Great rant from the RLA about Local Authorities

I loved this rant that I read today from the Residential Landlords Association:

The latest campaign news from the Residential Landlords Association

January 2013

Welcome to the January edition of Campaign Watch.

January may herald the beginning of a new year but that has not made the slightest difference to a plethora of local authorities, who are committed to implementing a series of ineffective and bureaucratic anti-landlord policies in 2013.

Whilst 2012 was dominated by Newham’s draconian proposals for a blanket selective licensing scheme (coupled with a blanket Article 4 Direction for good measure), this year could well be dominated by events in Liverpool, where the new Mayor has announced plans for an even bigger licensing scheme than that foisted upon Newham.

Increasingly, the RLA is perturbed at the growing number of local authorities who ignore their own failures to enforce existing rules and regulations governing the private rented sector, and are unable to correctly manage their budgets. Instead, their answer is to add a new layer of bureaucracy that masks these failures and creates non-jobs to keep members of staff employed.

If local authorities truly want to improve standards in the PRS then they should begin to work constructively with landlords – the vast majority of whom provide good quality and affordable accommodation – by encouraging the growth of self-regulating, accreditation schemes. At the same time they should use their armoury of existing powers to hunt down the small number of criminal landlords who bring so much shame to the industry. It is that message that the RLA will be spreading during the forthcoming year, as it continues to challenge these failing councils.

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Hear hear!!

D-Day

For many people they were preparing for the big night out (or in). Ironing party frocks, chilling champagne, and preparing canapes ready to pop in the oven later for when their guests arrived.  Me - I was sitting in the County Court room keen to do legal battle with our recalcitrant and uncommunicative tenant, who I was HOPING would be finally evicted from the property. So at 4pm New Year's Eve there was I in my best Next suit, looking as professional and competent as I possibly could, listening to the judge describe, reiterate, explain and emphasise the law. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to be precise. 

It was not the most exciting thing to be facing on the last night of the year. As I sat there wondering when he would give me an opportunity to state my side of the case,  my mind drifted to what I would prefer to be doing. And funnily enough it was not facing a rather dour-looking man talking to himself, and a dastardly tenant sitting on a bench next to me sheepishly glancing across, hoping for a full reprieve. It was a very short hearing, the majority of which was a discussion of the judge to himself as to whether we had presented the correct documentation for this eviction at the correct time. There is a HIGHLY specific time frame for issuing notices to quit under Section 21 - beware if you get this wrong!

He decided (after much humming and hawing and commenting this way and that without any reference to the other two people in the room - they being me and the tenant) that we HAD followed correct procedures and therefore, he duly passed judgement that SHE (the tenant) had fourteen days to vacate the property.

Yee haw!! I nearly broke out the New Year champagne there and then. Having received no rental payments from her for the last 7 months, funds had been coming from other sources to pay the mortgage on this property and it had not been easy. Which meant that it was only a cheap sparkling white from Aldi that we actually had chilling in the fridge. 

I don't want to celebrate other people's misfortune, I actually have a lot of compassion for this tenant. However, not paying your rent and not communicating about it is a sure fire way to get evicted from a property. 

It was an annoying and upsetting process to go through, but we learned a great deal as you can imagine. The tenant has now vacated the property and we are redecorating and improving it ready for the next phase (including removing the garish wallpaper which was put up without permission - another story)!

Does it make me regret anything? No, I actually feel that this has been an important learning curve for us. We've learnt about the law and the process which underpins its execution. We've also learnt about the absolute imperative to vet and check tenants, and double-check again! We've also learnt that there are ups and downs to any business. Plan for the worst and hope for the best is probably a good motto to have. 

And suffice to say, later that night  we enjoyed every drop of that sparkling white from Aldi!