What would you, as a private landlord like from your local council?

[Waverley Borough Council]

*Please do not post any housing related questions in this thread. If you are a landlord in the Waverley area and have a question please contact us enquiries@waverley.gov.uk*

Dear all

I am a regular poster on here but have created a new account to support an initiative Waverley Borough Council is developing for private landlords.

I would be very grateful if private landlords would tell me what sort of services or information you would like your local council to provide (if you are not in the Waverley area I would still appreciate your input).

This information will help shape a new service we are developing.

Thank you!


If you are a private landlord in the Waverley area (broadly Haslemere, Godalming, Cranleigh and Farnham and surrounding areas) and would like to be added to a mailing list for further information when the service launches, please send me a private message with your email address, stating which area(s) your property is in.

[JK0]

Don't charge council tax on empty property. I don't know about Waverley Council, but mine only gives a month free on unfurnished and none at all on furnished.

What's the result?

My furnished properties still have the original (ten year old) floor coverings and decoration. In view of the change from six months to one month free I am now far less likely to renovate my unfurnished ones either.

Tenants are the ones who suffer, not me.

[westminster]

... an initiative Waverley Borough Council is developing for private landlords.

What is the purpose/aims of the initiative? What problems or issues are you trying to address?

[westminster]

Don't charge council tax on empty property.

Seconded...

[Dottie]

Seconded...

Thirded....

[johnboy]

Don't charge council tax on empty property. .

I agree.

Some councils are charging the full council tax on an empty property with no discount but if a single person lives in the property they get 25% discount. Where is the sense in that. Madness.

[MrJohnnyB]

I agree.

Some councils are charging the full council tax on an empty property with no discount but if a single person lives in the property they get 25% discount. Where is the sense in that. Madness.

The sense is that as private Landlords, by perception of the average UK Voter, you have amassed a vast wealth and as such you can afford a bit of extra council tax!

[josh123]

I am not looking for a confrontation, I append below my personal view following a very recent experience with my County Council

I would respectfully request any County Council to practice what you preach legally to private landlords under the Housing Act 2004(housing health and safety hazards), for example my County Council:-

1) Failures to notify a landlord PRIOR to any form of access a property for such an inspection – Formally notifies landlord after initial visit to property and meeting with tenants
2) Does NOT undertake a thorough property inspection professionally, from my experience the County Council inspector was not suitably qualified to make such decisions on my property
3) Make ridiculous recommendations – To be honest I agree with a couple of minor modifications on my property
4) Request outrageous timescales for the work to be completed and threatens the legal consequences if the work in not commenced

MY $64M QUESTION TO ANY COUNTY COUNCIL – WHY DO YOU LEGALLY IMPOSE THE HOUSING ACT 2004 WHEN YOU PROVIDE COUNCIL HOUSING WHICH DO NOT MEET SUCH STANDARDS.?

Finally I close by requesting any County Council provide the tenants with the correct legal advice on the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, for example:-

1) The correct process legal process
2) Oblivious implications to landlord(penalty) + tenant(S21)

I am sure you are fully aware of both the above Tenancy Deposit implications for both T + L from your previous experience on this forum

[Waverley Borough Council]

Westminster / all

The broad aim is to work more closely with private landlords but we need your input to define exactly what that means.

It would be fantastic to get, say, a top ten of burning issues, whilst not ignoring the smaller things.

Just to add, it doesn't matter whether you have tenants who are in receipt of LHA or not, as long as you are a private residential landlord.

[Ericthelobster]

Some councils are charging the full council tax on an empty property with no discount but if a single person lives in the property they get 25% discount. Where is the sense in that. Madness.

Because (a) empty properties are deemed to be a Bad Thing, and having no discount on CT is perceived to encourage landlords to fill their properties; and (b) the 25% discount was introduced as a specific one-off benefit for single people, it was never intended to be some sort of sliding scale where the amount of CT paid is proportional to the number of occupiers (I think they called that 'Poll Tax', and it didn't go down too well...)

[boletus]

I would like councils to stop routinely advising tenants to cling on to a property and wait for a possession order on expiry of a section 21 notice.

It is self defeating in the long run as landlords who are subject to this treatment often refuse to let to DSS (sic) ever again. And they tell anyone who will listen to do likewise.

It is a short term solution that results in long term problems.

It is bad for landlords, bad for tenants and bad for councils.

I would like councils to follow their own guidelines;

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...841/152056.pdf

The Secretary of State considers that where a
person applies for accommodation or assistance in obtaining accommodation,
and:
(a) the person is an assured shorthold tenant who has received proper notice in
accordance with s.21 of the Housing Act 1988;
(b) the housing authority is satisfied that the landlord intends to seek possession;
and
(c) there would be no defence to an application for a possession order;
then it is unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy the
accommodation beyond the date given in the s.21 notice

[jta]

On an initial application for LHA there is a box to tick to allow landlord to discuss the matter with the council (with my council anyway).

This appears to be forgotten every time there is a query meaning the landlord has to chase the tenant into giving yet another permission to the council.

How about a password being issued to the landlord to discuss a claim on first being given permission?

[boletus]

I would like to see Waverley council (and all others) apply 3 months class c exemption to empty properties.

I would also like them to carry out proper checks when a tenant claims this exemption but retains the keys and possession of a property.

And I would like council officers to be given discretion over raising daft council tax bills for pennies. Common sense should prevail over "computer says no".

Incidentally, who was it came up with Waverley's policy of 50% discount for 6 months? What experience do they have to make this decision? Did they consider how much time and money is wasted by raising and chasing silly bills for £5? Did they consult landlords associations, local landlords and tenants or did they just pluck a figure at random?

[boletus]

Finally,
I would very much like the council to provide free beer to landlords in the Shepherd and Flock pub, every Friday night, in an attempt to rebuild some burnt bridges
- now that you obviously need us a lot more than we need you.

[Ricco E]

The sense is that as private Landlords, by perception of the average UK Voter, you have amassed a vast wealth and as such you can afford a bit of extra council tax!

That may be the case. However, taxation on wealth (through earnings and capital gains) is provided for at a national level. I'm not aware of any change in legislation that allows local authorities to single out individuals doing certain jobs to pay more tax.

I'm aware that central government gave local authority the power to decide their own levels of charges on empty properties. So, the local authority can do what they like. Or can they? Council tax pays for local services of course. It's quite obvious, if you apply logic to the situation, that someone who doesn't live in a property shouldn't pay more than a single person living in a property. It appears that the charge of 100% on empty properties is punitive. As such, it could quite well be challenged in law. I don't have the time or resources myself but I look forward with much anticipation to the first test case.