Lettings News Round Up
A round up of Lettings news & views
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has called on the government to reform its Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme as soon as possible.
LHA was introduced in April last year with money for housing costs going to tenants to pass on to their private landlords.
But the NLA say that many tenants are not handing on the money, leaving landlords out of pocket.
David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA, said: “Tenants’ right to choose to have their housing benefit paid direct to their landlords must be reinstated immediately.”
He warned that the current problems were also hurting tenants, as landlords were beginning to refuse to let their properties to those who qualify for LHA, as they are fearful of potential rental arrears.
Earlier this month, Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association, said that he thought the government was currently “out of touch” with those working in the residential lettings sector.
He said a perfect example of this was its recent decision to treat holiday lets as unearned income under taxation laws.
lettings agents busy upto christmas
Letting agents and landlords are likely to have high levels of tenant activity in the run-up to Christmas, with 65 per cent of tenants looking for new accommodation hoping to move in before the end of the year.
The sustained high demand is a contrast to the typically quiet periods experienced by landlords and letting agents at this time of year.
But with tenants currently cautious about purchasing their own home and rents expected to increase next year, December is expected to be a busy time for those in the residential lettings sector.
Phil Calderbank, director at Lettingsearch.co.uk, the company which carried out the survey, said: “All signs are pointing to high levels of market activity right up until Christmas itself, which is great source of seasonal cheer for lettings professionals, allowing them to cut down on void periods.”
Last week, Rics predicted that rents will rise next year due to a drop in the number of rental properties coming on to the market in the third quarter of 2009.
