Reviewing the results of another demand focussed government initiative is the property market equivalent of Groundhog Day

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Research by GetAgent.co.uk, has highlighted how huge levels of buyer demand spurred by the stamp duty holiday impacted property prices. Last week, the government released its latest house price index providing the first concrete view of the market in September of this year when the curtain finally fell on the stamp duty holiday.

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Bank of England to stop giving hints

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The Governor of the Bank of England confirmed to the select committee that he was not a fan of the bank’s previous forward guidance policy, instigated by Mark Carney.

Forward guidance (hints given externally) of the Bank of England’s economic views led to widespread press anticipation of an interest rate rise at the last MPC meeting.

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Roger Beecroft interview: ‘I’m a landlord, not an investor’

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“I’ve been asked if I’m ever going to buy a sports car, but I’d probably get more use out of a rubbish truck!” jokes Roger Beecroft, a successful landlord and letting agent whose large number of properties means he’s regularly found clearing out former tenants’ abandoned belongings.

Roger, whose properties are in and around Barnsley in South Yorkshire, isn’t afraid to literally muck into the business he’s built up since quitting his travel agent job in 1999.

Since then, he’s ridden out the financial crash in 2008 to steadily build up a portfolio of terraced houses, bedsits, pubs and a hotel that brings in £60,000 a month.

He also has 26 staff working with him, including at the letting agency he originally set up to manage his own houses – two-branch Beecroft Estates – which now looks after 1,700 properties.

Covid hasn’t made an impact on the business, which suffered very few rent arrears, and the strong rental market means he has 99% occupancy and rising rents.

However, he was stuck with a tenant from hell who he was unable to evict due to the ban, and cost Roger £15,000 after flooding the agency’s office from his HMO room above.

“He caused me 20 years’ worth of problems and we had to close part of the office after the computers got wiped out,” he tells LandlordZONE.

Responsibility to tenants

However, this bad experience aside, he believes that landlords always have a responsibility to their tenants.

“I’m a landlord, not an investor,” asserts Roger. “I think it’s wrong to give someone a home then turn them out because you want to sell it. I want tenants to stay forever and I want them to feel secure – and those that have a long-term relationship with me are less likely to ring me up asking me to change a lightbulb!”

His only regret is that he didn’t buy semi-detached rather than terraced houses, as the tenant churn would have been lower and he worries that the sector could be turned on its head by the government.

“They could change the rules and put a stop on private landlords who are becoming too powerful, which would affect everyone.”

But Roger doesn’t believe that landlords have it harder than they did 20 years ago – after all, the time needed to evict someone hasn’t altered, he reasons. “But at the moment, who wouldn’t want to be a landlord?” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Roger Beecroft interview: ‘I’m a landlord, not an investor’ | LandlordZONE.

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Social housing providers finally required by law to install smoke alarms!

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It’s been an incredible double standard to date, but finally, people living in social housing will be safer in their homes under new rules that will mean smoke alarms must be fitted in all rented accommodation, Housing Minister Eddie Hughes MP announced yesterday.

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EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Scots renting reforms to be revealed ‘before Xmas’

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A new strategy for the private rented sector is to be published by the Scottish government before Christmas, its new housing minister Patrick Harvie has told a meeting of landlords convened in Glasgow by MyDeposits Scotland.

He made the comments during a panel debate about the expectation that ‘change is coming’ for landlords and letting agents in Scotland following a power-sharing deal signed between the Green Party and the SNP in August.

This saw Harvie, who is a Green MSP, given a newly-created title of Minister for Tenants’ Rights and the job of shaking up Scotland’s private and social rented sectors.

He told agents and landlords who attended the gathering today that the new strategy would focus initially on more ‘wellbeing’ changes for tenants such as the right to personalise homes and keep pets, before moving onto meatier matters around affordability.

Rent controls

Although he didn’t refer to it directly, this is widely expected to usher in rent controls that will cap rent rises in ‘pressure zones’ and be reviewed on a five-yearly basis.

Three months ago trade body Propertymark warned Harvie that his rent control proposals would be ‘catastrophic‘.

“We want to get to a position where the human right to adequate housing is met for everybody because it’s not being met now,” he said.

“Some of the questions around how we emerge from the pandemic and which measures should be kept for the longer term are the more high level questions that we are keen to consult on, particularly concerning affordability.”

Other measures that some landlords fear include some of the evictions restrictions introduce during the pandemic, particularly longer notice periods, as well as an annual ‘winter’ evictions ban, a measure that has already been retained to a degree in England.

Other speakers at the event include Paul Shamplina, who led the debates and spoke about evictions, as well as John Blackwood, CEO of the Scottish Landlords Association, portfolio landlord and estate agent Jim Parker and leading letting agent Richard Cook.

When the renting reforms are revealed next month, they will soon be followed the English government’s own much-lauded reforms of its rental sectors.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Scots renting reforms to be revealed ‘before Xmas’ | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: NW England is new buy-to-let hotspot for yields, new research reveals

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The North West is the UK’s buy-to-let hotspot with rental yields reaching 4.41% on an average rent of £790, according to new research.

Regeneration projects in the Northern Powerhouse towns and cities and the London exodus to the north – accelerated by Covid-19 – have driven the rise, while Yorkshire and the Humber have also benefited from investment in the region, delivering yields of 4.33% on an average rent of £697.

Findings from SevenCapital and Zoopla show that Scotland has recorded healthy yields of 4.11% on an average rent of £687 – significantly higher than London where yields are just 2.9% and the average rent is £1,583.

The Midlands and the north of England are expected to show the strongest price growth during 2022, mainly driven by their greater capacity for growth, while house prices are also set to continue rising across the UK – up 9% by the end of this year.

Maximum yields

Toks Adebiyi (pictured), founder and CEO of tenant finding platform Clooper, says rental yields can change from postcode to postcode, so it’s important that landlords conduct thorough research into potential investment outside their current property portfolio locations, to ensure they achieve maximum yields. 

“In Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, certain postcodes are hitting yields of between 6-12% as property prices are considerably lower than the South East,” says Adebiyi. “Currently, the average UK rental yield is sitting at 3.63%, so anything over that amount can be considered a high rental yield area.”

He adds: “Landlords considering expanding their portfolio into 2022 have the opportunity to acquire highly profitable properties, despite looming interest rate rises and potential issues with finance.” 

Clooper is LandlordZONE’s official ‘Tenant Sourcing Partners’.

Read more news about the buy-to-let market.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: NW England is new buy-to-let hotspot for yields, new research reveals | LandlordZONE.

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Repeat rogue landlord escapes banning order despite ‘murky’ and ‘sham’ rental arrangements

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A rogue landlord has dodged a banning order for operating ‘murky bed and breakfast agreements’ after a court ruled he could not be held directly responsible.

Cambridge City Council fined Santiago Jose Hidalgo Ferrin and his company Simple Properties London Limited £12,000 each for running an HMO in Cherry Hinton Road without a licence and wanted to ban him from letting houses for five years. The firm has since been dissolved.

Ferrin was highlighted within an investigation by the Independent national newspaper last year into his rogue activities, and those of his company.

Cambridge Council said that although his tenants had agreed ‘bed and breakfast’ arrangements with Simple Properties Management Limited, five of the nine had lived at the property for more than six months, after Simple Properties London Limited took on the lease in June 2019.

Council officers then discovered that the company had been involved with a licensable HMO in Acton Street, Camden, which resulted in a banning order being made against Simple Properties Management Limited and Miguel Cabeo Cespedes in May 2021. They were keen for the banning order to be made against Ferrin due to this link.

Sham agreements

The tribunal ruled that while the sham agreements were troubling, they named a different company, while the banning order offence relied on within the notice had become spent prior to the hearing, in February 2021. It said there were no longer any concerns about the property.

“Given his lack of involvement with both their investigation and this application, it is difficult to assess the likely effect of any banning order…it is also entirely possible that Mr Ferrin has left the country or that the name is an alias.”

It added: “Although the circumstances of the letting of 308-310 Cherry Hinton Road (pictured) are murky, involving sham bed and breakfast agreements, there was no evidence of any aggravating factors in terms of the behaviour towards the occupants and indeed no evidence whatsoever of Mr Ferrin’s personal involvement, other than his role as sole director of Simple Properties London Limited.”

Read the tribunal judgement in full.

Read more about Cambridge landlords.

Pic credit: Google Streetview.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Repeat rogue landlord escapes banning order despite ‘murky’ and ‘sham’ rental arrangements | LandlordZONE.

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Pharoah ant colonies can spiral out of control in larger HMOs

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Landlords of large multi-occupancy buildings are being urged to understand the risks posed by a small tropical species. Pharoah ants are tiny, but can create huge colonies that will split if threatened and can potentially spiral out of control, says the British Pest Control Association (BPCA).

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Too busy to do viewings? NRLA launches partnership to fix that

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Private landlords can now pay someone else to do viewings as well as check-ins and check-outs with tenants when they are not available due to work or personal commitments or are living a long way from a property.

This follows a deal between the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and Viewber.

It’s a service co-founded by former senior property industry figure Ed Mead (pictured) that offers an outsourced property viewings service which until recently was used primarily by letting agents and corporate or social landlords.

Now, the NRLA’s 94,000 or so members will have access to the same service, both for face-to-face viewings and virtual ones too.

For many landlords who hold down day jobs but also manage their own properties, organising viewings can be a challenge, and the deal between the NRLA and Viewber is intended to over that issue.

Viewber, as well as providing a ‘viewing clerk’ to meet tenants at an address anywhere in the UK or via a virtual viewing, can also provide 360-degree virtual tours and other marketing materials to add to portal listings.

Last mile

“Our national last-mile services are increasingly bringing much easier management of property, both blocks and pepper potted portfolios, to hundreds of landlords already,” says Mead.

“NRLA’s professional landlords are an obvious fit and we look forward to working with an ever more professionalised sector backed by an association genuinely looking to offer their members better value.”

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA (pictured), adds: “With the pandemic forcing many private landlords to reconsider how they oversee their portfolios, our association with Viewber will ensure our members will be able to think more creatively about how they manage their properties.”

Read more: How to do viewings safely.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Too busy to do viewings? NRLA launches partnership to fix that | LandlordZONE.

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MORTGAGES: Technology brings transparency to the buy-to-let market

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It is estimated that only one in three millennials in the UK will ever own a home. Whilst property prices have soared by an average of 152 per cent, the average household income has only risen by 22 per cent.

The buy-to-let property market presents significant opportunities for landlords and investors to grow their investment portfolios. The average rent on newly let property outside London has risen by 6.8% in the last year. 

But the buy-to-let market has been accused of being slow and lacking transparency. Brokers have criticised the technology strategy of traditional lenders like high street banks for having a lack of transparency.

The emergence of disruptive technologies in the buy-to-let market promises to improve the transparency and efficiency of lenders, borrowers and brokers. But it’s small, independent innovators that are leading the way.

Brokers criticise big finance

Financial investment is notorious for its lack of transparency. A study published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed the lack of clarity prevented 30 per cent of consumers from being eligible for favourable mortgages. 

Brokers often lament the ‘friction‘ that is inherent in the mortgage application process and do not feel large lenders are tackling the issues efficiently. Smaller lenders are also hampered by the increased amount of paperwork involved. There is little coherence between borrowers and lenders.

Technology has the potential to make the UK property market more transparent than it’s ever been.

Intermediary tools developed by independent third parties provide solutions that make reliable information readily available. More transparency will also mean that consumers will be able to find buy-to-let mortgages that fit their financial capacity.

Improved data glow

Digital technology is better at recording data and keeping a history of transactions. With a broader scope to access financial histories, lenders are able to assess a borrower’s suitability for a loan quickly.

Systems on both sides of the fence exchange accurate data. Lenders should be obligated to provide transparency with regard to hidden fees. When brokers are involved, it is often the case that cost margins are passed on to the borrower. 

Innovations in the buy-to-let market accurately evaluate buy-to-let mortgages to ensure borrowers can meet lending criteria and lenders can provide mortgages that meet the borrower’s circumstances. 

Third-party technology

While large lenders are failing to deliver efficient solutions in the buy-to-let market, third party innovations provide platforms that do.

For example, Pitch 4 Finance, has designed a platform that puts borrowers directly in touch with lenders that meet their criteria.

The platform provides instant criteria matching, real-time application updates, tracking and greater exposure for users. Borrowers have access to all lenders in the market which enables them to find deals that are more suited to their needs. 

Independent third-party platforms also benefit small lenders and allow them to compete with traditional high street banks. And with consumers demanding more transparency, they may turn to small lenders in search for the most cost-effective deals.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – MORTGAGES: Technology brings transparency to the buy-to-let market | LandlordZONE.

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