Mick Roberts makes front page of Nottingham Post on Selective Licensing

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Property118 member Mick Roberts has been fighting the introduction of punitive Selective Licensing rules introduced by Nottingham City Council.

Mick Roberts on BBC Radio Nottingham

Our Own Property118 member Mick Roberts appears on BBC Radio Nottingham’s Mark Dennison Show.

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Where is the best place to invest in student accommodation?

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Investing in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is big business. The sector has become increasingly popular around the world thanks to the relatively low cost of entry and the high potential returns on offer.

Savills estimates that a total of 75,000 beds were traded in 2017, to a value of at least £5.3bn. This represents a 17% rise over the 2016 totals, and goes to show the health of the market. Furthermore, Savills believes that the Brexit situation has only heightened the appetite for PBSA, with more being invested after the 2016 referendum than before it. Given that barely a week goes by without the announcement of a new student development in one of the UK’s major cities, it is perhaps not surprising that most observers only see the continued growth of PBSA as an investment class.

All of which raises the question: where is the best location for a discerning investor to put their money? When it comes to PBSA the most important considerations are a growing student body, a university with a lack of its own accommodation, and a local area which has big investment plans likely to make the university more attractive.

With all of the above taken into consideration, there aren’t many places which fit the bill for PBSA investment better than Salford. The local university is expanding and teaching more students, it has accommodation for fewer than 10% of its students, and the area is the subject of an £800m investment masterplan.

Recently announced by the University of Salford and Salford City Council, the masterplan covers 240 acres around the university site and brings with it significant opportunities. One million sqft of educational space, six million sqft of commercial space targeted at industrial growth sectors and around two million sqft feet of parkland, green landscaped routes and cycleways are the main attractions for students in the area. Locals will also benefit, with 2,500 new residential homes and apartments planned for the area.

The industrial space, based around a new Industrial Collaboration Zone on Frederick Road North, is particularly interesting. It will be aimed at attracting businesses in the creative, digital, health and wellbeing, environment, sport and engineering sectors – not coincidentally the sectors within which the University of Salford excels and enjoys such a fine reputation.

The University already enjoys beneficial collaborative links with local businesses in similar sectors – for instance the campus at MediaCityUK – and further growth of its preferred sectors in the nearby area will provide even more opportunity for its students. It looks as if the Frederick Road Campus is set to become an impressive hub which will allow education, research and business to collaborate freely.

Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett agrees, saying of the scheme: “the City of Salford has attracted billions of pounds of private sector investment in the last decade and delivered nationally important regeneration projects that have brought new industries, new training and development opportunities and new jobs to the city.

“The combined assets of the city and the university around The Crescent present a huge opportunity for the continued growth of the city linking education with enterprise and industry and arts, culture, heritage and community.”

All of the above will make Salford an even more attractive higher education destination than it already is, leading to the growth of the student body. With the University of Salford already having nowhere near enough accommodation for its students, this is the perfect time to invest in PBSA in Salford.

X1 The Campus is an outstanding student accommodation investment opportunity. Located on the Frederick Road Campus, this development will be extremely popular with student residents looking to live only a few minutes’ walk from both their university and the new educational and commercial facilities set to be built as part of the new masterplan. Frederick Road is at the heart of Salford’s exciting future, and X1 The Campus is situated perfectly to take advantage of this.

Click here for more information and to enquire about this opportunity today – availability is limited so don’t miss out!

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Where is the best place to invest in student accommodation? | LandlordZONE.

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Tenant in custody!

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My tenant was arrested last week and is still in custody. She is 1 month into a new 6 month AST.

I understand she was involved in some kind of drug deal (on behalf of her boyfriend) –

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Tax rises are slowing housing investment

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Tax Rises:

An analysis released today by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirms the impact of tax increases on choking off investment in rented housing.

In its Economic and Fiscal Outlook published today, the OBR warns of “subdued growth in residential investment.” The assessment comes following a string of tax hikes on private rented housing, including a stamp duty levy on the purchase of new homes to rent and restriction of mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax.

Alan Ward, Chair of the Residential Landlords Association said:

“Today’s assessment by the OBR demonstrates the folly of taxing the supply of new homes to rent.

“It is more important than ever that we recognise the dynamic role the rental market can play in swiftly responding to the country’s ever changing housing needs. The Government should come forward with a package of pro-growth tax and planning policies to support private landlords who want to invest in the new housing the country needs if renters are to be able to find the accommodation they want.

“The build to rent sector is not delivering at the rate required and in the past private landlords have delivered three out of five of all new homes.”

The Residential Landlords Association: The home for landlords

The RLA represents the interests of landlords in the private rented sector across England and Wales.

The Office of Budget Responsibility has published its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook. It can be accessed at: http://cdn.obr.uk/EFO-MaRch_2018.pdf   Page 67 notes:

“Real residential investment rose by 7.8 per cent in 2017, up from 7.6 per cent in 2016. In line with our forecasts for house prices and property transactions, we expect relatively subdued growth in residential investment over the forecast period. Housebuilding is expected to slow in the near term, reflecting subdued turnover in the housing market and modestly higher interest rates. Housebuilding is then expected to rise as housing market turnover picks up. Housing improvements are also expected to slow in the near term thanks to recent weakness in real wages, before picking up as real earnings growth picks up. Over the medium term, residential investment is expected to grow broadly in line with real GDP.”

The Chancellor has delivered his Spring Statement, a copy of which can be read at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spring-statement-2018-philip-hammonds-speech  In it he declared: “We are the champions of small businesses and the entrepreneur.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Tax rises are slowing housing investment | LandlordZONE.

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Countdown to 1st April Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) rules

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Have you done enough to avoid a £4,000 fine?

Some 6% of landlords risk financial penalties and being banned from renting if their properties fall beneath imminent energy efficiency rules.

From 1 April 2018, the new regulations have the potential to leave landlords unable to rent their properties and tenants with inflated energy bills.

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Setting-up a “bullet-proof” tenancy in 2018

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Assured Shorthold Tenancy:

Under new rules introduced over the last couple of years, setting up a “bullet-proof” AST in 2018 is a bigger challenge that in the past, but it need not be all that difficult if you know exactly what’s required.

Get it wrong though, and you could be permanently lumbered with a bad tenant if you have problems and in the unfortunate event that you need to evict; with something like 20,000 possession claims every year in the UK, the risk is not insignificant.

This article applies primarily to English law. Although tenancy laws are similar in other jurisdictions, there may be significant differences. Always seek professional advice before making or not making important decisions.

The key to avoiding this sort of trouble and being in a position to use Section 21 to enforce an efficient eviction, you need two things:

1. You have completed and served all the correct paperwork
2. You have proof that you did that.

Many landlords forget the crucial second point, because if a tenant denies having received something, your court application will be dismissed and you can say goodbye to your £325 court fee – back to square one with rent arrears racking up.

In order to retain the considerable benefits of using the “no-fault” Section 21 eviction process, Parliament has introduced several conditions that landlords / agents must comply with. These hurdles are designed to weed out rogue landlords and generally improve the quality of lettings for tenants.

A bullet proof tenancy is also of course reliant on following a rigorous tenancy selection process: www.tenantverify.co.uk 

These new rules apply to tenancies commencing on or after the 1^st October 2015, and will apply to all existing tenancies after 1^st October 2018.

Critical Documentation

These are the documents you must give your tenant if your new tenancy is to be bulletproof:

Documents can be served via email providing the tenant has agreed to accept them in that way (clause in the agreement), but the full document must be supplied, not just a link to a website.

It is preferable and recommended that items 1 to 5 be physically incorporated (attached to) the tenancy agreement so there can be no argument as to what has been supplied and received. A full copy of the whole should also be supplied to any guarantor involved.

Download a selection of useful free and paid-for documents, agreements, forms, letter templates and checklists here: https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/documents and here https://www.tenantverify.co.uk/useful-documents.html

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Setting-up a “bullet-proof” tenancy in 2018 | LandlordZONE.

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