Returning office workers push city rents to new highs

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Tenants are having to pay more to secure rented accommodation in the cites, as workers drift back to their offices.

The return to full time attendance, particularly for city centre office workers, is probably unlikely to happen. For over two years now, employers and employees have been waiting for the day when everyone returns to work, but that day is perhaps never coming.

Nevertheless, people are returning, most likely on a part-time basis, and most bosses are resigned to the fact that hybrid working – working at home two or three days per week – is here to stay at least in the short-term for these types of office jobs.

People like home working

There are four main reasons for this: People have grown accustomed to home working and enjoy the freedom and flexibility it gives them, while still being wary of catching and transmitting the virus; technology has allowed companies to maintain and in some cases even enhance productivity; and a skills crisis in the UK means that many employers are having to bend to the desires of their workers, in order to retain and attract good staff.

Into the third year of the pandemic and we continue to face ongoing uncertainty as to when all this will settle down – the emergence of different Covid-19 variants can still change. It would force employees who are slowly adapting to a hybrid style of working to reverse course and work remotely again.

Some companies say they have switched permanently to remote working or using hybrid models. Others are still holding out for staff to return permanently to their desks, but each new wave has further entrenched flexible working patterns, and it could be years if at all when things go back to as they were, with mass commuting and packed trains.

The country migration

At the height of the crisis workers and their families made plans to escape the city: why not they thought when you can work from anywhere and enjoy the open countryside in a larger house, perhaps even work in a garden office? Sounds idyllic, and many city professionals took that path. But country living has it’s issues as well, and long commutes for the days in the office soon started to grind on some, prompted many people to return to the city.

Young professionals, singles and couples gave up city rentals to return home, to live outside the city with parents, friends and other relatives. But now, as the restrictions are being eased, once again they are considering the benefits of being close to their work and that means city renting again.

Severe shortage of rentals

It’s being reported that tenants are having to pay up to £750 a year extra in rent to secure rental housing because the cost of renting in the UK has risen at its fastest rate since the financial crisis of 2007/8.

A severe housing crisis in the UK means that average rents rose by more than 8pc in the year at the end of 2021, as fierce competition between renters pushed the average monthly payment to a new high of nearly £1,000, and much more in London.

According to Zoopla, tenants now having to pay an average of £60 plus more per month than was the case at the start of the pandemic.

This all comes on top of increasing prices with inflation, energy costs and taxes. These are and will be place additional financial burdens on families and individuals. Figures show that house prices and rents rose right across the UK, taking in every region at the end of 2021. Though house prices are expected to stabilise in 2022, rents are still expected to rises by between 3% and 10%.

Bidding wars

It’s the chronic shortage of properties to let that has created bidding wars for rentals and property purchases. In some cases buyers and renters have had to pay thousands more to secure the property they wanted.

Its an owners’ market and in the case of the rental market one that has been consolidated by increasing regulation. The increasing burden of regulations on landlords is causing many of them to consider their position and many are simply selling up. But it means that those landlords remaining in the market find themselves in the fortunate position of having few voids and very good returns.

According to one report, the average rental property was let within two weeks of coming to market in the last quarter of 2021, but according to the Daily Telegraph many city lets were signed up either off market or inked-in within minutes of listing.

Property agents Hamptons say that collectively landlords bought 184,100 properties in 2021, which is equal to a market share of 12.3pc, but others sold 201,300 properties, meaning the net number of rental homes fell by 17,200.

Zoopla says that runaway rents are deterring tenants from moving, limiting the turnover of rental homes, while in Belfast, Bristol, London and Nottingham double-digit rental growth of more than 10pc was seen in December. The London market has made a significant comeback from the rent levels at the peak of the crises, with rents now reaching or exceeding pre-crisis levels.

James Evans, of estate agency Douglas & Gordon, told the Daily Telegraph there has been a “clear trend” of renters returning to London in the first weeks of 2022, and that “There has been around a 40pc increase in new letting applicants compared to the same month last year.

As there is also still a very restricted supply of properties, we’re seeing landlords achieve record prices, a high quality of tenant and almost no void periods. There were between 35-40 new applicants for every rental property in the capital,” Mr Evans says, “and four offers received for each agreed let.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Returning office workers push city rents to new highs | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Returning office workers push city rents to new highs

In a pickle and need legal expertise?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Got a strange situ here – I have 2 licensees who originally rented 2 rooms in a shared house. Then they got together.

The other 2 licensees moved out before Christmas and these remaining 2 asked if they could rent the whole house.

View Full Article: In a pickle and need legal expertise?

Selective licensing schemes ‘not accountable’ reveals NRLA research

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Nearly two-thirds of councils with selective licensing schemes don’t accurately record the number of complaints they get about private rented housing.

New National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) research reveals that 56% of councils aren’t properly recording these complaints, which rises to 61% for those with licensing schemes – despite the fact local landlords are supposedly funding housing standards enforcement through their licensing fees.

The report – The Enforcement Lottery: Local authority inspections and notices – says: “Landlords have a reasonable expectation that these schemes provide evidence they are working to address issues with property management.

“But more than half of schemes do not appear to keep accurate records. As a result, it is unclear how these local authorities are identifying progress in improving property management.”

FOI requests

The findings, based on Freedom of Information Act requests, show that of those local authorities which did accurately record PRS complaints, each dealt with an average of 274 complaints per year.

In all, councils conducted 98,858 inspections under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHRS) across England between 2018 to 2021, the equivalent of just one in 45 private rented sector properties.

Many councils fail to register any of their inspections, while only 1% resulted in a follow-up prosecution, with 4% of improvement notices resulting in a civil penalty.

Chris Norris, NRLA director, policy & campaigns (pictured), says these figures show there is a long way to go before councils deal effectively with the rogue landlords who bring the sector into disrepute.

He adds: “Until they adopt a more effective approach towards recordkeeping, it will be impossible for them to take the steps necessary to enforce regulations.”

The NRLA wants the government to look again at a national benchmark scheme for local authorities, requiring them to report on the outcomes of all enforcement activities. It also wants it to work with local authorities to identify why inspections rarely lead to prosecutions or civil penalties and to develop a holistic strategy around enforcement in the PRS.

Download the report.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Selective licensing schemes ‘not accountable’ reveals NRLA research | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Selective licensing schemes ‘not accountable’ reveals NRLA research

OFFICIAL: selective licensing ‘not accountable’ for fees charged to landlords

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Nearly two-thirds of councils with selective licensing schemes don’t accurately record the number of complaints they get about private rented housing.

New National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) research reveals that 56% of councils aren’t properly recording these complaints, which rises to 61% for those with licensing schemes – despite the fact local landlords are supposedly funding housing standards enforcement through their licensing fees.

The report – The Enforcement Lottery: Local authority inspections and notices – says: “Landlords have a reasonable expectation that these schemes provide evidence they are working to address issues with property management.

“But more than half of schemes do not appear to keep accurate records. As a result, it is unclear how these local authorities are identifying progress in improving property management.”

FOI requests

The findings, based on Freedom of Information Act requests, show that of those local authorities which did accurately record PRS complaints, each dealt with an average of 274 complaints per year.

In all, councils conducted 98,858 inspections under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHRS) across England between 2018 to 2021, the equivalent of just one in 45 private rented sector properties.

Many councils fail to register any of their inspections, while only 1% resulted in a follow-up prosecution, with 4% of improvement notices resulting in a civil penalty.

Chris Norris, NRLA director, policy & campaigns (pictured), says these figures show there is a long way to go before councils deal effectively with the rogue landlords who bring the sector into disrepute.

He adds: “Until they adopt a more effective approach towards recordkeeping, it will be impossible for them to take the steps necessary to enforce regulations.”

The NRLA wants the government to look again at a national benchmark scheme for local authorities, requiring them to report on the outcomes of all enforcement activities. It also wants it to work with local authorities to identify why inspections rarely lead to prosecutions or civil penalties and to develop a holistic strategy around enforcement in the PRS.

Download the report.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – OFFICIAL: selective licensing ‘not accountable’ for fees charged to landlords | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: OFFICIAL: selective licensing ‘not accountable’ for fees charged to landlords

Energy rebate/loan questions for student accommodation?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

OK so in October every house using electricity will get a £200 rebate (loan by stealth) then it has to be paid back over 5 years.

The information says that if someone shares and moves to a new property they don’t take a share of the £200 loan

View Full Article: Energy rebate/loan questions for student accommodation?

Stamp duty trap transferring property back into sole name?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Dear All, I am trying to re-mortgage a leasehold flat as my current deal has moved onto an SVR.

The flat is jointly owned with my wife (as a Tenancy in Common with the intention of my share being 99% and my wife 1% –

View Full Article: Stamp duty trap transferring property back into sole name?

Avoid ‘no money down’ gurus and invest in property cautiously, new book advises

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new book shines the spotlight on get-rich-quick chancers in the property training industry in a bid to stop investors from getting ripped off.

Property developer and trainer Henry Davis says the sector is rife with charlatans who charge exorbitant prices and, from personal experience attending courses, reckons their training is dishonest and misleading as you’ll never get rich from doing it.

“The only reason they say you can ‘buy a property with no money down’ is because they don’t want to reduce their target audience by giving a minimum figure to attend,” he tells LandlordZONE.

Investing proactively, yet cautiously, believes Davis, will result in making fewer mistakes, and he’s penned The Truth About Property “a no-nonsense, definitive guide to truly succeed in the property market, at any level” to explain just how, by offering no-nonsense advice on due diligence, valuations, buying tricks, and the art of project management.

“Watch the live auctions in your target area and don’t worry about the data, you’ll find out what’s in demand and you’re also teaching yourself how to value property and rental yield,” advises Davis.

“And make sure your first project is a major refurbishment – that way, by working with a professional architect, surveyor and planning consultant you’ll get a great crash course.”

Mentoring

His suggestions are based on 32 years of experience in residential and commercial property – he now operates under We Buy Any House Liverpool, M Luxury & H Apartments and Genii Developments Ltd – and already shares his knowledge on NRLA-run courses as well as through one-to-one mentoring.

The Liverpool-based author started off by buying a neighbour’s house in 1990, then began trading in apartment blocks 20 years ago, buying in bulk from developers and flipping contracts by selling them on individually – using the deposit from each buyer to fund his deposit with the developer.

Davis now focuses on developing large HMO blocks, all en-suite and a minimum of nine square metres, which is the secret to low tenant churn, he explains. “I average 24 months with these HMOs, whereas the industry average is six to eight months.”

Buy his book via Amazon.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Avoid ‘no money down’ gurus and invest in property cautiously, new book advises | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Avoid ‘no money down’ gurus and invest in property cautiously, new book advises