A council at the heart of a controversial scheme claims to be “pleased” with the interest shown by private landlords.
Leasing Scheme Wales encourages private rental sector landlords to lease their properties to Pembrokeshire county council for between five and 20 years, in return for a guaranteed monthly rental income and what it claims to be “full property management service.”
LSW is funded by Welsh Government and managed by Pembrokeshire county council.
The launch of the scheme has received a frosty reception from the industry - including many adverse comments from experienced landlords here on Landlord Today - but a Pembrokeshire council spokesperson says the authority was “pleased” with the response from landlords who attended a meeting on the issue last week.
“This scheme will help more Pembrokeshire people to live independently in safe and affordable properties” says the spokesperson.
“Landlords will not have to worry about the condition of their properties after a tenancy as we will be responsible for the maintenance of the property and will return it to the landlord in the same condition as it was before the tenancy started. We will also be responsible for all the void work - the work done on properties in between tenancies.”
As well as the launch of Leasing Scheme Wales, the meeting included presentations on the new housing act Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, and fire safety in the private rented sector.
The speakers were from the council, the National Residential Landlords Association, the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, and regulatory body Rent Smart Wales.
Backers of Leasing Scheme Wales say it allows access to “affordable and good quality homes” in the private rented sector for people who are on low income and at risk of homelessness.
It means tenants will be able to access longer term, settled accommodation for up to 20 years, with rents restricted to local housing allowance levels “to ensure affordability to tenants on low incomes and/or benefits.”
Homes to be taken on board by the scheme will need to meet a specific standard and Pembrokeshire council says financial assistance will be provided to enable landlords to bring homes up to scratch.
A spokeswoman for the council says: “We want our tenants to be happy, healthy and settled and we will support them to maintain their tenancy by directing them to sources of help if they need them.”
She claims that the scheme also gives peace of mind to landlords.
“Landlords will not have to worry about the condition of their properties after a tenancy as we will be responsible for the maintenance of the property and will return it to the landlord in the same condition as it was before the tenancy started. We will also be responsible for all the void work - the work done on properties in between tenancies.”
Landlords are offered leases of five to 20 years with guaranteed rental payments for the length of the lease at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate.
Where necessary a grant of up to £5,000 is available to bring properties up to an agreed standard and/or to increase the EPC rating to level C. Additional grant funding of up to £25,000 is available for empty properties.
The council will repair any damage to the property made by tenants covered, subject to reasonable wear and tear, and the landlord’s liability for structural defects. This would form a term of the lease.
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What could possibly go wrong ? LOL
Is it April 1st already ???
Good luck to those naive Landlords !
Anyone daft enough to rent to their local council deserves all that's coming to them....
If the council is planning to lease long term, 20 years. It must be cheaper to just buy properties. If they haven't got the capital, surly it would still be cheaper to borrow the money to buy. Can't they get cheap central government loans? Bonus would be capital gains.
Same old same old! Rents at LHA rates which have been unsustainably low for a decade plus. Promise to return the property in same condition as it was at the beginning of the tenancy! In more than 40 years providing rental homes, that has never happened to me, and I wouldn’t trust a ‘bad tenant council’ to return anything other than a roundly abused property. Various stringy grants and other carrots to choke on, just won’t cut it. No thanks, no council can be trusted, and don’t expect to get your property back at all without a hefty and stressful court battle/s.
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