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Landlords demand evidence
on scale of unlawful evictions
Landlords are calling on Government
to seek clear, independent evidence
on the scale of retaliatory eviction
before legislating the problem.
The Residential Landlords Association
(RLA) has welcomed calls by MPs and
peers to hold off on new legislation to
restrict so-called revenge evictions which
could damage the private rented sector.
A new report by a cross-party group
of MPs and peers has called for much
better data on the scale of retaliatory
evictions in the private rented
sector and questioned whether new
restrictions are really necessary.
A private member’s bill to address
retaliatory evictions – where tenants
who complain about the state of
their property are then issued with an
eviction notice – failed to pass through
the House of Commons in November.
But peers are to debate similar measures
as an amendment to the Deregulation
Bill early this year.
And now the All Party Parliamentary
Group for the Private Rented Sector
(APPG) has published a report warning
that, without more evidence to clarify
the ‘bewildering’ variety of data on the
issue, it’s not certain that legislation is
‘necessarily the best tool’.
The RLA said the report offered a
welcome opportunity to consider
the true extent of the problems of
retaliatory evictions before further
action is taken.
RLA chairman, Alan Ward, said:
“Today’s report brings some muchneeded clear thinking to the debate
which should be based on facts and
data and not on hyperbole.
“Retaliatory evictions are wrong and
the RLA condemns any landlord who
engages in such practices. But the RLA
agrees that Parliament needs clear,
independent evidence on the scale of
the problem before it can decide how
best to take the matter forward. The
Minister has admitted the Government
does not have the data.”
The amendment to the Deregulation
Bill would mean that, where a landlord is
given a notice from their local authority
to improve their property, they could
not regain possession of the home for
six months.
But the RLA supports the APPG’s view
that this approach would provide no
incentive for a landlord to rectify problems
swiftly. The report instead calls for a
landlord to regain possession rights as
soon as improvements have been made.
The MPs and peers also call for a time
limit to be set in which a local authority
would have to investigate a tenant’s
complaint. After this, the report calls
for a landlord to regain full rights to
repossess the property to avoid an
indefinite period of limbo for tenants
and landlords alike.
Alan Ward said of this proposal: “It
is simply absurd that the amendment
could potentially leave a tenant trapped
in what could be unsafe properties for a
prolonged period of time.”
Landlords urged to warn tenants about burst pipe risk
Burst pipes are a common problem
over the winter period, particularly if
a property is left unoccupied for any
length of time in freezing conditions.
Losses resulting from burst and
leaking pipes, or faults in a property’s
plumbing system, result in insurance
payouts of £2.5 million every day,
according to statistics from the
Association of British Insurers.
A significant proportion of this
damage is due to pipes bursting during
freezing temperatures and, according to
LetRisks, a specialist provider of property
insurance and referencing services
for landlords and agents, much of this
damage can be prevented by taking a
few easy preventative measures.
According to the ABI, at the height
of the cold spell in 2010, insurers dealt
with 3,500 claims for burst pipe damage
every day. The typical cost of household
damage caused by burst pipes averaged
up to £7,000 during that cold spell, but in
some cases costs were significantly more,
reaching into tens of thousands of pounds.
Michael Portman, Managing Director
of LetRisks, comments: “A burst pipes case
from the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme)
is an acute reminder of the damage that
they can cause to a property. A dispute
arose as a result of frozen pipes which
subsequently burst, causing a ceiling
to collapse and damaging the tenant’s
belongings.
“The tenant had gone to visit friends
over Christmas, only to return to find
significant water damage to the property
and its contents. The tenant maintained
that the heating had been on a timer,
set at the same time and heat level as
when he lived in the property. He had
previously complained to the letting
agent about the old, inefficient heating
system and its high running costs.
“The adjudicator was satisfied that the
tenant had left the property with the
heating set on timer. However, due to the
outdated pipework, it was unclear if this
would have been sufficient to prevent
the pipes from freezing. Therefore, it
was concluded that the tenant and the
landlord should share responsibility for
the damage caused.
22 Landlord & Buy-to-Let Issue 55 • January 2015
“If landlords and agents take a few
simple precautions, they can help protect
their property from burst pipes. For
example, it’s a very good idea to provide
the tenant with specific instructions
about heating the property in cold
periods. Don’t expect the tenant to
assess how the heating should be set in
these circumstances, as they won’t have
detailed knowledge about the property.”
LetRisks \