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.