Bad tenants, worse politicians, S21 – is it over for landlords?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

It’s not looking good for landlords, is it? What with rising interest rates, mortgage availability and the government handing bad tenants an opportunity to live rent-free in our homes!

That’s right. Liz ‘Blundertruss’ has struck again.

First

View Full Article: Bad tenants, worse politicians, S21 – is it over for landlords?

Splitting property to address covenant for single dwelling house?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I need some advice for a property I am buying, please. It is a corner plot house with an extra large garden extended to one side and back. Apparently, it is an ex-council property with a restrictive covenant of single private dwelling 1980 from the city council.

View Full Article: Splitting property to address covenant for single dwelling house?

Exorbitant RPI linked ground rent?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Exceptionally high RPI in the current cost of living crisis means those existing leaseholders with RPI-linked ground rents face exorbitant increases.

The UK Government has stated it plans to do something about this, as it has now created a very unjust and uneven playing field by ensuring all new leases are with peppercorn ground rent only.

View Full Article: Exorbitant RPI linked ground rent?

SHAMPLINA: Evictions ban will kill landlord confidence unless courts are upgraded

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Growing numbers of landlords could quit the sector if they don’t have confidence that they can get their property back.

That’s the warning from evictions expert Paul Shamplina, who says that without more investment in the court system and mediation, landlords might think is it not worth all the aggravation.

After serving an eviction notice, it currently takes between six and eight months to get a property back.

Speaking after Prime Minister Liz Truss’s ‘non U-turn’ when she reaffirmed the government’s intention to scrap Section 21, he says perfectly good tenants who have lived in a property for years might find themselves being evicted – especially when the impact of the rising cost-of-living hits.

“Landlords might need to sell the property…they are worrying about the economy and rent arrears and anti-social behaviour,” Shamplina told Talk Radio‘s Ian Collins.

“We’ve seen a big rise in interest rates, so if landlords find themselves in a mortgage deficit and with a lot of landlords heavily taxed – particularly as the majority have only got one to three properties – they might say they don’t want to be a landlord anymore.”

Shamplina advised landlords to understand where they want to be on their landlord journey, to treat it as a business and make sure they always communicate with tenants.

“Tenants need to feel that the property is their home and landlords still need to see that tenants are their customers – without them there’s no rent,” he added.

Learn more about the evictions process.

View Full Article: SHAMPLINA: Evictions ban will kill landlord confidence unless courts are upgraded

Private and social housing tenants urged to join rent strike

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Campaigners are warning that unless the government imposes an across-the-board freeze on rents and service charges in England, then private and social housing tenants will be urged to join a rent strike.

The warning comes from Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) which

View Full Article: Private and social housing tenants urged to join rent strike

Lettings coalition seeks legal opinion on Scotland’s rent freeze and eviction ban

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A coalition of landlord and lettings bodies is seeking legal advice on the Scottish Government’s rent freeze and eviction ban legislation.

The coalition has been formed between the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL), Propertymark, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and Scottish Land and Estates (SLE).

View Full Article: Lettings coalition seeks legal opinion on Scotland’s rent freeze and eviction ban

Shelter admit 10 million landlords rent good homes

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Shelter’s Polly Neate on BBC news Wednesday 12 Oct 2022 approx 07.20 said well over 1 million privately rented homes are not meeting the required standard. Now if there are 11 million private rented homes, does that not tell us that 10 million homes have no problem?

View Full Article: Shelter admit 10 million landlords rent good homes

BREAKING: Welsh parliament rejects Plaid Cymru’s rent freeze proposals

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Wales has walked away from its own version of the Scottish rent freeze after Labour members of the country’s parliament voted against Plaid Cymru’s plans to introduce one, calling for the Government to “protect people not assets” during the cost-of-living crisis.

But following the vote on Plaid Cymru’s proposals, thousands of landlords across Wales will now be spared the convulsions currently taking place in Scotland after its First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed emergency legislation to push through her rent and evictions freeze.

It is due to last until at least March, and potentially longer if the cost of living crisis persists.

But the Welsh Labour government, including several key ministers and Member of the Senedd, warned during yesterday’s debate that a rent freeze would have unintended consequences including further shrinking the PRS and leading to a spike in rent increases ahead of any legislation.

Carolyn Thomas, Labour north Wales MS, said: “The time for a private rent freeze isn’t now. The situation is too volatile, complex and risky under the UK government’s political, economic crisis.”

Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders said rent controls were a nightmare and that Plaid’s debate was trying to ‘do down’ the private rented sector.

While Plaid Cymru called on Labour Members of the Senedd to ‘be brave’ and push through the rent freeze, Housing Minister Julie James, speaking via Zoom, said her government wanted to “target the support at the people who are most vulnerable and make sure they stay in their homes”.

“We don’t want to drive landlords away from the sector,” she said.

She called on the UK government to unfreeze housing allowance, which has not kept up with rent rises.

But landlords in Wales are not out of the woods yet – as LandlordZONE has reported in the past, ministers are still considering rent controls following the publication of a White Paper earlier this year.

The NRLA says: “We share the same goal as the Welsh Government on private rented housing – we want a sector that
is affordable, accessible and that works for both tenants and the vast majority of landlords who are fair and responsible.

“Ultimately, however, the drawbacks that will come from rent controls will significantly outweigh any possible short term gains that might be delivered by such a policy, as evidence from both the UK and internationally shows clearly.”

Watch the Senedd debate – 03:32:00 onwards.

View Full Article: BREAKING: Welsh parliament rejects Plaid Cymru’s rent freeze proposals

Loyds Bank provides £180mn for buy-to-let lender

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Lloyds bank has entered into a £180million financial partnership with specialist buy-to-let lender, LendInvest PLC. The lender’s partnership with the leading high street retail bank will be a boost to the innovative lender’s business, helping the AIM listed company grow its buy-to-let lending business and securitisation programme.

Established in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, LendInvest PLC has grown by operating a UK-based online marketplace for property finance. The company provides specialist finance to property investors and developers, and also provides high return opportunities for individuals, corporates and financial services institutions, investing in its property-backed loans.

Innovative technology platform

For over 12 years LendInvest has been using an innovative technology based approach to make property finance as simple as possible. The company has built an on-line asset management platform that is designed to make the process of getting a mortgage simpler, reducing form-filling and increasing the speed to get an approval.

With over £3.0 billion of mortgages under its belt the company works with funders and investors including private investors, pension funds, insurers and global institutions like HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, National Australia Bank and now Loyds Bank – it was in 2019 that the company was the first UK Fintech to securitise a portfolio of buy-to-let mortgages.

Announcing the deal with Loyds in its half year results, published October 10, the lender’s financials show funds under management increased by 20 per cent year-on-year, to £3.4bn. The firm says it currently has more than £950mn of lending headroom to support its growth trajectory in the medium term. However, due to uncertainty in the wider market, the firm expects its rate of growth to slow down in the short-term, particularly in buy-to-let in the second half of this year.

Profit before tax for the full year is expected to be in line with last year, while LendInvest chief executive, Rod Lockhart says:

“We have taken this cautious approach mindful of the significant difficulties in short term forecasting given the economic and market backdrop.”

“The UK property finance market is ripe for disruption and our performance over the last six months reflects the attractiveness of our differentiated technology-driven platform for borrowers and funding partners alike.

“We grew across all lending products in the first half of the year, particularly in buy-to-let, but also in bridging and development which benefited from our innovative new broker portal.

“Looking ahead, we are acutely aware of the disruption in the UK mortgage market, which is affecting confidence and for the moment, applications for new mortgages have slowed across the market.”

Mr Lockhart points out that recent market “dislocation” demonstrates the company’s flexibility and speed to market capability using its platform, which gives a competitive edge and makes the firm confident in its long term prospects.

Financial disruption

Elsewhere, the immediate financial disruption has seen the majority of buy-to-let lenders pulling fixed rate mortgage products out of the market. Landlords wanting to secure a fixed rate mortgage deal who will now have to wait for lenders to launch new products, which will inevitably be at higher rates than previously.

So far, almost 40 lenders have removed their fixed rate mortgage offers to buy-to-let borrowers, with the possibility of more to be pulled from the market soon.

On-line mortgage aggregator, Property Master’s chief executive, Angus Stewart has said the situation is “extremely worrying” and has warned that landlords may have to wait until the financial markets stabilise before new products become available:

“We are seeing buy-to-let mortgage products removed from the market at an unparalleled level,” says Mr Stewart.

“We have also seen some newer entrants to the buy-to-let mortgage market withdraw their products as they have been unable to source their usual funds from institutional lenders.”

Mr Stewart’s advice is for landlords to secure fixed rate mortgages as soon possible when they are launched again:

“With base rate predicted to rise to 6 per cent within the next year or so, it is in landlords’ interest to act sooner rather than later, Mr Stewart says.

“The squeeze on private rental sector landlords continues from all angles, higher borrowing costs and recent increased regulation that has created an unprecedented level of uncertainty.

“Even the latest tax cuts from the chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget, could now be reversed.

“The fear now is that we will see many landlords choosing to exit the market resulting in a reduced supply of private rented property which will add further to the pressure on rents.”

The National Residential Landlords Association NRLA policy director, Chris Norris, is concerned, warning that many landlords do not have the means to continue to absorb rising costs:

“Landlords typically hold interest only mortgages, meaning rising rates and fewer products on the market will cause a considerable squeeze on many of their finances.

“Our data shows that 31 per cent of those landlords with a buy-to-let product plan to re-mortgage over the next 12 months, says Mr Norris. It also shows that interest rates rising to four per cent would mean around 30 per cent of those with a buy-to-let mortgage would need to divest all or part of their rental portfolio.

Mr Norris is urging the government to provide relief for both renters and landlords by unfreezing housing benefit rates, because, he says, “This [situation] would exacerbate an already serious supply crisis in the rental market. Failure to act now will leave an already depleted private rented sector in an even more precarious position.”

View Full Article: Loyds Bank provides £180mn for buy-to-let lender

‘Cruel’ landlord duo jailed after tenants report theft, vandalism and illegal evictions

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A rogue landlady and her son have been jailed for their part in a decade-long campaign of violence, theft and vandalism towards ten of their tenants.

Sohila Tamiz, of Flint Lane, Lenham, received a five-year prison sentence after being convicted on 14 counts including conspiracy to interfere with the peace and comfort of the residential occupier, conspiracy to unlawfully evict and conspiracy to burgle.

Her son Pedram Tamiz was handed a four-year, two-month sentence after being convicted on seven counts including conspiracy to interfere with the peace and comfort of the residential occupier and conspiracy to unlawfully evict.

A trial at Canterbury Crown Court (main picture) heard that the pair had ordered masked gangs to threaten and attack victims who lived in a converted hotel at 2-8 Athelstan Road, Margate (bottom pic).

Toilets broken

They saw locks changed, toilets broken, flooring removed, electricity sabotaged and masked men ordering them to leave. Families were forced to live in cold, dark conditions after having their power cut off.

One victim, Carl Hopkins, had a balaclava-clad gang burst through his door, douse him in petrol and knock three teeth out. The next day he found his locks had been changed and he was forced to live in an abandoned caravan.

Another, Jennifer Duffey, told how she was falsely accused of bringing a bag of white powder into the building and that two men had demanded undue rent while shouting and screaming before removing the lock from her front door.

Judge Rupert Lowe branded the duo as “cruel and manipulative landlords with no humanity” and without “a scintilla of remorse”.

He also ordered compensation worth £30,500 to be paid to the victims and £200,000 in costs to go to Thanet District Council, which brought the case.

Read more about Margate landlords.

View Full Article: ‘Cruel’ landlord duo jailed after tenants report theft, vandalism and illegal evictions