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Hazel's  Personal Profile View my company profile

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Hazel G
Technical Consultant
2130  Profile Views

About Me

A lifetime spent in and around property matters

my expertise in the industry

Current expertise anything and everything to do with EPCs

Hazel's Recent Activity

Hazel G
“These reforms will help more people own their own homes”. How? The PRS pool of available houses shrinks due to reforms which LL don't like = rents rising. How is that any assistance to tenants?

From: Hazel G 10 May 2022 17:58 PM

Hazel G
‘Does not intend to initiate any material headcount reductions’. Give it six months. It will be interesting to see the headcount situation then.

From: Hazel G 29 January 2021 12:25 PM

Hazel G
‘Dogs would have to be responsive to basic training commands’. Ha! Letting Agents will now have to interview the pet as well as the tenants! I’ve met tenants who could not respond to basic commands. Don’t you just love Planet Westminster?

From: Hazel G 07 January 2021 10:09 AM

Hazel G
The government is entirely at fault here. The qualification to become an Energy Assessor can be gained within a week, even by someone who wouldn’t know a maisonette from a Mercedes. It should be much harder to qualify and the training should be more rigorous.

From: Hazel G 16 December 2020 18:03 PM

Hazel G
Kristjan is right that the cost of £10 from the previous £5 per year is of no consequence to LL In the great scheme of things, but the opinion that what the Government has planned is going to be ‘another nail in the coffin of the PRS’ needs to be shared with Westminster. The reduction in the length of validity for an EPC is a minor point in comparison with a proposed minimum band rating for rental of C and the £10K spend that LL will be required to shell out for each property In order to comply. I urge everyone to make a response to the current PRS consultation which ends on 31st December 2020. There are 30 questions to which a reply can be made, but some of these are repetitive and others can be answered with ‘I do not have an opinion on this point’ which means the process can be seen off in a few minutes. A large number of responses explaining to the cloistered people at BEIS what the consequences of their proposed actions are likely to be can’t do any harm and might - just might - actually make a difference.

From: Hazel G 16 December 2020 18:00 PM

Hazel G
There is a lot of comment week after week in response to articles about the Government’s attitude to LL which is sometimes informative, often amusing, but isn’t going to influence Whitehall. I urge everyone who has an interest in Graham’s articles on this subject to respond to the government consultation - it isn’t difficult, but it’s your best shot at making a difference. If we all tell them just how devastating some of the proposals they are making are going to be to the PRS it’s better than doing nothing. The consultation closes on 31st December 2020.

From: Hazel G 04 December 2020 22:22 PM

Hazel G
Mr Dromey appears to be playing to his audience. Why does he insinuate, for example, that all HMO owners are ‘millionaires’? Why does he assert, erroneously, that a landlord’s duty is to support the people who opt to use the facility he/she is providing- i.e accommodation? All tenants should have a decent Standard of housing, I am sure none of us would dispute, but why would a local authority elect to house people in something with which they are not satisfied? This MP should ditch the rhetoric and and think through a balanced view

From: Hazel G 30 November 2020 18:09 PM

Hazel G
I have had personal experience of LL who go into the AirBNB market because their property(s) do not score highly enough to comply with MEES. The loophole, of course, is if you rent out a 'holiday home' for less than four months of a calendar year (doesn't have to be consecutive, just four months total within Jan-Dec) then the dwelling is EPC exempt. It's possible the same LL who didn't want to spend out to improve the energy efficiency of their dwellings() also rent for more than four months, but the tax man doesn't know about it...... The solution to the 'we want Government money' from the short -term lobby is to go into the AST market until the pandemic passes. What a shame it has been made so unattractive that they are avoiding it as diligently as most of us are avoiding Covid 19.

From: Hazel G 19 October 2020 10:34 AM

Hazel G
There is a old fashioned saying 'the burnt child fears the fire'. Having had several really bad experiences where dogs wrecked houses and gardens (which incidentally were immaculate before canine vandalism took place) costing me time and money of course, I am totally pet averse. I am increasingly becoming politician averse too!

From: Hazel G 17 October 2020 11:45 AM

Hazel G
But keep in mind Mrs Thatcher instigated selling off council houses without allowing Councils to reinvest the funds to replace the consequently diminishing pool of social housing. She heralded the basis of many of the problems of which we, as LL, are now experiencing the ‘rewards’. There were aspects of ‘Mrs T’ which were admirable but this policy was not one of them.

From: Hazel G 07 September 2020 21:50 PM

Hazel G
Can I have a grant to pay the interest accrued during my much lauded ‘mortgage holiday’?

From: Hazel G 25 August 2020 17:21 PM

Hazel G
Even if the Government agreed to a consultation process about how best to handle the PRS sector, from my experience of being involved in previous government consultations it wouldn't make a great deal of difference. Strong advice can be given to them from multiple stakeholders, but they usually do whatever they had decided prior to the consultation which is very frustrating. A case in point is the forthcoming changes to the EPC Central Register. This has been held by Landmark since 2008, but is migrating to a 'dot gov' website in September. OK this hasn't happened yet so I haven't been able to test-drive the new system, but I know for certain the government didn't take any notice when asked to continue providing useful aspects which are now available to assessors via the Landmark website. Several of them have been scrapped with the Accreditation Bodies being left having to explain what feels like (and almost certainly is) a step backwards. I fear we are stuck with whatever they throw at us as LL, although the comments about lack of support for us from LL associations are a recurring theme in these comment pages, and it would be gratifying if they 'muscled up'.

From: Hazel G 24 August 2020 14:55 PM

Hazel G
Can’t stop. I’m in a rush to write to ‘Thankless’ Debbonaire to suggest that she includes in her suggestions to our current bunch of ‘heroic’ leaders that it should be made mandatory for LL to advise all tenants where these Renter Riot (AKA Rent-a-riot) demonstrations are taking place so they can join in. I leave it to ‘Thankless’ to work out for herself whether LL should also pick up the bill For their tenant’s membership fees to organisations campaigning for freebie rentals.

From: Hazel G 20 August 2020 18:13 PM

Hazel G
I have had a similar experience to Barry X. In order to get rid of a tenant (who wanted a high standard of living at my expense) and bring about her rehoming by the council without having technically made herself homeless I had to give her a personal loan for the amount of arrears she owed so that she could then appear to have a clean bill of health as far as the council was concerned. I then reclaimed the loan from TDS as she had signed an agreement saying I could do so. Needless to say I was out of pocket after renovations but still rejoicing to have got rid of her and away from the tedious hours involved liaising with the Housing Department which having a tenant on benefits often necessitates. On another occasion I also had a circumstance where the council wrote to me months after the tenant left demanding circa £1000 refund due to a miscalculation on their part. I threatened them with legal action and they went away but It was nerve wracking at the time. We should all collaborate on a best seller ‘It shouldn’t happen to a landlord’.....

From: Hazel G 18 July 2020 09:04 AM

Hazel G
Hallelujah!

From: Hazel G 09 July 2020 08:08 AM

Hazel G
During my working day I specialize in helping LL whose properties are failing to meet the current MEES requirements. Yesterday I met a multiple LL for the first time in his pristine one-bed flat. I had a job to get the conversation round to MEES as he was anxious to tell me (not being aware I am also a LL of course) how frustrating the whole PRS scene is at the moment. He related he has been actively trying to get rid of a non-paying tenant. He had taken her to Court, but she attended in person and as she was heavily pregnant the Judge castigated him for trying to evict her. He continued to rant about the Local Authority who do not take action against LL who are non-compliant when he makes every attempt not to break to the law. Baroness Kennedy should be careful what she wishes for. This particular LL told me he is using his rent to pay for his elderly Mother's care home fees. No-one would blame him if he sells up and leaves the PRS once that source of income is no longer required. The Baroness is going to be instrumental in causing a shortage of accommodation for the very people she purports to be 'helping'. The mystery is why she doesn't realise this?

From: Hazel G 01 July 2020 09:03 AM

Hazel G
The best way Baroness Kennedy could approach her new job would be with an open mind and a willingness to completely reappraise all aspects of the PRS. She could then try and talk some sense into the rabid extremists who hitherto appear to believe that all LL should be branded with’666’. Unfortunately joining ‘a leader in strategic planning’ (I think we know what GR is planning for) does not seem likely to have a more balanced outcome.

From: Hazel G 25 June 2020 08:32 AM

Hazel G
I think it's time that we LL banded together to dispel the myths that we are 'malicious, greedy' etc. I became a LL quite by accident. My husband started a building company with just himself and one apprentice. I did the 'behind the scenes' stuff - liaised with Planning, Building Control, the Bank Manager, PAYE. Oh and the school run, the cooking, laundry, cleaning - stuff a lot of tenants don't seem to understand if the take away detritus, discarded clothes and filthy houses I have taken back into possession at times are any indication. Oh yes, not to mention putting on a boiler suit and becoming 'the third man' when necessary. When we wanted to expand the business we were worried we wouldn't have enough work to keep another couple of men employed, so we went into debt, bought a small plot of land and built two semis on it to ensure we could keep them busy. When they were finished, there was a recession and we couldn't sell them. It was a terrible time because you may not know but when a finished project goes into your balance sheet HMRC want a slice of the 'profit' even though you haven't made any! Our only option was to rent the semis out 'until the recession was over'. The first tenants we had were great. They stayed for five years. The gardens were tidy, the houses were in reasonable order and through sheet hard work and ingenuity we had pulled through economically and were running a profitable building company. Over the years the turnover of tenants reads like a sociological study. A generation came along who didn't know how to clean or garden and thought if they couldn't pay it was OK to shrug and expect me not to mind. 'Helicopter' parenting - no parenting - who knows why this trend occurred? I have always believed that if a tenant pays rent they are entitled to a good product. My houses are pristine when anyone moves to a very high standard, and any maintenance issues are dealt with promptly. Over the years I have often felt more like a social worker than a LL. I have bought white goods for tenants who couldn't afford them, kept tenants much longer than I should have done for the sake of giving their children some much-needed security and currently have a tenant who pays much less than market rent because I know she is very hard up. Obviously I am malicious and greedy! If I thought that writing to my dunder-headed MP was of any use, I would do so. Last time I wrote to him he told me I was 'shooting from the hip' and should take longer to consider things before contacting him again. Arrogant b*****d. Suggestions for how to tackle this ridiculous assumption that LL are not fit human beings will be warmly welcomed.

From: Hazel G 22 June 2020 13:44 PM

Hazel G
When 'Right to Buy' was introduced there were somewhere in the region of 6.5 million council houses. Today the figure stands at around two millions. If Age Concern want to join the rant they should be hopping up and down that the funds obtained by councils from this sell-off were scandalously not used to replace social housing stock. The problem of rising rents is due to market forces, and the route cause of this lies in an expanding population and lack of social housing. It is not the fault of private landlords. In some areas of the country the waiting list for a council house is said to be ten years. Where else are those who cannot afford to buy going to live in the meantime other than in the PRS sector? Successive governments have failed to address this problem. They should have seen it coming as the ONS keeps accurate statistics on birth and death rates, immigration and migration figures. The nature of governments thinking only in terms of five year cycles instead of longer term is to blame.

From: Hazel G 12 June 2020 12:34 PM

Hazel G
Ah don't you just love that Westminster Bubble? Perhaps Robert Jenrick could open an on-line clinic to advise LL on how to manage without income. Better still, have his salary suspended for five months. Alternatively, in a moment of sheer inspiration, he could even come up with the idea that those LL whose tenants were in default prior to the Covid 19 lockdown were exempt from the 'no eviction' rule and could crack on with ending their expensive nightmares.

From: Hazel G 08 June 2020 09:26 AM

Hazel G
LL like Mrs Nagra are the reason that Shelter etc adopt attitudes such as ‘all LL inhabit The Dark Side and should be stamped on’. Penalties for LL who behave in this way are rightly severe. I hope this case gets plenty of publicity so that those in the business of renting out property give consideration to the likely consequences of ignoring the law.

From: Hazel G 05 June 2020 08:46 AM

Hazel G
The proposals of the LRU Are counter-productive. LL already leaving the PRS sector because of changes in the tax laws and increasing energy efficiency requirements. The threat of Local Authorities bringing in mandatory registration with the level of registration fees being suggested in some instances may be making more of them consider whether continuing as LL is worth it. If they are going to get aggro as well from militant tenants who mistakenly believe all LL are ‘wealthy gits’ they will be persuaded that to sell up is the better option, resulting in a shortage of PRS accommodation and as a consequence higher rents.

From: Hazel G 01 June 2020 10:46 AM

Hazel G
Aren’t LL citizens too? Citizens Advice is surely discrimInating.

From: Hazel G 19 May 2020 18:36 PM

Hazel G
Tenants who are in receipt of 80% of their salary should do the decent thing and pass this on the their LLs

From: Hazel G 27 March 2020 18:23 PM

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