Outspoken buy-to-let author David Lawrenson has called on the Advertising Standards Authority to take further action on letting agents who are not stating their fees.
He said: “Too many letting agents are hardly being clear on the fees they charge to tenants in their online adverts. The ASA should be looking into this.”
Lawrenson also hit out at housing benefit changes.
He said: “Successive governments have cut the levels of benefit, imposed absolute caps and stopped payments direct to landlords.
“As a result, private landlords increasingly deserted the sector. And so we now see local government offering cash inducements in the form of large direct payments to landlords to try to get them to let to people who are dependent on housing benefit, and who now have few housing options.”
He added: “It is disgraceful that many lenders do not allow landlords who have mortgages with them to let to tenants who are on housing benefits.
“As well as being morally questionable, no evidence has ever been produced that definitively proves that low income and benefit tenants have worse arrears rates.
“The Government should bring the offending lenders to account over this.”
The fifth edition of Lawrenson’s book, Successful Property Letting: How to Make Money in Buy to Let, has just been published.
It’s on Amazon here
Comments (3)
I know of four agents in my area under investigation for failing to disclose. However after 2 months, nothing appears to have been done as they are still misleading in their advertisements. A case of which area you live in as to how motivated the regulators are.
“As well as being morally questionable, no evidence has ever been produced that definitively proves that low income and benefit tenants have worse arrears rates.”
Hmmm let me think. We used to try and help with HB tenants, when we gave a HB tenant notice to leave the Council would help at that stage to rehouse them. Over the last year the council now tell tenants to wait until we have a court order before thet will help them. We had to actually instruct bailiffs 3x this year alone. Never in the past. I can understand the council in not having the stock and the strict legal position for them is to now tell the tenants this as technically its correct but boy it does nothing to help the tenants who now incurr a large legal debt, have no chance of getting a good reference and have alienated the landlords that did consider HB tenants to never doing so again.
The fact that we can also let properties to non HB tenants makes it a no brainer. why take the risk with HB tenants? Would be stupid to.
Hopefully there will still be a free market after the election in relation to renting – no rent caps, no forced 3 year tenancies, no ban on agents fees, no right to rent. – otherwise if its not economic/cant get the house back after say 1 year when the owner is working away they simply wont let it out.
There will be less houses in the PRS not more – Cant Labour see this?
“There will be less houses in the PRS not more – Cant Labour see this?”
They certainly can, if not they are even more stupid than the public think. The issue is, its a vote getter.
While labour have always championed the poor (not all labour followers are!!!!) this is more to do with no housing for council tenants and using their new idea to keep them housed in the private sector, while at the same time looking like they are helping the poor tenants. As we know, are in their hundreds of thousands (millions?) and every vote helps in this election. But as I said the reality isn’t helping the tenant as there first priority, it is getting them out of the mess they will find themselves in with no council housings available.