Belvoir CEO warns of continuing rental increases in 2022 and beyond

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Belvoir’s rental statistics reveal the highest rental increases since records began in 2008. Belvoir CEO Dorian Gonsalves warns of further challenges to come, as years of flawed government policies continue to impact the market, resulting in stock shortages and high tenant demand.

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89% of local authorities built zero council homes in 2021

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Using the most recently published data by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Admiral Home Insurance analysed which parts of England have seen the most and the fewest new homes being built.

With a shortage of housing for many years in England

View Full Article: 89% of local authorities built zero council homes in 2021

TORY thinktank slams Gove’s plans to abolish Section 21

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A leading ‘free-market’ economic commentator has questioned the government’s latest push to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices.

Ryan Bourne, who is a regular TV pundit and Daily Telegraph columnist but also a member of the US-based thinktank the Cato Institute, doubts that abolishing Secton 21 would be a ‘win for tenants as campaign groups imply’.

“What we have here is an example of [tenants] wanting more of something – security – without being willing to pay for it,” he writes.

His comments follow Michael Gove’s decision to roll-up his department’s rental reforms, including abolishing Section 21, into the government’s ‘levelling up’ plans.

“In these scenarios, basic economics tells us that mandating benefits will lead to a waterbed effect of other margins adjusting, as landlords seek to protect themselves against the new higher risks of lock-in that such tenancies entail.”

Unintended consequences

Bourne, who is a long-standing opponent of rent controls, goes on to outline the unintended consequences of abolishing Section 21 including tougher referencing for tenants as landlords seek to weed out high-risk candidates, making it harder for those on benefits to access the PRS, higher rents as some landlords use rent hikes to force out tenants.

But, most worrying of all, he predicts fewer people will be willing to become private landlords and more will choose Airbnb not the traditional route.

He also slams the government’s plans to beef up Section 8 eviction notices to enable landlords to evict tenants under some circumstances such as needing to move back in or sell the property. Bourne claims, as many landlords commentators have, that this route will make it more difficult and expensive for landlords to evict tenants.

“Those harmed most by limited rental options will be the poorest, those without deposits for owner-occupied housing, and those for whom accessing new private rental accommodation is a route to a better job or life,” he adds.

“The beneficiaries will be those who want to stay in a property for years and years.

“This really highlights why fiddling with landlord-tenant relations is no alternative to major planning reform.”

Read the original blog on the ConservativeHome website.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – TORY thinktank slams Gove’s plans to abolish Section 21 | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: TORY thinktank slams Gove’s plans to abolish Section 21

GREEN taxes unfairly hitting poorer tenants hardest – warns landlord

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Tenants in homes with electric heating are being unfairly penalised by the government’s green tax policy, says one concerned landlord.

Young, single tenants – often on low wages – are discriminated against because the green levy on their bills is higher on electricity than gas, according to Tricia Urquhart who has tenants in one and two-bed houses using electric heating.

They are generally paying far higher bills to heat their homes – often four to five times per kWh – and the recently announced 54% rise means their already expensive heating is even more costly in real terms.

The Nottingham landlord tells LandlordZONE: “I put in electric radiators when electricity was 10p a unit and the selling point was that they shouldn’t cost you more than gas – now it’s 21p.

One tenant couple never put their heating on because they don’t think they can afford it, while I’m surprised that another single tenant, who works from home and has the heating on, hasn’t given me notice.”

Little difference

Recently announced government help will mean 28 million households will receive about £350 to help offset soaring energy prices, but Urquhart says this will make little difference to these sole electricity users, whose bill is made up of 40% in green levies.

Currently, 23% of the cost of electricity is made up of environmental and social obligation costs, however, gas costs include less than 2%.

She adds: “Given that these users are using the green fuel it seems really unfair that the young, the single and the lower paid are paying such a large proportion of the green tax.

“I accept that the green levies may still need to be paid but they could be added to high use gas users and so penalise the polluters.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – GREEN taxes unfairly hitting poorer tenants hardest – warns landlord | LandlordZONE.

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EPC targets are a threat to the PRS

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Specialist Buy to Let and commercial bank Shawbrook has released a report concerned about the threat to the rental market posed by a future C rating EPC target. Click here

The headlines of the report indicate that 23% of landlords surveyed say the EPC ratings of their properties are currently D or below and that a further quarter of landlords are unaware of the specific energy efficiency rating of their property.

View Full Article: EPC targets are a threat to the PRS