Failing Social Housing providers to be named and shamed

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The government will “name and shame” failing social housing providers as part of major reforms to give residents a stronger voice and drive up standards. This means social landlords providing sub-standard housing and services would be publicly called out on the government’s website and across social media channels.

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NEW: Job advert for national landlord register manager reveals scheme will happen

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (pictured) is advertising for someone to investigate setting up a national landlord register.

Despite not having confirmed officially that there will be a such a register, the job advert is for a full-time policy advisor.

It follows a commitment in the government’s Levelling Up White Paper earlier this year to explore the introduction of a landlord register, after first promising to bring forward reforms to drive improvements in standards in rented accommodation in 2021.

This new role will focus on looking at possible penalties and enforcement and leading on the data protection elements of a register.

Penalties

The job description explains: “You will lead and drive policy development and delivery related to specific workstreams on our work exploring a national landlord register – penalties/enforcement and data protection. This will involve significant, detailed policy work at all stages of the policy cycle, potentially including delivering legislation.”

The newly appointed advisor will lead and support stakeholder engagement, both internally and externally, representing the department’s views and position through the policy development process.

They will also work alongside departmental staff and a range of other government departments to, “understand the broader context of PRS and housing policy and ensure alignment with wider government policy”.

The job will be based in either London or Wolverhampton with a salary of between £36,337 and £39,598. Candidates have until 11^th April to apply.

“This is positive news that the government is planning for a national landlord register and that Ministers are taking it seriously, as the millions of English landlords who will need to join the scheme have been waiting to hear what the requirements will be for some time,” says Sean Hooker (pictured), Head of Redress at the PRS.

“We will of course work with the new recruits to help them implement a workable system. It makes logical sense that if you have mandatory redress, you have your register.

“In the meantime, we are running the pilot for the NRLA along with TDS.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – NEW: Job advert for national landlord register manager reveals scheme will happen | LandlordZONE.

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Challenge for the PRS is how to adapt to accommodate more mature tenants

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Homes headed by a person over the age of 45 will account for at least half of all privately renting households by 2035, analysis conducted on behalf of Paragon Bank has found.

A report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF)

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How can investors build a buy-to-let portfolio?

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For a long time, investing in buy-to-let was seen as a sure-fire way to make money. But, over the last five years or so, regulatory and taxation changes have dented its appeal.

However, with inflation hitting a new 30-year high in January, mortgage rates still at historic lows and rental yields increasing, many investors are considering buy-to-let once again. Here are some past lessons that could help shape an investment strategy for the future.

Timing the house price cycle

Britain has seen unprecedented house price growth over the past 25 years. An investor who timed the house price cycle perfectly and always invested in the fastest growing regions would have seen double the average returns of someone investing in the slowest growing regions.

Between 1996 and today, a buy-to-let investment in the North East would have made the biggest returns, with high rental yields compensating for lower house price growth compared to southern areas. London, the region that’s seen the strongest capital growth, came third.

Crucially, we are not expected to witness the same magnitude of house price inflation over the next 25 years as we have seen over the past 25. Nevertheless, northern areas are forecast to see higher price growth until 2024, when a new housing cycle begins. From then, price growth across the South, especially London, is set to start outpacing the North once again.

Taking a long-term view is key, says Catherine Westerling, Head of Lettings at Hamptons. “Property has always performed strongly as an asset class on a minimum 10-year view, but a 20- to 25-year strategy is likely to be far more rewarding.”

Manage costs

The price an investor pays for a property makes the single biggest difference to returns. As Westerling explains. “It’s the old adage: you make your money when you buy, not when you sell.”

Recent tax changes have pushed up costs for individual landlords, particularly if they are higher-rate taxpayers, so many have put their properties into a limited company structure. There are now a record 270,000 buy-to-let companies in operation, with around two-thirds of these set up since 2016, when it was announced that mortgage interest would soon no longer be tax-deductible for landlords holding investment property in their personal name.

Leverage is crucial

The gains investors can make from house price growth are amplified significantly if they borrow as much money as they can to fund a purchase. When prices rise 10%, an investor with a £50,000 deposit and 75% loan to value mortgage will see a return of 40% on their initial investment, before the costs of servicing the loan.

In addition, reinvesting rental income back into a portfolio increases returns significantly. Nationally, the average portfolio built-up over the last 25 years on the back of rising house prices and reinvested rental income would be 55% smaller if rental income was withdrawn each month rather than reinvested.

Balance is best

The most successful landlords have a balance of geographies so they can benefit from the current high yields in northern areas as well as the longer-term capital growth from southern locations, Westerling explains.

She adds that landlords also seek to hold a mix of property and tenure types and include properties that can have value added by a refurbishment or extension. “At the end of a refurbishment an investor has increased the property’s rental value and capital value, while also improving a mortgaged property’s loan to value”.

For further analysis and expert advice, access Hamptons’ new Buy-to-Let report and sign-up to the webinar on 31st March here.

DISCLAIMER

@ Hamptons 2022 purpose of general information and Hamptons accept no responsibility for any loss or damage that results from the use of content contained therein, including any errors or negligence from third party information providers. It is your sole responsibility to independently check and verify the facts contained within this report. All opinions and forecasts within this report do not in any way represent investment or other advice. Reproduction of this report in whole or in part is not allowed without the prior written consent of Hamptons.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – How can investors build a buy-to-let portfolio? | LandlordZONE.

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Plans revealed to speed up possessions for landlords – FOUR years after consultation

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The government has finally promised to set out how it will improve the possession process for private landlords in the courts – almost four years after it first asked for their views on how to make efficiencies.

Its consultation quizzed tenants and landlords on whether a separate Housing Court was needed and Justice Minister Kit Malthouse has now announced that a policy response to the call for evidence would come later in the spring.

He says the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has committed to work with the Ministry of Justice to make the process quicker and easier.

Its report published at the time – November 2018 – revealed how some landlords reported that it took too long to get to possession order stage using a Section 21 notice as there was often an underlying reason for wanting possession, such as rent arrears.

Read the consultation document.

The main delays in the process related to enforcement; from the possession order being granted, it took a further 10 weeks to gain possession.

The research also found some backlogs and bottlenecks in court administrative procedures due to pressure on court resources caused by lack of staff, closure of courts, a high workload and outdated IT.

However, much has happened in the past few years, with Covid-related court delays pushing the possession process into many months rather than weeks and the government promising to get rid of Section 21s in its upcoming Renters Reform Bill.

In a Parliamentary written response, Malthouse also said the Home Office had no plans to introduce a policy relating to police data sharing relating to eviction of tenants through the courts – however, there is already a well-established national database of rogue landlords.

But as LandlordZONE has reported in the past, very few landlords ever make it onto the dataset. Latest government data released in August last year showed just 43 are listed.

LandlordZONE has asked the Ministry of Justice for an update on when the initiative will start.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Plans revealed to speed up possessions for landlords – FOUR years after consultation | LandlordZONE.

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