For more information on Swansea Beach Race 2012 – the first of its kind in Swansea click here

The first ever RHL Beach Race at Swansea will take place over the weekend of 2-4 March 2012 on the beach and beachfront at Swansea Bay.

Tickets can be booked  on line through RHL Activities

Unlock the Passion – Ride like the wind

This week Mr Peter Bolton King (CEO of The National Federation of Property Professionals) received a not unexpected reply from the Department that said:

As you are aware, the lettings industry is not subject to statutory regulation, however, it is in the interests of the industry to maintain consumer confidence in the services provided and we look to organisations such as NFoPP to take a lead in that work. As part of this, the Department continues to explore with its industry partners how best to counter poor practice by letting and managing agents without resorting to regulation.     

As you will also be aware, between a third and a half of agents belong to voluntary schemes which ensure that members have the right protections for consumers in place.  We always suggest that anyone considering using a letting agent checks to see that they belong to a trade body or accreditation scheme such as the Association of Residential Letting Agents, the National Association of Estate Agents, the National Approved Letting Scheme or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.  In view of the existence of well developed voluntary regulation in the sector, Ministers do not believe that regulation is the answer at present.  But they are keeping a watching brief and information about poor practice is always useful in that context. 

(Extract fromNFOPP Newsletter)

That is the view of nationwide tenant eviction and rent recovery group Landlord Assist.

MD Graham Kinnear said: “We have been closely monitoring the situation and we feel that the landscape for student landlords is about to change significantly. Demographics show that there is to be a decline in the number of teenagers who may be considering university and the commencement of the increased student fees means many are searching for a suitable course at their local university with the intention to stay living at home in an attempt to avoid graduating with enormous debts.”

Paul Hughes, who is involved in the Research Analysis department at Landlord Assist, said: “Student landlords will need to step up their game in order to attract a reduced number of tenants searching for accommodation or indeed consider leaving the student market altogether.

“It is certainly true to say that gone are the days when students would be forced to accept any standard of accommodation. The landlords who are doing well out of this market are the ones providing quality accommodation with decent furnishings, internet connections and the like.”

While the Government felt it unlikely that many universities would adopt high fees, this concept appears to have been misguided and virtually all of them are proposing to charge £9000 or a figure close to that maximum per annum. With the economic backdrop of austerity it is unsurprising that students are considering staying at home and studying in their locality.

Stephen Parry, Commercial Director at Landlord Assist said landlords with properties in many university towns could find a high demand from professional private tenants as opposed to students – although receptions reconfigured as student bedrooms would need to be reinstated and perhaps any furnishings provided be upgraded.

“Demand in the private sector is growing and rents are increasing,” he said.

“Those landlords who see a reduction in demand in the student sector may be able to replicate their income by letting to private professional tenants.”

Source – Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)

The Flight of the Swan

What a wonderful display of talented players – a credit to Brendan Rogers

Great Scott indeed – Calm collected and true

Hopefully not only the Club will prosper, but Swansea s a City will too.

Credit to Jack Army for their support and their behaviour on the day – a credit to the City

We are continuing to update our on-line application process .

We have new forms becoming available that are integrated into Paypal, so you will be able to commence the application process online after viewing a property

for more information please go to  applicant page

Changes to Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the housing benefit for tenants renting privately, were announced by the government in June as part of a drive to stop people on benefits renting properties in expensive areas.

Landlords were asked in the survey whether they would cut the rent, refuse to renew tenancies or evict if tenants could not keep up with their rent payments as a result of the new caps.

Approximately 60 per cent of landlords surveyed said they would not lower the rent by any amount if the tenant could not pay the full rent due to changes in LHA entitlement.

If the shortfall in rent rises to over £20 per week, almost all landlords said they would evict the tenant or not renew the tenancy at the end of the period.

Over a quarter of landlords said they would decrease the number of properties they make available to people in receipt of housing benefit if these changes go ahead.

London Councils’ figures show that instead of forcing the market to accept lower rents, the new caps will lead to even fewer homes being available for rental by people on low incomes.

Those unable to keep up with their rents will either be made homeless, forced to move into overcrowded accommodation, or have to move to less expensive boroughs, putting pressure on services like schools.

As part of a wider package of recommendations to help those most affected by the changes, London Councils is urging the government to increase an existing hardship fund to £18 million from next year.

The organisation is also asking for more powers for councils so they can refuse to pay LHA to landlords who are profiteering from housing benefit.

Article supplied by NFOPP

Houses in Multiple Occupation

The Minister for Housing and Local Government (The Rt Hon Grant Shapps): Today I am announcing the Government’s intention to amend the planning rules for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) which were introduced on 6 April 2010.

I understand the concerns of local people who see their neighbourhoods being damaged by undue concentrations of HMOs and the significant impact this is having on their quality of life.  However there are also many areas where HMOs are not causing problems and indeed provide an important supply of low cost housing.  I believe that the planning system needs to take account of both these differing circumstances and allow for local solutions rather than continue with the present ‘one size fits all’ approach.

The current rules impose a blanket requirement for planning permission in order to change use from a domestic house to a HMO.  When introduced, it was estimated that these rules could result in an additional 8,500 planning applications per year and could lead to a reduction in supply.  This goes against the recommendations in successive reports on the planning system that Government should reduce the number of planning applications for minor development.  It also runs the risk of losing low cost housing in areas where it is needed most.

I believe that we need to move away from this kind of centralised, regulatory approach which has dominated planning in recent years and create a system which encourages local people to take responsibility for shaping their communities.  Decisions should reflect local priorities expressed through the local plan, rather than nationally imposed rules.

I therefore intend to amend the HMO rules to allow changes of use between family houses and small, shared houses to take place freely without the need for planning applications. However, in those areas experiencing problems with uncontrolled HMO development, local authorities will be able to use their existing direction making powers to restrict this freedom of movement by requiring planning applications.  This change will allow the free development of smaller shared housing, which is a vital component of our private rented sector, unless there is a serious threat to the area.

My officials will work through the detail of the proposed changes with interested partners to ensure that the new rules work for local people without placing an unnecessary burden on businesses.

My aim is to have the revised arrangements in place by 1 October 2010.

Michael G. Lewis & Son are in support of tighter controls of the Private Sector, and are proud to be associated with the professional bodies of NAEA and ARLA.

Rob Lewis is an Honoured Fellow of NAEA and was one of the first in the country to pass the Technical Award in Residential Letting and Management

Michael G. Lewis & Son are covered by Client Money Protection insurance safeguarding landlord’s and tenant’s money – somthing that not all Swansea Letting Agents have. Many of the Swansea’s new agents are NOT Regulated at all and therefore your money is NOT safe.

ONLY use an Approved  Letting Agent

TWO Swansea landlords have been prosecuted for failing to licence their rental properties.

Thomas Barry Davies, of Alan Road, Llandeilo, and Paul David Evans, of Killan Road, Dunvant, Swansea, both failed to licence houses they let out as houses in multiple occupation, or HMOs.

Evans pleaded guilty at Swansea Magistrates’ Court to failing to license a house in Woodlands Terrace, Mount Pleasant, and was fined £500, with costs of £445 for the council. Davies pleaded guilty in relation to two HMOs in Mount Pleasant — one in Cromwell Street, and another in Norfolk Street. He was fined a total of £1,250 with £1,056 in council costs.

Swansea Council confirmed it had now received applications to licence the properties.

The council’s director of the environment, Reena Owen, said the authority had successfully prosecuted 11 landlords for failing to licence their HMOs since 2006.

“We want to ensure that HMOs are of a good standard and well managed so that they provide safe and secure homes for tenants,” she said.

“We know there are lots of good landlords who manage their properties well and comply with legal requirements, but we will continue to use the full powers of the Housing Act for those who flout the law.”

More on HMO licensing can be found here

Please note that these landlords were not clients of MGLS Michael G. Lewis & Son

In my previous post I reported that there is to be a change in the Planning Consent needed for HMO’s – Three or more persons forming two or more households

The amendment to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 to create a separate planning class for HMOs. The changes will come into force on 6 April 2010. The changes will only apply to England as Wales has its own devolved powers to deal with these matters.

The statutory instrument to carry out this change has just been published on the OPSI website as the The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Order 2010.

The new planning classes will be as follows:
Class C3 has been amended to cover single households of up to six occupiers.

A new class C4 has been created which will cover HMOs of up to six people.

Properties with more than six occupiers will continue to be outside any planning category.

The Changes to the Planning laws will  bring property into line with the existing definition of HMO in the Housing Act 2004.

This will mean that as from 6^th April 2010 ANY PROPERTY which is an HMO will now need to have a separate planning approval. It has been noted that it will apply to new HMO’s, but needles to say that it will apply to renewals of tenancy AFTER this date. No information is available at present on this area

Even if a License is NOT Required, Planning Consent will be required to use a property in this manner

More and more landlords will now be caught up with this change and therefore costs will rise due to increased paperwork and legislation – it conforming to HMO Regulations, HHSRS, etc.

For Wales, as yet there is no plan to change the legislation on the back of this Primary legislation, however, I can see that it is a way of increasing funds to capital strapped local authorities and therefore don’t rule out similar Planning Legislation in Wales

More information on HMOs can be found at www.houses-in-multiple-occupation.com