Oh Boris, not another lockdown! But what does it mean for landlords?

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The Prime Minister has tonight once more plunged England into a national lockdown, citing the alarming speed at which the new variant of Covid is spreading through the population, including a 20% rise in deaths over the past week alone.

“We need to do more together to bring this vaccine under control as our vaccines are rolled out,” he said.

The new lockdown is in almost every way identical to the previous one in the Spring of last year, but with one exception – landlords will be overjoyed to hear.

Home moves are to be allowed during the lockdown, the current government guidance says.

This includes: “You can still move home. People outside your household or support bubble should not help with moving home unless absolutely necessary. “Estate and letting agents and removals firms can continue to work.

“If you are looking to move, you can go to property viewings. Follow the national guidance on moving home safely, which includes advice on social distancing, letting fresh air in, and wearing a face covering.”

Johnson, who hinted that the lockdown it likely to last at least six weeks and no earlier than the February half term, said: “The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but I really do believe that we’re entering the last phase of the struggle, because with ever jab that goes into our arms we are tilting odds against Covid and in favour of the British people.”

Johnson also hinted that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are likely to follow suit and implement total lockdowns now.

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Mother and sister of guru Samuel Leeds accuse his critics of ‘hateful propaganda’

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An unusual war of words has broken out between critics of self-styled property guru Samuel Leeds and members of his family.

Over the festive break subscribers to Andrew Burgess’s Facebook group The Truth About Samuel Leeds and Those That Use Similar Methods were astounded to see Leeds’ mother and sister join the group and its discussions, something none of the guru’s family has done before.

The Facebook group exists partly to track Leeds’ business activities, check the marketing claims for his property courses, question the value of their fees and discuss the pros and cons of both his and other gurus’ courses.

But last week Leeds’ mother and sister took to Facebook to accuse several members of ‘hate crimes’ against him, claiming that its members have been ‘spreading propaganda’ and were ‘vindictive and hateful’.

Leeds and his associates have tried hard in recent weeks and months to put pressure on Burgess to close down the page including a string of legal letters sent via solicitors Ellisons.

Blogger Georgie Taylor, who ran a series examining Leeds’ training courses, also received letters from Ellisons threatening legal action unless her videos were taken down. They remain live on YouTube and have been watched over 100,000 times.

Latest letters

The latest of Burgess’ letters arrived on 29^th December warning him of potential court action unless he deletes all his social accounts linked to groups naming Leeds, restating the claim that Burgess is conducting a campaign of harassment, and that the social media accounts are defamatory.

Burgess (pictured), both now and in previous correspondence with Ellisons, says he is providing a platform for discussions about Leeds and his training business, and claims Leeds is using the law firm to ‘bully him into deleting the content’. “I will always speak up,” he says,

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Deposit issue – paid 2004?

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My tenant paid their cash deposit at the start of the contract in July 2004. This was never protected (only tenancies signed after April 2007 need the deposit to be protected), and the contract has remained the same – no amendments

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Countrywide accepts Connells’ rescue takeover bid…

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Struggling estate agency group Countrywide, owners of around 60 well-known high street brands including Bairstow Eves, Hampton’s International, Gascoigne-Pees and King & Chasemore, has agreed a £130m takeover offer from Connells, to combine two of Britain’s biggest estate agency companies.

Connells, a subsidiary of the Skipton building society, and Countrywide, currently the UK’s biggest stock market listed estate agency group, have agreed a deal involving a cash purchase by Connells and £395p per share.

The deal ends a five-year long period of decline for Countrywide during which time its shares fell in value by 98%. From a £750m valuation when it floated on the stock market in March 2013, the company’s Capx today stands at just £128.2m, leaving it struggling with a current net debt pile of around £171m.

Unlisted Connells’ boasts 581 branches and 25 brands including Allen & Harris, Bagshaws Residential, Fox & Sons, and Barnard Marcus in London. This compares with Countrywide’s 651 branches and 60 brands.

Despite a heroic three-year turnround plan launched in 2019, Countrywide had amassed just too much debt after an ambitious acquisition spree following its stock market debut in 2013.

This deal ends a protracted period of wrangling with rival approaches by LSL Property Services and UK private equity firm Alchemy, which had proposed a £90m cash injection into the Countrywide last October in return for a controlling stake.

The Connell’s takeover was voted through by a majority of Countrywide’s shareholders and represents a lifeline for the struggling business which had been closing branches to stem its rising losses. The deal is expected to go through by March 2021.

Connells has committed to repaying in full all of Countrywide’s lenders and to invest in the group’s technology and branch network in order to turn the business around. Connells has said there will be some job losses as the two companies head offices are merged, but it aims to retain the staff in the agencies’ branches.

Industry insiders are blaming the demise of Countrywide on its turbocharged high street branch acquisition spree in 2014 and 2015, when others in the industry were investing in online estate agency services instead. It was a strategy dubbed “completely wrong” as pursued by its former chief executive Alison Platt. She had sought to run the estate agent “like a retailer from a central base”, it was said, triggering an exodus of middle management.

David Livesey, Connells’ chief executive, said:

“We have the right management team, strategy and investment firepower to work with the talented teams at Countrywide and lead Countrywide into a bright future.”

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Mortgage approvals at record high since 2007

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The Bank of England has released the latest figures for total UK mortgage approvals by lenders in November totalling 104,969. This is the highest number of mortgage approvals in one month since 2007 as can be seen in the historic data in the graph below.

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BREAKING: 56% of landlords have lost rental income during Covid

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The National Residential Landlords Association’s (NRLA) interim survey for the fourth quarter of 2020 found that 56 per cent had lost rental income as a result of the pandemic, with 12 per cent having lost more than 20 per cent.

Among those who lost rental income, 22 per cent had lost more than £5,000 and 59 per cent had lost more than £1,000.
Over a third said that the losses are continuing to increase.

But the pandemic is also hitting landlords in other ways; a quarter of respondents to the survey had lost non-rental income due to the pandemic, with 12 per cent having lost more than 20 per cent.

Up to £5,000

Of this group, 41 per cent have lost more than £1,000, with 20 per cent seeing losses of up to £5,000.

Also, a third of landlords now say they are ‘more likely’ to either leave the market or reduce their portfolio as the evictions ban, weakening tenant incomes and problems with Universal Credit continue to impact the sector.

“Although most landlords have done everything they can to help tenants affected as a result of the pandemic, we have now reached the end of what they are able to do,” says Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA (pictured).

“Continuing to ban repossessions just means that tenants struggling to pay their rent are accumulating more debt, reducing the chances that they will be able to pay it off. This ultimately will put more renters at risk of losing their homes.”

Beadle says ministers need to developer a ‘proper plan’ to sustain tenancies and help the rental market recover.

Read more: What will be the long-term impact on the PRS from Covid?

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Council tax and mortgage interest on empty property for over 15 months?

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Hi and Happy New year to all. I am currently completing my tax return for 2019/2020, and I need a bit of advice, please.

I have 3 Properties on BTL on my sole name (I own 1 from 3 years ago currently let by the same tenant since the start of the business)

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56% of Landlords have lost rental income during the pandemic

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Over half of private landlords have lost rental income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic according to new research published today.

A third of landlords have also indicated that they were now more likely to either leave the market entirely or sell some of their properties.

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