Help – Money Pit Portfolio?

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We have a portfolio of nine properties all over UK, bought in 2007, interest only mortgages. Half are nice little earners, no problem tenants, but a couple have been nightmares with one in particular costing us a fortune.

Everything has gone wrong with the house itself.

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RLA concerns on Right to Rent included in commons briefing paper

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A briefing paper on Right to Rent published today by the House of Commons Library includes concerns raised by the RLA relating to the policy. The briefing, which you can read here, provides an overview of the Government’s Right to Rent policy, including the impact of its rollout. Under the Right to Rent scheme, landlords […]

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Lift Housing Allowance Freeze call…

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Housing Benefit:

Commenting on calls by the Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) for the Government to lift the Local Housing Allowance freeze for private rented housing, David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association says:

“Today’s report is a reminder of the difficulties being faced by young people especially in accessing homes for private rent.

“With many unable to afford a home of their own, and waiting lists for social housing remaining long, we need to do more to support those who desperately need a thriving private rental market to provide the homes they need and to sustain existing tenancies. This means lifting the Housing Allowance freeze so that it better matches the realities of today’s private rental prices.

“Such a policy would not lead to substantial increases in Government spending. Official data shows that in the year to July 2018, private sector rents across Britain increased by just 0.9 per cent, far less than inflation.�  

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

In November 2017 the RLA published a blog post questioning why the LHA freeze had not been lifted for private rented housing. This can be accessed here

The RLA was also a co-signatory to a letter to the Chancellor sent ahead of the November Budget last year call from the freeze to be lifted. This letter is available here

The ONS’s Index of Private Housing Rental Prices can be accessed here  It reports that: 

“Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 0.9% in the 12 months to July 2018, down from 1.0% in the 12 months to June 2018.� It goes on to say that: “London private rental prices decreased by 0.3% in the 12 months to July 2018; this is the lowest annual rate since September 2010.�

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Lift Housing Allowance Freeze call… | LandlordZONE.

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Tenant in, no agreement and agent not sending rent?

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I have recently let out a flat through an agent. The agreement was to charge an all in fee which would include the rent collection. The fee will be paid on a monthly basis, deducted from the rent.

The tenant has moved in about 11 days ago

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Landlords selling up at the rate of 4,000 properties per month

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Landlord Taxation:

The latest Ministry of Housing report shows that nearly 4,000 buy-to-let properties are being sold by landlords each month, as a direct result of increased taxation reducing buy-to-let profits.

This year is likely to be the first recorded decline in the number of rental properties in the last 18 years.

Government statistics show the number of privately rented homes in England fell by 46,000 to 4.79 million last year, the largest reduction since 1988. Recent figures from UK Finance also reveal that there were just 5,500 new buy-to-let home mortgage purchases completed in March, some 19% fewer than in the same month last year.

The drastic reductions come two years after the introduction of Government’s punitive tax and other measures: the 3% extra stamp duty introduced on homes bought to let and the limiting of mortgage interest tax relief; tax and other regulatory changes that have hit landlords’ profits hard in recent months. It is now much more expensive to buy and run a buy-to-let property, and returns will be worse than they were two years ago.

Government policy has been successful in deterring landlords from investing in BTL at a time when demand for rental property is on the rise. The private rented sector (PRS) now constitutes 20% of the housing stock, the majority of which is owned by landlords with small portfolios. Consequently, the exodus of small-scale landlords is causing an acute shortage of available properties to rent, particularly in parts of London, according to new research by property website Home.co.uk.

The shortage of rental properties is a UK-wide problem, but is particularly severe in the capital, where there has been a 20% drop in the number of properties available to rent over the last 12 months. Over the same period, there has been a 12% fall in the number of available rental properties across the country and this reduction in supply is leading to a surge in rents, especially in parts of London.

According to Shojin Property Partners, buy-to-let landlords are increasingly looking at alternative property investment opportunities to reduce their tax liability, provide a better return on investment and give them a hands-off and hassle-free investment.

Jatin Ondhia, CEO of Shojin Property Partners, commented:

“As a result of the Government’s increase in stamp duty, it is now much more costly to acquire a buy-to-let property.  A £250,000 investment property will incur stamp duty of £10,000 compared to £2,500 for an owner occupier.

“Many landlords have seen their profits eroded by the increased burden of taxation and regulation.  They are also facing poor buy-to-let yields especially in London for example, where they are between just 2-3%, while nationwide the average yields are between 6-8%.

“Over the last six months, we have seen a sharp increase in investors diversifying into property crowdfunding, having previously invested in the buy-to-let market.  Since the launch of our crowdfunding platform, we have seen many landlords investing in our residential development projects, from as little as £5,000.

“We now offer investors the opportunity to invest across the entire property spectrum. Our success is down to the broad range of investment opportunities we offer, including hands-off buy to let, bridging loans, mezzanine loans, property development and IF ISA (Innovative Finance ISA).  Individuals can wrap their investment in an IF ISA and receive tax-free returns. They can also transfer their existing cash ISAs, or open an IFISA account for free and invest up to £20,000 tax free.�

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords selling up at the rate of 4,000 properties per month | LandlordZONE.

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Government PRS lead Anne Frost to address RLA Future Renting conference

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Anne Frost, the Government’s lead officer for PRS housing policy, will address the Residential Landlords Association’s (RLA) Future Renting conference in London next month. As deputy director for the PRS within the Ministry of Housing (MHCLG), Anne has overall responsibility for implementing government policy and feeding opinion from stakeholders – including landlords – back to Government […]

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Chartered Institute of Housing backs RLA call to lift LHA freeze

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New research from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) shows that more than 90% of Local Housing Allowance rates across Great Britain now fail to cover the cheapest rents. The institute is warning that rates have now fallen so far behind that private renting has become unaffordable for most low income tenants – putting them […]

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Beyond Section 24- 10 most popular landlord tax questions

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Section 24 and limited companies have dominated our tax pages in recent months – yet not all landlords are affected. Here Michael Wright of RLA tax partner RITA4RENT looks at the top 10 most popular landlord tax questions. While Section 24 is very important to a lot of landlords, at the same time there are […]

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Forum Spotlight-tenant has requested bath to be removed

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Our Forum is a fantastic place to share experiences with other landlords, and to assist each other with issues. This week’s Forum Spotlight looks at an issue about installing a new shower. The landlord posted in our Forum, saying that their tenant of six years had informed them that they are starting to find it […]

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RLA announces new CEO

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The RLA is pleased to announce its new Chief Executive, former Tesco executive Andrew Dixon. Andrew is replacing current CEO Andrew Goodacre, who is leaving the RLA after more than five years at the helm. He has worked across the globe for firms including household names such as Tesco, Boots and Procter & Gamble and […]

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