When Michael Faraday postulated in 1851 what would happen here on earth if the sun was moved, say, 10 feet he started a chain of thought which resulted in Einstein"s General Theory which predicted, among other things, the existence of gravitational waves. Faraday"s logic was that the sun and earth are connected in some way by gravity and if one body moved, that would be detectable at or by the other. It wasn"t until Einstein"s General Theory was published in 1915 that a construct for how this might happen was explained - and he named it gravitational waves.

Since the Chancellor, George Osborne, was released from the fetters of the coalition last May he appears to have started a concerted assault on landlords. Whether this be a sensible way to deleverage part of the economy, reduce overall debt levels and stop house prices over heating or alternatively, a pernicious attack on historic Tory voters with a view to winning some easy popularity, collecting more tax from a community that will garner little support from the wider populace while replacing small landlords with easier to deal with corporate bodies is much debated. 

We have discussed various elements of the changes in these pages several times over the past few months but whatever your personal view - unless you fully understand the impact of these changes on your personal situation, we do urge you to consult an accountant and make sure you understand the detail, as all of us will be affected in some way.

Landlords in Plymouth believe they are sufficient in number to overturn their MP's majority and are lobbying to make it so - though the next election could not be much further away.

One item, known as Clause 24 of the Finance Bill is of great concern for any landlord who has financed some or all of his/her letting portfolio with mortgages or similar borrowings. We received the attached and reproduce it in its entirety here - please make sure you understand what this clause means for you and thus what you need to do as a result.

There has been much discussion recently of the Housing and Planning Bill 2015-16 currently passing through Parliament as it will be the 1st major shake up of Housing law since 2004-2006. Veteran PDPLA member Julian Clokie has taken the trouble to summarise the main points of the bill for us. (And anything in brackets is his commentary, everything else is from the Bill itself)

The Bill will become an Act in the middle of the year. For the detailed timetable and for links to the Bill itself:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning.html

In brief:

• Aim to build 1 million homes by 2020 and to transform generation rent into generation buy and to prevent landlords from ruling the roost
• General view that there is no overarching control of the sector
• [Little that I can find about bad behaviour of tenants]
• [Overall effect will be to reduce house prices or make houses more difficult to sell]

PDPLA member Louisa Wearn of Ewemove has allowed us to include this offer for members from her current customer newsletter:

A new book has been published which reveals the 7 costly mistakes most people make when they sell, and a 39 step guide that can help you to sell your house for the best price, in the time frame you want.

The government are proposing to change the system such that instead of filing one tax return a year, you will simply send an extract from your software once every 3 months.  For a small business this is probably a simple change and possibly an improvement on what they do today but for most landlords, who don't have suitable software with which to manage their business, this will make the effort of submitting tax returns untenable.

If you agree with this statement, we urge you to sign this petition: "Scrap plans forcing self employed & small business to do 4 tax returns yearly".

There has been much discussion of the new Right To Rent legislation that came into force on 1st February, which makes it illegal to rent accommodation without first ensuring the new tenant is legally allowed to live in the UK, but what is it the offence?

It is allowing the wrong person to live in your property that is the offence not failing to carry out checks.

As an association, we are attempting to fight off the latest proposed increase in HMO legislation that would increase the number of HMOs requiring licences and renderl roughly 200 small rooms in the City illegal. These are currently let to happy tenants. Tony is the architect of our response to the various bodies involved and following a reminder, Flick Drummond MP has forwarded our concerns to Brandon Lewis, the Housing Minister. The arguments are summarised as follows and taken from our consultation response:

As Portsmouth has one of the highest levels of  overcrowding in the UK, we are very concerned that well intentioned Government measures may have unforeseen consequences. Primarily a reduction in accommodation available to single people on low incomes and the vulnerable.

As it is likely that Portsmouth has more small rooms affected by these proposals than other cities we have concentrated on this part of the consultation. We also have seen and endorse the submissions made by the Residential Landlords Association.

As we sit on the local HMO Licensing Governance Board in Portsmouth, a city that is trying to make 'additional" licensing work, we can comment from our in-depth experience, being aware that what we see here cannot be unique. Thus we have a few comments to make with regard to extending licensing.

The photos were taken in Portsmouth on 14th December 2015 to illustrate the gravity of the situation. The individuals consented and none appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

One lady landlord has become so incensed by the recent changes that she openly wrote to Grant Shapps, her MP, and her letter has been widely shared on social media.  We include it below unedited as she summarises the impacts of recent changes so well.

The Salvation Army are running another local event for private landlords. Michelle White, their project coordinator, said,"I would like to meet private landlords who will accept housing benefits or are thinking of renting to claimants in the Portsmouth or surrounding areas."  The event runs from 10:00-14:00 on the 5th April at...

We have been informed that Mr Edwin Haddock (Ed) of Taylors Estate Agents formerly operating from 135 London Road, North End, Portsmouth, was made bankrupt on 11th November 2015. We have spoken to the Trustee in Bankruptcy, and they say that at this stage they know very little but are gathering...

The Bishop of Portsmouth has urged the government to think again on stamp duty rises aimed at hitting the buy-to-let market as reported in The News this month.

The Rt. Rev Christopher Foster used a Lords debate on the autumn statement to warn ministers the issue was more complex than it appeared and vulnerable groups in society could be penalised as a result.

Since the new website came online all of our members have been able to manage and update their own account details. Each time you log in you will be taken to your profile page. Some of the things you can edit or update include:

• Username
• Email address
• Phone number
• Address

It is very important to keep these details up to date as they are the basis not only for our communications with you (for minutes, newsletters and more) but also for other member benefits like Tradepoint cards and RLA magazine subscriptions.

Twenty two of our members learnt to test portable appliances last month (known as PAT or PAT Testing) when the team from Quick Test came down to Portsmouth to train us.

Increasingly local authorities and groups such as the University specify that appliances from kettles to washing machines need to be tested and apart from the cost, many electricians hate the task and so it can be difficult to find one willing to do the job at a time when you need it done. Now some of us can do it ourselves using the PDPLA owned equipment.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published a technical discussion paper setting out proposals to extend the mandatory licensing regime for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and speed up the licensing process. The proposals apply to England only.

The discussion paper builds on the measures to tackle rogue landlords and evict illegal immigrants that the government announced in August 2015.

The PDPLA are advertising the post of PDPLA Administrator. This is a paid role on a sub-contract/self-employed basis for an individual who will spend around 4 hours a week including attendance at 2 meetings per month, administering the business of the PDPLA. This to include: - preparation of meetings including speaker...