Upad Blog » Legal

Portsmouth landlord fined £12,000 for sub-standard housing

Simon @ Upad — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:00:32 +0000

A Portsmouth landlord has been ordered to pay £12,000, for letting an unsafe house. The student accommodation in St James’s Street, Portsea had sleeping accommodation that was too small and cooking facilities that were sub-standard. Fareham magistrates’ court found the company guilty of failing to comply with two housing prohibition orders, and failing to provide Portsmouth City Council... Read more

£100k lettings agent fraudster escapes jail

Dan @ Upad — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:15:59 +0000

A lettings agent who defrauded tenants to the tune of £137,660 has escaped a jail sentence. Brandon Weston of Premeier Places Lettings located in Worcester and Redditch used tenancy deposits from 203 tenants to fund other business projects. Weston pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud between 2007 and 2009. An accomplice, Chris Williams, pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery. Weston... Read more

New HMRC tax guidance on rental income

Dan @ Upad — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:48:43 +0000

Don't get too excited, but word has reached us here at Upad Towers that new guidance has been released by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) related to taxation on income from property. The new information is published in the Trusts, Settlements & Estates Manual (TSEM) at TSEM9000 to 9978. We're reliably informed that much of the recently released information is absolutely new, has... Read more

Coroner calls for tougher smoke alarm laws

Dan @ Upad — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:46:29 +0000

West Sussex coroner Penelope Schofield has called for tougher laws requiring landlords to fit smoke alarms inside rental properties after a woman died in Lancing. Mary Moss, 64, was killed in a blaze at her rental flat last august after dropping a match on the floor. Although she had a battery powered smoke alarm in the flat, it had no battery installed. Schofield says she will be writing to... Read more

Another daft idea… Conservative calls for register of tenancies

Dan @ Upad — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:00:24 +0000

John Moss, Conservative candidate for the London Assembly has proposed an online register of all private tenancies, believing it to be preferable to a register of landlords. Tenants and landlords would also be encouraged to rate each other under the scheme. Moss also says that the register would help the HMRC collect tax revenues from landlords. Moss says: “Tenants can look up a property to... Read more

Ask Upad: Do I need a special bank account for my landlord earnings?

Dan @ Upad — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:00:55 +0000

Q: I rent out a 2 bedroom flat in London. I receive the rent by bank transfer monthly into my personal bank account. Do I need a special bank account for my landlord earnings? In particular, I don't want to incur the expense of a bank account if I can avoid it. A: There are no legal requirements to have a specific, dedicated bank account for your landlord earnings. It's perfectly permissable... Read more

Student tenants: What’s fair wear and tear?

Dan @ Upad — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:00:10 +0000

Exams are looming and the dissertation's done. For students, the academic year is almost over and soon students up and down the country will be moving on or back home and leaving student digs. And one thing every student wants is their deposit back in full. We have a couple of tips to help you. Plenty of tenants (and doubtless quite a number of landlords and lettings agents too) think that a... Read more

The cost of letting out a sub-standard property

Simon @ Upad — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:00:37 +0000

A landlord has been ordered to pay £30,000 in prosecution costs because his property was considered dangerous and sub-standard. In additional to the financial penalty he was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 12 months and made to complete 200 hours of community service. The Coventry landlord Steven Boote failed to comply with an Improvement Notice from Coventry City Council... Read more

£42,000 of tenants’ deposits stolen

Simon @ Upad — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:30:30 +0000

A lettings agent has gambled and frittered £42,000 of his tenants’ deposits away on gambling and lap dancing nights. He raided his company’s bank accounts to fund the trips. Moorfoot Estates, the company Brendan Taylor worked for were at the sharp end of his out-of-control habit. Taylor owned the business which went bankrupt during the prime time of his misdemeanours. He continued to run... Read more

Green party leader wants more energy efficiency rules for landlords.

Dan @ Upad — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:22:58 +0000

Leader of the Green Party and the MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas, has criticized the government's "green deal" and claims that it doesn’t go far enough to tackle poorly insulated privately rented accommodation. Under the terms of the currently proposed law, from 2015 tenants in accommodation rated E or less on their EPC, can request reasonable improvements to improve the energy... Read more