One mortgage for all BTL properties?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I am trying to help a friend who has 4 BTL properties all owned as an individual (rather than as a company). At present each property has a mortgage ( across the portfolio the LTV is approx 35%).

Not looking to take out any additional lending but the endless new mortgage arrangement / booking fees/ valuation fees for a fixed period are a drag and are really adding up.

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Zoopla to refuse “No DSS� ads

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Housing Benefit:

Leading UK property website Zoopla is to refuse to take advertisements for lettings from landlords who state “No DSS� or in any way bar people who are receiving housing benefit.

Zoopla has said it will in future prohibit landlords posting
ads which state “No DSS”, a commonly-used acronym referring back to a
time when housing benefit was paid by the now defunct Department of Social
Security.

Following a recent exposé conducted by The National
Housing Federation and Shelter it was found that one in 10 letting agents in
England were regularly refusing to let to Housing Benefit (DSS) tenants.

Even though it has been estimated that around 890,000 people
in England are in receipt of housing benefit payments, to help pay their rent,
it was found that the no DSS policy was being enforced by landlords and agents even
when tenants could show they could afford the rent.

There is some debate about the legality of refusing outright
all “DSS� tenants, there as question over whether it’s direct or indirect discrimination,
but according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
(MHCLG), around half of landlords would not be willing to let to them.

Responding to the Zoopla announcement, Chris Town, Vice
Chair of the Residential Landlords Association has said:

“We welcome today’s announcement from Zoopla which comes
after extensive campaigning by the RLA.  Landlords should not refuse
someone solely because they are on benefits, and should consider prospective
tenants on a case by case basis. But with growing numbers of benefit claimants
now reliant on the private rented sector we need to do more to give tenants and
landlords greater confidence in the benefits system.

“This means building on positive changes already made by the
Government by giving all tenants the right to choose if they want to have the
housing element of Universal Credit paid directly to their landlord; working
with bank lenders to remove mortgage terms that prevent landlords renting to
benefit claimants as NatWest has already done; and ending the Local Housing
Allowance freeze which has meant benefits bear little resemblance to rents.

“We look forward to working constructively with the
Government to address these issues.�

 RLA research has found that the average amount owed by
Universal Credit tenants in rent arrears increased by half from just over
£1,600 in 2017 to almost £2,400 in 2018.

Around two thirds of the largest buy-to-let mortgage lenders
do not allow landlords to rent property to tenants receiving housing benefit.

Research by Manchester Metropolitan University for the RLA
has found that 53 per cent of landlords reported that the gap between the Local
Housing Allowance and local market rent was more than £50 a month. Almost 25%
said the gap was over £100 a month. 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Zoopla to refuse “No DSSâ€� ads | LandlordZONE.

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Spike in cost of five-year fixed-term buy-to-let mortgage

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Buy to Let Mortgages:

Latest research out
today (Thursday, March 14) from online mortgage broker, Property Master,
the digital start up that uses algorithms to match the requirements of
individual private landlords against the entire buy-to-let mortgage
market, shows the cost of two out of three categories of five year fixed
rate buy-to-let mortgages had showed a sharp spike in cost compared to the
previous month (February.)  Average product fees were also up markedly.

Property Master’s March
2019 Mortgage Tracker shows the monthly cost of five-year fixed rate offers for
50% of the value of a property jumped by £25 between February and March, the
largest month on month increase the Tracker has ever recorded.  Average
product fees for this type of mortgage also leapt by £287, from £1,212 to
£1,499.  The cost of a five-year fixed rate for 65% of the value of a
property increased from £343 to £350, a more modest rise but again more than
has been seen before.  Average product fees for the 65% were also up by
£30, from £918 to £948. 

The Property
Master Mortgage Tracker follows a range of buy-to-let mortgages for an
interest only loan of £150,000.  Deals from 18 of some of the biggest
lenders in the buy-to-let market including Barclays, BM Solutions, RBS, The
Mortgage Works, Godiva and Precise (full list below) were tracked.  
Figures for this month’s Mortgage Tracker were calculated on deals available on
March 1, 2019.

Angus Stewart, Property
Master’s Chief Executive, said: “Over time five-year fixed rates have
emerged as the product of choice for many buy-to-let landlords. These products
tend to be easier to get through the lenders’ affordability assessments. They
have also offered good value from increased competition amongst lenders and a
more benign interest rate environment has helped to keep their cost down. 
However, what we have seen this month from our Mortgage Tracker is a worrying
development.�

Mr Stewart
continued: “Added to this we have the continued fog around Brexit and possibly
higher interest rates were the UK to crash out of Europe without a deal with
all the turbulence that would bring.  We have another Monetary Policy
Committee meeting next week but given that it will be only days before March 29^th when
the UK is due to leave the European Union we are unlikely to get any more
clarity around interest rates at that time.â€� 

Property Master was
launched almost two years ago and aims to shake up the buy-to-let mortgage
market currently served by around 12,000 mortgage brokers.  It has already
attracted financial backing from a broad range of private investors including a
minority stake being taken by LSL Property Services, whose estate and letting
agency brands include Your Move and Reeds Rains. 

Property Master has
automated what was a manual, complex process to provide landlords with a free
easy to use mortgage search tool which provides a mortgage quote that is
pre-screened against each lender’s specific and changing criteria. 

www.property-master.com

About Property
Master 

Property Master launched almost two years
ago and is the UK’s first and only digital mortgage brokerage service for
UK buy-to-let landlords. Its innovative approach enables private landlords to
take control of their financing online for the first time by matching their
requirements on Property Master’s unique and complete database of mortgage
information and lending criteria. Founded by a group of highly experienced
financial services professionals, the company is directly authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Spike in cost of five-year fixed-term buy-to-let mortgage | LandlordZONE.

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Appealing valuation from single to five dwellings?

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We have a small HMO of 5 rooms in Stoke-On-Trent. Recently the Valuation Office has brought our property in as 5 separate hereditaments. The property has been regarded as a single dwelling until 5 months ago, with a tax for the entire property

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‘No DSS’ listings banned on Zoopla

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Zoopla has announced it will ban the phrase ‘No DSS’ form listings on its website following pressure from Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Heather Wheeler, and ‘Housing Charity’, Shelter. They are also following recommendations from the RLA and NLA.

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Section 20 for mixed management co.

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Can any members help with these questions concerning sec 20? We own three apartments in a block of 36 apartments, the Amenity Land Management Company take care of the private roads and car parks and is proposing to spend approx £20k on repairs.

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Review of Possession Claim procedures

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Evictions:

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee is consulting on the enforcement
of possession orders and the consistency and alignment of procedures carried
out in the county court and high court. A consultation questionnaire for
landlords’ views is accessible below.

What are the Civil
Procedure Rules (CPR)?

These are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of
Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil cases in England and
Wales. They apply to all cases commenced after 26 April 1999, and largely
replace the Rules of the Supreme Court and the County Court Rules.

The CPR were designed to improve access to justice by making
legal proceedings cheaper, quicker, and easier to understand for non-lawyers.
As a consequence of this, many archaic legal terms are replaced with “plain
English” equivalents, such as “claimant” for
“plaintiff” and “witness summons” for “subpoena”.

For anyone contemplating legal action, professional or layman, these are a handy set of rules and guidance which if studied conscientiously will considerably increase the chances of success of the action. For possession claims, by far the most common reason why landlords contemplate action, see Part 55 of the CPRs.

The Consultation

An issue with the Civil Procedure Rules, which are judged to
be unsatisfactory, is that of the enforcement of possession orders, says the
committee.  The problem is that there
currently exist two “differing, and anomalous, systems� in the High Court and
in the County Court, the committee thinks. 

“In the County Court, there is a system of administrative
action and court-appointed bailiffs, involving substantial delays (to the
detriment of property owners) albeit with limited costs, and a non-statutory
informal procedure for occupiers to be given advance notice of evictions. 

“In the High Court, there is a system of judicial
involvement and external High Court Enforcement Officers, with less delay, but
more cost, and a more limited provision for occupiers to be given advance
notice of proceedings. 

“The differences between the two systems and the weaknesses of each, particularly in terms of delay, cost and limited notice to those being evicted (and who may have rights to apply to the court), have been noted in a number of both historic and more recent judicial decisions and in recent reports, including The Final Report of The (Briggs) Civil Courts Structure Review which recommended that there should be at least harmonisation of the operation processes of the enforcing agents.�

Finally, this statement should be of interest to landlords:

“The CPRC recognises
that there is a balance to be struck; for example, on the one hand there may be
a landlord who is owed several month’s unpaid rent and who may also be in debt
as a result of the rent arrears, and on the other hand tenants or other
occupiers who ought to know if and when they are to be evicted to enable them
to make other provision or make their own representations to the court.  All parties should be treated fairly and with
respect.  Although this issue arises
mainly in the residential context, it extends also to commercial premises but
where different considerations may be thought to arise.�

Landlords should take the opportunity to give their views to the consultation committee by completing the consultation questionnaire here

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Review of Possession Claim procedures | LandlordZONE.

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Fergus Wilson on BBC Panorama – Monday

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Fergus Wilson is due to be on BBC1 Panorama Monday 18th March at 8:30pm.

The program is titled “Britain’s Most Controversial Landlord.”

Get this programmed into your sky plus and hold on to your hats as knowing Fergus it is likely to be a Roller Coaster of a ride!

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Stamp and transferring to a Ltd co.?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hi, my son owns a flat that he’s now rented out as he had to relocate for work. He rents a flat in his new location, but he wants to buy and will have to pay the 3% stamp duty surcharge as it will be his second property.

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Extending the term of my own lease?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

My question is the best way in which I can extend the term of my own lease. The circumstances are that I own the whole freehold of a terraced house in London which has been split into four flats. I also

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