The Tories’ silence

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Owners of small companies would pay more tax under Labour – up to 45% more – but the Tories haven’t mentioned this.

Commenting on the Labour manifesto, John McDonnell said “In terms of income tax, the top 5% will pay a bit more

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What are the implications for investors of this week’s election?

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General Election:

This is the week of
the election, and very likely a landmark one in the history of the
country. Everyone’s anticipating what the implications will be for
themselves of such an important vote on Thursday. If you are an
investor, and landlords are certainty that, then the implications
could be far reaching, but also far reaching for all of us!

Jeremy Corbyn, the
Labour leader, and Boris Johnson, the prime minister and Conservative
Party leader, have set-out their stalls in their manifestos and on
the hustings, and will do final battle at the ballot box come
Thursday.

Many of us will be
up all election night in anticipation, eagerly awaiting the final
result on Friday the 13^th of what is likely to be a
crucial vote, representing a parting of the ways; a cross roads of a
decision for the future of the country. There is certainly clear blue
water between the two main parties, decidedly radical in approach
from Labour, and a strong commitment to leave the EU as quickly as
possible from the Conservatives. But, there’s always the
possibility of another hung parliament, if tactical voting plays a
part.

Mired in
uncertainty

It seems like the
country has been stuck in political purgatory forever, mired in
argument and counter argument, and getting nowhere, while all the
time businesses and people are suffering because of the uncertainty.
Is it possible that the stalemate over Brexit and the uncertainty
surrounding U.K.’s future direction will end this week? After 3½
years of a battered pound, stagnant house sales and hammered domestic
stock prices, it would be good to have a sense of direction, whatever
course that may be, but how confident are you of that?

The opinion polls
are currently suggesting a victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
the Conservative candidate, but Labour are catching up, and could
still surprise; they could yet form a government with the help of all
the other parties except the Brexit Party.

According to
investment website, marketwatch.com, the result of this
election could have a major impact, not just in Britain, but also on
world markets and currencies.

The historical
backdrop

For good or ill,
David Cameron, with a complicit Parliament, allowed a referendum vote
on a simple majority – stay or leave. To the surprise of much of the
establishment, the vote went to leave. Parliament confirmed the
commitment to leave by voting through Article 50, and then to secure
a better majority to help get a deal through, Prime Minister May
decided on an election.

The 2017 election
ended with Theresa May losing her small majority, then having to rely
on the Democratic Unionist Party to prop up her lame Conservative
government. It made getting legislation through, and especially
Brexit, an uphill task. Three failed attempts to get her compromise
Brexit deal through Parliament prompted May’s June 2019
resignation, a full three years after the referendum result for
leave, and no still sign of a resolution.

Boris Johnson came
in with a cast iron promise the country would be out by October 31st.
Against all the odds he struck a deal with Brussels on October 17th,
but despite this he failed to bring Parliament round, hitting the
same “brick wall” as his predecessor, as opponents of Brexit
successfully blocked and delayed the deal.

Even when Johnson
got MPs to finally voted for a second reading of the government’s
withdrawal bill — the Brexit deal — time was running out, and a
majority of MPs felt that the three days allocated to scrutinize the
bill was not enough and blocked it yet again.

With Parliament
effectively deadlocked, Johnson was forced to asked the EU for and
extension beyond his promised 31^st October deadline. His
repeated calls for an election to break the deadlock, resisted by
opposition parties for several weeks, eventually resulted in
capitulation. The decision to let the people decide by way of an
election was finally voted through on the fourth time of asking.

A new deadline for
exiting Europe has been set for the 31^st of January, so we
await the result of the election to see if Mr Johnson gets a chance
to keep his promise, or whether Mr Corbyn gets the keys to number 10,
and jets off to Brussels to negotiate his better deal. This to be put
to the people in the form of another referendum, to accept the
“better” deal or remain, while Jeremy Corbyn remains neutral on
the outcome.

What does all
this mean for investors and the economy?

A Stock Market
Almanack study shows that the Conservatives and Labour have won nine
general elections each between 1945 and 2010, with in eight out of
the nine years following a Conservative victory the FTSE All-Share
index rose, with an average 10.8% gain.

The market rose in
just three of the nine years following a Labour win, with an average
negative return of 5.8%. The same study showed that returns tend to
be negative in the month and week before an election, while returns
after an election tend to be low.

But this time could be different; none of those previous elections involved Brexit with its consequences for equities and the pound, and none featured a Labour government in waiting with the most radical socialist policies the party has ever put forward.

Sterling has been up and down like a Yoyo in recent weeks as investors have reacted to the sways of the latest opinion polls. The pound dropped at the end of November after two election polls showed that Boris Johnson’s lead had narrowed, demonstrating investors’ fear at the prospect of a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn.

However, a YouGov
poll that successfully predicted the outcome of the 2017 election
called a Johnson win with a 68-seat majority, sending the pound back
up above $1.29. Another more recent poll cut Johnson’s lead by
half, sending the pound back down again at the prospect of a hung
Parliament, when no party reaches the 326 seats needed for a
majority.

The outcome as they
say is in the “lap of the Gods”, but one thing is for certain; a
small majority for either of the main parties would mean another hung
Parliament, it would diminish the chances of breaking the Brexit
deadlock. Such an outcome would mean the return of uncertainty and
the prospect of a no-deal Brexit or no Brexit at all — it would
send stocks prices, house prices and the pound plunging. It may also
see the break-up of the United Kingdom.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – What are the implications for investors of this week’s election? | LandlordZONE.

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Is Robert Jenrick going soft on Rent Controls?

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Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, gave an interview to the I newspaper detailing conservative plans and policies to tackle the housing crisis.

When questioned about the Tory commitment to end Section 21 eviction notices and what was the point if landlord could instead ‘constructively’

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Average tenant deposit set to drop for first time since 2015 as £1.9bn paid in this year

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Research by Hamilton Fraser’s deposit
alternative scheme Ome, has revealed the current cost of the average deposit
facing UK’s tenants and how this has changed since 2015.

The Hamilton Fraser Group has an extensive
knowledge and database of deposit protection having operated the government
authorised scheme mydeposits since 2007, as well as operating its own
adjudication service HF Resolution, with the company handling around 25% of all
new deposits taken out each year.

New deposits are those paid within each year
for a new tenancy and not the total amount of deposits held full stop.

The data shows that so far in 2019, the
current tenant is paying an average rental deposit of £1,299, with an estimated
1.5m new deposits paid this year to a value of £1.9bn. 

However, while we still have one month to go,
the data suggests that the amount paid for the average deposit is due to drop
for the first time in five years, already down 3% from last year’s average of
£1,336, although it is still 7% higher than in 2015. 

What’s more, the number of new tenant
deposits being taken and the total value have both seen a consistent drop each
year since 2015. 

So far in 2019, the number of new deposits
being taken has declined by 17% when compared to last year, while the total value
of these deposits is also down 19% from some £611m to £496m. Looking over the
last five years, the number of new deposits being taken has declined by 22%,
while the total value is down 17%.  

Co-founder of Ome, Matthew Hooker,
commented: 

“We’ve seen a decline in the number and value
of new deposits being taken over the last few years and a driving factor behind
this is a change in our lifestyle choices to rent for longer, which reduces the
number of deposits being taken and the total value as tenants opt to stay put
in the same property.

Although the average cost for the individual
tenant has continued to climb due to increasing rents which form the basis of
the deposit calculation, this year looks to be the first in a long time that we
might actually see this cost drop.

This has largely been driven by new
legislation that has reduced the number of weeks rent an agent or landlord can
charge for both a holding and tenancy deposit.” 

Ome data for 25% of the market

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Average tenant deposit set to drop for first time since 2015 as £1.9bn paid in this year | LandlordZONE.

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Tenancy Deposit Scheme award short of costs?

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I have over a £650.00 repair bill but I have only been awarded £65.00 by the Tenancy deposit scheme. My agent advised me that there is nothing I can do.

However, I have spoken to TDS who advised me that if the agent sends in certain details.

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Average tenant deposit set to drop for first time since 2015

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Research by Hamilton Fraser’s deposit alternative scheme Ome, has revealed the current cost of the average deposit facing UK’s tenants and how this has changed since 2015.

The data shows that so far in 2019, the current tenant is paying an average rental deposit of £1,299

The post Average tenant deposit set to drop for first time since 2015 appeared first on Property118.

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Benefits of a family partnership we had not previously considered

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When my twins turned 18 years old I made them both partners in my property rental business and gifted 1% of the beneficial interest in my properties to each of them. We then registered a Partnership with HMRC, which meant I could allocate profits disproportionately to ownership by granting ‘Partners Salaries to each of my children.

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Landlords no more excuses

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As I write this blog, I’m on a train down to Devon to do a
talk at the ARLA Propertymark Devon Regional Meeting.

One of the many hats I wear in my role as Director / Brand
Ambassador for Hamilton Fraser Group is overseeing ‘Education’.  For me, this has become one of the most
important tools for landlords and letting agents, and yet one of the most
common excuses I hear from landlords is “I didn’t know.”

We enter education from a young age and then later, may take
the path of further education which best suits our skillset or interests. No
matter what we do, we are always learning. For example, when we start a new
job, more often than not, we’re given training and guidance.

The problem with the Private Rented Sector is that for many,
‘landlording’ started off as a lucrative hobby, not a job. As the sector has
grown, it has become entirely necessary to put some policies in place to
protect the consumer and raise standards, just as a business would have in
place for its employees and/or customers. However, legislation has come so
thick and fast that many landlords have struggled to keep up and have not
recognised the need to educate themselves.

Landlord Action,
Hamilton Fraser Total
Landlord Insurance, My Deposits, Client Money
Protect, The
Property Redress Scheme, Landlord
Zone and Tenant Verify all come under
the Hamilton Fraser umbrella.  That’s a
lot of brands with thousands of landlords and letting agents in our databases.

Our content team and heads of business, like myself, are
forever writing guides, blogs and creating supporting tools, which provide
vital updates and information.  But, whether
a landlord has one or ten properties, they must make the time to read these and
learn if they wish to succeed.

If you are a landlord that likes managing your rental
property yourself, building a relationship with your tenant so that they are
encouraged to stay longer and treat your property as a home, that is
fantastic.  HOWEVER, the latest count I
read, was there are now 176 rules and regulations relating to letting a
property, so my advice is learn learn learn. 
I tell all the landlords and agents I train to go online at the
beginning of the day, before they get stuck into work mode, emails and calls,
and just read what is going on in our industry.

Here’s a few websites
I recommend:
www.landlordzone.co.uk

As well as news, my very good friend and colleague Kate
Faulkner has written a Landlord Compliance Toolkit, I suggest you go on the
site, subscribe and you will get the document emailed as a PDF.

I would also advise landlords to join a landlord association
such as NLA or RLA, who have now since merged and offer great value for money.
They provide the latest news, advice lines, campaigns, lobbying, market trends
and sign posting of recommended suppliers, as well as an advice line.  Being part of this community of professional
landlords means collectively we have a stronger voice. This I have seen
first-hand while sitting on the Fair Possessions Coalition in response to the
Government’s intentions to abolish Section 21. 
Along with many other organisations and associations in the industry,
we’ve come together. We need more of this going forward.

Landlord Redress will be mandatory in the not too distant
future. Personally, I think this will be positive move which will force
landlords to be accountable, responsive and more compliant when renting out a
property. And yes, this will require more learning because it means the
consumer, your customer, will be able to make a compliant about your service.

It’s tough enough working full time, being a parent, running
your own house etc. So, if you simply do not have the time to be a professional
landlord, find a tenant, deal with all the compliance paperwork, arrange an
inventory and handle regular communication with your tenant(s), I strongly
advise you to use a managing agent. When choosing who to use, make sure they
belong to a redress scheme, hold Client Money Protection and belong to a trade
body such as ARLA or NALS.

More and more ‘battle-hardened’ landlords are saying to me “Paul,
I can’t be dealing with all the changes, I’m struggling to keep up, I have
passed my properties over to an agent for full management.”

What many landlords don’t realise is the cost from let only
to fully managed is not a huge jump if you put a price on the time you spend
carrying out the work yourself – read more about this in my book The
Landlords Friend.  Divided over 12
months, most landlords who opt for a fully managed service agree that it is not
a lot to pay for a peace of mind and reassurance that you are compliant.

The Government want landlords to be more professional, which
is great, but we have 1.8 million landlords and of these, not even 10% belong
to Landlords Associations. Whilst we do not know the number of properties
manged by agents, we do know there are a lot of landlords DIYing.

I’ve tried to reinforce the importance of self-learning and
provided some links for where to find more information.  But the main point I’m making is that the
argument from landlords saying, “I didn’t know about that’, doesn’t wash any
more.

This is a business, approach it like a business, rather than
a weekend hobby.

No more excuses, please.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords no more excuses | LandlordZONE.

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Battery-powered smoke alarms failed in more than a third of property fires

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The festive season is here, and many people will be putting up Christmas decorations. Decorations and candles, – common in any home at this time of year-can pose an additional fire risk. With this in mind, this week, the Local Government Association (LGA) issued a warning relating to checking batteries in smoke detectors are working […]

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Halifax House Price Index up 2.1%

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The latest Halifax House Price Index report has been released.  House prices in November were 2.1% higher than in the same month a year earlier with the average house price now £234,625.

However, on a monthly basis

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