LATEST: What could tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech hold for landlords?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech is set to contain a raft of property-related legislation including at least a reference to the highly anticipated Renters’ Reform Bill.

Empty properties

Landlords will be forced to rent out empty shops and retail units under a new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, giving local authorities powers to take control of empty buildings through tougher compulsory purchase orders.

It could also allow councils to double council tax for owners of second homes if they don’t rent them out for at least 70 days. Other homes simply left empty could see the standard council tax rate doubled after 12 months – as opposed to the current two years.

Planning

Following comments by Housing Secretary Michael Gove, a new Planning Bill could include policies aimed at ‘gentle densification’, giving residents a say on drawing up local design codes for housing developments using ‘street votes’. Gove has also expressed his support for streamlining building procedures for brownfield land.

Rogue landlords

Almost two years after the government’s social housing white paper was published, the Queen’s Speech is expected to include a Social Housing Reform Bill aimed at driving up safety standards, data collection and increasing accountability for rogue landlords by naming and shaming those who perform poorly.

Leasehold reform

A Leasehold/Commonhold Reform Bill is also expected to be included, as the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Lord Greenhalgh, announced last summer that a “second tranche of reforms” following the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill would come in the third session of Parliament.

Renting reform

While the Renters’ Reform Bill falls under the category of ‘bills announced but not yet introduced’ and was announced last year but was not taken forward, it’s expected that it will at least be referenced in tomorrow’s speech as the white paper is due to be released in spring 2022.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: What could tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech hold for landlords? | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: LATEST: What could tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech hold for landlords?

LETTER: Sadiq Khan begs Boris to freeze rents in London for two years

admin    Uncategorized     agents

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has repeated calls to be handed rent control powers in the capital to prevent a potential homelessness crisis.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, he says tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech is an opportunity to commit to the strategy, adding: “I have repeatedly asked for the powers to design and implement a system of rent control for London which would help to reduce the financial pressure on renters, without choking off supply.”

Although currently in the US on a tourism boosting trip and promising “major announcements”, Khan cites the Homelet rental index for March 2022 which shows that renters in London now spend 34% of their income on rent.

Freeze

He wants the government to implement an immediate two-year rent freeze to relieve the pressure on already-stretched renters, in a bid to save Londoners an average of almost £3,000.

Khan also reiterates his plea for more powers to push property licensing and pledges his support for the government’s commitment to ending section 21, as well as introducing open-ended tenancies and creating a public national landlord register.

“However, affordability is clearly the most urgent issue facing the majority of renters, and currently the government remains silent on this issue,” he adds.

“I am asking you to take the action necessary to prevent a major crisis now and to work with me to build a better London for everyone.”

The NRLA has previously labelled rent controls a potential disaster for London as they would mean tenants actually paying higher rents than leaving them to market forces. Rent controls were recently scrapped in the Catalan region of Spain after they failed to make housing more affordable.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LETTER: Sadiq Khan begs Boris to freeze rents in London for two years | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: LETTER: Sadiq Khan begs Boris to freeze rents in London for two years

INTERVIEW: We’re not here to displace private landlords, says BTR boss

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The CEO of a large US build-to-rent (BTR) company with nine sites underway in the UK says private landlords should not fear the sector being ‘professionalised’ and that a key aim of BTR firms like hers is to stop renting being considered ‘second-class’ accommodation.

Victorian Quinlan (main pic), who heads up the UK operation of Atlanta-based Cortland, has been tasked with growing its business here which, so far, includes nine developments as far south as Reading and London but as far north as Durham, Liverpool and Manchester.

Many private landlords suspect that BTR, including companies like Cortland, are another tool of the Government to reduce the dominance of the small private landlord within the private rented sector, along with additional taxation and extra regulation.

But Quinlan is adamant that this is not the case, when LandordZONE put this point to her.

“I think that BTR offers another ‘product’ to the market and therefore more choice for renters,” she says.

“Until companies like ours began building developments in the UK, renters had limited access to the kind of amenities that ours offer such as 24-7 concierge, gyms, cinema rooms and so on – something that some tenants want and are prepared to pay extra for, although the price differential isn’t as wide as many believe.

“BTR enables the consumer to decide where they want to put their rent and that can only be a good thing, rather than people not having a choice and being considered second class citizens if they rent.”

Crisis

Quinlan also believes companies like hers will help alleviate the housing crisis that seems to be almost continually looming over the UK.

“Part of the problem here is that the UK has limited land available and a difficult planning process – this means that, when the sales market slows down, builders cut back on building homes to restrict supply and keep prices stable, but they don’t build more rental homes at the same time – and BTR is now doing that job.”

But the sector often slides into what can appear as ‘landlord bashing’ when it tries to separate its homes from the general private rented sector.

For example, Quinlan says she wants to see the PRS made ‘more professional’, while her counterpart at Grainger, Helen Gordon, recently slammed landlords for putting tenants in fear of eviction.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – INTERVIEW: We’re not here to displace private landlords, says BTR boss | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: INTERVIEW: We’re not here to displace private landlords, says BTR boss

MARKET: Property giant reveals move into build to rent with 1,200 homes

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Build-to-rent (BTR) competition with landlords is to be ratcheted up soon after the Harworth Group revealed it is looking for developer partners to build 1,200 rental homes at 10 of its development sites across the UK.

The land and property regeneration firm wants to create a build-to-rent portfolio of single family, two- and three-bedroom houses in Yorkshire, the Midlands and the North West, which would all be ready to rent in the next three years.

The move reflects the steady growth of BTR, with more than 140,000 homes under construction or in planning at the start of the year, while investors ploughed £4.1 billion into the sector in 2021, according to global real estate advisor CBRE.

Harworth Group’s sites are in popular locations near major conurbations with good local amenities and transport connections.

The new rental properties will be set in extensive green space offering recreational facilities and will sit alongside the firm’s build-to-sell (BTS) products already developed by housebuilders at its residential sites.

The company says these sites lend themselves to the BTR market, and that by offering both BTR and BTS, it can speed up delivery; with BTS, sales have to be phased over a number of years to take account of local absorption rates of housing stock.

Read more: What does BTR mean for buy-to-let?

As both styles are aimed at different markets, they can be delivered simultaneously.

It also supports the company’s ambition to double its residential plot sales to around 2,000 plots a year, according to Lynda Shillaw (pictured), chief executive of Harworth.

She says: “Project Spur is part of our strategy to accelerate the development of our residential sites, providing a range of homes for local people and enabling diverse communities. We look forward to working with partners aligned to our purpose and ambitions, to continue delivering places where people want to live and work.”

Pic credit: Harwarth Group, showing its Rotherham development.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – MARKET: Property giant reveals move into build to rent with 1,200 homes | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: MARKET: Property giant reveals move into build to rent with 1,200 homes