Opinion: Should landlords dive into heat pumps?

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The move to provide home heating and hot water by this method is part of a Government strategy aimed at making deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonizing the UK’s power sector by 2035.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the scheme was designed to bring low-carbon heat pumps to a similar price as gas boilers, currently the most widely used heat source across the country, but they are running on natural gas, a fossil fuel made mostly of methane.

Methane is harmful to the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. But what exactly are heat pumps and should landlords consider fitting them to rental properties?

An air source heat pump looks like a large air conditioning unit on the outside of buildings, and it works a like a fridge in reverse. It uses electricity (which costs more than mains gas) to extract energy from the outside air and warm it up with a compressor. It then pumps this heat through your radiators. A ground source system works on the same principle but it uses underground water pipes to extract heat from the earth.

They are said by some to be the frontrunner to replace gas boilers over the coming decades as the country moves towards net zero. The Government has set a target for 600,000 of the devices to be installed each year by 2028, while gas boilers will be phased out.

Its a controversial decision

The decision to push heat pumps however has proven controversial, with many homeowners and experts not supporting the upcoming gas boiler ban, and some experts doubting the efficacy of heat pumps, that’s according to research by home heating experts, “Boiler Guide”, a private network of both gas and heat pump engineers.

The Government’s drive to offer homeowners £5,000 to make homes more energy efficient by replacing their gas boilers with heat pump greener technology could leave landlords and tenants out in the cold, some experts have warned.

The grant is part of the Government’s plans under its Heat and Buildings Strategy with the “Boiler Upgrade Scheme” to completely phase out gas boilers by 2035. But there are detractors and it’s even been suggested that the move could result in another major mis-selling scandal.

Ministers have stressed that homeowners will not be forced to rip out their existing gas boilers, but will they will be unable to buy a replacement after that date.

It’s been confirmed that landlords and other home owners in England and Wales will be offered the subsidies of £5,000 from April to help replace old gas boilers with heat pumps, but the fund will be limited, and should landlords even consider the move?

Improving technology

The technology is evolving, likely to improve significantly and costs will fall in the coming years, but so far heat pumps have had a mixed reception. You only need to go online to see the negative comments and about poor experiences some people – the trailblazers of this technology – have had.

Here are some reasons why it would be prudent to wait before investing thousands into systems that might struggle to heat homes adequately:

1. The cost and payback periods are prohibitive. While a replacement gas boiler can cost you around £1,000 to £3,000, an air source heat pump comes in at between £6,000 and £13,000 to purchase and fit, while a ground source heat pump, recognised to be the more effective, can cost anything between £14,000 and £30,000.

Although the Government is offering grants of £5,000 to help people switch to heat pumps, it has earmarked just £450m to fund the scheme – it means only 90,000 homes will get funded.

2. If heat pumps do prove to be the better solution to providing alternatives to gas boilers, better technology will become available in the future. The Boiler Guide estimates that around 32,000 heat pumps were installed in Britain in 2020, well below the Government’s 600,000 target, and a drop in the ocean compared to the 1.6 million gas boilers fitted over that same period.

3. Heat pumps have widely different characteristics to gas boilers, being much slower to bring a home up to temperature. A heat pump will only heat the water to a maximum of around 65C, compared to the 75C of a gas boiler, which means that not only will they take longer to warm, people will need to get used to this lower temperature system. Some tenants will not adapt well, hence it could be a constant source of landlord-tenant friction.

3. Heat pumps prove inadequate in poorly insulated homes. Many rental properties are poorly insulated and even the best rarely meet the highest modern standards.

These devices work at lower temperatures, they will struggle to get and keep a house warm without top notch insulation and draft proofing. So any landlord contemplating one of these systems, if they want to avoid constant complaints from tenants, needs to consider the cost of thoroughly insulating the property first.

There are said to be around 25 million homes in Britain with inadequate insulation, many of which will be rentals, and bringing a poorly-insulated home up to scratch will cost thousands of pounds. For most people, that cost on that on top of the heat pump installation just does not make economic sense.

4. They don’t suit every situation. Most houses can find space for an air source heat pump, but flats may struggle to find the necessary outside space for the pump cabinet, which is quite large. Ground source heat pumps on the other hand require a suitable strip of land.

Heat pumps need a large indoor cylinder, something most modern houses have done away with when a combination boiler is installed. Most people won’t want to lose their shower to a heat pump cylinder! Small flats and even houses may lack the indoor space required for the hot water cylinder – a large closet type cupboard is needed. Also, because the system runs cooler, larger radiators are needed. These systems suit underfloor heating best.

5. Air source heat pumps are noisy. The outdoor cabinet houses a large electrically driven fan which generates a considerable amount of noise when working, especially in cold weather, and fans just get noisier as they age. This can potentially annoy neighbours.

6. Running costs and payback. The saving in gas usage is somewhat offset by the increased electricity bills – electricity is much more expensive than gas – so overall there may be little by way of running cost savings.

7. Being new technology, there are a limited number of firms and engineers with the right level of expertise both to properly survey a property and install a correct system, and repair it if it goes wrong.

There are many nightmare stories where an expensive heat pump system has been inadequately matched to the property, or it is unreliable, and where repeated calls for improvements fail to get met, and even instances where installer firm has gone bust in the meantime.

Fuel of the future

This all seems rather negative from me. Some people have heat pumps and they are very happy with them. But the must meet the exacting requirements discussed above.

Given time and experience heat pump technology will be refined and improved, but so far even Government ministers have admitted that they are “still in their infancy”. In the meantime, other forms of technology are coming along, such as Hydrogen (H2) gas and Bio-propane gas, which may eventually prove a better and cheaper option.

My advice to landlords would be to hold off until the dust settles. There’s still plenty of time to adapt your property before the boiler ban and your money is better spent in the meantime bringing your rental property up to modern insulation standards, your tenants will appreciate that.

I recommend you listen to this video by Martyn Bridges, Director of Marketing and Technical Support at Worcester Bosch Group

Hydrogen Boilers, Heat Pumps & The Future of Heating

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OFFICIAL: Post-ban ‘evictions tsunami’ has failed to materialise

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Landlord possession actions dropped significantly during the months after the bailiff eviction ban ended compared with pre-Covid times, new government figures show.

Despite warnings of a tsunami of evictions from housing and tenant groups such as Generation Rent, the latest Ministry of Justice statistics for July to September 2021 tell a different story after the evictions ban ended at the end of May.

Compared with 2019, landlord claims (10,202), possession orders (5,600), warrants (4,492) and repossessions (4,853) by county court bailiffs fell by 64%, 75%, 69% and 35% respectively.

The median average time from claim to landlord repossession has risen to 68.4 weeks, up from 20.1 weeks in the same period in 2019.

Private landlord claims account for the largest proportion of total landlord activity, with 43% in Q3 2021 compared with pre-Covid-19 trends where the majority were social landlord claims.

Across all regions

The fall in claim and orders volumes was seen across all geographical regions. As in previous quarters, there was a concentration in London, with 2,712 landlord claims and 1,537 landlord orders in the capital’s courts in July to September 2021, accounting for 27% of all landlord possession claims and orders respectively.

Despite this, there was still a fall of 59% (from 6,638) for landlord claims and a decrease of 67% for landlord orders (from 4,724 in July to September 2019).

The largest regional number of landlord warrants (1,410) was found in London, making up 31% of all landlord warrants. Despite this, there was a decrease of 60% in the capital (from 3,542 in 2019 to 1,410 in 2021).

The MoJ says it expects to see a continued increase in volume across all actions as the courts continue to manage the backlog while also dealing with new cases.

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Landlords to be given access to HMRC experts during live tax webinar

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Landlords have few opportunities to talk directly to the government department that taxes them, but LandlordZONE readers will have a rare opportunity to do just that on November 30^th.

Our tax partner APARI is hosting a free online webinar at which representatives from HMRC will be on hand to take questions from those attending the event.

There will be plenty to discuss. HMRC recently pushed forward the implementation of its Making Tax Digital scheme which will see any landlord with a gross rental income of £10,000 a year (or £850 a month) move to quarterly rather than annual tax returns.

Not only will this require all landlords covered by MTD to begin digitising the way they collect and report their income and expenses, but for those who use accountants to file their tax returns, costs could also rise.

Higher costs

“Accountancy firms are trying to work out how they’ll charge landlords for their services as they move from a single annual tax filing event to five,” says Anish Mehta, UK Managing Partner at APARI.

“Landlords are going to have to be far more on the ball about keeping their records up to date, but there are easy to use tools for this.

“In return, they’ll be much more aware of their likely tax liability as each year progresses, rather than getting a surprise tax bill after the year has ended.”

Originally scheduled to go live at the beginning of April 2023, MTD was pushed forward a further 12 months.

Register for the free event.

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Council secretly votes through HMO planning restrictions following petition pressure

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Councillors at a London council have voted through two Article 4 Direction schemes to curtain planning rules for landlords seeking to convert homes to smaller HMOs, it has been reported.

Consultancy London Property Licensing (LPL) says Bromley council has, without any apparent publicity for the initiative, voted in both immediate Article 4 Direction planning restrictions for the conversion of single family properties into a small HMO with three to six occupants in the Biggin Hill and Darwin areas.

Councillors have also approved a second Article 4 Direction that will cover the whole borough from September 1^st next year.

This means landlords seeking to establish such HMOs will have to go through a review process via its planning department and a local consultation for local residents before permission can be granted.

Pressure on the council has been mounting following a local campaign by residents, 1,823 of whom signed a Change.org petition in April calling for the Article 4 Direction measures to be introduced.

“As the process currently stands no planning permission is required for HMOs [and] they are being set up in locations unsuitable and at the detriment to local residents who now face having multiple HMOs on their doorstep,” it said.

Although Article 4 Direction schemes are not unusual, but it is the way the borough has introduced both schemes has shocked Richard Tacagni, who founded LPL.

Little evidence

He has posted a detailed blog in which he reveals the council’s preparation to bring in the two schemes since May and its decision to ignore a report by its own officers that found there was little evidence to suggest a concentration of HMOs had caused any adverse impacts.

The report also said there was no ‘in-principle harm associated with HMOs’, adding that ‘there is currently little justification for putting in place Article 4 Directions to remove the C3 to C4 permitted development right, either borough-wide or in specific areas’.

Nevertheless, the council has ploughed on, but no press statements or updates on its website make any mention of the changes, or of the consultation on them that has now closed.

Read more about Article 4 Direction restrictions.

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Mortgage update: Record low rates still available but for how long?

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Our mortgage partner, Hamilton Fraser Total Landlord Mortgages provides the latest monthly mortgage report and explains how the current interest rates may affect landlords.

Last week, bank policymakers voted in favour of no change from the current 0.1 per cent interest rate (7-2) which is good news for those still looking for a mortgage.

Although, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee did not rule out a rise at the next meeting in December 2021. The official base rate still stands at 0.1 per cent but the Government’s financial watchdogs have warned that time is running out for landlords looking for cheap mortgage deals.

Call Total Landlord Mortgages today on 0333 244 8918 or request a callback today.

The office of budget responsibility expects inflation could peak at 5.4 per cent by April 2021, which in turn would force the Bank of England to raise base rates to at least 3.5 per cent from the current record low of 0.1 per cent.

Experts say that in line with the increasing energy costs and wages, mortgage payments will rise it is just a matter of when.

Soaring interest rates would pile on the agony for landlords as mortgage costs would go through the roof.

Now is your chance to find a great deal if you are looking for a mortgage or to re-mortgage. Call Total Landlord Mortgages today on 0333 244 8918 or request a callback to discuss your bespoke requirements.

Lenders pulling cheap deals

A borrower with a £150,000 loan over 25 years could see monthly repayments rise from £759 to £1,060 if the current gap between the standard variable rate charged by lenders and the bank’s interest rate stays the same.

Sub one per cent mortgage deals are still available – but probably not for long. Buy to let lenders may pull rates at short notice. Request a call back from Total Landlord Mortgages today while these great offers are still available.

The crucial question is whether the media is simply scare-mongering in the wake of the office for budget responsibility report (OBR) or if mortgage rates are in fact on the way up.

At this stage, the office for budget responsibility report is based on ‘what if’ the inflation rate soars and is not a guarantee that rates will increase.

Economists forecast that inflation will rise – possibly as high as 4.6 per cent in April – but no one knows for sure, and one thing recent history has shown is that things can change for the better or worse very quickly.

The only way for interest rates is up

It wasn’t long ago that Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the OBR expected the economy to bomb after the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, in his recent budget announcement, Sunak told MPs the country’s finances were responding better than expected and are likely to keep doing so for the next 12 months, with economic growth of more than six per cent.

The reality is that bank rates will rise, and unfixed mortgages will go in the same direction. Some lenders have already stopped offering their low-interest loans or simply hiked the rates, while others seeking market share are hanging on with rock-bottom rates to see what happens.

As a reminder, mortgages are not always about the interest rate; Halifax has raised the affordability ceiling on home loans to 5.5 times income.

Specialist lender Paragon has doubled maximum borrowing from £5 million to £10 million for portfolio landlords (identified as landlords with more than four buy to let homes with a mortgage).

And the most a landlord can borrow against an individual property rises from £2 million to £4 million.

Contact Total Landlord Mortgages on 0333 244 8918 to let us help you find a top market product before the potential rise in mortgage rates is introduced.

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Sell your buy-to-let properties for the best price before Xmas

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If you’re a landlord you may have heard of the Landlord Sales Agency, and if you haven’t, you’ll probably want to.

We’re the company established by the founder of National Residential and industry expert, David Coughlin.

We’re known for our ‘any problem we can fix’ formula, and when it comes to buy-to-lets, there’s no other company out there that’s delivering results like we are.

Put simply, we’re known for being the best in the business, and we’ve got the track record to prove it.

Why sell my portfolio now?

The market is high. Sky high. But the window is closing, and we’re unlikely to get prices like this again for another seven years.

Over the past decade a huge proportion of landlords have been enjoying rental yields from portfolios and HMOs they’ve built up over the years. But if the eviction bans, high taxes and constantly-changing regulations have taught us anything, it’s that we’re finally at the crossroads where we want to take a big cash sum and retire without the hassle of managing a large portfolio, letting agency or complex accounting.

We’ve been waiting for the right opportunity, well that time has come, and with just one month to go until Christmas, the time to act is now.

Now is probably the highest price you’re going to get for your buy-to-let properties, so if you were thinking of selling, there’s never been a better time.

How do I get the best price?

This is where Landlord Sales Agency go above and beyond to get you the highest price for your buy-to-let, no matter what challenges you need to overcome. Be that negotiating with your tenants, sorting out repairs, and even helping tenants relocate, we have the best team to do it. The result? We’ll deliver you the best price possible, fast, no problems. It really is that simple:

1. We have a database of over 30,000 buyers/investors and we send off-market alerts to those buyers to get properties sold quickest
2. We also have vast and strong B2B relationships with other companies who specialise in purchasing portfolios and HMO’s/blocks of flats – this minimises the need for viewings. Many buy without searches or surveys
3. We run a modern auction to create competition between our investor database and new buyers and investors we source from Rightmove and Zoopla. We run a bidding war to get the best price in an average of just 28 days
4. All purchasers pay 1% deposits (and sometimes buyers fees) and are chain-free and sign agreements to complete in 56 days. This is compared to traditional auctions that charge 10% deposits and have 14-28 day completions. The result is the smaller deposit and slightly longer timescale for completion means our auction achieves the same 95% completion rate as traditional auctions but often at much higher prices as it opens up the auction to those purchasing with finance
5. Our company’s culture is driven from the top-down to achieve the best price and fastest completion for sellers, along with the problem solving and drive to overcome every obstacle to get properties over the line. Every single issue is solved, even tenant issues, by working with incredible partners such as Property118 and LandlordZONE to overcome any barriers that stand in the way.
   If you’re a landlord having problems, or want us to help you sell a portfolio, or even just want to reach out to experts who know exactly what you need, just get in touch and find out what we can do for you.

Landlord Sales Agency can be contacted by filling out the form below:

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Research lays bare failure to tackle criminal landlords

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Two thirds of English councils have prosecuted no landlords for offences related to standards in or the management of private rented housing over the last three years.

 The National Residential Landlords Association is warning that this failure to take action against the criminal minority brings the sector into disrepute and risks undermining further reform of the sector.

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