At Maxine Lester Residential Lettings we pride ourselves on understanding our marketplace, with all our specialist knowledge of the area and property market, but also in keeping up with the latest legislation that could affect property prices and our landlords. In our July update we will look at the Government’s Welfare Reform act 2102 which is set to stir things up for landlord.



The Government’s Welfare Reform act 2102 received it’s royal assent on the 8th March 2012, and due to the stipulations of the act the District  Huntingdonshire Council has reported they are expecting an increase in the number of HMO (house of multiple occupation).



The main pertinent stipulations are as follows:

• It is mandatory to have a licence for a three  story with 5 or more unrelated people living there
• Single and two story properties let to 3 or more unrelated people are also HMO’s and require certain standards to be adhered to 
• In the main you need to have one set of kitchen and bathroom facilities for every 5 people 
• A self-closing door to the kitchen
• Mains wired interlinked smoke detectors  in the common parts 
• A fire blanket in the kitchen 
  
  
  
  

In general the aim of the welfare reform act is to make benefits and tax credits fairer and simpler by creating the right incentives to get more people in to work. The main elements of the act are:

• The introduction of a universal credit system
• A stronger approach to reducing fraud
• Claimant commitment showing what is expected of claimants  whilst protecting those with the most needs
• Creating a fare approach to housing benefit and bring stability to the market improving incentives to work   
  
  
  
  

If you are a landlord and would like to discuss how this may affect your portfolio, and to see how Maxine Lester Residential Lettings could help you, then contact us, or give us a call.