Property Matters. The Oak Tree Centre. Lightmoor Village, Telford. Come and hear our TWO speakers, Next Meeting Tuesday July 12th 7.00 p.m.

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1 IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS Housing Benefits (Landlords) Benefits & Council Tax Environmental Health (including noisy neighbours) Domestic violence helpline Environmental Maintenance (refuse, pest control, abandoned vehicles etc) Environmental Maintenance (Roads, signs, lighting, footpaths etc) For Electricity suppliers For Gas suppliers Planning Enquiries Private Landlords/Tenants Kathy Hawley Police or (Emergency ) 999 Crimestoppers Transco (if you smell Gas) Princess Royal Hospital or (Shropdoc in Emergencies) Please advise us of any other important numbers you would like listed above. All information and advice in this newsletter is given in good faith. Wrekin Landlords Association accept no liability for actions or damages arising from its content. Future Meetings July12 th October 11 th will be at The Oak Tree Centre, Lightmoor, Next years Annual Dinner May 12th 2017 Representatives of The Wrekin Landlords Association can be contacted on : TENANT REFERENCING CHECK (Paul Spiers) The Chairman, Mr. Bernie Lewis Chairman@wrekinlandlords.com Treasurer, Mr. Paul Spiers or write to WREKIN LANDLORDS ASSOCIATION, The Cornerhouse, 57, High Street, Madeley TF7 5AT Summer 2016 Property Matters The Official Newsletter of the Wrekin Landlords Association Next Meeting Tuesday July 12th 7.00 p.m. The Oak Tree Centre. Lightmoor Village, Telford. Come and hear our TWO speakers, TONY MILES And JULIE WOOLFENDEN IN THIS ISSUE... TENANT DEBT INCREASES ABANDONMENT ISSUES WALES LANDLORD LICENSE I M BACKING BRITAIN SECTION 21 CHANGES BREXIT EFFECT 20 Website:- My life in Property Needs your stories. NOW!

2 CONTENTS FRONT COVER Meeting 12th July LHA Rates for Help for tenant debt. 4 ENERGY EFFICIENCY 5 Abandonment problem 6 Did you know? Rentsmart Wales. Members say and Recommendations 8 10 Laugh it off 11 I m Backing Britain 13 Future meetings 15 EU effect 16 Benefit tenant fears. Section 21 changes. 17 Community Project. 18 Classified Ads 19 Contacts 20 2 Chairman's letter. Dear Members Before I start we have had some landlords say they are having problems downloading their News letter, if this is the case with you please elet me know. So this is Summer and as they say there is never a dull moment when you are a Landlord. We had a fantastic Annual Dinner, as the letters on page 10 will attest, good food, good fun, good company, loads of prizes and a very worthwhile evening overall.. Whilst the EU Referendum has overshadowed many of our former concerns it doesn t mean they have gone away, but the uncertainty they is currently of concern to people now that we have voted to leave seems to have overshadowed all previous worries. I refer lightly to this subject on page 16. Meanwhile we must attend to our own properties and the change in legislations etc. Are you aware that there have been changes in the issue of section 21 notices, our one speaker Julie Woolfenden will be covering this at the meeting on 12th July. Our other speaker will be Tony Miles who is a top accountant and will be giving tips on how to set up your property business, the structure, the tax impact the systems to use and may well have some tips about future impact of the proposed changes and how these may affect our businesses. We look forward to seeing you all there. Kind regards Bernie Lewis. For Newsletter info or btinternet.com ACCOUNTANTS Telford, Harvey & Bates ARCHITECT Nick Hatton BUILDING Steve Holford Rob or TN Builders SMJ Carpentry CARPET SUPPLY & FITTING AST (Dawley) Mark Atwell fitting CARPET CLEANING Shropshire Carpet cleaners Butlers Dry clean carpets CLEANING Make It Sparkle Vortex Cleaning CONDENSATION Enviro Vent DECKING Chetton Timber or DECORATING Williams Friendly Services DOUBLE GLAZING Safeway or ELECTRICIANS Simon Bird or Tye Electrical PB Electrics or APS Electrical (Simon) ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTS. Hugh Sopwith Tim Gough Phil Bowen FENCING D W fencing or GAS SERVICE Gastec, Dave Emberton M.C. Services Kieth Salter eplan Energy CLASSIFIED ADS GARAGE DOORS Steve Barratt NSURANCE Alan Boswell Brokers INVENTORIES Integris Proerty Solutions JOINERY MANUFACTURERS Christian Roussel KITCHENS Kitchen facelift Co.(Martin) LAWN CARE Mal MAINTENANCE David Smith Flat Roofs (D. Hems) Jag of all trades (mobile) Bailey s or Keith Williams PEST CONTROL David Watkins PLASTERING GS Plastering PLUMBERS David Battye Brian Tarr (reliable) PLUMBING SUPPLIES PH Boiler Spares M.R Bathrooms & Fires PROPERTY Abroad Steve and Helen Ruth & Stephen Barry & Linda PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Wrekin Property Management REMOVALS Recyclex or Man with a Van SEWAGE & DRAINS Mayglothing Waste SURVEYOR Terry Nutt If you have any recommended tradesmen please let us know 19

3 HOLIDAY APARTMENT, LOS ALCAZARES, COSTA CALIDA, SPAIN 2 Bedroom apartment on small complex with communal swimming pool. Walking distance to shops, restaurants and beach. Cheap flights to Murcia airport (10 mins from apartment) flying from Birmingham & East Midlands, Ryanair, BMI Baby, Jet2, Airport pickup available. For more info, pictures, and availability go to Ref: number or contact Barry & Linda Smith or barry.linda@blueyonder.co.uk Prices from 195 per week. Shropshire Community Project An organisation that gives it s profits to local charities and projects by raising funds and providing resources to support those in our community that are in need of help, who believes that no-one should ever face a problem on their own. New furniture Shropshire s biggest not-for-profit New Furniture Retailer, available to buy online and in store. Honest everyday low prices and free delivery. thefurniturepeople.org.uk Facebook.com/thefurniturepeople Used furniture Profits go to support Your Community. Delivery available, donations of used furniture welcome, we will collect for free. shropshirecommunityproject.org.uk Facebook.com/Shropshirecommunityproject Telford Community Store Unit 5, Forge Retail Park TELFORD TF3 4AG Shrewsbury Community Store Riverside Mall SHREWSBURY SY1 1PJ Your Help towards a better Community Current LHA RATES (Telford & Wrekin Area) Category Max. Weekly Max. Monthly Shared Accommodation Bedroom Bedrooms Bedrooms Bedrooms The above are the maximum Local Housing Allowance rates used for calculating Local Housing Allowance. The number of bedrooms is based on the tenant s family make-up and age and not on the number of actual bedrooms in a property. For more information please visit the LHA pages at: benefits or Telford and Wrekin Council s Customer Services on When it seems all uphill, remember the downhill s coming.. Or click the link on your website 3

4 TENANTS PERSONAL DEBT INCREASES. HELP THEM NOT PUNISH THEM CAP is an award winning charity, recommended by TV s Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis. that offers free, face-to-face debt counselling to all. Almost 90% of clients pay all their bills & debts, including rent, on time, every month, with the same number saying that the help given by CAP was life transforming or at least a great help. CAP visits people in their own homes, negotiates with any creditors and supports people right up until they are debt free. The service is available to anyone regardless of age, faith, gender or background. In the UK, there are over 270 CAP Debt Centres and we have one in Telford. So local people can access the service locally. To find out more, call Christians Against Poverty s freephone number or visit Benefit tenants to lose out Housing Benefit tenants are set to lose out on private rented homes as landlords look to tenants less prone to missing rental payments, in order to minimise the impact of last year s Budget. According to the latest research from the National Landlords Association, (60 per cent) of landlords report that the Chancellor s decision to remove mortgage interest relief from 2017 as in George Osborne s July 2015 Budget will reduce their profitability. In order to recover costs, 20 % of those landlords say they will need to prioritise other tenancies over those perceived to be higher risk, such as housing benefit tenants. Tenants on housing benefit are typically viewed as riskier because of high incidences of missing rental payments, caused in part by the widening gap between market rents and the amount of benefit available to claimants. In the last year, two thirds of landlords who let to. tenants in receipt of housing benefit experienced rent arrears. Furthermore, over the past four years, the proportion of landlords who let to these type of tenants has almost halved, with the trend looking certain to continue. The findings are worrying news for tenants who are increasingly unable to access social housing and rely on the private sector for a home. Richard Lambert, C. E. O of the NLA, said: The private rented sector (PRS) has undergone considerable growth and improvement over the last decade and it needs to continue to do so in order to meet the needs of the growing, broader-based renter population. Many of those who once would have expected to live in social housing have to compete for private homes with other types of tenants. It s a real concern because a significant sector of landlords may have already chosen not to let to tenants who receive benefits because the perception is they are too risky. Rightly or wrongly, young professionals and/or working families are seen as more likely to be better payers and less hassle to manage. The removal of mortgage interest relief from 2017, combined with the government s benefits freeze and the reducing availability of social housing, will create a perfect storm whereby some tenants will struggle to find any sort of housing at all. SECTION 21 notices changing There have been a number of changes made with regard to the issuing of section 21 notice for the removal of Tenants. This legislation had a number of false starts and differing intentions throughout it s course, many not making it through parliament in the required time and some being added on a later date. It is therefore not entirely clear to the layman landlord just what is and what isn t required at this point in time. It for this reason that we have invited Julie Woolfenden along to our meeting on the 12th July to help clarify the whole sorry mess. If you are intending, now or in the future, to use a section 21 notice to regain your property it is vitally important that you have all the details correct at the that time. Hope to see you there (see directions on page 15) 4 A representative of CAP will be at our Conference 11th October STAY SAFE! STAY LEGAL! 17

5 Eu exit! How will it affect us. The whole situation at present is so malleable that it is difficult for anyone to correctly predict how this move will impact on the future. However some have been bold enough to speculate some of the following scenarios: There might be some reduction of demand at the top of the market in London from foreign buyers, although this may be tempered by a lower exchange rate, making the UK seem more attractive, from an overseas perspective. Unless the EU actually implodes, it is difficult to see the EU lessening their adherence to the free labour movement (as a condition of any future deal they do with the UK). So we cannot necessarily expect big reduction in the number of foreign workers coming from the EU to the UK. This means there should continue to be strong tenant demand. IF the economy does weaken as some predict, then possible lower incomes and the increase in uncertainty about the future could lead to falls in house prices and rents. IF first time and second time buyers hold back from house buying because of fear of the future, this will lead to increased rents as those people choose to rent not buy. Possibly less new house building (due to house builders fears) would mean higher house prices due to supply shortages. Osborne s previous tax attacks on landlords have scared off new entrant landlords and resulted in many others selling out or downsizing their portfolios. Less supply of rented accommodation leads to increased rents, once the Stamp Duty rush has worked it s evil way through. Don t forget house prices are driven by a number of different things. The main drivers are the level of supply of different housing types, the size and the make-up (age / class/ household size) of local populations, the level of real incomes, the cost of borrowing, the level of general price inflation and future expectations (and hype!) about house prices and rents. The National Landlords Association CEO Richard Lambert, said: Let s just everyone, take a long, deep, calm breath. Leaving the EU is completely unknown territory, and jumping to conclusions isn t going to help anyone. We welcome the Mark Carney s steadying words and his reassurance that the Bank of England and the Treasury have extensive contingency plans in place to ensure the country s financial stability. Any knee-jerk reaction will have a real impact on our members mortgages, tenants rents and overall confidence in the market. So we would urge the policy as regards to interest rates should be, to continue the Prime Minister s analogy, one of steady as she goes. Thank you Richard my sentiment entirely see page 13. LANDLORDS ENERGY EFFICIENCY! From April 2016 tenants have the right to request for improvements made to their homes, to make it more comfortable and energy efficient. From April 2018 private rented properties have to reach the minimum standard E rating on the energy performance certificate. All energy efficiency measures must be adhered to by all Landlords. This could include: Cavity wall Insulation, Loft Insulation, Boilers Solar P.V. Panels and so on. To check out your properties and what funding is available you might like to call Shropshire Green Energy Centre who have secured and partial funding available for some of the above issues on individual properties (subject to a FREE, NO OBLIGATION SURVEY, eligibility & and current EPC. Their telephone number is They can be found at Shropshire House, Dawley Bank, Telford TF4 2BS Other suppliers and services are available. Local Based Company Providing recycling and waste disposal. Also sameday delivery and collection anywhere in the U.K. For Landlords, we specialise in House or Garden clearance, waste removal, all responsibly certified disposal, guaranteed no Fly tipping. For House removal we offer Man and a Van. Free quotes given. Call today to discuss your project on: / sameday@recyclex.co.uk sales@recyclex.co.uk Website: Fully licensed, anywhere in the U.K. 24/7 16 5

6 Abandonment a problem for landlords. Around (37 per cent) of landlords in the West Midlands have had property abandoned by tenants before, according to new figures from the National Landlords Association. Abandonment occurs when a tenant moves out of a property before the tenancy has ended, without informing their landlord. The issue can be costly as it often occurs when rent is owed. Unfortunately, the tenant still has a legal right to return and take up residence at any time and it is a criminal offence for landlords to prevent the continuation of the tenancy. The only option for a landlord is to go through the legal process for regaining possession of an abandoned property which can take months. (See section 21 notices on page 17) The percentages vary across the country, with Wales being near the top with 56% Housing and Planning Act which contains measures to tackle the problem recently received Royal Ascent. Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA, said, The process of recovering an abandoned property is too long, frustrating, and costly for landlords at present. Many people will be shocked by just how common this problem is, and landlords will be relieved to know that the Housing and Planning Act will create a new process to deal with the issue, giving them far greater security and peace of mind when recovering properties believed to have been abandoned. The Act also contains proposals to allow local councils to keep hold of the proceeds they make when carrying out landlord prosecutions as well as introducing stiffer civil penalties and banning orders for landlords found breaking the law. Mr Lambert continued: We ve long argued that councils should be able to hold on to the money they make when carrying out landlord prosecutions as this better enables them to implement long-term enforcement strategies to tackle the rogues. The Government missed the chance to apply these changes in the recent Queens Speech, but we hope they will waste no further time in giving councils these important powers. M.R. Bathrooms & Fires Cuckoo Oak Green, Madeley, TELFORD, TF7 4HT Future Meetings Please note: The next meeting is 12th July 7.00 till 9 p.m at : The Oak Tree Centre, Lightmoor Village, TELFORD TF4 3EG See directions below FULL Range of plumbing & heating products, Boilers, radiators etc. Copper tube, fittings (inc TDC plastic adaptors) tools, bathroom suites, showers, surrounds, taps, wastes etc. We also have a range of fires and fire surrounds available in our showroom. Tel: TENANT REFERENCING CHECK (Paul Spiers) We look forward to seeing you there at 7.00 p.m. 15

7 SIMON BIRD ELECTRICAL SIMON BIRD ELECTRICAL SIMON BIRD ELECTRICAL SIMON BIRD ELECTRICAL 24 HOUR EMERGENCY CALL OUT SERVICE Simon Bird Telford s Live Wire Domestic * Commercial Industrial Electrical Installations and Maintenance Part P building Regulations Approved Periodic Inspections and Testing Portable Appliance testing telfordlivewire@hotmail.co.uk Proud to work with Wrekin Landlords Telford Fax mobile Make it Sparkle Cleaning Services Covering Shropshire and Staffordshire. End of tenancy deep cleans and/or clearance. Spring cleans, weekly/fortnightly cleans Carpet cleaning, builders clean up. Oven cleaning Interior painting and decorating and basic DIY Fully insured and CRB checked Phone Sharon Kelly A competitive company built on honesty and reliability sharon.heath1@yahoo.co.uk 14 Telford Energy Savers:

8 Landlord Registration/Licensing in Wales Since 23 November 2015, all landlords operating in Wales must become registered. Landlords have until November, this year, to comply with this new obligation. All people who deal day to day with tenancies doing letting and management, i.e agents or property Managers must be trained to get a licence. A landlord who must register could be an individual, group, or even a company (depending on how the property is owned). If the property being registered is in joint ownership, one lead owner must register it. A landlord registration costs if completed on-line, or if you choose to make a paper application. This price does not increase if more than one rental property is part of the registration. What rental properties must be registered? A landlord must include the address of all rental property in Wales, that they are the landlord for, in their registration. This will be the address of all dwellings rented on an A.S.T. or regulated tenancies and subject to a domestic tenancy, all of which will be required to be part of the register. Once a landlord is registered; what then? A landlord s registration lasts 5 years after which time they must re-register. During that period a landlord must keep the information within it up to date. By law, the following changes in information must be notified: Any change in name or correspondence address; contact telephone number; address or other contact information provided as part of the registration Any change (either that someone has started or ceased) to undertake letting and/or management at the registered rental property (for which they would need a licence from Rent Smart Wales) Any changes of interest the landlord has with the rental property, for instance if they sell a registered property or transfer ownership etc. If a landlord acquires another property subject to, or marketed or offered for let under a domestic tenancy in Wales they have just 28 days to add this to their registration. To find out if this affects you please visit : There are details of: Courses and training available. How to register How to self manage. Many people are opting to hand their properties over to a management agent, tell us of your experiences please, if affected. 8 Did you know? I M BACKING BRITAIN I m sure many of you can remember the I m Backing Britain Campaign back in 1968, when we were encouraged to promote British Companies, to buy British products and in general get behind our own country and make it a name to be proud of. Well I think it s time we did that again, to face up to the decision that has been made and with TRUE BITISH BULLDOG spirit take the attitude of You ve made the decision, NOW make it right. There is no point in all these calls for have another referendum until we get the result we want. All that does is muddy the waters of uncertainty and confuses, the markets, potential investors and the value of the pound. We have, over our lifetime, seen enough self fulfilling prophecies creating an unnecessary recession. If you talk something down enough, some people will say There is no smoke without fire, so we had better be careful before we commit to spend, invest, borrow, move, employ, expand or whatever, and simply by doing that create the stagnation that recession thrives upon. However, of course the opposite is also true, that if you talk something up enough, people will have faith to buy, to expand, employ and invest, thus creating, once more, the self fulfilling prophecy but this time of prosperity. As Lord Digby Jones, former head of the CBI, said on Central news The people of Britain have put their democratic view before money. So now let s make sure that it is about money, success, the future, prosperity and yet still about democracy. One of the problems, at present, is that anything that happens, then it must be about the referendum, ignoring the fact that many of these things were started long before independence day. If someone sells an investment property it is far more likely to be related to George anti-landlord Osbourne than leaving the EU. My advice is KEEP CALM AND KEEP BACKING BRITAIN See also Page 16 13

9 WREKIN LANDLORD SERVICES LTD PH Boiler spares Ltd is an independent sales counter situated on Stafford Park 15. Open to both the trade and the public alike it is owned and managed by Ian Cull a qualified Gas service engineer. PH Boiler Spares Ltd pride themselves on the personal service they provide and technical knowledge of Plumbing and heating. They stock an impressive library of boiler spares and a diverse selection of plumbing YOUR PROPERTY IN SAFE HANDS Paul Spiers B.A. (Hons), ACMA, CGMA, LL.Dip (Laws). Supplies. Call in today and see, Where those in the know Go! Worester PCB A-Rated Circulating Pump paul@wrekinlandlordservices.co.uk wrekinlandlordservices.com. Parts centre Price PH Boiler spares Heating controls 5 Meter head pump. Code: PUM015 Only Need an EPC? Speedy delivery of your EPC...Professional and personal service Liaise with agent/tenant, if required...wla trusted supplier since 2008 Contact: Hugh Sopwith Tel: or Mob: hughsopwith@gmail.com It s that simple! Alpha Divertor valve Parts centre Price PH Boiler spares Unit C2,Stafford Park 15 Telford,TF3 3BB Tel: Fax: sales@phboilerspares.com 22mm Mid position valve. Code: MIDPOS007 Only Toilet components Only Opella Syphon Code: CIST024 All prices inc VAT and are valid till 1/1/2015 Comparison prices are taken from Parts Centre web site 27/09/ TENANT REFERENCING CHECK (Paul Spiers) 9

10 Members Say We have had so many messages regarding the Dinner I only have room to put few down here: A big thanks for another great dinner, I certainly appreciate the amount of work that goes into it. Paul Thanks you so much for organising the dinner on Friday, you obviously put a lot of time and effort into it. We thoroughly enjoyed it and very much appreciate your efforts. Paul & Kim. As ever thanks for your hard working putting this together to enable us to all get together to discuss the wide world of property. Steve & Helen. An amazing time last night big, big thanks to Pat for doing an outstanding job of arranging it all :) Simone Yet another superb annual dinner. Vernon. A really enjoyable night, good food, good fun, and we really liked the Mark Rees who played everything just right and the quiz was ideal, Thanks John Another really great event again, which we all enjoyed so much. We had a lovely time & met some great folks, as we always do. Thanks Rob & Ann. Like many people, my wife and I are concerned at what effect the Leave the EU result will have on our property business and future potential. David. Hi David As I m sure aware it is very early days at present and apart from the knee jerk panic, nothing has really happened yet. I have outlined a few possible scenarios on page 16 but at present it is very much a case of gazing into a crystal ball. We will update you as and when we have any serious advice. Kind regards Bernie RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations for William Friendly Service (See Decorating Page 19 I was so pleased to see the recommendation for Williams Friendly Service in the Spring Newsletter. I have used Steve many times on my rental properties and my own private house. I never cease to be impressed with his work, speed, tidiness and pleasing manner, nothing is too much trouble for him. He has done various little odd jobs too which hardly come under the remit of decorating, He really is a good chap. I thoroughly recommend him. Regards John. 10 LAUGH IT OFF For the kids. Teacher asks Name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago. Rebecca answers Me! No monkey business. Statistically speaking people eat more bananas than monkeys, if you don t believe me, when was the last time you ate a monkey? A warming thought. A sweater is usually put on a Child when the Parent feels chilly Worth a second glance. Time might be a great healer, but it s a lousy beautician Cutting remark. A little boy is asked When George Washington admitted chopping down his father's cherry tree, why do you think his father didn't punish him? Because George still had the axe in his hand. Replied the boy. Tenants say. Can a man come and look at my cooker as I afraid of elocution. Do you remember? When Coffee was called Camp and came in a bottle.? D SMITH BUILDing Ltd Member of the Telford and Wrekin traders register. * Renovations ( all aspects undertaken personally ) * Fencing. * Damp proofing * Driveways. * Ponds and landscaping.. No job too small or big. Competitive rates. Checkout my website for testimonial dsmithbuildinglimited.co.uk Or: Ring now for an inspection and competitive quote