Stanley Property London

Patrick's Property Politics

I do feel rather old...

Friday 13th May 2022

By Patrick Bullick

...and not just because I have recently turned 57, and probably look it.

 Another reason is because I actually thought Prince Charles looked quite young when giving the Queen's Speech on Her Majesty’s behalf. Perhaps that was actually because he had the air of a truculent teenager - hating the Tory twaddle he was reading.

Reason three – is because I remember why Margaret Thatcher passed the 1988 Housing Act. Prior to 1988 landlords could not easily get their properties back from private tenants. The net result was that few people wanted to be landlords, as they might never be able to get vacant possession. Plus, their property was down-valued by having what were known as ‘sitting tenants’. Sitting tenants do pay rent but those rents are governed by the Fair Rent Act - fair to the tenant that is.

Sitting tenants still exist today. Clinging on to flats and houses which they have been renting cheaply since before that great date in 88. It is neigh on impossible for a landlord to get rid of a sitting tenant, even when they are clearly not using it as their main residence, as happened with a flat my mother had.

Anyway, the reason why I raise this is not because I am particularly averse to any particular sitting tenant. In the aforementioned, grudgingly delivered, Queen’s Speech, The Govt. has (again) announced that it intends to completely get rid of Section 21, which is the statutory 2 months' notice that a landlord, wishing to get their property back is obliged to serve on the tenant.

Pushed along by the likes of Shelter, their argument is they wish to stop ‘no fault’ evictions. So how does the landlord get their property back? Only by showing fault? This is a nonsense. Most tenants are perfectly good, paying their rent diligently on time and causing no nuisance. Property lawyers will end up being as aggressive as divorce and litigation lawyers, and they are no fun.

By all means lengthen the notice required - as happened temporarily during Corona Chaos. 

By all means lengthen the landlord's minimum commitment from 6 months to 12 months, or even two years. But let us not go back the seventies and eighties when getting vacant possession was a nightmare and as a consequence, there was only a very limited private rental sector.

How does it help tenants to cause a limit to the already short supply of rental properties?

 As with any shortage of supply, prices will go up. Funnily enough, London landlords in particular, might welcome this restriction on supply. It will serve to push up rents even further, thereby increasing their returns.

We older agents remember the way round sitting tenancies in the London market was to do ‘company lets’ with ‘permitted occupiers’ and where the company was too small or bought off the shelf for the purpose, those permitted occupiers stood as guarantors.

We can always revert to that - if we must.

PB.

Sign up for market updates

Other articles you might enjoy

Just A Minute: Right Turn
Just A Minute: I Give Up
'C' How You Like It MPs?
Just A Minute: Cleverly Done?
Just A Minute: Consecutive Conveyancing
Bad Budgets & Behaviour
Just A Minute: Rachel Reeves Rumours
Just A Minute: Councils Building Council Houses
Communism and the Civil Service
Just A Minute: A View from the Fish Tank
Just A Minute - Landlords leaving under Labour
Market Trends and Tax Challenges
Just A Minute - PB's Plea to S'Kier
Is PWT APT for the UK?
Just A Minute - LonRes Lowdown
Goving, Going, Gone.
Just A Minute: Foreign Investment Fury
Savvy Supermarkets
Just A Minute - Forever Home
To Sell or Not to Sell? That is the Question.
Will the Scottish Shambles lead to a Labour Landslide?
Just A Minute - Property Taxes Under Labour
Vested Interests Strangling UK Property
Just A Minute: Non-Dom Taxes & London
I'm not my usual furious self. Why?
Just A Minute - ONS Statistics Seasonal, Surely?
Budget Leaves Landlords Bereft
Short-Let Sh*t Show
Just A Minute - Short Let Shambles
Easy Access In Old Age
Share All The Sh*t
Just A Minute - Renters Revenge Bill
Stop Buggering-up Brexit. Drop taxes and Build, Build, Build.
Are We Missing A Trick?
Just A Minute - Interest Rates Shocker?!
Happy Christmas - Enjoy Election Year!
Tories Trash 2023
KC3 & the Right to be Free
Just A Minute - Inflammatory Interest Rates
Best ways to make money from London property
Steer clear of S’Keir?
Just A Minute - AirBnb and long lettings
Is it Smart To Invest in Repossessions?
It isn’t just Parties & Prostitutes
Banks take Tenants to the Dark Ages
UK House Prices - August Review
Death, Divorce, Downsizing & Now Debt
Just A Minute - Pitfalls of the Politically-Exposed...
Rates of Interest in London - It’s Not a Horror Show
The Sharks are Circling
Why AI!
Just A Minute - Stamp Duty Is Silly Money
Tenants in Double Trouble
Just A Minute - Renters Revenge Bill
Farmers Forked by Skier?
Renters Revenge Bill
Just A Minute - 100% Mortgages
A Clear Steer from Skier (Starmer)?
To Inherit or Be Gifted ...that's the question!
Just A Minute - Questionable Question Time
KC3 and the Winds of Change
Doom and Gloom - Get me a Broom…
Just A Minute - Spring Budget
Rising Rents and our Muppety Mayor
Help to Buy - Time to Die
An Englishman’s Home is his Castle
Ignore the lot of them and Grind ourselves to Growth!
What new Hunts-Trick can we expect in the Budget?
Housing is a Step Up the Ladder
Are We All Scots Now?
Fill a Field vs Brand New Towns
Happy Christmas in Troubling Times
ER ll
Too old to 'Rock & Roll' but too young to die.
Strangle The Supply, Throttle The Treasury
Jeremiah was a Bullfrog (Joy to the World)
Modern Mini-Manifesto
Patrick's BBC Wake Up Call
Rishi Rides to the Rescue
Pension ‘Professionals’ cause Property Problems
Conservative (Ms) Communication & Catastrophising Keynesians
Even The Rich Benefit From Equity Release
School Schedules Suck
Perils of Predicting Politics and Property...
Ride the Wave of the Short-Let Sh*t-Show
Sushi or Sashimi - or the Vampire Squid that is HM Treasury?
Short Sadiq & Silly Lets - Sorry, wrong way around perhaps?
Tory Tw*ts & their Terrible Taxes
Where's The Get Up and Gove?
Tony Blair: An old warmonger with ideas
Lovely Jubbly Jubilee!
Far from falling – Central London flat prices may be about to take off.
I do feel rather old...
To Landlord or Not to Landlord? That is the question.
The impact of rising gas prices and Russian sanctions on the central London property market
Contrary Views & Bullshit
School gate Skills Scandal
1st quarter 2022 prime central London market analysis
Does Rishi Sunak's statement promote Spring growth?
Air-Source Heat Pumps - Hot Air for London
London Property Market. Less a Laundromat - more an Airing-Cupboard
Childish Chelsea Chanting
As interest rates rise, the rental investor still wins
ONS predict UK population growth plateau. Is it a demographic time bomb or a tax-easing gift horse?
No gains – No tax. Typical Treasury Twittery
Arrange a free market appraisal of your property

Send us your details and we’ll give you a call to arrange a convenient time to appraise your property:

Your details

Thank you for your request.
We’ll be in touch soon to arrange your market appraisal.

Thank you for your request.
We’ll be in touch soon to confirm your appointment.

Thanks for submitting

Share this article
Sign Up For Market Updates