Current landlord refusing HAP

Dav010

lawrencesummers wrote: »

So your speculating. My first hand experience of reviving HAP and having issues with tenants and payments is that the HAP office have rang me about any issue that would mean payments would stop, and I have had plenty of time to sort them out. This has happened on a few occasions.

That is very interesting. Multiple posters have given accounts of having payments stopped, and when they contacted the LA, they were informed that due to GDPR regs, the LA could not discuss the issue with the LL. But it seems you are lucky enough that your LA contacts you and ignore GDPR regs.

Stop moaning ffs

Sorry to hijack but I too have been instructed to apply for HAP and my LL says the house won’t pass the inspection (it won’t) so I can’t apply for it. Any ideas what I can do? Been here 9 years

Dav010

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Ok. So can you issue a 14 day notice to the tenant based on the phone call from HAP office advising you that you won’t be paid on the last Wednesday of the month?

I’m trying to make sense of lawcrencesummers post as well, is he/she saying that rental arrears notice can be issued, before the rent has not been paid, in other words, in anticipation of rent arrears at the end of a month that tenant has already occupied the property?

Dav010

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Sorry to hijack but I too have been instructed to apply for HAP and my LL says the house won’t pass the inspection (it won’t) so I can’t apply for it. Any ideas what I can do? Been here 9 years

If the property won’t pass and the LL cannot afford to carry out the necessary renovations, then the property will not be eligible for HAP. You can either continue to pay rent yourself or look for a better property.

Stop moaning ffs

Dav010 wrote: »

If the property won’t pass and the LL cannot afford to carry out the necessary renovations, then the property will not be eligible for HAP. You can either continue to pay rent yourself or look for a better property.

I’d happily sort out all the problems myself if I knew what the inspectors would be looking for/ what criteria have to be met.

Dav010

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

I’d happily sort out all the problems myself if I knew what the inspectors would be looking for/ what criteria have to be met.

That is admirable, but if it was a small amount of money, presumably your LL would do the necessary upgrades, would you be willing to spend thousands of your own money to do them, and would the LL agree to it, knowing you would have no entitlement to reimbursement and the LL could later terminate your tenancy?

Stop moaning ffs

Dav010 wrote: »

That is admirable, but if it was a small amount of money, presumably your LL would do the necessary upgrades, would you be willing to spend thousands of your own money to do them, and would the LL agree to it, knowing you would have no entitlement to reimbursement and the LL could later terminate your tenancy?

Very probably not. Tried to find out the full list of criteria that need to be met but no luck. Looking around the house it’s just a few small fixable things I can spot. They may look for other structural stuff. I dunno. In a bind

lawrencesummers

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Ok. So can you issue a 14 day notice to the tenant based on the phone call from HAP office advising you that you won’t be paid on the last Wednesday of the month?

Not a clue probably not. In my years of being a landlord I’ve never had to. I just found a way to figure it out with the parties involved.

You could well be right that hap has a disadvantage of an extra months delay if there is an issue, but if a tenant is on the system it’s most likely they will get help from the system somewhere, the local welfare officer etc.

It’s also less likely to happen with a tenant on Hap. If they lose their job they pay less weekly.

Any tenancy can go to pot, and while I said there are disadvantages to it, there are also advantages and as an experienced landlord I prefer HAP.

lawrencesummers

10pennymixup wrote: »

I'm guessing they meant that advantage you claimed in your first post.

In that post you've claimed rent is guaranteed to be paid under HAP.....since shown to you as false.

Also that capital expenses can be treated the same as rental expenses, not my forte but others have shown you to be wrong.

Legitimate LL's are right to have a concern about HAP inspections. The standards for HAP inspections are on a par with current building regulations and not with the building regulations governing the property when it was first built and they also exceed the minimum standards for rental accommodation.

There are advantages to it. It’s as simple as that.
The council pays you, sure there can be issues but that’s not my experience, I’ve had more problems with tenants that are not on HAP. Nothing is ever guaranteed but you have a better chance of getting rent through hap than a tenant that gets into difficulty.

Sure you have to bring the house up to building standards, standards that ensure nobody in your house gets electrocuted, or the unserviced boiler leaks carbon monoxide, or a kid climbs out a second story window that doesn’t have a safety latch. As a landlord I’m happy to have these inspections to know
I’m renting out a safe house that nobody is going to let get seriously injured or die in. Other landlords might be happy to take those risks but I’m happy to have an inspection carried out free of charge and make improvements as needed.

lawrencesummers

Dav010 wrote: »

That is very interesting. Multiple posters have given accounts of having payments stopped, and when they contacted the LA, they were informed that due to GDPR regs, the LA could not discuss the issue with the LL. But it seems you are lucky enough that your LA contacts you and ignore GDPR regs.

What’s a LA?

Enbee92

lawrencesummers wrote: »

10pennymixup wrote: »

I'm guessing they meant that advantage you claimed in your first post.

In that post you've claimed rent is guaranteed to be paid under HAP.....since shown to you as false.

Also that capital expenses can be treated the same as rental expenses, not my forte but others have shown you to be wrong.

Legitimate LL's are right to have a concern about HAP inspections. The standards for HAP inspections are on a par with current building regulations and not with the building regulations governing the property when it was first built and they also exceed the minimum standards for rental accommodation.

There are advantages to it. It’s as simple as that.
The council pays you, sure there can be issues but that’s not my experience, I’ve had more problems with tenants that are not on HAP. Nothing is ever guaranteed but you have a better chance of getting rent through hap than a tenant that gets into difficulty.

Sure you have to bring the house up to building standards, standards that ensure nobody in your house gets electrocuted, or the unserviced boiler leaks carbon monoxide, or a kid climbs out a second story window that doesn’t have a safety latch. As a landlord I’m happy to have these inspections to know
I’m renting out a safe house that nobody is going to let get seriously injured or die in. Other landlords might be happy to take those risks but I’m happy to have an inspection carried out free of charge and make improvements as needed.

You sound like one of the good ones, fair play to you

lawrencesummers

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

I’d happily sort out all the problems myself if I knew what the inspectors would be looking for/ what criteria have to be met.

They will check the house and give you a report, but you need certificates from qualified tradespeople.

lawrencesummers

Dav010 wrote: »

I’m trying to make sense of lawcrencesummers post as well, is he/she saying that rental arrears notice can be issued, before the rent has not been paid, in other words, in anticipation of rent arrears at the end of a month that tenant has already occupied the property?

I saying my experience is that it has never gone that far. I can’t comment on anyone else’s but my personal opinions is that HAP has added security for rent getting paid over and above just private tenancies.

Stop moaning ffs

lawrencesummers wrote: »

They will check the house and give you a report, but you need certificates from qualified tradespeople.

Really? Plumber and electrician? Or others?

lawrencesummers

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Very probably not. Tried to find out the full list of criteria that need to be met but no luck. Looking around the house it’s just a few small fixable things I can spot. They may look for other structural stuff. I dunno. In a bind

You need a certificate that the electrics are up to scratch.
A cert that the boiler has been serviced recently
Smoke alarms
Fire blanket
Carbon monoxide alarms i think
Safety latches on upstairs windows

There could be more.

Dav010

lawrencesummers wrote: »

What’s a LA?

Local Authority/County Council.

Stop moaning ffs

lawrencesummers wrote: »

You need a certificate that the electrics are up to scratch.
A cert that the boiler has been serviced recently
Smoke alarms
Fire blanket
Carbon monoxide alarms i think
Safety latches on upstairs windows

There could be more.

I can easily sort all that out no problems. Glimmer of hope I’ll get on it thanks!

lawrencesummers

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Really? Plumber and electrician? Or others?

They have only ever checked after the HAP has been approved and the tenant is in the house. This might make a difference to you, as the LL won’t allow it if they know it won’t pass and they are not willing to do the work. Is it an old house?

lawrencesummers

Dav010 wrote: »

Local Authority/County Council.

The HaP office have contacted me to say payment will be stopped for a few reasons, they have been things on my end, except in one case the tenant was on a housing list in got a house.

Stop moaning ffs

lawrencesummers wrote: »

They have only ever checked after the HAP has been approved and the tenant is in the house. This might make a difference to you, as the LL won’t allow it if they know it won’t pass and they are not willing to do the work. Is it an old house?

Very old. Has some damp issues in a couple of spots but I tackle that every year or so. Some small cosmetic stuff like skirting boards not meeting the wall(one of the weirder criteria I did manage to discover they look for) easily fixed though. Boiler is only a year old.

Dav010

lawrencesummers wrote: »

The HaP office have contacted me to say payment will be stopped for a few reasons, they have been things on my end, except in one case the tenant was on a housing list in got a house.

So you have never been contacted by the LA when HAP payment has been stopped due to the tenants actions such as non payment of their rent contribution to the LA? Or to put it more simply, apart from when you were the cause of the problem or a tenant got a house, you were not contacted by the HAP office?

K.Flyer

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

. Boiler is only a year old.

For local authority requirements, if the boiler is Gas and Under a year old you will need a copy of RGI Cert 2 which should have been issued on completion of the installation.
If the boiler is Over 1 year old you will need a current RGI Cert 3 to show that it has recently been Serviced and that an Annex E inspection has been completed.
You will also need to have an in date Carbon Monoxide alarm in every room that has a Gas Appliance.

lawrencesummers

Dav010 wrote: »

So you have never been contacted by the LA when HAP payment has been stopped due to the tenants actions such as non payment of their rent contribution to the LA? Or to put it more simply, apart from when you were the cause of the problem or a tenant got a house, you were not contacted by the HAP office?

I’m not sure what your agenda here is, but your going off an a tangent nothing related to the OP.

I posted here to offer some advice, as a landlord, to a tenant that sounded like their landlord wasn’t aware of the benefits of HAP and maybe they could persuade them.

HAP isn’t a perfect system, I never said it was and I’m not here to defend it so go grind your axe somewhere else.

lawrencesummers

K.Flyer wrote: »

For local authority requirements, if the boiler is Gas and Under a year old you will need a copy of RGI Cert 2 which should have been issued on completion of the installation.
If the boiler is Over 1 year old you will need a current RGI Cert 3 to show that it has recently been Serviced and that an Annex E inspection has been completed.
You will also need to have an in date Carbon Monoxide alarm in every room that has a Gas Appliance.

And vents as well I think, but I’m no expert.

Stop moaning ffs

K.Flyer wrote: »

For local authority requirements, if the boiler is Gas and Under a year old you will need a copy of RGI Cert 2 which should have been issued on completion of the installation.
If the boiler is Over 1 year old you will need a current RGI Cert 3 to show that it has recently been Serviced and that an Annex E inspection has been completed.
You will also need to have an in date Carbon Monoxide alarm in every room that has a Gas Appliance.

Brillo thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated.

Dav010

lawrencesummers wrote: »

I’m not sure what your agenda here is, but your going off an a tangent nothing related to the OP.

I posted here to offer some advice, as a landlord, to a tenant that sounded like their landlord wasn’t aware of the benefits of HAP and maybe they could persuade them.

HAP isn’t a perfect system, I never said it was and I’m not here to defend it so go grind your axe somewhere else.

I haven’t an axe to grind, earlier you said rent was guaranteed with HAP and questioned another poster about their experience with HAP payments issues, you questioned if they were speculating and said your “first hand experience” refuted what was being said by others. But your experience, it now turns out, does not relate in any way to the most common complaints about HAP, rent is paid in arrears and if the tenant stops paying the LA, the LL does not get paid NOR does the LL receive any contact from the LA regarding the cessation.

lawrencesummers wrote: »

So your speculating. My first hand experience of reviving HAP and having issues with tenants and payments is that the HAP office have rang me about any issue that would mean payments would stop, and I have had plenty of time to sort them out. This has happened on a few occasions.

K.Flyer

lawrencesummers wrote: »

And vents as well I think, but I’m no expert.

New gas boilers are room sealed, they take their fresh air in through the flue, so no extra ventilation requirements there.
Annex E will be more involved with checking for correct ventilation requirements regarding other gas appliances, e.g. gas fires, cookers etc.

lawrencesummers

Dav010 wrote: »

I haven’t an axe to grind, earlier you said rent was guaranteed with HAP and questioned another poster about their experience with HAP payments issues, you questioned if they were speculating and said your “first hand experience” refuted what was being said by others. But your experience, it now turns out, does not relate in any way to the most common complaints about HAP, rent is paid in arrears and if the tenant stops paying the LA, the LL does not get paid NOR does the LL receive any contact from the LA regarding the cessation.

Go bark up another tree, I’ve no interest and your not being any help

beauf

Its not PC to point out obvious problems.

Its very modern approach that if you point out some issue, we ignore the issue and blame the messenger.

lawrencesummers

beauf wrote: »

Its not PC to point out obvious problems.

Its very modern approach that if you point out some issue, we ignore the issue and blame the messenger.

Why don’t people just stick to the point of this thread??? How hard can it actually be.