Traveller Eviction On Green Belt Land.


Last Monday an eviction was approved in regards to 400 people illegally living on a Europe’s largest traveller camp. Basildon Council’s decision means that the families living at Dale Farm in Crays Hill in Essex will only have 28 days to leave the site. The cost of the eviction is thought to be around 18million, around a third of their annual budget, and the travellers are threatening violence if they are made to leave. However the neighbours in the area are hell bent in making them leave. The community is divided in Crays Hill, one side you have the travellers who have lived on the green belt land for the last ten years, although they have lived there illegally. On the other side are Basildon Council who is determined to evict them with an army of police and bailiffs to throw them out if they will not go voluntarily. Villagers in the vicinity feel that the eviction cannot come soon enough. Some say that they have suffered years of hell from the travellers which have included death threats, abuse and harassment.

One villager’s yard backs onto the camp and he said that he has suffered a few break-ins and has had rubbish thrown into his garden. He admits that he has had to turn his house into a fortress with CCTV and huge gates installed. He wishes that he could move as he feels like a prisoner in his own home but the house has now lunged in value. His house used to be worth around 450,000 but he would be lucky to get 200,000 for it today. He feels that no one would seriously buy the house when the camp is just over the back wall. Nearby is the Belvedere Golf Club And Conference Centre and the owner admits that the travellers nearly ruined his business. The public bar had to be closed down even though it was making 5,000 a week due to behaviour of the travellers. When the owner approached the travellers to discuss the problem he was punched and people thought that the bar was for travellers which was why he closed it. However the owner says that the blame lies with Basildon Council. When he applied for permission to erect a marquee temporarily for weddings in the grounds the council refused. But he feels that the council simply stood by whilst the travellers erected their eyesore of a camp. As a result it has now cost the council millions of pounds to evict the travellers as they allowed the situation to spiral out of control. When the eviction takes place bailiffs will try and get the travellers out whilst they have back up from the police. One traveller admits that someone might die as they are not going to allow the police to just walk into the camp and things could turn nasty. The travellers have even called upon travellers from all over Europe to help them stay. Only half of the travellers at the site are being forced to leave as there are legal and illegal sides to the camp.

The legal camp was set up with council approval by 40 families in the 1970’s. At the time they had new chalets and the site was kept immaculate with large iron gates at the entrance. They drive Mercedes and Land Rovers and the council even built them a 12,000 community centre. It is the illegal camp which is causing all of the problems. This site was built on green belt land and only has a few chalets on there, instead it is littered with hundreds of caravans and there is rubbish everywhere. In the fields around there have been rats spotted due to the rubbish that is thrown onto them. The illegal site entrance has a scaffolding tower surrounded by piles of tyres and a banner saying “We Won’t Go”. There are no Tarmac roads in the site and there are cess pits for the sewerage. Some of the travellers are saying that if the bull dozers do come in then they will barricade themselves into their homes, even with their children inside. There are over 100 children at Dale Farm, including six month old triplets. Over 80 of the children go to the local school. Residents of the camp fear for the upheaval for the children rather than themselves. Some of the villagers feel that the amount of money spent on the eviction is ridiculous as they have not experienced any trouble from the travellers. The camp cannot be seen from the road so as long as they do not make any trouble, some feel that they should be allowed to stay. Council leader Tony Ball is adamant that the eviction at the site will go ahead as they have tried in vain to find a peaceful solution, however after ten years of continued and illegal development of green belt land the council feel that they must now take action.

Leasehold Flats


When buying a property that is leasehold, the best place to start is the agreement. And when you are ‘buying a flat’ that agreement is the Lease. Unfortunately, Leases come in all shapes and sizes. There is no such thing as a ‘standard lease’. Partly this is because every solicitor thinks their lease is the best and everybody else’s is less than perfect … and partly this is because every property is different, every Landlord’s wishes are different, and every property deal is different from the next. Consequently property lawyers create bespoke documents designed to be the best answer for the specific circumstances of the moment. The result is a world filled with Leases which are all slightly different. But thankfully there are common themes and ‘headings’ in all of them. Let’s look at the important ones. The Date and The Parties The date of the Lease is the date upon which the original document was signed by the original Parties to the Lease … the original people who signed the agreement … will be named. They are: The Freeholder is the person who owns the land upon which the block of flats Leaseholder is the person who ‘rents the flat’ – subject to the rules and regulations, the rights and benefits, of the Lease. The Resident’s Management Company Not all Leases have a Residents’ Management Company [RMC]. Where they do, they are known as “Tri-Partite Leases”. In these situations the RMC undertakes the duties normally undertaken by the Freeholder in ‘ordinary leases”. This is often done where the Landlord wants no day to day involvement in (or liability for) the running of the building. As the name implies, the residents (the Leaseholders) take on the running of the Building via a company set up specifically for the purpose. The Demised Premises This section of the Lease details the property which is the subject of the agreement.

In the case of a flat, the building within which the flat is situated will be described; e.g. Magnificent Mansions, Posh Road, Toptown. The flat itself will be detailed; e.g. Flat 2, Magnificent Mansions. Usually the words describing the demised premises will provide detail such as “up to and including the ceiling plaster and down to and including the floor finishes … and one half (severed vertically) of the internal walls dividing the said flat from any other flat or common parts … including the doors door frames windows window frames glass and fastenings …” some more ancient leases the detail may not be as explicit as you might want to see. In such cases it is worth looking carefully at the physical property to see whether any ‘grey areas’ might exist, which may be the subject of dispute at a later date. The Term This will always be stated as a definite term from a specific date; e.g. Ninety nine years from 25th March 1985. It is worth working out how many years are left unexpired – as this affects the mortgage-ability of the property (see later). The Rent The rent payable under the terms of a long Lease is called “Ground Rent”. This is a fixed sum, payable on a specific date or dates each year; e.g. 100 per annum, half payable on 25th March and half payable on 29th September, in advance. In many leases the rent changes during the term. Such changes will be stated precisely; e.g. 50 per annum for the first thirty-three years, 100 per annum for the second thirty-three years, 150 per annum for the remainder of the term. Note: If the rent is stated as “a peppercorn” this generally means no money actually needs to be paid. In theory you’re required to pay the peppercorn each year – but I’ve never met a Landlord who actually wanted to collect peppercorns! (Not yet anyway.) The Landlord’s Covenants This section of the Lease describes what the Landlord is required to do throughout the term. This might include ‘maintaining the structure of the building’ … or … ‘to maintain repair redecorate and renew the external walls and structure and in particular the main load bearing walls and foundations and roof storage tanks gutters rainwater pipes of the Building and any party walls and the boundary fences (if any) and the balconies’. In short, this is the list of duties the Landlord must perform.

The Landlord’s Rights In order to perform the Landlord’s Covenants, the Landlord will need to retain a right of access over the premises – and other rights as appropriate. For these reasons the Lease will describe rights such as “The Landlord and his surveyors and agents, with or without workmen, are permitted at all reasonable times upon reasonable notice during the said term, to enter upon and examine the condition of the demised premises.” When you’re renting out the flat, be aware that you may have to provide access for your Landlord – even though you are not physically occupying the premises. The Landlord’s Obligations Often these are contained in the Landlord’s Covenants but in some cases they are listed separately. They detail the repairing obligations, like those mentioned above, and other duties which the Landlord is required to carry out (usually in return for a service charge). In the case of a flat you should always check the details surrounding the services your flat requires. For example, if your flat is on the 23rd floor … what are the Landlord’s obligations for repairing the lift if it stops working? When you’re intending to rent out your flat on a short term basis; e.g. with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, think of the services your tenant will require – because if those services stop, your tenant will call you and you’ll need to put pressure on your Landlord to get the problem sorted out. The Leaseholder’s Covenants The Leaseholder’s Covenants are normally fairly extensively described in the Lease. This is because the lawyer drafting the Lease will have wanted to guard against every eventuality he could think of – and as all tenants are likely to trash the Landlord’s precious flat (in the lawyer’s opinion) the wording will be lengthy. The Leaseholder’s Rights These rights may seem fairly obvious, but you need to check them from the viewpoint of something having gone wrong. After all, nobody reads a Lease when everything is going great (except sad people like me!).

The Leaseholder’s Rights might include: The Leaseholder’s Obligations As the Landlord wants his flat looked after properly – and as he has obligations to other Leaseholders in the Building – the Lease details a multitude of things which you the Leaseholder must do … and must not do. These might include: Service Charge Details As mentioned above, the Landlord will have the responsibility for maintaining the Building and providing various services. In fulfilling his duties he will incur costs – but will recover the costs of doing so by way of a Service Charge levied upon each Leaseholder at the building. The Lease will detail: It is worth checking the service charge proportions for all the flats within the building – as they quite often do not add up to 100%. Obviously you will rarely be able to read all the leases for the Building, but the Landlord’s Managing Agent may have a schedule or spreadsheet detailing the relevant information. General Terms More modern leases may well have a section detailing things which do not fall into any other category, for example: Where the demised premises are demised to two or more persons all covenants expressed to be by the Lessee shall be joint and several and the masculine gender includes the female gender and neuter and the singular includes plural. These clauses are designed to minimise legal argument due to misunderstandings or misinterpretations. Lease Plans Every good Lease will have a plan detailing the Building, the demised Premises, and the grounds within which the Building is situated. It is important to check that the flat you’re proposing to buy has adequate access – and you have a right of access over the areas you expect. For example, if your flat is on the 23rd floor but you have no right of access over the 22nd floor … you have a problem! To avoid leasehold problems always READ THE LEASE! Behave yourself as you would want a perfect tenant to behave. Make sure you understand ‘the rules’ and make sure you follow those rules. Reading the Lease and knowing what’s expected of you will help you avoid problems and will save you money!

Own Business Responsibilities For Landlords


Without learning about the business of rental property, a landlord would find himself in a lot of trouble sooner than later. One has to be knowledgeable about his or her duties and responsibilities. Aside from a landlord’s responsibilities to tenants and the community where the property is located, one should also be knowledgeable about his or her duties to the business. If you are about to enter the business, you have to be aware that it can be a stressful job. Without you knowing about it, you could be making plenty of mistakes that could prove to be costly. We are not only talking about money matters here. Your reputation as well as your property’s could be ruined enough to make potential tenants think twice about renting your property. One of your biggest responsibilities to your business if you are a landlord is to educate yourself about the business. Because being a landlord could be a stressful and tasking job, you have to be very well versed about every facet of the job. One way you can educate yourself is by reading books written by landlords or real estate investors. By reading about the business as related by someone who has experienced it first hand, you would be able to improve your knowledge by a mile.

Magazines for the real estate professionals would also hold a wealth of information for you. Another thing you can do to be better prepared being a landlord is to teach yourself how to be ethical. As a landlord, you would be placed in a lot of situation where you would be required to think fast and you are expected to make the right decision time and time again. By learning how to act ethically, you would be able to keep sensitive situations from getting out of hand. It is also your major responsibility to your business to set an attainable goal and the plan to reach it. It should be a concrete plan and goal with accompanying timeframe.

Without a concrete goal and a plan to reach it, the business could end up floundering which is not what anyone would want after making a sizable investment. By learning what responsibilities you hold for your business, you would be able to be fully prepared to take on the task of running a rental property efficiently. After making a huge investment in acquiring a rental property, it only makes sense that one should do everything he or she can to ensure success for the venture. Elaine Salt invites you to visit Salt Lake Property Management to learn more information about Utah Property Management and how to grow your rental property business.