Independent landlords are “vital” to ensuring a fair and functioning private rented sector, the Housing Secretary says.
Writing in the members’ magazine of the National Residential Landlords Association, Michael Gove speaks of the importance of landlords in providing tenants “with flexibility and choice, and the value for money options that go with them.”
In his article he explains the government’s plans to restructure the sector following publication of the Renters Reform Bill.
Noting that there are few relationships as important as those between a landlord and tenant, he spoke of the common interests both have in a property as being: “a place that can be at the same time a home and an investment, a valued asset and precious security, a shelter and haven.”
“It is vital”, he said, “that these relationships work for everyone, and that we strive to strike a balance for all.”
Focussing on the government proposals including ending Section 21 repossessions, the Secretary of State warns that in the minority of cases where relationships between landlords and tenants’ break down “it is important that the law is there for the victim – whether tenant or landlord.”
Gove pledges to provide “more comprehensive grounds for landlords to recover properties” and to make it “easier to repossess them where tenants are at fault.”
He goes on to promise to improve the system where repossession cases end up in courts, citing the use of “digital platforms” as a way of speeding up the processing of legitimate repossession claims.
And he concludes by declaring that the Government looked forward to working closely with the NRLA “to shape the sector for the good of landlords, and tenants, right across the country.”
Responding to the article, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “We welcome the Housing Secretary’s commitments, and his recognition of the importance of individual landlords. As he rightly notes, the Renters (Reform) Bill needs to work for responsible landlords every bit as much as tenants.
“Without this it will serve only to exacerbate the rental housing shortage many tenants are now facing.
“The NRLA will continue to work closely with ministers to ensure the details of the Bill work for all. This includes campaigning for improvements to the courts system to ensure landlords are not left for months on end where they have a legitimate reason to repossess a property.”
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Is this a joke coming from him?
These lefties haven’t worked with landlords at all.
Or is this the start of a bit of a climb down where some elements of that dreadful Marxist Reform Bill is to be watered down? Admittedly it will not be by much. Anything short of putting it in the bin I’m not interested.
Once again Beatle’s About “welcomes” more nonsense.
So the Bill is totally flawed whether it’s 6 months notice or a further 12 for existing Tenants to become Periodic / Sitting Tenants and Sitting dogs, where is the option for the landlords to get out and hand them Their Property back vacant no questions asked ? never mind if its for your granny’s brothers cousins uncle, just hand it back vacant on that day it s none of your business what we do with
it with your confiscation orders.
I have never known an MP with so many faces. I don’t trust or believe anything he says. He’s a man that would drive a bus over his own mother then look in her pockets for the fare.
Luv it Adrian. Spot on that, he would
Actions speak LOUDER than WORDS / WAFFLE! Totally agree- spot on. Adrian
Gove even stabbed his own mate Boris in the back when Johnson was first trying to become PM.
Though IMO they deserved each other.
BBC Radio 4's 'Dead Ringers' comedy had a long-running sketch series about Gove being two faced. Funny, but unfortunately true.
If we're so vital stop treating us like sh*t.
Yes i am sure that Hitler told Jewish families they were vital to the German economy
Trust a landlord to make this sickening comparison...
Take a Bath, why are you on here? Are you a landlord?
Peter, probably from Acorn or somewhere, by yes in need of a bath.
I think the response is "Don't tell me show me!"
He is a total 🐍 snake , never to be trusted.
Frankly Ben and the NRLA are a joke and should hang their heads in shame for not calling Gove to account instead of letting Gove spout more utter tripe.
Probably paid him an appearance fee plus expenses. He does nothing without personal benefit.
John yo are so right. Where are the hard questions. Many excellent comments above. We know that a good relationship with a tenant is vital, he should worry about our relationship with this useless and pointless Government.
Sorry Mr Gove, but your words are drowned out by your actions which are very much to the contrary.
So also an article this week about Citra (Barrett) selling about 600 homes to Lloyds - Gove trying to keep us on board until he has time to get his corporate buddies in place with BTR.
Exactly, spot on.
Ben is so hospitable and ‘welcoming’ maybe he should be a landlord.
Wonder how many tenants he’s got, seriously
Catherine Wright, you are so Right exactly what I have been banging on about, you hit the nail on the head everyone take note.
Big article on BBC today about Landlords refusing to take families/children. IF they looked back to 2016 pre that slimeball Osborne they would have seen there were ususally a choice of rentals on the market at any given point. When tenants had a choice of properties Landlords could not always afford to be so picky so were more likely to be able to secure a family home. As we are driven out and S24 plays havoc with interest rate rises and therefore rents families will face a shrinking choice and higher rents. As with the NO DSS rulings (which btw were only at County Court level s not binding as a high court ruling would be as I understand it) any legislation prohibiting bans on families with young children will be utterly impossible to enforce. I told my MP that if I have 50 applications I will choose the best candidate for my house meaning most financially secure/least damage. Personally I like to choose people who are saving for their own house as this means they will move on in two or three years allowing me to refurbish and protect my investment and not risking a long term sitting tenant to such a degree. The BBC are asking for comments. I might write to them as a laugh but I know they will only cherry pick the stories that suit their left wing narrative
Also rather sadly I am regularly getting applications from people with two and more children looking to rent a 2 bed house which is simply not big enough or suitable - they do this because they cannot secure anything else. Also have families contacting me on spec to see if I have anything as their Landlords are selling. I am even approached in shops by people who know I am a Landlord! It is desperate
Catherine,
Last month my bailiffs cleared out my bad tenants. As I’m having new locks fitted a lady from across the road knows someone who wants to rent it.
I've been contacted by several former tenants asking if I have anything available. I can't help them.
Almost on a daily basis I get calls from my plumber, electrician, chippy, and uncle Tom Cobbley to see if I've got anywhere to rent. As Catherine says, pre 2015 it was so very different
The Renters Reform Bill criminalises Landlords and introduces a new range of financial penalties that can be levied by the local authority if any of its totally unfair, one-sided provisions are not adhered to by the Landlord. There is a new potential for the local authority to fine landlords tens of thousands of pounds.
47 Financial penalties
(1) A local housing authority may impose a financial penalty on a person if
satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person has—
(a) breached a requirement imposed by section 39(1), (2) or (3),
(b) committed an offence under section 48.
(2)
The amount of a financial penalty imposed under this section is to be
determined by the authority imposing it, but must not be more than—
(a) £5,000, if it is imposed under subsection (1)(a), or
(b) £30,000, if it is imposed under subsection (1)(b).
(3) More than one financial penalty may be imposed under this section in respect
of the same conduct only if—
(a)the conduct continues after the end of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which the previous penalty in respect of the conduct was imposed on the person, unless the person appeals against the decision to impose the penalty within that period, or
(b) if the person appeals against the decision to impose the penalty within
that period, the conduct continues after the end of 28 days beginning
with the day after that on which the appeal is finally determined,
withdrawn or abandoned.
Who would operate a business under those conditions?
...and are the corresponding mega fines for the transgressions of tenants. Oooops those have been omitted!
But don't forget this IS FAIR!
Those landlord fines are just for not being part of the database.
In Nazi Germany the compulsory registration of Jewish property was simply to make it easier to steal
Fines on this scale are utterly and so obviously disproportionate. Given that there are circa 140 other bits of legislation impacting the sector with little prospect that any LL could possibly dot all the I’s and cross the T’s, provides yet another good reason to leave the sector.
Larf! just read this and nearly wet meself larfing!! I'm vital!!
Watch out for the inevitable knife in the back from this proven backstabber.
Let's face it he's never going to come out and say the RRB is bad for Landlords - spun, spin, and more spin.
Gove tells us what we already know, while stabbing us in the back.
Sxxt hits fan as rents go into orbit and properties to let become as rare as rocking horse droppings so even gormless Gove thinks best he pretend not to be a snake.
So at long last the penny is starting to drop on what they have done to the PRS, but sorry pal it is too late to back peddle (not that he really cares anyway, just playing to the audience of the day). At long last there are starting to be news stories about landlords selling up. All much too late, the horse is bolting and heading for the hills
Gove and the Government have squeezed and squeezed PRS LLs to the limit.
Personally I am selling up as they will only continue with more and more squeezing.
Thousands of other LLs are doing the same.
We’ve had enough.
Saying that we are vital to the housing market is very true but the Government hasn’t got the brains to realise they will very soon have very limited PRS LLs.
Properties that the LLs are selling are mostly going to private buyers not to other LLs.
They will realise just how vital the PRS LLs are within the next year when thousands and thousands of families will be turning up at the Council Offices demanding homes to live in.
They will have nothing to offer them so the only option will be Costly B&Bs and Bottom of the market hotels that they will then have to pay for especially of those that have been evicted by LLs due to non payment of rents and antisocial behaviour.
😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂. Has the penny finally dropped? Has the coffee finally been smelled? The sh*t storm they have created is finally coming to the fore... Too late as far as I'm concerned...they will promise the earth and give us nothing....
I wouldn't trust any of them and I'm still selling up.
As with any new law its all about how its interpreted and applied. If we have a Judiciary that takes the opinion that Landlords are a problem then things are going to be even worse than our worst nightmares. Once a precedent is set it will be sited over and over again.
As for Landlords being important to the Government, who else is taxed on their turnover, we're their cash cow.
WOULD THE PERSON WHO HAMMERS IN THE FINAL NAIL INTO THE PRS BUSINESS PLEASE TURN THE LIGHTS OFF.
BY BY BTL.
Signed By
Thousands of PRS LLs.
Gove has realised he has caused a massive problem and Beadles About is welcoming his comments? He should be taking the fkr to task for destroying a perfectly good business model and not challenging him on social housing...!
Both a pair of snakes and why is the Beadle not asking his 100k members for their opinion or even better have an open forum for all 2.6m landlords to comment on.
This is one way traffic for tenants and not landlords.
"NRLA will continue to work closely with ministers " -surely the emphasis should be on representing the interests of landlords not cosying up to (Gove)rnment. NRLA needs to remembers who pays their wages - though I wonder how much now comes from commercial deals rather than landlords? Why are they sitting on £4m and not using it to challenge this antediluvian Bill
NRLA, Let’s hope there are ructions at their next AGM we need to see resignations and new blood capable of actually representing the key interests of LLs
What exactly does NRLA and Property Mark ARLA do for their clients/fees?
Over the past 5+ years they seem to just nod at anything that comes out of Westminster, Property Mark occasionally announce that they have "written a letter" but all in all they have been completely absent at their posts when it comes to representing landlords and agents.
I guess that the directors of each are still collecting their salaries, bonuses and pension contributions?
Allow me to answer that question. Nothing of any substance....!
That's why I'm not a member....I waste enough of my money being a landlord!
He's a back stabbing little creep, I really dislike and distrust this Man. As others have said, he wants help from the very People he is persecuting.
I think that can be said of the whole of the conserative party from the top down all proven back stabbers
Obviously a parody account
Thanks Ellie for Highlighting the Various new ways councils can fine us. I like most of the people reading this will be clueless about all of the subsections no doubt virtually anything will be an offence.
We house 11 million people most of the tenants are Happy and the system has worked well. for decades However for the last few years we are being treated as public enemy number one .
Government policies that are aimed at driving us out are causing the Housing Crises.
Decent Tenants are clearly not benefitting from current policies because there is nothing to rent , and Rents are increasing .
The situation is frightening. The minority of landlords who will choose to continue with their businesses could easily make a mistake with respect to this legislation. That may be particularly true of older landlords who are not using the internet much - if at all.
Beadle seems to be part of the problem. NRLA seems to me to have added little value to a landlords business life in PRS Potentially even damaging it as a consequence of failure to harness the membership and its collective power and opinion.
Maybe we should seek to remove and replace this money making empire due its failure to add sustainable value to the PRS business. Does anyone even pay for this so called Association membership now?
I'm a member of Eastern landlords assoc, they don't seem to be much interested either
The core services of NRLA, like advice line and documentation and their training are extremely good valuable and well worth the £75 - so I wouldnt throw the baby out with the bathwater. But they dont seem to be consulting their membership nor taking their brief from landlords.
I do pay for it because I get far more back in terms of discounts than I pay in. Discount on insured version of deposit protection, discount at B&Q, discount on HMO licensing fees.
Their tenancy agreement is better written than some of the alternatives (although incredibly tedious to keep filling out when your PC won't recognise or install Adobe, it doesn't like something about Chromebooks and trying to do it on a phone is very fiddly). I miss the old days, pre GDPR, when it took about 30 seconds to just change the names and numbers on an existing tenancy agreement stored on the NLA website.
After being a landlord for the past twenty years I have just sold up and am in the process of getting rid of my last property
With interest at the banks going up ( just over 5% at the moment ) just for doing nothing with no hassle, Mr Gove, Shelter, and the four UK governments know what they can do. And the second word is —— off.
Same here. In the game for 17 years. Quickly reached 14 Properties but I could see this coming a couple of years ago.
Now down to just 4 Properties as rentals and if I could sell them all off tomorrow I would.
I used to believe in selling one a year but now the Government are decimating the CGT Allowance I simply will never rent another property out ever again.
They will be sold off without any delay.
As you say, interest rates are rising so now is the time to put money into high interest accounts and be relived that no longer do I have the issue of tenants and being ripped off by the Government.
The Government are the ones that PRS LLs have been propping up for the last 25 years or more.
Soon the prop will be gone and a massive problem of homelessness will be knocking at their door.
They won’t have an answer to this homeless problem and they will wish they hadn’t messed up the PRS LLs.
I'm hot on your heels!
See following article re John Lewis moving into private rentals
This site will not permit links but if you look on Houseladder co uk you will find it under title John Lewis pushes into private rental market with 800 homes under property news newsarticle.aspx?Id=2399
Another lot of Gove's corporate buddies investing in housing because they cannot make money from retail anymore.
ARTICLE SAYS that "Our ambition is that 35 per cent of the properties are affordable housing with a focus on provision for key workers." but then explain "Other features include a resident lounge and dining areas with a fully equipped kitchen to encourage residents to socialise, as well as roof gardens, flexible work spaces and a gym. Residents would have options for short and long-term tenure and the homes would be furnished by John Lewis." I wonder how that will fit with NO DSS ban 😂 🤣
Catherine, if it’s run like the rest of the business they won’t be in it for long. That Crackpot running it has wrecked a brilliant business….
Once she is booted they will say they are changing direction and focusing on the core business etc etc etc
And kids, and dogs and cats, and if you don’t pay your rent or the kids, dogs, or cats, wreck the house never mind they can stay for 18 months until at our expense take you to court whilst the tenant tells the court a jackonry.
I’m at the Landlords investment Show today at old Billingsgate, London Bridge, well attend by hundreds no doubt and several Seminars about various aspects of Buying & Renting.
Mr Paul Shamplina gave his take on what’s happening and I agree with most of what he said but usually at loggerheads with him.
Mr Ben Beadle of NRLA was another one of the panel, spoke quiet a bit about various aspects of Renting & the loss of Section 21, everyone agrees its wrong to Remove it so why do it. Well we know why it’s to drive us out courtesy of Mr Gove.
Later Mr Ben Beadle gave another Seminar solo on the Renters Reform Bill and how it affects landlords, which was very good.
However the whole meeting missed the point completely, have us questioning ourselves and debating with others about the irrelevant Renters Bill, the reality of the economic and housing crisis was not addressed at all.
We are being driven out of Business by Mr Michael Gove and Replaced by big Corporate Landlords & Institutions, like Lloyds Bank buying hundreds of Flats in one go from the Developer when were they ever involving lettings ?, same goes for John Lewis’s, Barclay’s, Pension Funds, L & G, Avivia M&S etc it’s all being carved out for them to take over, no Section 24 for them and in most cases no HM0 license required + their rate of tax is half and their Rent are double. Who would call that fairer Renting, for example I have a one double bedroom furnished Flat in Greenford with parking & outside space minutes for Tube Station let for £920. pcm, a New build one bed high rise modular Flat much further from Station was let last year for £2’100. pcm, this year on Renewal it’s went up to £2’500. while I didn’t increase mine at all.
All in All today was a stitch up squabbling between ourselves while the real issues weren’t addressed at all.
Sitting Tenants & Sittings Dogs, Permanently installed Tenants as long as they want, but can p off at any time they like, and Landlords excluded from any rights to his own Property, shall I go on……
If I had know proper people where going I would’ve made a point of flying back.
Probably find some of the people squabbling had been paid plants to start the argument the other way.
That's been on the cards since 2015. The PRS is too fragmented for government's liking - councils havent the resources (or skills) these days to manage thousands of individual landlords, so the silent agenda is to drive it down and get the corporates to invest. But the corporates don't offer the variety of property styles from the private landlord - and therein lies the social risk of creating mass housing; think Paris and the current riots. Or possibly Brixton and the sink estates of years ago like Sheffield's notorious Hyde Park. History has a habit of repeating itself.
Gove has a communist background and cannot be trusted in any circumstances! The NRLA did not have many members, and l doubt if their are many left. It's basically a government stooge organisation.
I thnk you'll find NRLA has 100,000 landlords
Gove will cross the floor before the next election and Starmer will welcome him with open arms. If the Tories can't spot this fifth columnist in their ranks they are dumber than we all think.
instead of being on huge estates that are lets face it are dangerous after dark, filled with drugs, break ins, muggings, and anti social behaviour on every corner, many private properties are located in private, respectable, safe areas, that is worth an easy extra 25% in rent.
However Councils, and the government don’t take this into account when considering why private accommodation is worth a premium. Many social housing estates are unlawful places where violence rules, and anti social behaviour is rampant. And the police are unable ( because their hands are tied) to maintain law and order.
If private land lords are forced out of the rental market, who’s to say that the estates that the banks will put in place ( high rise low cost, tiny flats will be any better in twenty years time.
These new build to rent properties will be the slum ghettos of the future
NO FAULT is considered good for divorce.
But bad for LLDs and tenants when the former wants to separate.
Illogical!
Used to be if a married couple's relationship had broken down, or one party wanted to get out, to be granted a divorce one party had to be 'at fault'. Then 'no fault' divorces came in and were considered to be a good thing (faults didn't have to be invented to get the divorce, and -usually- wives were no longer trapped in unhappy marriages).
But if the relationship between a LLD and tenant breaks down (they don't have to live together under the same roof, but still share a property) then the current 'no fault' through Section 21 is going to be got rid of in the renters reform bill.
When something is so clearly illogical, it is bound to be wrong.
Wonder if I'll live long enough to see the whole thing go full circle, with some sort/version of Section 21 coming back to encourage people to buy and rent out properties (like in the original Housing Act by the Thatcher Govt.). Because landlords ARE needed. And I was a tenant decades ago, with two landlords as I had to move around for work.
Surely the Government and Councils can’t all be Blind and Deaf to what is happening NOW.
Maybe they think that all the thousands of people that are currently homeless and all the hundreds of thousands that are on the way to becoming homeless is not really happening.
Well let me enlighten you Goves of this world. IT IS HAPPENING AND IT IS HAPPENING NOW.
So wake up you bunch of half wits and get a grip of this massive crisis that is hurtling down the road to land in your lap.
You’ve tried to ignore it but even the dumbest thicko can’t ignore what is really happening.
Bye Bye BTL. You were good to everyone earlier but now the Government and Councils are getting just what they wanted.
I feel sorry for the hard working and honest people of our once great country who are being hung out to dry by these pathetic politicians and councillors.
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