Paul Shamplina, director and co-founder of Landlord Action, has received so many calls from frustrated landlords regarding issues with Local Housing Allowance tenants that he has decided to hit the road.
The company, which specialises in providing rent and property recovery solutions to corporate and private landlords, is holding several one day seminars throughout the UK to educate buy to let landlords and property investors on how the system works and how to make the system work for them.
Shamplina said: “Since the Labour government made changes to the Local Housing Allowance system in April 2008, we have been inundated with calls from landlords who have suffered at the hands of a tenant who has withheld the rent.
On average we deal with 300 tenant eviction cases per month and around 15 percent of these are directly linked to Local Housing Allowance. The changes were brought in to empower tenants. However, it seems that it has only succeeded in frustrating and alienating landlords who let to tenants in receipt of Local Housing Allowance.”
Shamplina is so alarmed at the way the current system works that, at the end of 2008 he wrote to Tony McNulty who was Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions.
He claims it took nearly three months for a simple acknowledgement of the letter and then McNulty’s response was to insist that safeguards were in place to ensure the system worked properly.
Shamplina begs to differ. He said: “The situation is becoming so dire that many landlords are refusing to let to Local Housing Allowance tenants, regardless of the incentives that are being offered to take them on.
There are many good tenants that are honest and pay their allowance to the landlords. Unfortunately, there are still a large number who are not so conscientious and it’s the increase in these cases that is putting landlords off letting to this sector of the rental market.”
Landlord Action welcomes the news that the Conservatives have pledged that, should they be elected to government this year, they will reinstate the tenant’s choice and has invited Grant Shapps MP, Shadow Minister (Housing), to attend any one of his seminars to give his views.
Subjects covered at the seminars will include the latest government guidelines on direct payments to landlords; cash incentives for Local Housing Allowance landlords; advice on how to get housing benefit rent paid quicker; protocol for managing claims; the role of the letting agent and the latest updates on Local Housing Allowance.
Experts on hand to answer questions include Alan Elborough and Jim McLaughlin from Settled Housing Solutions. Elborough has previously held a senior and high profile position in a London local housing authority and McLaughlin has held a senior position within the housing sector. Delegates will receive a full education pack, speaker’s notes, three course lunch and all day refreshments.
The first seminar was held in London and will being followed by others in Manchester and Birmingham with additional locations being added later in the year.
