Tag Archives: Cardiff Council

Is the Cardiff House Share an Endangered Species?

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The Cardiff house share is in great danger due to a number to changes to taxation and legislation to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) across the UK in 2016 with Wales leading the way with the roll out of Rent Smart Wales www.rentsmart.gov.wales a national landlord and letting agent register which came into force on 23rd November 2016.

As well as the introduction of Rent Smart Wales the Welsh Assembly Government have also introduced further legislation around the creation of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) or more commonly known as house shares. Prior to 25th February 2016 in Wales the C3 planning use classification applied to all dwelling houses up to and including six tenants but on the 25th February 2016 Wales introduced a C4 planning use classification of HMO: “tenanted living occupation by 3 to 6 people, who are not related and who share one or more basic amenities, as their only or main residence.”

Why is C4 HMO Use Class Such a Problem?

In England, it’s not.  It has long been accepted that permitted development rights ensured a property owner would automatically have planning permission granted by the General Development Order where an existing single family dwelling (C3) is used as a small HMO (within class C4) or vice versa.  However, all properties in Wales with 3 to 6 (unrelated) tenants now require a change of use application to be made, at the recently increased planning fee of £380 and there is NO GUARANTEE OF APPROVAL for your house share in Cardiff or else where is Wales.

Cardiff Council’s Approach to House of Multiple Occupation (HMO)

From a landlord and property investor perspective it looks as if Cardiff Council is going all out to stop the creation of additional house shares within the city.  Cardiff Council is to try to control the total concentration of house shares in each area by denying landlords in those areas planning permission to move between HMO classes if the concentration for that area has already been met, and the property falls within 50m radius of the designated area.  The threshold for the ward’s of Cathays and Plasnewyedd is 20 percent and in all other wards 10 percent.

Here is a link to Cardiff Council’s HMO Supplementary Planning Guidance: https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Planning/Planning-Policy/Supplementary-Planning-Guidance/Documents/HMO%20SPG%20Consultation%20Draft%20April.pdf

So as can been seen from housing legislation that has been introduced by the UK Government , Welsh Assembly Government and Cardiff Council there is going to be a decrease in the overall number of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) being created in Cardiff even though the number of people looking to house share in Cardiff is ever increasing as they search for high quality affordable accommodation.

Sorry Housemates Cardiff Council have Shrunk the Bins

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cardiff bins

Landlords and housemates be warned!   Your black general waste bin is getting smaller. This is happening right across Cardiff so if you own, manage or live in a Cardiff house share disposing of your general waste maybe about to get a lot more difficult.

General waste black bins are currently 240 litres buy are being replaced by a smaller 140 litre version.   This was brought to my attention last week when I put the bins out at a house share on North Road, Cardiff currently home to 5 house mates.

Five housemates produce a fair amount of general waste over a 2 week period and to be fair they all do their bit for recycling, utilising green bags and food waste brown bins, but now there has been a slight of hand and the bin has transformed from a just about adequate 240L to a worrying small 140 litre bin.

I have spoken to Cardiff Council about this as I am worried about other house shares across Cardiff with 6 or more people and was informed that letters have been sent out to all households and those with 6+ housemates should contact the council to stop their existing black wheelie bins being replaced.

So if you own or manage or live in a house share in Cardiff with six or more people make sure you contact them ASAP to ensure your bins don’t shrink!

Here is a link containing a contact number for Cardiff Council Waste & Recycling Team

Diary of a HMO Landlord: Noise, Leaks, Squeaks & Rubbish

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After my initial Diary of a HMO Landlord post all was calm and foolishly thought to myself I’m not going to have much to write about this week, but how things change!

So what’s been happening?

I have had the electricians in at one house rewiring each room so they are on their own circuit and meters fitted so I comply with The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 and this also ensures tenants are accountable for their usage in their own rooms, all went well until a phone call the next morning about the central heating making a “gurgling” noise. Turns out one of the water pipes had fractured when the wires were being pulled through, which resulted in a lovely water feature in one of the down stairs rooms. On a positive note double boarded ceilings are still intact so it was just mopping up water, drying out carpets and getting the plumber around to solder the damaged pipe.

New tenants moved into a property, former residents of the Salvation Army homeless hostel who are very happy to have a clean and safe environment to live in and have put up with living on the streets but couldn’t put up with the squeaky fire hinges on their new door, so I treated them to a squirt of WD40.

As mentioned the new tenants love the free broadband access, but in other houses it can prove to be a pain in the arse. We all know broadband is a must especially for students and professional working tenants, but there is only so much a landlord can do as I DO NOT provide the service. One house has had intermittent service due to engineering works being carried out by the ISP but still tenants moan on at me and it came to a head when I get calls at 10PM moaning about the service Virgin Media supplies, as you can imagine I wasn’t best pleased especially when my phone ringing woke our baby!

Had the usual calls from Cardiff Council Housing Options Team enquiring what property I have available this week, also chasing “top up” from tenants that have Overpayment Recovery taken from their Housing Benefit Award, the latest tenant having a deduction of £6.50 per week from their Housing Benefit award to pay back about £5000 in overpayments.

At the other end of the spectrum, chasing professional tenants for their rent, the ones who never set up a standing order so the usual text each month to remind them to pay their rent on time and set up the standing order for next month, which they never do.

Rubbish is always a common theme encountered by HMO Landlords up and down the country, tenants don’t seem to like recycling and if they do manage to put rubbish in large black wheelie bins provided by Cardiff Council they don’t like to wheel them out onto the pavement for fortnightly collection so we soon get a build-up of black bags, I don’t know what is going to happen when Cardiff Council half the size of their black bins, be rubbish everywhere!

Finally my favourite aspect of being a HMO Landlord the legalities of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement and tenants serving “Notice to Quit” when they are on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy (SPT), affectionately known as a “month rolling”, or not serving as the case may be. All tenants love it when their fixed term comes to an end and they have the flexibility of a SPT but none of them seem to like the fact that the tenancy runs from one rent day to the next and they have to serve their “Notice to Quit” in writing, giving at least one months’ notice and ending on a rent day. This important point is highlighted when the tenant first signs the AST, also it is on the notice board and once again pointed out once their tenancy moves from a fixed term to a SPT, do they play by the rules, no way!

The latest one believes it is ok to text me on Saturday evening of a Bank Holiday weekend asking if they serve notice this evening, will they still have to pay their next rent payment, then continue to barrage me with text messages and emails up until 7AM today saying they are not paying rent whatever happens because they have found a new place. A phone call this morning has cleared up the situation.

And finally this afternoon I receive a call from the next door neighbour of a property I own. There seems to be an issue with noise, the neighbours words were “it sounds as if they are kicking a football against the party wall all night long”. Next on my “To Do List” find out what or who is creating the continual thudding! I will let you know how I get on.

Feel free to ask any questions via my blog or complete the form below if there are any specific HMO topics you would like me to discuss.