🏠The Renters' Rights Bill Opportunity: How To Do More Deals From Landlords w/ Lottie Foden

Welcome everyone, welcome to your weekly property talk show brought to you by Propertyfilter, hosted by myself, Guillaume Black, your favorite Frenchman, the CEO and co-founder at Propertyfilter. As you know, it's the UK's highest-rated platform to find deals, and we're on a mission to empower our investor members to find thousands of deals again this year like we did last year, thanks to the Propertyfilter Blueprint. And really, the purpose and the idea with the Deal Finder Corner is to give you more and the best of what's available right now in terms of inviting expert guests who will share with you the latest, most current strategies, tactics, and secrets we're actually working right now in terms of finding and making deals and the reality of systemizing and running a high-performance business in property. So really, it's my pleasure to introduce you to Miss Lottie Foden on today's Deal Finder Corner. So Lottie is the founder of Your Keys Letting based in Stratfordshire, is it?

Yes. Staffordshire and Cheshire.

Uh, a modern— so it's a modern letting agency built on the genuine belief that property works best when people come first. And with almost a decade of experience across every role in lettings, she's seen firsthand where the system succeeds and where it fails landlords and tenants alike, you know. So there's very much a context with today's conversation around the Renters Reform Act and what it means for us, and I'm really looking forward to hear more on that. But you'll see she's deeply passionate about connecting the right people, sharing honest advice, helping landlords invest better in their confidence, clarity, and long-term vision. And if I talk for myself, the way I run my portfolio, it's only possible because of the great people who manage the properties. I don't speak with tenants, etc. So your deal will, you know, you make or break your deals based on how good or bad is your agent basically. So, and then we'll find today So the context really with today's episode is to have a clear breakdown of the Renters Reform Act and what it means for us, for our portfolios. But I'm even more interested about what it means for us when negotiating with landlords who are exiting the market, you know. So Lotti will take us through steps you can implement to stay compliant, protect your portfolio, and the things you can say to landlords you are negotiating with when it comes to you taking over their property, tenanted or not, and, you know, the problem and fear there might be. And you'll find that with today's honest and frontline guidance, we'll cut through the fears of, you know, the fear-based headlines, I would say, that we've seen, you know, around the renters reform act. And you'll have the insights from someone that's managing those issues on a daily basis. So you walk away with the knowledge, the confidence to be going out doing more deals, solving landlords' problems, and making sure you are one of the professional landlords who stand out on the other side of it. So very much looking forward to hearing Lottie's presentation today. So please join me in giving Lottie a massive virtual welcome. Hello!

Thank you for having me, I really appreciate it. As Guillaume said, I'm going to be covering the Renters' Rights Act, which is a little bit of an unknown area for some people. Not everything has been announced yet, there's certain elements of it that are still to come into play, so hopefully today I can answer most of your questions. There will be some things that I won't be able to answer because it hasn't been announced yet, um, but at least it will give you a clearer idea of what's happening, what's going on. So I'm just going to try and share my screen with you so you can see my presentation. Um, please bear with me, I might be young but I'm not a tech genius.

I know, don't worry, I suck at it, I suck at it too, right?

So I'm good at letting property but not when it comes to sharing my screen. So let's have a look.

Yeah, that was— I think, have you got the one screen on?

I'm just swapping it over to the right one.

Awesome.

Can we see this?

Yep. Yeah, perfect. Thanks so much.

Brilliant. So, um, I've tried to keep it as nice and simple as possible. I'll run through the presentation and then I'll do a Q&A at the end, and hopefully I'll be able to answer everything for you. Um, this should help landlords that are starting to get into their journey, um, or landlords that have been doing it for a long time as well. So just a quick overview, the Renters' Rights Act, if you haven't already heard of it— I'm sure you would have if you're on this call— is a major reform of the rental sector. It is designed to give tenants stronger rights and protections, and unfortunately for some landlords, that does mean that if you're not fully compliant or on board already, there's a lot of work that you'll need to do to get the right documentation and things in place. This includes increasing compliance and responsibilities for landlords, and letting agents can play a vital role guiding landlords through the changes. You may be an investor that manages your own portfolio. If you do, I really recommend getting in touch with your local letting agents or becoming a member of the NRLA if you need any guidance on what you need to do yourself. Or if you do use a letting agent, make sure that they're up to date with the Renters' Rights Act as well. And feel free, if anybody has any questions, to reach out to me. I'm more than happy to help anyone. So I'll start with new tenancies. So there will be no more fixed-term tenancy agreements. So currently you can tie your tenants into a 6 or a 12-month agreement. As of the 1st of May, every single tenancy agreement across the country will be swapping over to periodic. So that means month by month. So when you're signing new tenants up, they won't be for a fixed term. If you're currently in the process of setting up a new tenancy. For example, I've got tenants that are due to move in next week. I'm still currently signing a fixed-term tenancy agreement for 6 months, but as of the 1st of May, that will override it and it will become periodic. Landlords will also only be able to take a maximum of 1 month's rent upfront. So currently, landlords, for security, if people have got bad credit or if you've got an overseas tenant that doesn't necessarily have a credit score in the UK just yet. Most landlords tend to take rent up front. You won't be able to do that moving forward from the 1st of May. So we're just waiting on guidelines on what we can do to get extra security when choosing tenants of that nature. Pets cannot be refused without reason, and I'll talk a little bit more about that later on in the presentation. And landlords cannot accept a higher rent than the advertised price to reduce rental bidding. Bidding— that should say wars— bidding wars. Um, so if you market your property for £1,000 per calendar month and you get 6 tenants interested, if somebody offers you more rent, legally you're not allowed to accept it. You have to accept the advertised price or below. And that's one that not a lot of people are talking about at the moment, so that's something to be aware of when you're marketing a property. What I think I'll see in the market is rents rising because of that. So agents or landlords will be more mindful about what advertising price they're going for. At the moment, you can put a property on for a little bit cheaper to drum up more interest, and we won't be able to do that moving forward. So I do see a slight increase in rents for that particular reason when they're advertised. Am I going too fast or slow enough? Is everybody okay with this so far?

It's great for me.

Brilliant. I have a habit of talking quickly, so I just wanted to make sure.

Oh, you're used to me, which I'm the worst at it, and I've got an horrible accent.

Glad it's not just me. So probably the biggest talked about section of the Renters' Rights Act is the end of Section 21. So the no-fault eviction will be abolished. Landlords must use a Section 8 with valid grounds to regain possession, and notice periods do depend on the grounds used. I get a lot of landlords panic about this at the moment, and what I will say is you don't normally evict a tenant without a reason anyway. So the main reasons for getting rid of tenants are you need to sell property, you need to move back in, um, there's antisocial behaviour, or there's rent arrears. And these are all covered under the Section 8 grounds anyway. In regards to the time and the notice that you need to give tenants, it does depend on which ground is used and how you can prove it. So documentation and record keeping is critical. For example, at the moment, and this might change, antisocial behaviour there isn't a set guideline on how much notice you need to give a tenant. If it's rent arrears, it's 4 weeks' notice, and if it's that you're going to be selling the property, it can be up to 4 months' notice to give to a tenant. We're still waiting for the official guidelines to actually confirm the notice periods, but that's just a rough idea of what will be happening. On the flip side, tenants will need to give 2 months' notice to vacate. Currently, in most cases, it's 1 month's notice at the moment, so that will be doubling. And because it's not a fixed-term tenancy agreement, tenants can give notice to vacate at any point during the tenancy. There will be stronger grounds for Section 8, so they are tightening up on this. Expanded reasons for landlords to evict are persistent rent arrears, selling or moving, antisocial behaviour. And you must make sure that your evidence and paperwork is watertight. I've been a letting agent for just over 8 years now, so I've seen time and time again landlords come to me and they haven't got the right compliance certificates, they haven't even got a tenancy agreement. So it's really important that regardless of whether you're managing the property or not, you make sure you have your documentation in place because if your tenant doesn't vacate and you need to go to court, there's something as simple as not issuing the prescribed information when a tenant moves in, your case could be thrown out and you have to start again. So it's really, really important that you make sure you've got everything that you need. Your local letting agents will be able to help you with that, or I can as well if you want to reach out to me. Tenants' rights to request pets. So this is again another big change. Tenants can request to keep pets in their rental properties, and it cannot be refused without a valid reason. So if it's an apartment and the lease says that you can't have pets, that's a valid reason. If you've got a genuine allergy and you cannot inspect the property, and as long as you can prove it, that's a valid reason as well. But we can't say no to having a small dog or a cat in a typical type of property. The tenancy fee ban did stop us from forcing tenants to take out tenants insurance and pet insurance, but they are editing that to make sure that you can take out pet insurance. So there's that option as well. So if your tenant does have a pet, you can ask them to prove that they've got extra insurances in place. Personally, whether or not that's going to make a difference to if there is damage caused, I don't think it will make a huge difference. It's really important that you keep on top of inspections in your properties if your tenant does have a pet. I say to inspect your properties anyway, but I do think making sure that inspections are done timely and you're really thorough with your inspections, that will help manage any damage that can occur. Property standards and the landlord register. So there will be a national landlord register that will be introduced, and there will be stricter standards for rental properties as well, and more accountability and transparency expected. So, um, we will be having to provide to councils or to this register details of what rental properties you own, are they compliant, and letting agents will need to do the same thing as well. Agents can manage compliance checks and keep landlords ahead of the deadlines, but is really important that regardless of whether you've got an agent or not, to make sure that you know what you need to be doing. At the end of the day, if you're a landlord of a property, if you have an agent manage it, you are still liable for it. So if that agent misses a certificate or doesn't give you the right advice, you are still liable. You can't just rely on the agent to do everything. So it's really important to make sure that not only are you reviewing your rental property, you need to review that your agent knows what they're doing and is doing it as well. Rent increase rules. So this is another change. Rent increases will be limited to once per year, and you will have to do it via a Section 13 notice. That Section 13 notice is a piece of paper that sets out what the current rent is, what the new rent will be. It's a really nice easy form to fill in, and you can get it from the government website or your agent can issue it. And it just means that the property documentation is given to the tenant. The new rent must be fair, market-aligned, and give the proper notice. One change is, is currently if you serve a Section 13 notice, you can give the tenant a month's notice. That will be changing to 2 months' notice. So if you think that your property is currently due a rent increase, my advice would be get that renting increase done as soon as possible because you can do it quicker. As of the 1st of May, it will be 2 months' notice via a Section 13 notice. Agents' advice on strategy and how to handle communication with tenants will be helpful. I always find that having a good, honest, clear conversation with the tenant when you're serving a rent increase really helps them absorb that better. What does it mean for landlords and investors? So it is a higher compliance burden and risk of self-managing. There is increased tenant awareness of their rights and a strong need for accurate records, communication, and legal processes. Professional management reduces the risk and protects investment and returns. And there's a lot of scaremongering going on. I like to think that if you're on this type of call, you're going to be a good landlord because you're investing in finding the right deals into your own knowledge, and I would like to think that you'd pass that on to your property and your tenants as well. Um, I listened to a podcast earlier on, and it did say that there's 92% of tenants leave on their own accord anyway. So they've given notice because they've got a new job, they need to move to a property that they can afford if they've lost a job or something like that. So the statistics are really that if you've got a good compliant property, your tenant will naturally move on themselves anyway. There's only a small number of tenants where you need to serve notice, and we all hear about the horror stories, and it is tragic when something like that happens. But if you're compliant and if you've got good communication with your tenant, your risks are severely reduced. Does anybody have any questions at all? I'll try and stop screen sharing.

Good for me for now, and I don't see any questions in the chat. Have you got more to cover?

That's it from me for now. The issue is, is there's not— the timelines keep changing. So we were told in January that we'd get a tenant information sheet that we can give to tenants, and legally all tenants need to be given this information sheet. We haven't had it yet, so there's still a lot of unknowns, but my advice advice to people are keep watching webinars, keep watching podcasts, reach out to me if you've got any questions. But I kind of covered all the biggest bits at the moment.

Thank you very much. And so I think for we— what we see is a lot of existing landlord or small-time landlord, uh, sort of, you know, like responding to the headlines. And as you say, you call it yourself, you know, the fearmongering around this. It is the biggest change, you know, since, you know, 1988, the Housing Act, etc. There's quite a lot of change, and a lot of people don't really want to learn the new thing. But, you know, it took us 15 minutes to go through the whole thing, you know. So, you know, the, the only certainty in property is that there is always going to be change, you know. So, um, you know, you can, you can adapt and be the professional one and solve all these problems and, um, and make, you know, make the most of buying properties from those who just respond to the headlines that don't make the effort to spend 10 minutes to understand what's, uh, what's involved, you know. And I've— what do you think is the sentiment, you know, of, uh, the landlords you work with, or the— some, some landlord sentiment, you know? I've, I've been hanging out with some of the NRLA, you know, people, um, for, for a while, and it was like, you know, the world's gonna end, you know. Uh, and it's like, what, what is it that the people are fearful, fearful of, really, with this change?

I think, I think it's the unknown, and a lot of people are scared that they're not going to get their tenants out of the property and having, you know, an increased risk of the timelines, I would say, is probably the biggest one. Um, at the moment our courts aren't great anyway in getting things through quickly, so that's already a, a normal worry for landlords at the moment. And I think the fear is that that's going to be increased. The fact that they're changing the way of doing things before the courts are even up to date with everything. A lot of the landlords that I speak to are scared of things taking longer, their tenants being in arrears throughout the process of going to court. And I have to remind tenants and landlords specifically that if you manage your property correctly and you have the right communication levels with your tenant, the the, the risk is reduced. So yes, there are going to be some instances where you'll have a bad arrears case, a bad tenant that doesn't, doesn't want to leave, but it's, it's not that common if you manage your properties correctly. The work that you put in at the start of the tenancy, 9 times out of 10, tends to pay off towards the end of the tenancy. So my advice is, when choosing a tenant, take longer to find the right one Do extra checks. Don't just check their current bank statement. Put them through full referencing. Do full credit checks. You can use agents or your own referencing companies for this, and don't take what they say at face value. Do your investigating. That way you've done everything you possibly can to ensure that your tenant is the best that you can find before they go in your property. You'll never fully reduce the risk because tenants change and you don't know until they're in the property. They might have a separation, lose a job, and that can stop them from paying rent. But that's where the communication comes in. If you treat your tenant with respect, they will more than likely communicate with you better. So it's just making sure that you as a landlord can do the best possible job that you can from the start. And if you've got tenants in already that are a little bit rocky, it might be worth trying to either move them on now before this fee ban comes in, and, and getting your property sort of sorted beforehand if you're, if you're unsure and if you've got a tenant that you think might cause you issues later down the line.

And is it mainly arrears that people are worried about, you think, or—

yeah, I think so. There's— I think arrears and the Section 21 changing, I think, is the biggest one. And at the moment, landlords are saying to me, oh, you know, we're scrapping the 21, we're not going to be able to get tenants out. And I'm trying to say to landlords, there is still a way of getting tenants out. We've got the Section 8 that we can use, it's just a no-fault one. So it changes slightly. And like I said in my presentation, there is normally a reason why you get your tenants out of a property anyway. It's just a different section that we're using. So it's not— like I said, the most common reasons why you give a tenant notice is they don't pay rent or you need the property back. Both of those are covered under Section 8, so you can still do that. So it's just transferring that knowledge over to a different section, that's all.

And do you find that there are like some like insurance products or things that are coming on the market to cover like people being, you know, fear of, you know, rent arrears and, and stuff like that, to cover like to cover the rent arrears during the sort of Section 8 eviction process? Or, you know, is it— do you see things coming in like that to just, um, I think so.

I think, I think getting a good rent guarantee is going to be key for landlords. If there's, if there's one thing you can do is go and get a rent guarantee, and you can do that mid-tenancy as well. So, um, when you're setting up a new tenancy, it's very easy to add rent guarantee. Um, if you do it through an agent, most likely they can offer that for you, and normally to qualify, your tenants need to be referenced by that agent. You can also do that mid-tenancy too. I have landlords where I've reached out to them and said, look, you decided not to take rent guarantee at the start of the tenancy. I can add it for you now. I just need to re-reference the tenants, and that can be quite easy. And then we can add rent guarantee too. The one that I offer, for example, does cover the full rent up until you get vacant possession of the property. And if the property's not in a lettable condition afterwards, they offer you 3 months' rent afterwards as well. So it's really important that you actually check what your rent guarantee or insurance policy covers and how they pay it out as well. I have seen landlords get stung where they've got this all-singing, all-dancing rent guarantee policy, they've claimed on it, but they don't see any money until, say, 6 months down the line. You need to be asking the right questions to your policy provider, which is how much will you cover, how long for, and when will you pay it out? Because some providers will pay you monthly as if the rent is coming in. So if you rely on the rent to pay a mortgage or you've got outgoings coming from that property, that's really important for you. You don't want to be 8 months down the line and then you get it all paid back. So it depends on your circumstances. Is and how much you rely on that rental income. But make sure you ask your policy provider the right questions.

Yeah, thank you. Do you know on the, on the notice period, so I, I, and you mentioned it as well, and I heard it was like 4 months, 4 months notice for the, the sort of landlords to give notice to the tenant, and then 1 month's another discussion of 2. I've never heard this before from your, from your side, but even with 1 month, I wasn't— 1 month and 4 months, I wasn't shocked about it because I can see like how how much demand there is for this one property when it becomes available. It's nuts, you know. I've got like 20 applicants within a week, you know. So it's not, you know, it's not stupid to think that it's a lot easier to rent out your own property than to go and find your next property to rent from, you know. So, so you've got some comments or sentiments on this? So, you know, because I've heard like landlords say, why is it 1 month and 4 months? Why is it 2 million, therefore 2 and 4, you know? But the marketplace is very unbalanced as well, you know. So what do I think about it.

I think, I think there's always opportunity in something like this. If you're smart about it then, and you're looking to expand your portfolio, there's going to be great opportunity. There's a lot of landlords that will be leaving the market and they have tenanted properties, and it's easier for them to sell their tenanted property than to give notice and sell it vacant. So I think that if you're looking for a deal, you need to be asking around now whilst people are worried and, and thinking of offloading, uh, to see if you can pick up tenanted stock. And you might get it at a good price as well, because I've got sort of landlords that are older or they're starting families and they don't want the stress of the Renters' Rights Act. They're not necessarily looking to sell because they want to, but they're just too stressed to deal with it. So if they can happily just pass off their property at a deal to another landlord, then they are doing that. I've had some landlords where my other landlords have bought their houses because it's much easier than just putting it on the open market and they can buy a deal. I think that the difference in notice periods for tenants leaving and getting tenants out as well, that's something that I'm personally not 100% sure. On every website that I check and every podcast that I listen to, everybody's kind of saying something a little bit different. I always try and go by what the NRLA say because I think that they're the most clued up on what's going on at the moment. And like I say, they've said that if it's antisocial behaviour, it can— it depends how bad it is, but you can give instant notice. And then if it's selling, it's 4 months notice. So I apologise to be a little bit vague, but that, that's all that I can really make of it at the moment. I'm hoping that before the end of January they'll release the information sheet that we need to give to tenants, and that in turn will give us better knowledge and confirmation on that as well.

Interesting, um, what you said about, um, you know, like buying from existing landlord and, and, and getting a deal, you know. I think there's an untold aspect here is that maybe some landlords will have tenants since like 5 years, 10 years, you know. I've got some, I've I've not put the rent up for like 5 years on one of them, but it's great, you know, you know, don't do the maintenance, etc. So I never hear about it, you know, and it's great until I need to sell, because then with the interest rates having gone up now, it doesn't pass the stress test. So now it's an unrented property is only going to apply to a very small section of the market, which are, which is another investor, another landlord. But it's another property with a low rent with the high interest rates now will fail the stress test for someone to get a mortgage at the price I'd want to sell it for with the comparables on the street, you know. So it's very interesting, the arbitrage one can do buying tenanted properties that are under-rented, you know, where the rent is lower, because basically for them to, to sell it at a comparable market value, they can only sell it to a cash-buying investor or if they, if they'll sell it to someone who needs to get a mortgage, the price would be drastically reduced, you know. So, so it's a bit of a— it's one of the functionalities on Propfilter. You can see, like, based on the comparable rents of any property you look at, what is the maximum price you can pay for, for, and still pass the stress test, you know. So I see this as a really under-discussed topic, but a really strong, strong opportunity, because even the likes of me have got, you properties I should have, the rent should be 20-40% more, right, on some of mine, right? And it's the case of a lot of the landlords. And the people we're talking about doing deals with are the ones who are exiting, they are the accidental landlords, the 1-4 properties, you know, they're not the ones on top of, you know, increasing the rent every 9 months, right? So the likelihood is this is going to be quite widespread. So I don't know if you want to comment on that. Is it something you see, or what's happening with that?

The biggest thing I petition for, and when I go and do speaking events, people laugh at me when they've seen me 2 or 3 times at the events is keep on top of your rent increases. And that's for a number of reasons, like you just explained, that if you do come to sell, it can cause issues. Um, also as well for your tenants, because if your tenants get used to paying a significantly, significantly lower market rate, if they need to move for any reason, if they need to relocate for work, they are not used to paying market rent. So I've had some tenants where the landlord has loved them. They've been in for 10 years. They're paying £600 per calendar month, and that's never changed. That same property would now be rented for £1,000 per calendar month. So we've got a £400 difference. Nobody's done anything wrong. The landlord thinks that they're helping them by keeping the rent low. But now that they need to move because they need an extra bedroom for the new baby or something like that, they're looking at paying an extra £400 for the same of what they've already got, and they haven't— they haven't accounted for that. So for tenants, it's a bad thing keeping their rent low as well, as wrong way around that kind of feels. You are actually doing them a disservice in the long run by not keeping your rents up. So if you've got a property and you're doing your tenants a favour by keeping it significantly low, try and increase it, you know, even if it's meeting in the middle, um, then if you do ever need to sell, you're closer to what it needs to be. Um, the great thing, as you say, is it does mean that if you're a cash buyer, you can pick up deals quite easily. You can— there's opportunity to buy a property where the rents are low and then make it up. A lot of my business as a letting agent, I actually get from sorting these types of scenarios out. And so speak to letting agents as well if you are looking for a deal, because they might have a landlord who does want to offload, but because the rents are low, they don't necessarily have somebody to buy it on the open market as such. A lot of my time is spent taking on tenancies that need fixing, resolving, upping, and then the new landlord benefits from that. If they have it refinanced once the rents have been brought up to market rates and things. So that's what I mean by look out for the opportunity. But if you've got your own properties, make sure they're as squeaky clean as they possibly can be as well.

Thank you. And is there, is there, in terms of the yearly rent, you know, is there a cap? You know, can you not put the rent up more than X percent, or is it, you know, once a year and whatever you want?

It's once a year and it's to whatever the market rate would be. So you have to be able to prove via comparables that are already let that that rent— that property is worth that rent. So you can get that information yourself. As long as you can present it, tenants will be able to take it to a tribunal. And this is something to be mindful of, um, if you serve a Section 13 notice and you put the rent and the tenant says, I don't agree with this, I'm going to take it to a tribunal. If the tribunal find you correct and say yes, you are asking for the right rent, they will not backpay the rent for the amount of time that it takes you to go through that tribunal, which I think is appalling.

So is that new to you, or is that— was that always like that?

That's new. Yeah, so that will be coming in from the 1st of May. So if your tenants are savvy and they're on top of this Renters' Rights Act, naturally every time you put the rent up they're going to take you to tribunal because they know that that will delay the rent increase and it won't take effect until the tribunal has made a decision. And say for example the tribunal takes 6 months to make a decision, that tenant doesn't have to backpay the rent increase for that 6 months. So that tenant can just keep taking you to tribunal and delaying their rent increases, which for landlords I don't think is great. But unfortunately, that's something that they're bringing in.

If you think of this whole change, and it's just another step in professionalising the market, if you think 2016, it was Section 24, basically tax incentivizing people to own, you know, rental properties inside companies. And now this, you know, and, you know, this is, this is just like the natural progression of what we, what we've always had like that. And it means for us, you know, we can't afford to play small, you know, like we have to be professional, you know. The, the days of, you know, the romantic days of, you whatever, 20 years ago, where you buy a property on the side and it's passive income or whatever. Like, we, we need to be really professional and organized about it. This is a business, you know, it's not some hobbies. This whole regulation, which is just one of many since licensing, you know, 20 years ago for HMOs, etc., it's just professionalizing the, the sector. So you can't afford— I'm basically— my sort of sentiment here is you can't afford to take this as a hobby. And all of us on this call, all of us, you know, who want to invest in property, I do believe we need to step up, you know, if we are not there already, and professionalize what, what we do, you know. So ourselves, to be clued up, you know, like, uh, with the things that he talked about, as well as, uh, you know, working with the professionals, you know, the likes of, uh, of Lotteef, uh, you know, where, wherever you're in your area, you know. Just some sentiment on, you know, the landlords are being, being asked to, um, level up, step up, professionalize a bit, you know. Do you see this?

I think, I think that's exactly it, is, is education is going to be key. If, if you— it will still be possible to be a good landlord, have a well-working portfolio. They're just tightening up on things, and it does seem very doom and gloom, and it does seem like they're giving tenants more rights and more risks. But naturally, if you're, you're doing what you should be doing already, there shouldn't be that much of a change to you. You just need to get on top of the new legislation changes. I've seen in the chat that somebody's asked who would pay tribunal fees. I would assume, and I'm only assuming, that it would be the landlord. Um, typically that's, that's kind of how it goes. Um, if you're buying a property with an existing tenant, how do you limit the historical risk from the tenancy? Um, it would be you need to see the full tenancy paperwork and information before you even consider buying a property. Get a letting agent's opinion, or if you manage your properties yourself and you know what you're you're looking for. Make sure you check the tenancy agreement, that the landlord has served all the compliance documents. If they've done it correctly, they should be able to prove that to you. I know somebody's asked, can you have a clause in the tenancy agreement that automatically puts up the rent with the RPI once a year? I'm not 100% sure. So they haven't actually provided us with a new tenancy agreement that's going to be implemented from the 1st of May. They have just said that it's going to roll onto periodic. Whether or not they give a standardised tenancy agreement to give tenants. I don't know yet, that's something that hasn't been confirmed.

I assume the NRLA will be well on top of this and absolutely produce the latest best-in-class tenancy agreement you want to use, you know. And then, you know, that's the main reason why most people subscribe to NRLA, right, is to just get the latest update.

I know, I should be on commission for them because I'm— everybody should be a member. Um, but it is the best place that you can easily find the information. They run webinars, um, for you to stay on top of legislation as well. It's a great place if you're, um— I don't know if there's any other letting agents in this group, but if you're a letting agent as well, nobody actually comes to us and says, oh, by the way, these things are changing. It's only if you see it in the media, it's only if you're looking for the changes that, that we know about this. So say, for example, so I'm a letting agent I've got my own letting agency. If I never put the news on and if I didn't have any social media, I wouldn't actually know anything about the Renters' Rights Bill. Nobody comes to me and says, by the way, your profession is changing. We have to keep on top of it as well, and it's really important that you make sure your letting agents are, because I guarantee you, and I know some in my area they don't have a clue what's going on. I'm still in the dark about certain things because it hasn't fully come out yet, but I'm keeping on top of things. I'm a member of the NRLA, I'm on calls like this. So you just need to make sure that either yourself or your letting agent is on top of it as much as possible.

Yeah, it's awesome. And do you— for those of, those of us who are maybe outside your area and stuff like that, currently working with our own agents, you know, like how do we go about auditing and asking them the right questions to make sure they've got the TV on, you know, and they jump on the NRLA webinars and keep themselves clued up and informed about what they need to do to, you know, to deliver.

I've done a couple of podcasts on this, so if anybody does want to look for me, the best place to find me is on Instagram and it's @PropertyLottie, and I do run through on there what to ask your letting agent So I always tell landlords, vet your letting agent as much as you would vet your own tenant. So you need to find out if your letting agent is compliant, is registered with everybody they should be registered with, and ask them questions, challenge them. It's not very often— so I do, let's say, 10 valuations a week. I can guarantee you not one of those landlords on that valuation asks me to prove that I know what I'm doing. They want to know the rental price, they want to know my fees, but they don't ask about my experience and they don't ask about my qualifications. Go to your letting agents, ask if they're qualified, ask them for, um, their certificate and what training they're doing on the renters' rights bill. And if they're a good letting agent, they will quite happily provide you with all of that.

Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, cool. I've just shared your Instagram. Is that the best way to reach out to you, to get in touch with you?

That is, yes. If anybody has any questions, you can pop me a message. Um, I might be a little bit slow coming back to you, but I will definitely reply and answer things as best as I possibly can.

Look at these youngsters, you know, contact me on Instagram.

I know, when I first started, I didn't even have social media, but now it's the biggest, biggest thing and easiest thing to use.

Awesome. Question from Steven: not impressed by the non-pay, non-back pay after the tribunal, and after such an increase, do you know when the next increase can be requested? I believe it would be a year later, is that right? Are you after the tribunal or are you after the first notice?

Yes, so I think, I think, and again it hasn't been confirmed, and I I would assume it's from the Section 13 date, so 12 months from the last Section 13 that you issued. So it might be that you serve your Section 13 on, let's say, the 2nd of February, and it goes to tribunal, and you might not get an agreement till August. I would assume that the next rent increase would be the 2nd of February from the year after. Not the tribunal date, but again, that, that could change. It hasn't fully been confirmed.

Awesome.

Very hard to talk about something that's not been fully confirmed.

Yeah, yeah, that's interesting. But, you know, I don't lose any sleep over this, you know, because I know, like, you know, it's just policies and stuff, implementation. They, they either get sorted out or it gets delayed, you know. So that's just what it is. I've been waiting for, like, serviced accommodation planning class for 18 months, you know, it just takes ages. But at least with this sector, I kind of have my trust is on the NRLA. They will give us all the resources, you know, and then there'll be the likes of you, you know, we can pick the brains from in the meantime. So I'm really not too worried, you know, for me it's all like little details. I'm like, you know, it's just like, it's not—

Yeah, I am a worrier, so I would rather stress about something and wake up at 2 AM worrying about something than to let things slide, just to give you an idea of my personality type. And I started a lettings business, I quit my full-time job, started my own letting agency knowing the Renters' Rights Act would come in because I'm comfortable with it. I know it will make— as much as getting it sorted will be hard, I know it will make the industry better. See the opportunity, embrace it, educate yourself, and I think you'll be fine.

Yeah, yeah. And it, you know, a few years from now, that'll be the new normal, you know. Like, Section 24 was going to collapse the old private rental sector, you know, like 10 years ago. I was like, you know, it's going to collapse the old—

it's the same as when the tenancy fee ban came in. Yeah, when the tenancy fee ban in 2019 came in, we all thought— letting agents anyway— thought we're going to lose our jobs because we couldn't charge application fees, we couldn't charge pet deposits anymore. We, we could— there was a limit on the deposit we could take. Nobody even thinks about it now, and that was huge at the time. I think this is going to be very similar. It's very scary, but just embrace it.

Okay, awesome. I don't see any other questions, so I'm going to invite you, Lottie, if you are— like, someone— Abiona's got her hands up, if you want, and Ron as well. Here we go. Do you want to come up first? Yes.

Hi, hi, I just wanted to ask about deposits. Is there any change with taking deposits from tenants? And I know there's a thing about it has to be kept somewhere, and usually with the—

is the question on the amount of deposit that can be taken, or where does it need to be protected.

Yeah, just want to find out if there's any change in that, and then also sort of like the amount that is advised in a sense.

Yeah, of course. So as from what I've read and heard so far, deposits is staying the same, and dependent on your rental amount is how much you can take for your deposit. So typically for most rents. I think it's rents, and I can't remember the, the figure where, where I work. Um, our rents are typically on average around £1,000 per calendar month. But if you're down in London and you're charging London prices, I do know that the deposit amount is different. So for example, up here the maximum deposit that I can take is 5 weeks' worth of rent, and it must always legally be kept in a government-approved scheme such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme or the Deposit Protection Service. You can take an insurance-based deposit as well, but you need to make sure it's the correct one. But if you have any questions regarding deposits or where to protect, do feel free to reach out to me. Landlords can't just take a deposit and keep it in their bank account. It does need to be registered within 30 days of receiving it.

But nothing's changed with that? It's the same as before?

As far as I'm aware, nothing's changed.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Ron, you got your hand up?

Hi, yeah, hi Lottie. I believe you can, when you've got benefit tenants, you can get the rent paid to yourself. Is that correct?

That's what I've heard. I'm not 100% sure. You have to bear with me, I'm still learning what's going on as well, but I have heard that. When I last checked, so I made my presentation a few weeks ago and I presented it to another group. I did make sure that I checked this morning that all that was in my presentation was still the same and made a few tweaks. When I was looking on the NRLA website this morning, I didn't see any sort of guidance on that, but I have heard that rents can be paid directly, but I'm not quite sure what the official—

Just for everyone's understanding, when you say rents being paid directly, You know, can you, could you explain like which party pays the landlord? Um, and then, for example, could that change from currently what we have?

So at the moment, um, Ron, I'm assuming, do you mean sort of like housing benefit being paid directly to a landlord?

Yes.

Yeah, that, that's fine. Um, so at the moment, housing benefit can be paid to the tenant, and then the tenant pays the letting agent or landlord. I've heard that it's coming in that we can apply for it to be paid directly directly from the council to the landlord, so it skips the tenant in the middle. Sometimes if you've got a tenant that isn't quite right, the tenant will take their rent from the council and never pass it on to the landlord. So that should hopefully eliminate that, but again, I haven't seen any official writing on that yet, but I have heard that's going to happen.

Yeah, just the other thing you were saying about no one informs what's going on unless you see it in the media. Surely if they're going to bring in landlord registrations, then they should make it that they'll be able to inform landlords rather than leaving it to find out by chance.

Do you think?

I do, I do hope so. I, I'm really embracing this, um, this landlord portal that they're bringing in. Um, I think some landlords that are very old school and don't like people knowing their business, um, don't like it because they have to sort of publicly announce what they own and what they have. Um, but I do think it would be really good to regulate things, and for agents as well. Um, that way councils know exactly what landlords own, what they've got. It does mean that they may be able to inspect them, um, easier and keep on top of things. So if you're not compliant with something, or if you're an HMO landlord and you haven't got a license and you're trying to get away with it, it's going to eliminate all of that because everything needs to be visible. But I actually think that that's a really good thing. It's always good. It's always when you're on a Zoom call.

Sorry, Rona, I just muted you. On that, Lottie, so the elephant in the room as well, we didn't mention what is the fines. So people are scared of fines. And if you're not like keeping up to date with the information, The councils are actually building up their license teams and enforcement teams across the country really as a way of revenue generating thing, right? So what sort of non-compliance do you think they are looking at? And I've heard of fines from £7,000 for some damp and mould issues and £35,000 for some under-license or non-compliant HMOs and stuff like that. And I think that's quite a big For us, you know, like entering the market and growing and, you know, being compliant on our own, it's more about like the, you know, talking the language of the people exiting, you know, and the fears they have, the problems they have. And one aspect is their fear of not being able to kick out the tenants and stuff like that. And another one is, oh, I just can't keep up with, you know, the compliance and I'm going to get fined, I'm going to get fined. Can you talk a bit more about these finer aspects and compliance and enforcement?

Of course, yes. So Essentially, the Renters' Rights Bill is giving councils more, sort of, more powers to be able to inspect your properties. So I will assume that the councils will probably, if they're wanting to make a bit of money, which most councils do, will jump on this. They'll build their teams like you say, and they will start inspecting properties more. What I have found historically is councils will more than likely work with you. So if you are unsure, ask, or ask somebody in your area, the letting agents in your area. If you don't think you're compliant or you're not sure about it, get somebody to check it. Um, there's loads of great networking groups for properties, um, and good agents in your area, I'm sure, um, that can cast their eye over your property and let you know what you might be missing. Um, for example, when, um, I first got into managing HMOs I kind of knew what I was doing, but I, I was just anxious. Like I said, I like to worry about things more than most. Um, I reached out to my council and the local housing officer and the licensing team, and I invited them to come and have a look at the HMOs I was managing and asked them for their advice on if there was anything extra that I needed to be doing. And they were more than happy to help me. Um, and I've heard that from other landlords wards as well. In terms of the fines, it does depend on exactly what it is that you've done wrong and you're not compliant with, but they have essentially upped the fines. So what would have originally been sort of a fine for £3,000-£4,000, councils can now charge over £10,000 in fines. It's— to me, it's, it's silly and it's mad. It's a way of making money, but unfortunately it's, it's something that we're going to have to deal with. But I'd like to hope that the people in this group, they want their properties to be compliant they'll try their best. Like I say, councils will work with you if you're unsure and you want to ask questions, or you can reach out to somebody like me, and I'm more than happy to help.

That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Lottie. Do you have a sort of a closing sentiment for all of us today, leaving us with this wealth of information?

I would probably say— you put me on the spot now.

I know, I do this all the time.

Look for the opportunity and embrace what's coming and stay positive.

Awesome. Lottie, really appreciate you jumping on this. It's a very important topic. And as you said, amazing opportunities coming ahead of us before the May deadline with all the conversations we have with Orlando. And for me, I take it as an operational tick box, you know, exercise that needs to happen for my own things. And it's just one of these things in properties where things change, you know. So, so as you said, stay positive, make the most of it. Thanks so much, that was super clear, entertaining, and we got through a lot of the questions as well. So really appreciate you joining us today.

Thank you, some great questions as well. Thank you everyone.

Oh, that was awesome. So yeah, thank you for joining today's Defund the Corner. I hope you enjoyed just as well as did, and I'm forward to seeing you next week. In the meantime, don't forget to visit propertyfilter.co.uk, log into your Property Filter account, have an endless supply of deals, and become a 1% investor out there. So speak with you next week. Thanks so much. Thank you, thank you everyone. Bye-bye.