Sorry about the lack of notice – but we have only just been told ourselves.
Tomorrow (Thursday 3rd February), there is some FREE online training available for landlords about the contents of the government’s latest housing White Paper which is looking at introducing some very significant changes for landlords.
The proposals include:
Registration of all landlords (that means you)
The abolition of Section 21 notices
All privately rented homes to meet certain minimum standards of decency
I’ll stress that these are just proposals at the moment – certainly not yet legislation, but if they do get to go ahead, they could have a huge impact on the private rented sector.
The details for the training are:
Venue: Online – Microsoft TEAMS
Date: Thursday, 3rd February, 2021
Time: 1pm – 2pm
The training is provided by the DASH Consortium in conjunction with the NRLA
Christmas is a very special time which if we are lucky we can spend with friends and family in warm, bright, comfortable homes.
Sadly, not everyone has this.
Just imagine waking up with your children on Christmas morning all cramped into 1 bedroom in a B&B. No room for them to play with their toys, nowhere to cook the Christmas dinner, no room for the tree and no hope this situation will ever end.
We have too many families living these half-lives in B&Bs and too few council properties to rehouse them.
This is why we are appealing to you, our landlords working in Sandwell. If you have any voids or any properties becoming available shortly, please consider us and work with us to house a homeless family, couple or individual.
Finally, our apologies that we haven’t posted a blog for several weeks. unfortunately, urgent work priorities have meant that neither myself or Ollie have been available to put any posts out recently, we do hope though to get back to a normal service in the new year and blog regularly about subjects that we know are important to Sandwell’s landlords.
Thank you in advance and wish you all a Happy Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year.
Apologies … some landlords who have tried to sign up to our online landlord forum (tomorrow 21st October – 4.00 till 6.00pm) have been slightly confused by the registration process.
You DO NOThave to be a member of the National and Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) to come to the forum.
All landlords, landlord employees or interested professionals are very welcome to attend whether or not they are NRLA members.
To come to the forum – just go to this link https://www.nrla.org.uk/events/meetings/4608 and if you’re not a member of NRLA just choose the option “Sign up for a free guest membership to enrol for this meeting.”
Please note though that you will need to access the meeting through Google Chrome.
This blog has two editors – me, (Oliver) and Liz. I’ve never owned a pet myself, but Liz is Sandwell’s very own Dr Doolittle. Venture into her house and you’ll find yourself surrounded by guinea pigs, cats, rabbits and all sorts. You need to be careful about where you sit down, something I know to my cost! Her menagerie would certainly be an issue if she were to ever find herself looking to rent a house. Landlords don’t want their properties scratched, chewed or imbued with doubtful smells. Animals, however cute have their little misdemeanours and mishaps. But they don’t have to be a bar to a successful tenancy.
There are already things a landlord can do to make a property ‘pet-proof’ (at least financially). These might be worthwhile if it means getting a good tenant. Before agreeing a tenancy, you might want to negotiate a slightly higher rent than initially advertised to cover extra insurance. The extra amount wouldn’t be that great and a tenant shouldn’t be aggrieved if you are open and clear about why you need to do this.
You might consider a higher deposit. The maximum permissible deposit amount under any circumstances is five weeks rent; you may not exceed this, pets or no pets. That’s the law. But lots of landlords still only take one month’s rent as deposit. If you’re worried about possible damage, asking for the maximum might give you more peace of mind.
Also think about putting more mid-tenancy inspections into your agreement. It’s good practice anyway to have a tenancy clause giving the landlord rights to visit the property to check its condition. A surprising number of landlords don’t do this – which gives rise to many other problems, but that’s another story. A decent tenant won’t see it as an intrusion if you can give sensible reasons.
These are all things you could talk to someone about before agreeing a tenancy. A reasonable tenant will understand that you have risks and need to protect yourself. If they don’t – well perhaps they’re not the one you want anyway and you can let them walk away.
Pets bring people comfort and companionship – even stability. A pet owner is just as likely as anyone else to be a perfectly good tenant. With some forethought and care, pet ownership needn’t stop a tenancy from working.
The Sandwell Landlords Blog 