers and investors to ensure ‘we build the homes people need and deserve and to working with the Mayor of London to ensure the continued success of our wonderful diverse capital and that all Londoners share in it’. Barwell has previously held various parliamentary private secretary roles, including to the Minister of State for Decentralisation and Planning Policy and Secretary of State for Education, and has more recently been Assistant Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury. He is taking over from Brandon Lewis who has moved to the position of Minister of State for Policing and Fire Service. Barwell joins the team at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) which is led by Sajid Javid, who was appointed Communities Secretary last week. Continue reading
Calls for new home building quality to be improved in UK
Members of Parliament in the UK and construction experts are calling on the Government to set up a New Homes Ombudsman to mediate in disputes between home buyers and house builders. This is one of 10 recommendations setting out measures to improve the quality of workmanship in new homes and provide consumers with easier and cheaper forms of redress, to get problems fixed. According to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment (APPGEBE) house builders should be upping their game and putting consumers at the heart of their business model and the Government should use its influence to promote quality at every opportunity. ‘The Government is intent on seeing the construction of one million new homes within the course of this Parliament. However, our view is that increasing the quantity of new homes must not be achieved at the expense of their quality,’ said Chairman of the group, Oliver Colvile. ‘It is clear to us that there is a quality gap between customer demands and industry delivery. Closing this gap will only come about, we believe, if housebuilders make a concerted effort to create a more consumer focused culture. From the evidence we heard, consumers want to see an improved quality of build, homes that are fit for purpose and an easy to understand warranty,’ he pointed out. He added that when something is wrong, consumers want an affordable and accessible means of putting it right. ‘To this end we have set out a series of measures to redress the imbalance between buyers and sellers,’ he said. The report says that the role of the building control inspector is a key part of the process and it recommends that there should be a minimum level of compliance inspections. It also says that new home buyers should be given information about the building inspections carried out as this will improve transparency. The role of a New Homes Ombudsman would include mediating disputes between consumers and their builders or warranty providers to offer a quick resolution procedure paid for by a housebuilders’ levy. The report also recommends that house building sales contracts should be standardised as this would remove much of the uncertainty that presently arises from the bespoke nature of each builder’s sales contract, which can deter so many from pursuing claims Buyers should have the right to inspect properties before completion and this would discourage builders from serving notices to complete prematurely, or concealing major defects until after they have received the full purchase price, and would also encourage better quality control and site management pre-completion Builders should be required to provide buyers with a comprehensive information pack, the aim being to improve transparency of the design, building and inspection process. The pack should contain information including, designs and plans, specifications and details about both warranty and building control inspections, when carried out and by whom. The report suggests that the Department of Communities and Local Government should commission a thorough… Continue reading
Number of rental sector tenant evictions up in England and Wales
The number of households evicted from rental accommodation in England and Wales rose by 5% in the first three months of the year, while the repossession rate for home owners fell to a record low. Seasonally adjusted figures from the Ministry of Justice show there were 10,732 repossessions of rented homes by bailiffs between January and March 2016, up from 10,253 in the final three months of 2015. The number of tenants evicted from their homes by bailiffs reached a record high in 2015, according to official figures for England and Wales, which shows that 42,728 households in rented accommodation were forcibly removed. Housing campaigners blamed welfare cuts and the shortage of affordable homes for the rise in repossessions over the year and more than half the evictions are thought to have been by private landlords. These figures are echoed by a new report from online letting agent PropertyLetByUs which shows that a quarter of landlords have served an eviction notice to tenants over the last 12 months and 5% have pursued an eviction through the courts. Furthermore, almost half of landlords have also experienced rent arrears over the last 12 months. ‘Landlords are increasingly facing rent arrears, as rent escalation continues to outstrip gross income. They are also facing a financial squeeze due to restrictions on their tax breaks and some may be raising rents to supplement their income. Pushing up rent rises further will put huge pressure on those tenants who are already struggling to pay their rent. We may well see evictions continuing to rise over the next few months,’ said Jane Morris, managing director of PropertyLetByUs. She pointed out that the statistics highlight the need for landlords to protect their rental income and ensure they carry out thorough references with all new tenants. ‘Times are very tough for many tenants and demand for rental accommodation is soaring in many parts of the UK. Landlords need to extra vigilant when they take on a new tenant. But a few simple checks will help identify if a tenant is in a good financial position or not,’ she added. Meanwhile, changes to the process of accelerated possession through applying to use High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) to evict a tenant has brought an end the so called seven day eviction which were misleading for landlords as well as increased costs, according to legal experts, Landlord Action. The majority of residential possession claims are dealt with in the county court and enforced by county court bailiffs. However, with a backlog of cases and a reduction of bailiffs leading to longer waiting times in some courts, it can take several weeks for bailiffs to carry out an eviction, which is longer than most landlords wish to wait when suffering further loss of rent. In some cases, landlords can apply for their case to be transferred to the High Court once a possession order has been made, so that… Continue reading
