Surprise! new tenant

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Hello All, Last week, I carried out a general check up/inspection/’how’s it going?’ visit at the same time as a periodic electrical inspection. This was arranged with the tenant by text/phone.

It was surreal. I have never been in this position before.

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James Brokenshire announces consultation to cap unfair leaseholds

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The Government’s proposal is for the vast majority of new houses to be freehold with ground rents for new leases capped at £10.

Housing Minister, James Brokenshire, said: “Unfair ground rents can turn a homeowner’s dream into a nightmare by hitting them in the back pocket

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Will proptech save the property business?

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New Technology:

Both letting agents and estate agents are very concerned about the disruptive effects of new technology, “proptech� as it’s been dumbed, for property, as opposed to “fintech� for the financial services world.

The disruptive effects of online delivery of both property sales and lettings, with the likes of PurpleBricks, and in lettings, Upad, are making quite rapid inroads into traditional ways of doing business.

One only needs to look into the travails of the likes of Countrywide and Foxtons, whose share prices have tanked since Christmas, to know that proptech is one of the factors behind the drop.

But Sheila Manchester, introducing a leading authority on proptech, Prof. Andrew Baum, who is to speak at the next Negotiator journal’s conference on 30^th November asks: “Will proptech save the property business?�

Co-author of books with sales of over 60,000, and a report: “Proptech 3.0: The Future of Real Estateâ€� produced by the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School in 2017, Baum is being named one of the three of the world’s foremost and influential people in proptech.

So will proptech save the massive global real estate market, or will it damage it beyond repair by removing the personal contact that most clients value today? Could it totally devalue what professional well trained agents strive for today, by entering into a cut-price race to the bottom?

Are traditional “people-centric” agents today “tech savvyâ€� enough to adapt to the challenges of tomorrow before it’s too late? Will they succeed by harnessing the technology to their own advantage, using the best of both worlds – new technology to enhance their offering, a creative an efficient hybrid model, and their own personal touch, rather than let new proptech businesses take over completely?

A recent RICS survey shows how far behind many in the industry still are: only around one-third of a batch of 200 surveyors questioned had heard of proptech, let alone understood what proptech means, and 66 per cent were still collecting their data with pen and paper.

But change is on its way and as Andrew Gove onetime CEO of Intel famously said: “Only the Paranoid Survive.�

We could be on the cusp of yet another tech revolution almost as big as the Internet itself, as Blockchain enters the fray; a revolutionary new technology spun out of Crypto currency, Blockchain lends itself so readily to money transactions and contracts – as a dependable open access ledger. Thousands of tech people are working on systems backed by billions of pounds in investment, working to change the way property is traded and managed.

To simplify somewhat: a blockchain is a continuously growing and immutable list of records (blocks), which are linked (chained in sequence) and secured using cryptography. Each block typically contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp and full transaction information. Together, these blocks form an online openly distributed, unchangeable, peer-to-peer (decentralised) ‘ledger’ of records between different parties.

The Oxford research initiative is bringing together academics and property industry experts from across the globe to research and understand the technology and innovation drivers of change for real estate. An updated report will make the research findings available to everyone, but in the meantime you should read the one published in 2017 – see link below.

Andrew Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer at Redevco, a company involved in the research, has said:

“We recognise the enormous structural changes taking place in our sector. We believe these will be both positive as well as disruptive, will come at an astonishing speed and will significantly impact our business.

“We are delighted to join the Future of Real Estate initiative working with like-minded partners to learn about and anticipate the impact of such technologies and innovations at an early stage.�

Proptech 3.0: The Future of Real Estate – here

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Will proptech save the property business? | LandlordZONE.

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CGT when you own both freehold and leasehold?

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My wife and I jointly own the freehold of a building and I own the four individual leasehold flats contained in this building (as, I hope I am right in saying you are not allowed to own both the freehold and the leasehold of the same building)

If we want to sell one of the leasehold flats can we use both of our CGT allowances against the capital gain?

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Shelter: single mothers, bullying and how to delay eviction

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Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter, was on the Victoria Derbyshire programme on Wednesday. The subject was homeless single mothers. These people are of great importance to  Shelter because it hopes to use them to get a court ruling that discrimination against claimants of housing benefit is unlawful

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Rising London rent yields could stabilise house prices

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Rental Income:

House prices in London are expected to “bottom out� in around 2 years’ time – by the end of 2020.

According to figures generated by houses sales and renting website Home.co.uk, rental yields fundamentally underpin home prices in the capital. Because of this CEO Doug Shephard thinks that after a long period of declining rents, combined with falling prices, rental yields are on the rise again.

Home.co.uk claims it uses search engine technology to build and maintain the most comprehensive database of UK residential properties advertised for sale and rent on the Internet.

During the boom times in London’s property market, house prices soared ahead of rents, says Shepherd. There was an “investment fever� which drove prices up more than 50% in just five years. Meanwhile, rents rose by only 10% over the same time period, causing yields to collapse, Shepherd explains.

His report says that prices fell by around 2.3% over the last year, while rents have increased by 4.3%, and a lack of supply means that rents are on the increase again for suitable rental accommodation.

Shepherd claims that lower capital values, higher landlord taxation and more regulations have all served to disincentives investors from buying more properties in London. Plus all this has encouraged many landlords to leave the rental market altogether, hence a drop in the supply of rentals. It now results in a steep fall in supply of 21% over the last 12 months.

Currently the typical gross rental yields in London is around 3.7%, too low to be attractive for buy-to-let investors, and in prime central London locations yields are even worse, shifting investment outside of London.

At the same time, the average yield across England and Wales in August was about 4.7%, while some Northern cities can top 6%.

With counter trends of sliding prices and rising London rents, Shephard estimates that London rental yields could reach as high as 6% by the end of 2020. This he thinks would result in a resurgence of investment, which would have the effect of stabilising property prices.

“We expect some significant rent hikes over the next two years as tenants compete to secure a home in the capital, and this will accelerate the rise in yields.

“Sufficient yield recovery will prompt landlords to invest once more in London’s vital Private Rented Sector although, should rent controls be imposed, they will almost certainly stay away.�

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Rising London rent yields could stabilise house prices | LandlordZONE.

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Irish “caring” Budget re-introduces 100% mortgage interest tax relief

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The Finance Minister for Ireland, Paschal Donohoe, described his budget as a “caring� budget that will secure Ireland’s future. Donohoe confirmed landlords would receive relief of up to 100% of the interest paid on loans for the purchase or refurbishment of residential property.

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Notice Period for Company Lets?

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I have let a house to a company under a company let. The lease allows me to give one month’s notice at any time after 6 months.

When I give notice, I was unclear whether the eviction date needs to coincide with the rent date?

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Much-coveted B1 post code opportunity

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One BHM is a new buy to let in Birmingham city centre, occupying a much-coveted B1 post code. It is a collection of 165 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments based in Birmingham’s city centre.

The location is ideal for young professionals wanting a convenient commute to work and is also close to several attractions such as Brindley Place (a popular eating and drinking destination)

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AXA study shows why politicians chase the tenant vote

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Future elections are set to be influenced much more powerfully by the UK’s growing contingent of private renters than ever before, suggests new research from AXA Insurance*. While 53% of private renters voted in 2017 – a noticeable jump on previous elections

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