The last week has seemed as if the whole country is witnessing a bonfire of the sanities. The calm of the mourning period following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II perhaps presaging in some ways what was to come next.

In March of this year we reported on a case concerning an appeal from a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) decision on occupation of a property (in Camden) by property guardians, the HMO status of such a property and the application to such a property of rent repayment orders. That decision in turn has been appealed from the Upper Tier Tribunal (UTT) to the Court of Appeal where a hearing is yet to take place.

ICYMI: New smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations come into force tomorrow (1st October 2022) so from 2nd October, non-compliant landlords can be hit with £5000 fines. Links to Govt guidance for landlords and local authorities can be accessed here.

The landlord, Mr Pritchard, had moved to Thailand but was the "controlling director" of 3 companies that he had set up to manage his HMO properties in Wrexham, Wales. He had employed a manager to look after the properties but the manager "failed to adequately maintain or inspect" the 3 HMOs.

Mold Magistrates Court described the landlord's behaviour as "outrageous" as it sentenced him following his guilty plea to an offence of illegal eviction and harassment carried out in a "moment of madness".

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Building Research Establishment both expressed their disappointment that there was no mention of any funding proposals in the new Chancellor's mini-Budget (or "Fiscal Event" as the Government has named it) to properly solve the winter fuel poverty crisis via improving residential energy efficiency.

Private rented sector selective licensing of residential properties continues apace with new licensing schemes set to start in Greenwich, London, on 1st October and in Leicester (which we reported on in July) on 10th October.

The management company operated a purpose built block of student accommodation that opened in 2020 and which comprised 242 rooms in 41 cluster flats.

It has been announced that the Government will make it a legal obligation for landlords of private rented properties where utility bills are included in the rent to pass on the cost of living crisis £400 energy bills rebate to their tenants.

A new 5 year selective licensing scheme covering all private rented properties across 25 city wards in Birmingham, with landlord fees set at £700 per 5 year licence, has been given the green light by the Government.

The research was carried out for Greenpeace by Cambridge Econometrics and focuses on insulation of residential properties and the installation of heat pumps taking into account 2022 energy prices and their knock on effects for households including in the private rented sector.

The former Civil Service chief, who now chairs the Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, reportedly said of the knock on effects of the cost of living crisis that "this could .... become a homelessness crisis as well as an economic crisis and the results could be catastrophic" and that all the achievements in reducing street homelessness during the pandemic would be undone.

The buy to let market is undergoing "a profound transformation" Imran Hussain of Harmony Financial Services is quoted as saying. Lewis Shaw of Shaw Financial Services says that "Increasingly, amateur landlords are calling it a day .... they can ask agents whet the market value of a property is and then sell directly to the tenants to avoid any agent's fees."

Immediately after publication of the Govt white paper on rental reform in England the National Residential Landlord Association surveyed 3,500 landlords and says the results show that "Almost 90% of landlords feel the .... white paper .... demonstrates an anti-landlord agenda."

In an appeal, before the Upper Tier Tribunal, by Waltham Forest Council against a First Tier Tribunal ruling on a negative Fit & Proper Person (to hold a selective licence or HMO licence) decision made by the Council, the Council has only partly won it's appeal.

Yes! It can be taken as read that the above premise will cause, at best, raised eyebrows amongst (a great) many in the landlord and managing agent community but, bear with us.

The LGA has, in a consultation response to a Government draft National Air Pollution Control Programme, again raised concerns about funding of Local Authority regulatory services and the shortage of skilled council officers.

The National Residential Landlords Association has raised concerns over the call made by Natalie Elphicke MP for a 2 year private rented sector rent freeze In England in an article that she wrote for the Conservative Home website.

If in England we don't have a proper home insulation and energy efficiency upgrade plan then, effectively, the money about to be thrown at the energy price freeze by the new Govt may not actually count for much in the long term says new analysis.

A report by the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) has shown that 37.6% of private rented sector homes in Yorkshire are non-decent whilst the national average is 22% nationally and the average across the North as a whole is 30%. This at a time when Yorkshire is the region most heavily dependent on the PRS for housing provision.

Simon Clarke MP, previously a minister for Local Government has been made Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in new Prime Minister Liz Truss's new Cabinet.

The LGA has responded to the Government's launch of the public consultation on a decent homes standard for the private rented sector.

A Judge has told a landlord prosecuted by Waltham Forest council for property licence application fraud that "the only thing you are sorry for is you've been caught."

The Dept' for levelling up, housing and communities has launched its public consultation on the proposed new decent homes standard for homes in the private rented sector. The consultation runs from 2nd September to 14th October 2022.

A new (August 2022) report by experts at the UCL Institute of Health Equity says that the inability of 55% of the UK population to properly heat their homes during the cost of living crisis will have a deep and lasting impact on health outcomes across the country - especially for children and the elderly.