Student rents indicating increasingly competitive market

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Data from Accommodation for Students (AFS) analysing the cost of student accommodation* in 2019 has found that the average rents across many cities are close to the 20-year average of £79 per week. This is good news for students indicating that there is value to be had

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Student rents indicating increasingly competitive market

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Student Rents:

The 2019 student rents are close to their 20-year average are indicating an increasingly competitive market.

Data from
Accommodation for Students (AFS) analysing the cost of student accommodation*
in 2019 has found that the average rents across many cities are close to the
20-year average of £79 per week. This is good news for students indicating that
there is value to be had but may mean that landlords have to work harder to
secure student tenants.

Currently
(2019) the average price for student accommodation is £86 per week but if
London is removed, where its buoyant market commands an average room rent of
£187, the UK average would be £79. The relatively small difference in price
between the 20-year average and that of 2019 reflects the fact that in the
majority of UK cities, the competitive nature of the student housing market,
with the growth of the PBSA sector particularly outside the capital, has curbed
rental increases.

Overall, this
has been a functioning housing market, with value to be had in the majority of
cities. Cities like Wolverhampton, Bolton, Hull and Dundee have 20-year average
rent costs of £62, £63, £65 and £66 respectively.  At the opposite end of the scale are more
expensive locations like Brighton (£106), Guildford (£111) London (£115) and
Kingston (£117).

While this
might be anticipated, with such locations generally high cost anyway, cities
with strong Universities, and hence attractive to students, like Birmingham
(£70), Newcastle (£74) and Sheffield (£75) have all offered great value over
the last 20 years.

Simon
Thompson, Director of Accommodation for Students, comments: “AFS has been
the home of student accommodation for 20 years, featuring 198,000 student
houses across all major UK university towns and cities. Analysing rents over
this period, demonstrates a vibrant market, where at one end of the spectrum
there are properties on the market for £900 per week (Chapter Spitalfields) but
students can also secure some very reasonably priced accommodation
elsewhere. 

“As the
market has become increasingly competitive for landlords, we have invested
heavily in making improvements to the AFS site. As well as offering automated
feeds, enabling letting agents to instantly upload multiple properties in any format
in real time, we are currently finalising a new landlord account area making it
easier for landlords to connect with the 3 million students that visit the AFS
portal every year.�

Following
major upgrade of the AFS portal, the company has seen the number of enquiries
through the site increase by 51% year on year.

* Data analyses shared student housing

www.accommodationforstudents.com is the World No.1 Student Accommodation Search Engine. AFS features at the top of search engines, hosts more content than any other student accommodation website and is currently one of the fastest ever property portals, with page download speeds of 0.8 seconds.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Student rents indicating increasingly competitive market | LandlordZONE.

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Living in the same building as their serial bad tenant… a couple’s worst nightmare

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It’s been heavily publicised that a large percentage of the UK’s retirees are struggling to live off their pension, so it’s no surprise that some over 65s have turned to renting out rooms in their home, or other properties they may have, to boost their income.  However, in this week’s episode of Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords (Monday 15th July, 9pm, Channel 5) viewers will see landlords, Jackie and John, a retired couple from a seaside village in Norfolk, locked in a battle with their non-paying tenant which is making their lives hell.  What makes it even worse, is she lives in the same building as them.

Jackie and John live in a converted Victorian building comprising of four flats. They live in one and rent their upstairs flat. On the recommendation of someone else in the village, they let the other flat to a lady called Katey who said she was desperately looking for somewhere. Their current tenants had just moved out so it was the perfect quick solution.

When the rent payments started to be delayed, Jackie and John reached out to the tenant who said she worked for herself so money was just a little tight at the moment and asked if she could pay weekly. The landlords agreed. They also helped get her another job in the local village and agreed to allow her to sub-let the other room to help her pay the rent. The landlords met the sub-tenant and were happy with the set up.

Despite all their support, the tenant then stopped paying altogether, even though she was receiving rent from the sub-tenant. After returning from a week’s holiday, the landlords discovered the tenant had changed the locks and would no longer engage in any form of dialogue.

Sadly, the situation then got even worse. The tenant made several accusations against the landlords, saying they were letting themselves into the flat and threatening her. The police were called on multiple occasions, and even though it was clear the retired couple had done nothing wrong, there was little the police could do. The stress of having their problem tenant living in such close quarters was bad enough, but being made worse because they were struggling to pay their own bills without the additional income. In a desperate state, they called Landlord Action.

Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, said: “Having dealt with this kind of tenant for many years, I had my suspicions that she had done this before, and would likely do it again. I was extremely concerned for Jackie and John’s health, who were both visibly distressed, so we took the decision to offer the tenant a sum of money to sign a deed of surrender and leave the property.�

One of the landlords, Jackie, said: “We know we are kind people who went out of our way to help Katey. We have a good reputation locally as landlords so it was heart-breaking to be in this situation. She said we would never get her out of our flat and it drove me to the verge of a nervous breakdown. Katey’s behaviour had become so challenging and she was deliberately doing things to make our lives hell. Paul saved my sanity.�Paragraph

When the tenant finally left Jackie and John’s property, it was in an extremely bad state. Their once pristine flat was trashed and filthy. She had also stolen items from the couple, including security cameras, curtains, and remote controls.

But the story doesn’t end there. She then went to another local landlord down the road, who despite having her reservations and being warned by Jackie and John, fell for her story.

The second landlord, Lynsey, said: “I should’ve gone with my gut, but she sold me a good story. She moved in and paid the first month’s rent and then it stopped. Fortunately, I manged to convince her to leave and she vacated of her own accord after three months. I was still out of pocked by £1100 and the flat was trashed, but I know I got off lightly.�

Commenting on these cases, Paul said: “The problem is that the private rented sector is a very different market today and landlords need to take stock and understand it’s a lot more work intensive. Character references and affordability checks are vital. We really hope that when the government makes changes to Section 8 that any cases with a money order for rent arrears have a CCJ applied to them to help other landlords avoid taking on serial bad tenants.�

Police have now sent out a warrant for the tenant’s arrest, and she is due to be in court on 9th August, after failing to show up on 6th June. Watch Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords on Channel 5, Monday 15^th July at 9pm.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Living in the same building as their serial bad tenant… a couple’s worst nightmare | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Living in the same building as their serial bad tenant… a couple’s worst nightmare

Johnson considers Stamp Duty switch from buyer to seller

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Conservative Party leadership contender, Boris Johnson, has confirmed his interest in switching Stamp Duty liability from the house buyer to the seller as proposed by Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).

Last year Johnson stated Stamp Duty was “absurdly high� and last month he suggested he would consider scrapping it for homes worth £500,000 or less.

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Living in the same building as their serial ban tenant… a couple’s worst nightmare

admin    Uncategorized     agents

It’s been heavily publicised that a large
percentage of the UK’s retirees are struggling to live off their pension, so it’s
no surprise that some over 65s have turned to renting out rooms in their home,
or other properties they may have, to boost their income.  However, in this week’s episode of Nightmare
Tenants Slum Landlords (Monday 15th July, 9pm, Channel 5) viewers will see landlords,
Jackie and John, a retired couple from a seaside village in Norfolk, locked in
a battle with their non-paying tenant which is making their lives hell.  What makes it even worse, is she lives in the
same building as them.

Jackie and John live in a converted Victorian building comprising of four flats. They live in one and rent their upstairs flat. On the recommendation of someone else in the village, they let the other flat to a lady called Katey who said she was desperately looking for somewhere. Their current tenants had just moved out so it was the perfect quick solution.

When the rent payments started to be delayed, Jackie
and John reached out to the tenant who said she worked for herself so money was
just a little tight at the moment and asked if she could pay weekly. The landlords
agreed. They also helped get her another job in the local village and agreed to
allow her to sub-let the other room to help her pay the rent. The landlords met
the sub-tenant and were happy with the set up.

Despite all their support, the tenant then stopped
paying altogether, even though she was receiving rent from the sub-tenant. After
returning from a week’s holiday, the landlords discovered the tenant had changed
the locks and would no longer engage in any form of dialogue.

Sadly, the situation then got even worse. The tenant made several accusations against the landlords, saying they were letting themselves into the flat and threatening her. The police were called on multiple occasions, and even though it was clear the retired couple had done nothing wrong, there was little the police could do. The stress of having their problem tenant living in such close quarters was bad enough, but being made worse because they were struggling to pay their own bills without the additional income. In a desperate state, they called Landlord Action.

Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, said:
“Having dealt with this kind of tenant for many years, I had my suspicions
that she had done this before, and would likely do it again. I was extremely concerned
for Jackie and John’s health, who were both visibly distressed, so we took the decision
to offer the tenant a sum of money to sign a deed of surrender and leave the property.�

One of the landlords, Jackie, said: “We know we
are kind people who went out of our way to help Katey. We have a good
reputation locally as landlords so it was heart-breaking to be in this situation.
She said we would never get her out of our flat and it drove me to the verge of
a nervous breakdown. Katey’s behaviour had become so challenging and she was deliberately
doing things to make our lives hell. Paul saved my sanity.�

When the tenant finally left Jackie and John’s
property, it was in an extremely bad state. Their once pristine flat was trashed
and filthy. She had also stolen items from the couple, including security cameras,
curtains, and remote controls.

But the story doesn’t end there. She then went to
another local landlord down the road, who despite having her reservations and
being warned by Jackie and John, fell for her story.

The second landlord, Lynsey, said: “I should’ve
gone with my gut, but she sold me a good story. She moved in and paid the first
month’s rent and then it stopped. Fortunately, I manged to convince her to
leave and she vacated of her own accord after three months. I was still out of
pocked by £1100 and the flat was trashed, but I know I got off lightly.�

Commenting on these cases, Paul said: “The problem
is that the private rented sector is a very different market today and landlords
need to take stock and understand it’s a lot more work intensive. Character references
and affordability checks are vital. We really hope that when the government
makes changes to Section 8 that any cases with a money order for rent arrears have
a CCJ applied to them to help other landlords avoid taking on serial bad
tenants.�

Police have now sent out a warrant for the tenant’s
arrest, and she is due to be in court on 9th August, after failing to show up
on 6th June.

Watch Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords on Channel
5, Monday 15^th July at 9pm.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Living in the same building as their serial ban tenant… a couple’s worst nightmare | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Living in the same building as their serial ban tenant… a couple’s worst nightmare

Living in same building as their serial ban tenant – couple’s worst nightmare

admin    Uncategorized     agents

It’s been heavily publicised that a large percentage of the UK’s retirees are struggling to live off their pension, so it’s no surprise that some over 65s have turned to renting out rooms in their home, or other properties they may have

The post Living in same building as their serial ban tenant – couple’s worst nightmare appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Living in same building as their serial ban tenant – couple’s worst nightmare

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Landlord to be given a say in “right-to-rent� court case

Right-to-Rent:

Landlords are to be given a major role in a court case
considering the future of the Government’s Right-to-Rent scheme.

 The Government has decided to appeal against a damning
criticism by the High Court earlier this year that the Right-to-Rent scheme breaches
human rights law because it causes racial discrimination that otherwise would
not happen.

Following a Judicial Review of the policy secured by the
JCWI and supported by the RLA, the presiding judge concluded that
discrimination by landlords was taking place â€œbecause of the
Scheme.â€� In his judgment he said that discrimination by landlords
was â€œlogical and wholly predictableâ€� when faced with potential
sanctions and penalties for getting things wrong.

The Court of Appeal has today agreed that the Residential
Landlords Association will be able to make a written and oral submission to the
case ensuring that the views of landlords are to be at the centre of the case.

Under the Right-to-Rent policy, private landlords face
potential imprisonment of up to 5 years if they know or have “reasonable cause
to believe� that the property they are letting is occupied by someone who does
not have the right to rent in the UK. It was introduced by Theresa May when
Home Secretary as part of the Home Office’s hostile environment for immigrants.

 Last month, the RLA, together with the JCWI and
the3million which represents EU citizens in the UK, called on Boris Johnson and
Jeremy Hunt to scrap the Right to Rent if they became Prime Minister.

David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords
Association, said:

“The Right to Rent has been a failure. No one has been
prosecuted under the scheme but it has created a great deal of anxiety for
landlords who do not want to go to prison for getting it wrong.

“We are disappointed that the Government has chosen to
appeal against what was a clear and damning verdict by the High Court. However,
we will ensure that the views of landlords are well represented as we send a
message that they should not be used to cover for the failings in the UK border
agencies.�

• A date for the appeal is yet to be set.
• The full High Court ruling on the Right to Rent can be accessed here
• The RLA’s most recent research on the Right to Rent can be accessed here
• The Independent Chief Inspectors of Borders and Immigration report on the Right to Rent can be accessed here The foreword notes state:

“Overall, I found that the RtR scheme had yet to demonstrate
its worth as a tool to encourage immigration compliance, with the Home Office
failing to coordinate, maximise or even measure effectively its use, while at
the same time doing little to address the concerns of stakeholders.�

Research by Oxford University’s Migration Observatory
notes: 

“The foreign-born population is almost three times as likely to be in the private rental sector (41% were in this sector in the second quarter of 2017), compared to the UK-born (15%).� Further details can be accessed here

The Residential
Landlords Association represents the interests of landlords in the private
rented sector across England and Wales.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – | LandlordZONE.

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