Why The Article 4 Direction Is Bad For Landlords

By Author: Carolyn Clayton
Total Articles: 130
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The article 4 Direction is being bandied around by councils saying it is necessary to protect the character of buildings and areas of importance.

However, as a landlord you stand to lose out should the Article 4 Direction be brought in around this area, for reasons which include the following:

* In a city such as Nottingham where many people rely on the fact that they can live in shared accommodation, it will force many people to search elsewhere for accommodation.
* Various keyworkers – such as doctors, nurses and many others rely on the fact that they can live in shared accommodation close to where they work.
* Large companies in the city, such as Boots and Experian, rely on workers who utilise shared accommodation. These people, along with many of the keyworkers mentioned above, provide a steady and much necessary market for landlords who rent property on a shared tenant basis.
* Forcing this unwanted legislation on law-abiding landlords will force tenants to seek out those who operate 'under the radar.' This does nothing for the rental market at all; in fact it actively encourages unscrupulous ...
... landlords to partake in this illegal activity.
* The Article 4 Direction will prevent legitimate landlords from further enlarging their property portfolios, and will actively serve to drive down property prices and even cause properties to be left unoccupied.

The problem with bringing in the Article 4 Direction is that it will only affect any new multi person occupied properties. It does nothing to address any areas of the city that are affected by major multi-occupancy tenants. By taking away the flexibility of landlords to rent either to a group of people or to a family without applying for planning permission will literally create a whole new set of its own problems.

Rather than lose the right to rent to rent his property under the multi occupancy, a landlord might feel it is more advantageous to him to leave the property empty for a while, rather than risk his permission being turned down. And empty properties don't do anyone any favours, least of the landlord and neighbours who live close by.

Probably one of the worst problems which will be exacerbated by the Article 4 Direction is that of rogue landlords. By stifling the ability of those landlords who run legitimate enterprises, the council will be playing right into the hands of those who are happy to operate illegally. Rather than spending all this money and effort into hampering those who operate correctly, surely it would be far better all-round to spend this money on targeting these rogue landlords in the first place.

It makes no sense for the council to place these restrictions on a city which needs to enlarge and grow its rental sector. Nottingham is a university city and depends highly on students and then graduates being able to easily and affordably find a place to live. The Article 4 Direction is a direct threat to this.
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