When things you have always taken for granted, like heating and eating, are becoming too expensive, it’s no surprise that some are looking to cut corners and maybe live in a better part of their area than they could reasonably expect to afford.

Almost 280,000 properties across the UK, with a combined market value of £82billion, are occupied by fraudsters.

It was reported by Homeppl that 91% of the fraud that comes from rental applications stems from tenants attempting to disguise the true nature of their financial circumstances.

According to statistics, one in 50 tenancy applications are fraudulent and that rises to one in 20 in London.

With the demand for rental properties on the rise and competition to get that much sought-after flat or house increasing daily, the lengths to which some tenants will go to knows no bounds. Let’s analyse the most common instances of tenant fraud and tips to stop it

Fake ID

A huge amount of the fraud starts here, with a stolen or fake ID. It has become something of a business to produce fake IDs, with one man making nearly £300,000 from the money he earned from it.

Spotting the fakes requires some assertiveness on your part, cross-referencing all the details you have with external sources to make sure the driving licence/passport you have is genuine. If you’re still unsure, take a look at this website for more tips.

Bank statements

It’s no secret that rents in London have gone up – the average weekly rent as of last September was a whopping £553. So, proving they can pay it is where fraudsters come into their own. Many of them use doctored or fake bank statements.

If the information is on a PDF, check to see if it has been altered. If it has, then that’s a clue that the statement may have been tampered with. If you’re not sure, ask the experts or go to a bank to make sure what you have is legitimate.

References

Ever wondered why there are so many domain names? Well, some of them belong to entirely fake businesses, which have been set up to provide the owner with a reference that only they can verify.

There are several ways to check the veracity of the website – see how old it is. A recent website might suggest it’s been created for the purposes of providing such a reference. Be cautious, though, as there are plenty of new, legitimate websites.

Payslips

Creating a fraudulent payslip, exaggerating how much a tenant earns, is definitely one way of trying to prove you can pay the rent. With more and more payslips now electronic, fraudsters are now able to create new versions of payslips but with slightly exaggerated figures to boost their perceived ability to pay.

It’s easy enough to check whether the figure on the payslip is legitimate by contacting companies house. They can check to see whether the payslip exists and also whether the business that the client ‘works’ for exists.

Here at LeBern Property, we have 10+ years of property management experience. For information and advice on the lettings process, management of your property, finding and retaining tenants do not hesitate to contact us at one of our branches.

Find out how much your property is worth and how much you could charge prospective tenants who rent by using our free and instant online valuation.

1. Check the form and dates
Your section 21 notice must be on form 6A.
Your notice will not be valid if:

• You have waited too long to apply to court
• You issue the notice during the first 4 months of your original tenancy

2. When tenants deposit not protected?

• As a landlord you can not give a valid section 21 if tenants deposit is not protected in a scheme or it was protected late.
• For most renters, late protection of your deposit means more than 30 days after your most recent contract started.

3. Check your documents

As a landlord you cannot usually give you a valid section 21 notice unless you have shared below documents with tenants,

• Gas safety certificate
• Energy performance certificate (EPC)
• The government’s How to rent guide

4. Charged banned or unwanted fees?

Landlords and agents can only:

• take up to 5 weeks’ rent as a deposit
• charge fees in certain situations

6. When council order renovations

As a landlord you cannot give a valid section 21 notice for the next 6 months if the council orders you to do repairs under either an:

• improvement notice
• emergency works notice

As predicted, it involved some large tax rises and spending cuts at Hunt aimed to fill a fiscal black hole to the tune of £55 billion – caused by Covid, Brexit, the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and the disastrous mini-Budget from Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.

Hunt said he was delivering a plan which would tackle the cost-of-living crisis and rebuild the UK economy. He also said he would be prioritising stability, growth and protecting public services.

His speech didn’t have much to say about housing specifically, but he did set out a number of measures that will directly affect landlords.

Below, we take a look at what these were.

Capital gains tax allowance halved

The Chancellor announced that he would more than halve the tax-free allowance for capital gains in the next tax year (2023-24), reducing it from £12,300 to £6,000. In the next tax year (2024-25), it will be halved again to £3,000 in 2024-25. Hunt said this was to make the tax system fairer and restore the public purse.

It will be those landlords seeking to sell their homes who will be most affected by this change, with CGT charged at a much higher rate for residential property sales.

More landlords could look to leave the sector earlier than planned as a result of the move, which would in turn have a negative impact on rental supply.

“These swingeing cuts to Capital Gains Tax allowances will dissuade investment for years to come,” Ben Beadle, CEO of landlord trade body NRLA, commented, saying that it will deter investment in new rental homes and grow the cost of renting.

Greater tax load for higher earners

Hunt also used his Commons speech to reveal that higher earners will begin paying the top rate of tax (45%) when they earn £125,140, down from £150,000 before.

As a consequence of this, more landlords could be forced into the highest paying tax bracket. This is likely to then have an impact on the profits they can make because of the changes to mortgage interest tax relief which were first introduced in April 2017.

Hunt announced other tax changes in his address, stating that Inheritance Tax thresholds will be frozen for a further two years, which will mean hundreds of thousands of home owners remain subject to paying this tax.

Time-limited stamp duty cut

In a much more unexpected move, Hunt said the recent cuts to stamp duty would be time-limited, ceasing on March 31 2025.

For the next few years, there is now effectively another stamp duty holiday – something which will encourage more buyers, including landlords, to take advantage of the potential savings on offer.

Kwarteng, in his now infamous mini-Budget, had increased the nil rate threshold for stamp duty from £125,000 to £250,000, while also upping threshold at which first-time buyers pay stamp duty on their first home to £425,000 from £300,000 on purchases worth up to £625,000.

But that will all come to an end in March 2025, which could lead to a late rush for homes before the effective holiday ends.

Hunt’s wide-ranging speech, which lasted for nearly an hour, also included a number of other measures – ranging from electric cars to the energy price guarantee, explained in much greater detail here. 

Here at LeBern Property, we have 10+ years of property management experience. For information and advice on the lettings process, management of your property, finding and retaining tenants do not hesitate to contact us at one of our branches.

Find out how much your property is worth and how much you could charge prospective tenants who rent by using our free and instant online valuation.

According to Moody’s economic status of United Kingdom has been downgraded from “Stable” to “Negative” due to political instability and high degree of inflation. There is high possibility that economy will be stable again with effective policy making and macro-economic strategies. However current condition creates threats to many industries as it may lead towards higher degree of unemployment, salary cuts, and layoffs. Landlords are affected with this kind of economic conditions at two ends. While some landlords struggle to find tenants, some may struggle to collect rent money from existing customers. In both conditions Landlords must suffer at many ends. Guaranteed Rent Options and Advance Rent Options can be identified as the perfect solutions to overcome these issues. Under the Guaranteed rent option Property Management Company like Lebern enter into an agreement with landlords for guaranteed rent where company becomes the tenant. When company becomes the tenant it is much secure for landlords.  In Advance Rent Options companies like Lebern becomes the tenant and provide total annual payment of the property upfront to the landlords.

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They are every landlord’s worst nightmare as during this time bills must still be paid by the landlord despite the property being vacant.

Luckily for landlords, void periods are said to be falling as the rental sector shows signs of rude health.

As a result, now could be the time to make the most of the current market conditions.

Why is there a significant drop in void periods?

Tenant demand remains strong while the level of supply is significantly lower. Both factors largely contribute to the fall in void periods.

Total Landlord Insurance claims that the average void period across England is 16.8 days per year. Based on the average monthly rent of £940, it costs £31 per day. This brings void periods to a total cost of £518 per year.

The national overall void period for 2022 is 2.6 days less than it was in 2021, reducing the void period costs by 7.4%.  

Based on these findings, Total Landlord Insurance argues that the rental market is returning to full strength following the pandemic and eviction bans – despite the current cost-of-living crisis and economic uncertainty to contend with. 

London has seen void costs fall by 18.5%. The research shows that void periods are 4.6 days shorter this year than last. This is the biggest cost reduction in comparison to all regions.

How can landlords make the most of the market?

While void periods are on the decline, landlords can further boost their prospects through the way they position themselves in the market and treat existing tenants.

Keeping tenants happy will enable landlords to make the most of the fall in void periods. Simply keeping up with property maintenance work, setting realistic rent increases, and dealing with queries quickly are some ways to keep tenants happy.

Void periods occur for a variety of reasons. But, typically, it’s because of a failure to find a tenant after the previous one leaves. 

If the previous tenant leaves early, this could make it more difficult to replace the tenant quickly. However, by acting as soon as the existing tenant gives notice to leave, extended void periods – or any void period at all – can be swerved. 

By marketing the property up to eight weeks before the current tenant moves out, landlords can be sure that a sufficient level of demand would be brought to the home.

Although they are unwelcome, void periods cannot always be avoided. Renovation work is also a common cause of void periods. Here, better planning around this could help prevent void periods from lasting too long. 

While void periods continue to fall, landlords should still factor in the possibility of them as a part of their budget in case this does arise. It’s always good to have that safety net. 

Occupancy rates can be kept to a maximum with the help of an experienced letting agent keeping the landlord and tenants informed and happy throughout their lettings journey. 

Here at LeBern Property, we have 10+ years of property management experience. For information and advice on the lettings process, management of your property, finding and retaining tenants do not hesitate to contact us at one of our branches.

Find out how much your property is worth and how much you could charge prospective tenants who rent by using our free and instant online valuation.