Hello, I’m just after some advice on correctly serving a section 21 notice to ask tenant to leave as need to sell the property. Do they need to be given the most recent “how to rent” guide at point of serving notice, even if they were provided one at start of tenancy? I’ve had conflicting information and want to get it right. Thanks for any advice on this. Sinéad

Sorry I missed event tonight. Late yesterday tore achillies so can't walk or drive. If there are any presentations to view please post a link. Hope you have a good evening.

Hi I am enquiring if anyone has used or has knowledge of the insurance claims company Imperial Claims Consultants based at Chester-le-street. I am looking into appointing them on an insurance claim for flooded properties. Anyone with any knowledge/experience of the company or alternative recommendation welcome to post.

I have come across yet another example of problems in the Social Housing Sector that seem to be ignored by Government who continue to try and paint Private Landlords as bad, with unfit properties. Whereas the biggest problems are in the Social Sector. Given that the split of tenants used to be virtually split equally between the two, before they started to sell up, even with my poor maths I would calculate that the percentages of bad landlords and poor standards is much higher in the Social sector!! This was reinforced by an article in the Chronicle recently stating that Newcastle Council had needed to rehouse 78 families from YHN because they were in substandard housing! No mention of this for PRS properties!! However there was an article that Private Landlords would be wise to learn from which I attach part of below when it comes to dealing with complaints from Tenants. My advice would be to make sure you do not ignore them, then make sure you have a written record of exchanges and the action taken. Whilst if the problem was as bad in the PRS I am sure we would be hearing about it because that would support the demonisation of Landlords, I would like to think that all the professional responsible Landlords up here, can take this as a reminder to review procedures and do not feature in any future articles! The Housing Ombudsman has revealed that it issued 52 orders to social housing landlords for failing to handle complaints properly in the last quarter. This is the highest number since the Ombudsman started publishing its reports in 2021. The orders, known as Complaint Handling Failure Orders (CHFOs), are given to social housing landlords who do not comply with the Complaint Handling Code or the Ombudsman’s Scheme. They aim to help landlords improve their complaint resolution and identify any issues that could affect the experience of their residents.

Anybody else had one of these? Did tax feature heavily in your response?