Airbnb landlords earning annual rent in just 115 days, councillor tells MPs

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Westminster Council has called on the government to help it rid the short-term lets sector of landlords abusing the system and to bring more properties back to the PRS.

Giving evidence to the House of Lords’ Built Environment Committee on the impact of short-term lettings, councillor Matt Noble (main pic) highlighted the stark reality for young people in the London borough who can’t afford to buy or rent, and where the waiting time for a two-bed council house is 10 years and 34 years for a four-bed house.

The cabinet member for climate, regeneration and renters told peers that most of its 7,047 Airbnb properties (71% of which are entire homes) had come from the PRS where a tenant was now sub-letting. “For the income on long-term rent, you can get the same income on a short term let in 115 nights,” he explained.

Flouting the law

Some properties on the platform were also openly flouting the law which restricts short-term letting to 90 days a year, said Noble, who added: “I’d be very surprised if any of the people sub-letting are paying any tax at all.”

He highlighted the uneven playing field created by the sector for traditional established hospitality businesses. “The Ritz Hotel pays £2.27m in business rates annually, yet the combined council tax bill for one apartment building which had 98 short term lettings is £93,000,” said Noble. “We need to redress the balance and look at that the way it’s inflating private rents.”

Guide: Ultimate guide to short-lets and Airbnb insurance.

The councillor told the committee that Westminster was in favour of a compulsory registration scheme – tied in with data from the letting platforms – which would help it bring prosecutions for anti-social behaviour and to gather data to push out bad apples.

Read more stories about Westminster’s Airbnb short-lets market.

View Full Article: Airbnb landlords earning annual rent in just 115 days, councillor tells MPs

Japanese knotweed is a well known menace but bamboo can be worse…

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The mention of Japanses knoweed has the effect of putting the fear of God in property owners, but the bamboo plant, which is lesser known, can be even more devastating.

Homeowners have been planting bamboo for years in Britain to create an exotic oriental ornamental feature or a fast-growing privacy screen around their home. The problem with them is, some species are very fast growing and they grow underground as well as above – one gardening expert claims they can grow up to three feet per day. What’s more, the plant can spread underground just as quickly as it grows above and it doesn’t respect fences, walls and property boundaries.

Unfortunately, the plant has become something of a garden centre staple, often bought and planted by homeowners to provide a privacy screen between them and their neighbours, little suspecting this has more sinister consequences.

Sold as a garden feature

Bamboo is not a native plant species in Britain. It was initially introduced to the UK in the 1970s as a beautiful ornamental fast growing plant, a plant of the grass family, hence it’s fast growth ability and people innocently buy it to plant it in their gardens and yards.

From a property owner’s perspective the plant can be a nightmare. Bamboo grows particularly vigorously when near well watered lawns and gardens or in areas where water collects. So, although the plant quickly forms a nice “wall” barrier blocking the views from nosy neighbours, the consequences of the planting can be long lasting and very expensive if your walls and fences are undermined and it spreads to neighbouring properties.

One source describes bamboo as a plant like no other – a very robust “grass”. Some species grow faster than any plant on earth, bamboo is unmatched for its versatility and renew-ability. Once its tenacious rhizome roots get a foothold, the plant is all but indestructible. You could be up against a serious challenge to remove it when it becomes a problem – you’ll have a serious battle with mother nature on your hands.

Bamboo spreads by putting out rhizomes, long underground stems that can spread underground for a hundred feet or more and it’s strong: it has the power and strength to break through masonry walls and even lift concrete. It’s almost impossible to stop once it gets started.

The only safe way to plant bamboo is to install a foolproof below-surface barrier made from HDPE (High-density polyethylene) installed all the way around the planting area.

Removing Bamboo

Despite what you read, the plant can be removed, but it’s far from an easy task because the only way to do this successfully – complete eradication – is to remove the whole root system. Removing the bamboo poles, known as culms or canes, is the easy bit. You can saw through the hollow poles easily with a hand saw and you can easily remove all of the plant that appears above ground.

But the canes are like the tip of an iceberg on a bamboo plant: most of the action goes on underground, 360 degrees around the plant. The roots usually don’t go very deep, but they stretch out sideways and a good-sized bamboo will have them stretching out underground for many many yards. Their stubborn “will-to-live” makes them practically invincible. To irradiate them completely may involve digging up every single one from under the ground with a mechanical digger, it’s that big of a project.

Specialist invasive plant company, Environet, reckons that roughly 10pc of properties in the UK have bamboo on their property or growing in a neighbour’s garden.

Nic Seal, of Environet UK, told the Daily Telegraph:

“Bamboo is a nightmare for spreading and we’re seeing more cases where it’s holding up or even scuppering property sales.

“Buyers are right to be concerned but there’s no regulation to protect them, so they have no legal recourse against the seller if bamboo starts to cause problems after they’ve moved in.

“Awareness around bamboo is many, many years behind that surrounding knotweed. But it’s potentially worse than knotweed in its ability to cause damage and spread.”

Buyer beware

Unlike with Japanese Knownweed, as Mr Seal says, property vendors are not legally obliged to disclose the presence of bamboo on their property or those properties adjoining, so if you’re buying – caveat emptor – buyer beware, you need to do a proper detailed survey.

In one project Mr Seal was involved in, he said: “There were hundreds of metres of bamboo excavated from beneath the property – it took a few days to get rid of the plant but rebuilding the home meant the owners had to move out for eight months.”

The plant has been know to invade entire houses, hundreds of feet of bamboo roots emerging inside a property’s walls and coming out of the floors in all down stairs rooms. Eradication involves taking out the whole of the ground suspended floors at immense cost and disruption.

View Full Article: Japanese knotweed is a well known menace but bamboo can be worse…

Competition regulator reveals concerns over Birmingham’s BTR market

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The Competition and Markets Authority has allowed a merger to go through within the build-to-rent market, but its investigation has revealed the hugely international nature of investment in student accommodation in the UK, and its worries over competition.

Since September the CMA has been looking at the proposed take-over of PBSA firm the Student Roost Group by behemoth US firm Greystar and GIC, which is owned by the Singaporean government.

Student Roost is a provider of student accommodation across the UK including in Birmingham and Glasgow, and is currently owned by Brookfield Asset Management, Inc

The CMA has allowed the merger/acquisition to go ahead but has given Greystar and GIC five says to come up with a plan to solve the CMA’s concerns over competition within Birmingham.

Less competition

These are that the merger gives rise to a realistic prospect of a “substantial lessening of competition (SLC) as a result of horizontal unilateral effects in the provision of purpose-built student accommodation in a number of local areas in Birmingham”, the CMA says.

If the CMA’s worries can be assuaged, then the deal will go ahead because, nationally, the regulator found no competition concerns because the combined organisation would have a “relatively modest” share of supply (10-20%) and would continue to face strong competition from other corporate purpose-built student accommodation providers such as Unite, Homes for Students, iQ and This is Fresh.

Colin Raftery (pictured), Senior Mergers Director at the CMA, says: “Aside from fees, rent is the biggest expense students face, and the rising cost of living is putting even more pressure on student budgets.

“Many university towns and cities are already dealing with a student accommodation shortage, which is why it’s crucial that private providers like those involved in this deal are competing effectively.

“We’re concerned this deal could result in students in Birmingham seeing higher prices or lower quality services.

“GIC, Greystar, and Student Roost have accepted our concerns and have told us that they plan address them. A solution that fully resolves our concerns will avoid the need for a more in-depth investigation.”

Read more about BTR.

View Full Article: Competition regulator reveals concerns over Birmingham’s BTR market

Landlord survey: who’s staying in, and who’s selling up

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Full-time private landlords are most likely to be thinking about increasing their portfolio, according to a new report, while accidental landlords are more likely to be without a short-term plan.

The UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence’s survey of 1,000 landlords reveals that those who entered the sector for personal financial reasons, such as their property was in negative equity and they couldn’t sell it, were the largest group planning to sell up.

However, its report – Understanding landlord behaviour in the PRS – found one in five full-time landlords were also planning on quitting.

Instil confidence

In England, landlords believe the need for improved enforcement to tackle criminal landlords who tarnish the sector’s reputation is most needed to instil confidence.

Swifter judicial procedures for the termination of contracts and improvements in eviction proceedings, along with more rights for landlords, particularly in relation to rent arrears and damage to properties, were also called for.

Reforms

Across the UK, landlords took different stances on the government’s proposals for reform. Those that relate to improvements in the physical condition of properties such as the introduction of minimum standards (England and Scotland), electrical/gas safety (Northern Ireland), and the introduction of a central regulator (Scotland) – were generally positively received.

Those reforms strengthening tenants’ position – increasing tenure security or notice periods and rent controls – were viewed less favourably.

The report adds that given the frequency with which landlords suggested improving enforcement measures to bring about change, it was surprising that only half of those surveyed thought strengthening local authority enforcement powers would have a positive impact.

Read more: Housing laws not fit for purpose.

View Full Article: Landlord survey: who’s staying in, and who’s selling up

Property expert predicts further house price falls

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Data from Halifax this week shows that the UK’s house prices fell at the sharpest pace in almost two years last month as rising mortgage rates and a gloomy economic outlook took their toll.

The figures show that house prices fell 0.4% in October – the third decline in four months.

View Full Article: Property expert predicts further house price falls

Tenant Welcome Pack – Help relationships get off to a great start

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A tenant welcome pack can help your tenant relationships get off to a great start.

Have you ever had a tenant contact you with unreasonable or minor requests that then escalate into much bigger issues, or just create tension between you?

View Full Article: Tenant Welcome Pack – Help relationships get off to a great start

More than a quarter of landlords want to sell – claim

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More than a quarter of landlords are planning to sell their rental properties because of the current buy to let environment, mortgage brokers say.

The research comes from broker forum, cherryplc.co.uk, which found that 28% of landlord clients are planning to sell properties

View Full Article: More than a quarter of landlords want to sell – claim