Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Protect tenants ?
BBC: New scheme 'to protect tenants'
Does anyone believe this has been created to protect tenants or to create more revenue and tax for the private owned BoE, sorry, Government.
Posted by doomwatch @ 09:31 AM (638 views) Add Comment
6 Comments
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1. paul said...
Its not making any money for the government - it appears to be voluntary (as ARLA membership is voluntary).
I suspect that the government is trying to get the scheme off the ground at zero taxpayer cost (because there is no more money I suspect) so has pushed the issue onto ARLA. The question is - what will happen to all of the dodgy landlords who are not ARLA members?
I'd cautiously welcome this scheme - the government can't get things wrong all the time. At least it will discourage the casual landlords who decide they'll have to rent because they can't sell their house.
2. str 2007 said...
I smell an election.
They'll be a little something for every group of people worthwhile courting.
If there are 1 million BTL motgages, there must be at least 2 million houses in the letting system.
Average 1.5 voters per household and there are 3 million votes in this system as against maybe 250,000 BTLers.
But I doubt the BTLers will be left out, there'll be a little something to attempt to win those votes aswell.
3. Mark said...
Are they going to impose higher standards of repair on private landlords than are enforced in practice with council housing? Will added costs force up rents - or reduce supply of social landlord properties, and hence increase demand for council housing? Watch too for discrimination between social landlords and others. How many snoopers, with what powers, will be promoted by this? Membership of ARLA doesn't inspire - consider how many rogues are authorised under the FSA. My suspicions are that this will turn out to be mainly about government interference and increased tax take, and offer very little real benefit to tenants.
4. doomwatch said...
Sounds like it's more geared to protect landlords from lettings agencies going under owing cash.
Paul, if HMRC get a looksee at the ARLA register, it will cetainly help in their march against the income and capital gains tax dodging BTLs. It's a shame the HMRC don't also crack down on the weathly who buy property via off shore "loans" and "companies" to avoid massive stamp duty.
5. charlie brooker said...
The scheme may very well be an HMRC exercise masquerading as a tenant's protection scheme but nonetheless it may make some landlords feel uncomfortable an inclined to sell up.
Hopefully the scheme will also include some way for tenants to inform the state to whom who they are paying rent, just in case their landlords accidentally forget to do it themselves.
Expect a website www.grassonyourlandlord.gov.uk
6. Crashwatcher said...
@1 - 'At least it will discourage the casual landlords' - Having been a casual Landlord in the early nineties because I was in negative equity and could not sell. At least I was letting a property that I would live in myself so could vouch for it being a decent place to live. Commercial landlords are the problem because they bey the cheapest seediest properties that are really only fit to be pulled down then procede to let them to people who are desperate to get a roof over their heads.