Landlord Licensing - licence for councils to print money.....

Nearly 90% of landlords in England are private individuals who are responsible for 71% of all private rented households. (source: Landlord and Buy-to-let magazine issue 46). By 2016 it is predicted that one in five households will be in the private rented sector.



The West Winds, Newtownards - The observant will notice the wall separating the public and private sector houses Attribution: Photo by Albert Bridge

The Residential Landlords Association are reported in the Landlord and Buy-to-let magazine as saying institutional investment will not be enough to secure all the homes the country needs. It has called on the Chancellor to support the army of small landlords. Amongst the suggestions of Alan Ward, Chairman of the RLA are measures to boost the supply and quality of homes available to rent. He says "our recommendations would help unlock the enormous potential for the army of individuals who rent out property to expand and create more homes and through this, they will be feeding more resources back to the Treasury."

At the same time, local councils are trying to penalise private sector landlords rather than encourage them. Waltham Forest have been trying to bring in a controversial scheme of compulsory licencing throughout the borough. They claim that the private rental sector is responsible for anti-social behaviour within Waltham Forest. The private rented sector makes up one third of homes within the borough (source: Guardian-series 21/3/2014).

The original idea was to charge landlords £500 per property rented out, although there was no indication how this money was to be used to tackle anti-social behaviour. Indeed the landlords who paid the licencing charge were also charged with policing and disciplining their tenants. So, the proposal would lead to the council rolling in extra cash while forcing Landlords to tackle anti-social behaviour at their own expense.

Following a campaign by Waltham Forest Landlords and Victor Michael Letting Agents, the cabinet voted to assess the scheme and bring proposals back to the table after council elections in May.

We will have to wait and see what they decide.........
 

Run Rabbit Run

The DeVere theatre company has returned home to the Good Fortune theatre to start rehearsals for its next production.

 It is the first day of rehearsals and already there has been a change to the schedule. The part of the dead body is now played by Buck Mailer violently killed as he stood in the spotlight, stage centre......

Want to work out who did it?
Visit ITM Games to buy the dinner party game and find out.






Mystery Parties and Murder Mystery Parties are available from www.itmgames.co.uk
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