Accrediting Londons Landlords

At LettingFocus, we say the job of being successful as residential landlords lies in the stuff we do each day. It is about the boring detail and it is about our competence in doing the mundane stuff well. Landlords will now have to think about proving their competence via accreditation. And to this end I have offered my help to […]

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Council Schemes for Landlords and the Private Rented Sector are not making an Impact

Councils’ failure to engage with private landlords means families could be needlessly placed in emergency temporary accommodation or out of their local borough. Back in July, the Guardian newspaper published a piece of research I had just completed which showed how councils and housing associations are failing to engage private landlords with their various schemes. I thought it worthwhile to […]

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Private Landlords, Regulation and Accreditation

Private landlords should comply with the rules or accept that worse could be yet to come says David Lawrenson of www.LettingFocus.com. On many occasions I have said that now the private rented sector has grown so big and become so important, landlords must expect there to be no let up in the raft of legislation effecting what they do and […]

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The Private Rented Sector and Some Key Issues for Government

I was quoted extensively at the Guardian Housing Network blog last week and I think it is worth highlighting the key points I made. Why the PRS is in the News 1. The private rented sector (PRS) is increasingly in the news and will remain so, partly because of its growing size and partly because of rising rent levels, which […]

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London Living Rent, Landlord Accreditation and Ken and Boris

David Lawrenson of LettingFocus worries about Ken Livingston’s idea of rent controls and says that that accreditation and registration schemes for landlords are not needed because the vast majority of landlord and tenants enjoy good relations and the minority of rogue landlords will never register anyway. Oh dear, oh dear, I spend a nice day at a CIH Conference telling […]

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Scotland Landlord Registration Scheme Review Makes Grim Reading

A new report on the Scotland Landlords Registration Scheme confirms what we have long suggested – that the scheme has failed on many of its objectives says David Lawrenson of LettingFocus. Many people, in government and elsewhere, would like to see the private rented sector “regulated” more. Of course they often have different ideas about exactly what sort of regulation […]

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Sheds with Beds and Why More Regulation of Landlords Would Probably be a Waste of Time and Money

Synopsis: David Lawrenson of www.LettingFocus.com points out how recent experiences of  “rogue landlords” letting out “sheds with beds” goes to show why more regulation would probably be a waste of resources. As if any more sign was needed that there is a huge shortage of accommodation it must be the emergence of the “sheds with beds” story. It now seems […]

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Accreditation Private Landlords and the Social Letting Agency Model

Key Point: Most private landlords don’t set high value on things like membership of accreditation schemes and property inspections offered by some councils as part of Local Letting Agency schemes designed to attract landlords. They won’t pay much for these features either – especially where a good private let alternative exists. Local authorities must be realistic about what landlords want […]

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