Wendy bought her property with a tenant in situ in 2013 and has only once increased the rent and then only by £20 per month. This is not uncommon and landlords who have kept rents low for long-term tenants, often grapple with the challenge of balancing rising costs and maintaining a positive tenant relationship. If you're in this situation, here's how you can approach a rent increase.  

A member faced a daunting situation when tenants left his property in disrepair, with damages and mess far exceeding the amount covered by their deposit. The tenant's unlawful activities, which included hoarding over seven and a half tons of undelivered catalogues, added to the challenges. Faced with this predicament, the landlord turned to fellow members of the PDPLA for advice. Here's how the community offered their insights:  

Legal expert and occasional PDPLA contributor. David Smith discussed on LinkedIn the Debt Respite Scheme and how the moratorium on debt recovery applies when mental health is involved.  Knowing that many members do not have access, but that this could potentially be of interest to all, it is reproduced here...

Have your say  on the proposal to create a 'Mayoral Authority' covering Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (this is different to the parallel initiative which may create a 'Greater Portsmouth Council' encompassing Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham, Havant & Waterlooville (& Hayling) and East Hants.

After the tribunal overturned PCC's decision to reduce a Binsteed Rd HMO from 4-beds to 3-beds and remove an inside loo to make space for 1 kitchen cupboard, we thought it only right to create a ballad to be sung by all at future PDPLA meetings. 

We have long argued that if a Local Authority (LA) wants to increase the standard of the worst rental properties, they should focus on those occupied by tenants on housing benefit or one of its equivalents.  LA's shy away from this because they struggle enough with homelessness without doing anything which would immediately make the problem worse - now the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Raynor has said rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much housing benefit they can receive if their properties are substandard.

At this month's Housing Cabinet meeting, PCC agreed to raise HMO licence fees by 11% starting in April, so if you have one coming up for renewal, make sure you apply in March to get the current price.

Last month we reported that Portsmouth City Council admitted over 1,000 fire safety issues in its property portfolio and major issues with it's EICR policies, see it here. We raised some of our concerns at the February 'Housing Cabinet Meeting' but were assured (or were we admonished) that our concerns were unfounded and PCC are doing a great job.

Hypothesis: We need to make cities denser if we are to meet green targets 

Portsmouth City Council have been admonished by the Social Housing Regulator for 'serious failings' after admitting over 1,000 outstanding fire safety remedial actions and not having current EICRs on over 85% of them (that is about 13,260 homes).

We reported the case of the landlord who let his property to a Rent-2-Rent operator (R2RO) on a contract that assigned all management responsibility to the R2RO, where the landlord was fined £7,500 by PCC when the R2RO was found to have overcrowded the property.See it here.

The good news is that PCC then went after the R2RO who was found guilty in court of multiple misdemeanours and sentenced accordingly. 

After our discussions about 'Making Tax Digital' at the November and January member meetings, we have some comments on what it means for us all from accountant, Sam Stapleton of SJS Advisory who was with us last month. 

In a bizarre decision at the January Planning Committee, Councillors may have bulldozed their own regulations and opened the way for HMO developments without the need for planning approval.

Carianne Wells of Applecore commented, "Anyone looking to increase their existing C4 HMO by 1 or 2 persons into Sui Generis use, has traditionally applied to the LPA (Local Planning Authority) for permission, at that point all the room size standards etc are assessed against policy. After yesterday it seems that both planning officers and committee members are in agreement for the first time that the increase is not a material change, and does not require planning." 

Obviously every house is different, but this one cost £23,000 to retrofit including solar,  batteries and heat pump, it reduced energy usage by 75% and added £90,000 to the property value even though the rooms were smaller - don't believe me, have a look.... 

 Leasing properties to councils, Serco, or other social housing providers is becoming an increasingly attractive option for landlords. These arrangements offer the promise of long-term contracts, guaranteed rental income, and reduced vacancy risks. However, landlords must approach such agreements with a clear understanding of the opportunities and risks involved, particularly regarding contracts, tenant obligations, and financing.