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Recent news items of interest to local landlords, use the search option above to find specific topics.

Unpacking Labour’s Autumn Budget: Landlords’ Key Takeaways

Gavin Richardson, Managing Director at Mortgage Finance Brokers (MFB), runs through the key announcements from the Budget and discusses how they will impact your property investments.

On Wednesday, 30th, October 30th, Rachel Reeves delivered her first Budget Statement, the biggest tax-raising budget since 1993.

The key change that property investors will be talking about is the surprise increase to the Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge. 

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Recommended Traders List Grows

Remember that members have access to and can update our recommended traders list - so if you come across a supplier or trader who you have used and would use again, do add them to our list and if you have feedback on anyone on the list, do please share - it helps everyone ensure they get a good job at a sensible price and avoid those nightmare experiences which we all seek to avoid.

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Moving On Project - Help Needed

We have supported the Moving On Project in the past and they are asking for furniture donations to help support vulnerable people who have managed to secure a property. - read on for details

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The Impossibility of Building Decent Affordable Homes

  ..and how attempts to do this naturally increase PRS profits.

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The Changing Dynamics of Capital and Labour in Property Investment

In today's evolving property market, the role of capital and labour has taken on fresh significance, particularly in the Private Rental Sector (PRS). Once viewed primarily as assets that generated passive income, properties now demand active management and increasingly high levels of service to meet tenant expectations and navigate stringent regulations. As the property sector becomes more service-oriented, the skills, labour, and technologies required to manage it are also transforming. In this article, we'll explore the changing roles of capital and labour in the property sector, the influence of PropTech, the increasing demand for eco-efficiency, and the need for a forward-looking approach among property investors.

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Venture Tower To Become Student Hall

A planning application (24/01089) has been submitted to convert Venture Tower to a 97 room student hall.   We see this as a speculative application as Savills seek a buyer for the derelict property.

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PDPLA Landlord Insurance

There have been a couple of questions from members this month about our relationship with Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers – how much is the discount, why should we use, etc.The short answer is because the PDPLA depends on you doing so and, if you don't, we will need to charge membership fees but for the full detail, read on…  

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UK Renters’ Rights Bill: The Day The World Changed

Labour promised change - and the proposed Renters Rights bill will certainly change the private rental sector.

In 1989, the 'Buy to Let' market was created with the introduction of the AST (Assured Shorthold Tenancy) which gave mortgage companies the confidence to lend as possession could be easily regained and properties valued and sold empty. This was driven by the need to create a private rental sector to balance the falling investment in social housing alongside loss of stock.

The 2025 Renters, Rights Bill will have a similar and equally drastic impact as it seeks to swing the balance back toward the pre-1989 era where a rented property was a tenant's home for as long as the tenant wanted it to be. As a landlord, you will have to adapt or, if you choose not to – you need to sell before the Bill becomes law next summer.

Sarah Goodwin, property professional and PDPLA committee member has been through the small print of the bill and explains what it all means… 

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The Impact of the Renters’ Rights Bill on the Student Rental Market: Challenges and Potential Solutions

Given that the University of Portsmouth is almost wholly reliant on the local private rental sector for student accommodation in years 2 and beyond and knowing that Scots Universities were turning people away last year due to lack of accommodation after rental regulation changes, the introduction of the Renters' Rights Bill in the UK has sparked concerns, particularly for student landlords. This is highlighted in the discussion between 2 landlords and 2 letting agents summarised here. Their dialogue reflects the uncertainty and potential disruption that the bill might bring to the student housing market, especially concerning the removal of Section 21, Ground 4A provisions, and issues around fixed-term tenancies. This article examines several of these issues and proposes potential solutions to address them, focusing on how the bill might affect landlords and students in the private rented sector (PRS).

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5 Legal Implications from the Renters’ Rights Bill

 Labour plans to better protect tenants with its new Renters' Rights Bill, which includes key provisions like abolishing Section 21 evictions and extending the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS. A summary from Jeni at MFB..

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Is HHSRS Fit For Purpose?

We do love an abbreviation in the property world don't we, the most common ones I see on Socials are BRR, ROI, BMV and so on. Cool if you know what they mean, right? But what is the HHSRS? It's something I very rarely see mentioned on socials yet if you own or manage a licensable House in Multiple Occupation (that's an HMO of course), it is highly likely that the HMO has been subject to an HHSRS inspection at some point (or will be), and it's really important that anyone letting ANY type of property in the UK and Wales is aware of the 'system' and its purpose.

 

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Landlords Call For Plan For Existing Housing

In our response to the Portsmouth Local Plan, we highlighted the lack of a strategy to bring existing housing stock up to current standards and the high rents locally which can be attributed to local policies. We also worried that the support for co-living at the expense of HMOs was at best misguided and at worst, would have even more damaging effects on local rent levels. 

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Private Landlords Housing Homeless Applicants

From time to time we are approached by the housing options team in many of our local authoritys, charities, parole groups and others seeking to house applicants who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Each approach varies, but the typical story will be that you are trying to build links with private landlords who are willing to consider referrals, from your charity or service. Normally from either single applicants or families struggling to find housing in the private rental sector (but seldom couples, by the way).  As we see this situation so often - we thought it appropriate to lay out some guidance for all parties.

Given that such tenants are 30x more likely to default, we argue for mandatory rent guarantee insurance paid for the duration of the tenancy by the local authority or introducing agency.

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Portsmouth: A Cheap Option For Students

A national survey has placed Portsmouth as the 7th cheapest place in the country for students and the most affordable in the South East – affordability is calculated by dividing living costs by average monthly income, and as Portsmouth rates highly for student earning potential in the local community, that does improve Portsmouth's affordability ranking significantly but, the very low private sector rents are also significant.

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HMO Planning – A Load of Sewage?

Members will know that the PDPLA and councillors on the Planning Committee have sometimes disagreed. Well, good news this month as the Planning Inspectorate highlight the fact that Southern Water have a responsibility to handle sewage and a 7-bed HMO in Copnor will not risk overloading the system.  

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Portsmouth Local Plan Consultation (Again)

The Portsmouth Local Plan is the document which drives all planning and development decisions in the city – it defines what can be built where, which sites are earmarked for development and which green spaces are protected. This edition will be in force until 2040 and you have 1 final chance to share your view.   (Lots of updates including on student halls and HMOs plus the introduction of co-living).

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Social Housing Fails

We get fed-up of social housing providers being treated as saints and private sector landlords as demons when all of the evidence is to the contrary...

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Tribunal calls rent-2-rent agent ‘reprehensible’

We have long counselled against 'rent-2-rent' relationships unless the legal relationship is clearly defined and the sub-landlord is known and reputable. A First Tier Tribunal recently awarded 70% of rent to be repaid to a nurse, illegally evicted by the sub-landlord from a property near Croydon.  

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When will mortgage rates come down?

Jeni Browne of MFB (Mortgage Finance Brokers) has agreed to update us on the world of mortgages each month and this month, she starts with the question everyone seems to want to know the answer to – when will rates come down?

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Portsmouth Landlords Rally Behind PDPLA Chairman Amid Calls for Resignation

Portsmouth landlords are rallying to support Martin Silman, Chairman of the Portsmouth & District Private Landlord Association (PDPLA), after a councillor called for his resignation following his criticism of the conduct of councillors at a recent City Council planning meeting.  

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An Open Letter to Portsmouth City Councillors - HMO Issues

Dear Councillors,

Having collaborated with many of you in various capacities and with different organizations around Portsmouth over the years, I wish to clarify my recent remarks regarding a potential HMO Kristallnacht. I understand that this comparison upset several of you, and I apologize for any offense caused but..

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The PRS - Briefing for MP's

One of our Havant members "started to write to our new Labour MP in anticipation but sadly she was just pipped to the post by Alan Mak. A friend knows her personally and thinks she would have been good for our area." Rather than waste it - we include here for any new or returning MPs keen to understand the reality of the sector.

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257 / 2 people / No Licence Needed

This month we learnt that a property converted into 2 flats which technically is a 257 (see definition below) does not need an HMO Licence if it is rented to 2 people or less. Unfortunately, a number of members had already spent many hours submitting HMO Licence Applications for such properties – the good news is that they will get their application fee refunded, the bad news is the time, stress and hassle of the past 9 months cannot be recompensed. We have always argued that no evidence of the need to improve 257's was included in the justification for Licensing and this is just one more example of the struggle even the Licensing team have in deciding what to include and how to handle it.  

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Portsmouth Planning – The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly

 This month's Planning Committee was quite different from recent meetings, yet the outcome was largely as bad as ever and there was one aspect which we can only describe as diabolical.

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UoP Student Housing Go Above & Beyond

Sadly, one of our members recently experienced something we all hope will never happen to us. A student tenant with a neurological disorder in a shared house experienced a suspected fatal episode during the night and was found the next morning by a housemate. 

Our landlord member contacted PDPLA for advice. The positive news from this terrible situation is that, in the words of our member, the University Student Housing team were amazing, so this is just a short plaudit to them in a terrible situation. 

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Excess Cold Kills But....

Do you have an unheated toilet in one of your houses? Beware as in some Licensing inspections, PCC are asking landlords to add some form of heating because of the 'excess cold hazard' in the smallest room.    (This in a 2-storey, 5-bed HMOs that have the benefit of mains gas central heating, double glazing, and other energy efficiency attributes providing an above average EPC score)

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HMO Licensing: From Bad To Worse?

The story of the negative impact of Portsmouth City Council's efforts to "improve" housing standards for a number of poor souls it might be assumed were already at the bottom of the heap in terms of both social support and housing...  

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Tenants Leaving Rubbish Bins On Pavement

We worried that PCC's threatened removal of waste bins if they were consistently left on the pavement would impact landlords and leave them bin-less even where the landlord had paid for a larger bin and the problem was tenant caused and beyond the landlords control.

We need not have worried as you can see from PCC's response below. 

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Housing Standards & Expectations - Then & Now

We seem to constantly debate housing standards and younger people particularly forget how rapidly standards improve - perhaps this reminiscence of one persons housing history will help put things in perspective. 

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Councillors Should Be Ashamed

After this months Planning Committee, where councillor Benedict Swann said Carianne Wells (PDPLA member and director at Applecore, which provides architectural professional services) should hang her head in shame, The News went with a front page headline of 'HMO Anger' and twice published a piece summarising Cllr. Swann's rant.

Read our response  

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Renters Reform Bill - Almost There...

It appears that the Renters Reform Bill will come back to Parliament for its 3rd and final reading in the next few days. It would also appear that the various representations we have made directly and also through and in support of PropertyMark and the NRLA have been listened to with regard to student tenancies, licensing schemes and court reform.

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Beware Fire Alarm/Detector Maintenance

Sadly, landlords are once again at the end of the chain and pick up the workload, costs and risks associated with something as simple as a ceiling mounted smoke detector.  

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TradePoint Offers For Members

In addition to your normal member discount, there are further discounts this month on landscaping, decor, kitchens and bathrooms. Read on for more detail and a reminder of how to get your card if you do not have one.

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Portsmouth HMO Licensing Update

There has been much angst over the introduction of Licensing in Portsmouth, both Additional and the transition of Mandatory to the same process. Whilst we continue working to encourage PCC to improve their solution there are obvious restrictions on what we can or should publish, but a short update on the current situation does seem appropriate.  

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Landlord Insurance - Why?

We have talked about insurance many times, most recently in September last (Better, Best, Boswells - PDPLA News - Portsmouth & District Private Landlords Association)  but an incident this month brought my objectives into clear focus.

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If Only People Understood Section 21 Reforms

We publish here an exchange between Roger Bell the South Hampshire Chair of iHOWZ Landlords Association and someone called Jake responding on behalf of Secretary of State, Michael Gove 

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The Secret Of Property Investing

We all see professionals, experts, gurus and charlatans purporting to be able to help you succeed with property, but do any of them really know the answer or are they all just after your money?  Seven years ago, I saw the perfect answer to how the property market works and what you need to do to profit from it.  Here it is.... 

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Have You Registered For Property Alerts

Since 2015 we have warned members 6 times about the risks of property fraud and the need to register their properties with the Land Registry so that they get alerts of any potentially fraudulent activity - but it still seems that some members have yet to register.  It takes seconds, it gives you peace of mind and it could be the difference between losing a property or not. Do it today!

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Portsmouth City Council Abusing PRS Tenants' Rights

In 2005, my wife Iva and I were renting a house which the landlord was also marketing for sale. When home alone one afternoon, Iva came out of the kitchen and was shocked to find 3 strangers standing in the middle of the lounge. The sales agent had been asked by prospective purchasers for a same-day viewing, he assumed no-one was home, did not call in advance, did not ring the doorbell, but simply entered our home without notice or consent. It was a shocking, traumatic experience for Iva and an unpleasant memory that still gives her the shudders all these years later. That experience informs the way we approach entry when it is needed to our tenanted properties, that is, with great care and consideration for our tenants' privacy and sensibilities.  

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Portsmouth Hates Landlords

Portsmouth has been one of the worst places to operate as a private landlord for many years owing to the anti-landlord policies of Portsmouth City Council, but recent events have taken the problem to new levels - forcing many of the poorest tenants out of the city. 

Gerrymandering? Probably not. But could it be? Yes, definitely.

Read our formal complaint to the council. 

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Licencing Angst

So many landlords see PCC as dark overlords who will hit them with massive fines if they so much as forget to check a fire alarm, they go out of their way to give PCC no cause to admonish them.  And what is the result, the landlords in question experience stress and financial pain and PCC add to their incorrect statistics of how  many rogues they have sorted and how many homes they have improved, when in reality all they have done is wasted the time of local people, pushed up rents and been a drain on the local economy 

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Portsmouth Killed Landlord Business

Portsmouth City Council will no doubt be ecstatic to hear that, having been a student HMO landlord for 20 years (I was one of the first people to join the now defunct PCC Accreditation Scheme) their current policies have killed my business off completely, combined with the increase of mortgage rates, and I am down to my last couple of houses which will also be going on the market. I have also been on StudentPad for all those years who inspected and passed my houses, as did PCC Housing Department when it was run by Bruce Lomax - showing that until recently my properties met all of the standards set by both PCC and the University.

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Portsmouth Landlord Applies For HMO Licence In Less Than 1 Hour!

You would think it was not news – but we have been arguing for 3 months since the new licensing application software was introduced that it is badly written, hard to use and asks for too much information. We have members who have spent 2 weeks trying to get a single application completed. The PCC response has been to largely ignore us and tell us it only takes an hour and then it is done – even when members take all the necessary documentation in and sit and watch while PCC staff perform the task it takes them 2 hours per property.

Well, we need to apologise – after 3 months training and extensive practice, one of our members completed their final application in just 59 minutes and 44 seconds. 

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Propertymark Helps Launch Fairer Renting Group

Portsmouth landlords have been represented at a newly launched Housing Coalition at Westminster. The group aims to bring together landlord, letting agent and tenant organisations among others to ensure a smooth transition after the Renters Reform Bill is implemented. The Housing Coalition held its first meeting at Propertymark's headquarters in London in November 2023 to launch the group in person following several online meetings.  

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Property Insurance Price Jumps

We are seeing alarming premium increases of around 17 or 18% from Boswells. This appears to be in line with or lower than other providers and is being applied equally to our homes and rental properties. 'Consumer intelligence' data says "Quoted home insurance prices surge a record 25.7% in a year". The increase in the year to July 2023 in the South East was 28.4%.

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PDPLA Launches Commons Petition for Specialist Housing Court

The Renters reform bill is now nearing the end of its second reading and will then go to the House of Lords for detailed revision, where there is still time to seek an amendment for a specialist housing court. To find out why this is a good idea follow Alwin's articles on his "substack" (posh blog) account below, but as a spoiler we are asking you to sign a petition, share and write to your MP.

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Right to Rent Landlords' Code of Practice

It is funny, they call it a 'Code of Practice'  but it is actually a newly published draft of the list of things a landlord must do to avoid a civil penalty and a list of exemptions that let everyone else off the hook. 

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Additional Licensing Deadline Looms

Owners of small HMOs and many 257 properties in Portsmouth will need to get their Additional Licence application in by the end of this month. Be warned that the application process is immensely burdensome and is not something you can quickly flash through at the end of the month.

Also, sadly, once you get your draft licence, you will find the licence conditions to be heavily loaded against you – considering any infringement is a criminal offence, that is not good news. We have asked PCC for clarification but sadly, we have been ignored and thus will need to resolve these issues at greater cost to all involved (which ultimately will feed through to rents and impact even more of the most vulnerable in the city). 

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Univ of Portsmouth Re-Opens Langstone Campus

At a Neighbourhood Forum meeting in Milton this month, University of Portsmouth Director of Estates and Campus Services, Tahir Ahmed outlined plans to bring nearly 250 student rooms back into use at their 'Langstone Village' campus at Milton Locks in the city in an attempt to ease the student housing crisis which sees students commuting to Portsmouth from as far as Leeds this year.  

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Disaggregation Dies!

The government has finally seen sense and decided to end the unfair and discriminatory practices of the VOA (Valuation Office Agency) in arbitrarily disaggregating some HMOs into individual units for Council Tax purposes. Congratulations to member and local activist, Daryn Brewer, for championing this issue at the highest levels and achieving this excellent result.  

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  430 Hits