Becoming a landlord in the UK

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Renting is on the rise – there are currently around 4.5 million families living in the private rented sector in England, up from 2.8 million in 2007, and with mortgage rates soaring and house prices still rising, it is estimated that the number of people renting is only going to grow.

So, with demand for rental properties at an all-time high, the market is going to need either existing landlords to expand their portfolios, or new ones to come into the market.

And while successive waves of anti-landlord legislation – including restrictions on income tax relief, stamp duty surcharge and the removal of the 10 percent depreciation allowance on expenses – have drastically reduced the amount of tax relief landlords – and particularly those high-rate taxpayers with mortgages – can receive, there are still financial benefits of becoming a landlord.

Not only can you benefit from a steady income (even with mortgage rates on the rise, rental prices hit a record high in July of £1,126 and a staggering £2,257 in London*) but owning property is also a way of protecting your assets. Mortgages depreciate over time, while house values and rental income both tend to increase with inflation, so even in the current high inflation, high-interest rate environment, the property can still be very profitable.

Of course, not all properties will be right for renting. If you buy for the sole purpose of renting then you can obviously choose a property that will be suitable, equally, if you have moved in with a partner and are considering renting out your former home, it is probably ready to rent. However, if you have, for example, inherited a property, you may need to do quite a bit of work to it before it is ready to rent out.

And it is not just about the property itself – location is key too. You will need to check, firstly, if there is demand for rental properties in your area, and secondly, if your property is likely to be popular. For example, if you have a large home in a city centre and demand is for smaller homes, you may want to consider splitting it into multiple residences or rent to students.

One of the reasons many people choose to rent rather than buy is because, as tenants, they are not responsible for the upkeep of the property – and this responsibility is a key consideration if you are thinking about becoming a landlord. You are responsible if anything goes wrong, so you will need to ensure you have specialist landlord insurance to cover any damage (as you would with a domestic policy), but also, for things like public liability cover, alternative accommodation cover, accidental damage, loss of rental income and eviction cover.

Once the property is in a rental state and you have landlord insurance in place, you will need to start the process of getting a tenant in.

First of all, you’ll need to calculate how much to charge in monthly rental payments. Obviously, you will need to be able to cover the mortgage, but remember, you will also need to think about covering the cost of any repairs, insurance, and letting agent fees – if you use one – and still make a profit each month. You then need to advertise for a suitable tenant.

Letting agents can help with this – they typically charge 10-15% of your rental price but will advertise your property, find and vet the tenants, manage your property, handle any repairs and look after the legal side of things, which can offer real peace of mind.

But whether you manage it yourself or get a letting agent, the liability lies with you so make sure you have good landlord insurance in place so you can sleep easy. Visit InsureMy for the best value insurance.

View Full Article: Becoming a landlord in the UK

Code needed to stop agents mis-selling ‘zero deposit’ schemes, says industry figure

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An alternative deposit firm has called for a code of conduct to stop estate agents mis-selling ‘zero deposit’ schemes.

The schemes vary but typically involve payment of a fee equivalent to about a week’s rent instead of a standard security deposit and is non-refundable, with tenants remaining liable for damages at the end of their tenancy.

Letting agents can earn commission of up to 30% for everyone they refer and an Observer investigation uncovered evidence of pressure-selling tactics by some firms in England, including cases where people were told they had to sign up as a condition of securing a tenancy.

Sam Reynolds (pictured), chief executive of regulated insurance provider Zero Deposit, says enough is enough. “We have long warned of the risks of certain unregulated alternatives, and we are seeing that in practice, in terms of pressure selling, unfair pricing and punitive charges at the end of tenancy,” he adds.

Zero Deposit says a deposit replacement code of conduct would seek to cover the adoption of FCA regulation across the industry, ensuring that firms treat customers fairly, and act with integrity, skill, care and diligence, and manage conflicts of interest.

Guidance

It would also cover comprehensive and appropriate protections for the tenant and landlord – specific to deposit replacement – and provide positive support and guidance for letting agency partners.

The code would include a commitment to a vetting and checking approach, where deposit replacement providers review and assess the actions of letting agency partners, as well as minimum standards for recovery action, in line with existing FCA requirements, including the protection of vulnerable customers.

View Full Article: Code needed to stop agents mis-selling ‘zero deposit’ schemes, says industry figure

There’s 2 weeks left to sell your property portfolio before Christmas for the highest price

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With just two weeks to go until business officially winds down, many of us have been left looking at the state of the economy and wondering: how will 2023 fare for landlords? Should we wait until the start of the New Year to take action? Or is there still time to do something before the year closes?

The answer is simple: it’s time to sell, and there’s still time to act now. It might seem like an impossible feat, with many of our properties full with tenants or in need of refurbs, but that’s all in a day’s work for portfolio exit specialists, Landlord Sales Agency, who have put together the power team landlords need to cash in now for the highest price before the New Year.

Over the last two years Landlord Sales Agency climbed the ranks as the go to company for landlords looking to sell their property portfolios. Not just that, they’ve made a name for themselves by going above and beyond to ensure that landlords get the prices they need to exit the market, and fast. They’re also extremely sensitive to tenant needs,ensuring that they sell the properties without landlords having to evict tenants at all, and with minimal landlord involvement. “Unlike other companies, we have a list of buyers who will buy your properties without having to evict tenants. This dramatically cuts down the time it takes to sell, plus means that you can continue collecting rent all the way up until the actual sale,” says David Coughlin, CEO of Landlord Sale Agency.

But what about properties that need evictions? And how can they get this done before Christmas? “For those properties that require evictions, we personally help your tenants relocate, or help them financially to find a new place. We understand how to navigate those relationships, so you don’t have to worry, even with tenants that have been in situ for years. We know exactly what to do to help them. Leave it to us.”

It’s true that Landlord Sales Agency have been doing exactly what they say they’ll do. With an impressive 245 Trustpilot reviews, 207 Google reviews and video testimonials from some of the UK’s most successful landlords who have placed their trust in Landlord Sales Agency to sell their buy-to-lets, there’s no doubt they’ll get the job done. “We’ll take it all off your hands, and get you the highest price for your portfolios in less than 21 days. We sell entire property portfolios, or partial portfolios in bulk in one go.”

With an extensive list of over 30,000 private buyers and relationships with the top property buying companies. Most of their portfolios sell within a week.

What’s more, withstrong relationships with established property industry giants such as LandlordZONE and Property118, it’s clear they’ve got the approval of the landlord community.

“We’re about delivering speed, efficiency, and exceptional customer service. That’s what landlords need. We don’t have time to waste, and we need a company we can trust. I couldn’t find one out there, so I created my own, with a mission to help other landlords” says Landlord Sales Agency’s CEO, David Coughlin.

Landlord Sales Agency sell properties either in one go as a full portfolio or as single units, depending on your instruction. Unlike traditional estate agents, or other property buying companies, both methods are extremely fast. They work quickly to collect information about rent, tenant history, running costs and ensure all certificates are in place to guarantee the sale is not delayed.

If any certificates are missing, they have a team of engineers, builders and experts who will get all the certificates and paperwork done for you. The stress is completely removed out of the sale, and seller involvement is kept to a minimum so you can relax knowing it’s in swift and extremely capable hands.

Furthermore, Landlord Sales Agency take their promise to ‘solve any landlord problem’ so seriously that, as a result of the number of enquiries they receive from landlords with cash flow problems, they can also use the equity tied into property to offer an interest free loan of up to £20,000 to be repaid on completion.

“We know what it’s like right now to be a landlord who is thinking of selling, and who wants to release cash. We’re so confident in what we do, we can afford to go the extra mile to really help landlords get through, and get the highest possible price for their property portfolio.”

You’d think that for so much work, landlords would have to compromise on the sale price, but that’s not the case. “We typically achieve 85% of the market value, and for that we cover all the costs, solve all your property and tenant issues and take away all the hassle that comes with selling the portfolio. We’re completely transparent, so you know exactly what we’re making.

You won’t get a higher price for this level of service and speed, and any company promising you 100% market value is hiding a huge list of costs that are going to come after the sale. That’s not the case with us. It’s what makes us different.

We want to help, and we understand that now is the time for landlords to get out. It’s a crucial time, and we’re here to get the job done for you. We’ve found the solution for ourselves, it’s time to help you.”

If you want to exit the market before the New Year, talk to us today.

Contact Landlord Sales Agency:

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View Full Article: There’s 2 weeks left to sell your property portfolio before Christmas for the highest price

Tom’s tips: 2022 – it’s been a roller coaster but what did it mean for landlords?

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Tom Entwistle, a residential and commercial landlord since the 1970s and founder of LandlordZONE, provides his perspective on a topical issue.

In this article, Tom reviews the key events of 2022 and offers his insights into how landlords can best navigate the considerable changes that lie ahead.

For more analysis reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to 2023, you can also read Total Landlord’s round up of what 2022 has meant for landlords and their economic and property market update for 2023. 

And to hear LandlordZONE Editor Nigel Lewis’s pick of the top property stories of 2022 that have captured our readers’ attention, listen to the latest episode of The Property Cast.

Tom’s thoughts

What a year it’s been already, and we’re not done yet. The country has gone through the mill and is still going through it, the worst turmoil since the financial crisis of 2008. And the Bank of England has predicted the longest recession in UK history – a depressing prospect.

No sooner had the clearer blue skies started to emerge as we became more and more confident of being freed from the restrictions of a two-year Covid pandemic, and the country to start to reap some of the long-awaited de-regulatory benefits of Brexit, than on 24 February 2022 Russia invades Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. It’s the biggest conflagration in Europe since WW2.

This event sent shock waves around the world, particularly in relation to its effects on energy and food price rises, fuelling an already rising inflationary environment brought about by the world-wide supply shortages after Covid.

Prime Minister Johnson was forced to resign in early July following a wave of ministerial resignations from his government, after publicly voicing their lack of confidence in the Prime Minister, bringing an acrimonious end to a nearly three-year premiership that had been beset by controversy and scandal.

This was followed by a summer of high profile campaigning for the new leader, with Liz Truss MP appointed the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She was appointed in one of the Queen’s last official acts, before her sad death two days later on 8 September 2022 at the age of 96.

With the passing of the Queen and a new monarch in place, the Truss government embarked on an ambitious growth and spend strategy in the face of rising inflation and growing unease in the financial community about her planned level of unfunded borrowing.

Ultimately the financial markets reflected the uncertainty, with a collapsing pound and rapidly rising bond yields (turbocharging mortgage interest rates) and ending one of the shortest lived UK governments in history.

Another leadership campaign, this time held over just one week, appointed Rishi Sunack the new leader, with Jeremy Hunt remaining as Chancellor, having been appointed by Liz Truss, after she sacked her first Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng.

November saw Jeremy Hunt presenting his Autumn Statement, another budget following on the heels of Truss’s disastrous “mini budget” – which turned out to be too radical for the times, in late September 2022.

Throughout all of this the UK economy held up with virtually full employment, high house prices and exceptional demand for rental housing. However, there were clouds on the horizon: the UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter of 2022, signalling what could be the start of the long recession – in mid-November The Bank of England forecast the country’s longest recession since records began.

Unemployment is likely to rise and a cost of living crisis is likely to put both landlords (due to higher mortgage rates) and tenants under pressure with higher living costs, higher taxes and wages failing to keep pace with inflation.

With Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, plus the prospect of more stringent regulations in the pipeline for housing, planned for next year, it promises to be an even tougher regime for private residential landlords in England in the near future.

Scotland and Wales have to some extent stolen a march on England where the reform of their rental laws is concerned. Scotland has decided to freeze rents until next March, and this is likely to be extended, and Wales is to introduce their Renting Homes Act, the biggest change to housing law in Wales for decades. From 1 December 2022 when The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 comes into full force it will change the way all landlords in Wales rent their properties, says the Welsh Government.

Autumn Statement

We know that personal taxes will rise steadily over the next few years as allowances are frozen in an inflationary environment and corporation tax is scheduled to rise from 19% to 25% next April, along with council tax and dividend tax. This all goes along with reductions in capital gains tax allowances from the current £12,300 per person to £6,000 from April 2023, and down to £3,000 from April 2024.

Mortgage rates have risen considerably, reducing the profitability of buy-to-let businesses for those with mortgages, and the ability of new investors to raise finance for mortgaged purchases. It will not be helped in the future by the stamp duty regime being lowered from the current £250,000 starting point introduced by Kawsi Kwarteng, down to £125,000 from April 2025.

With the growth in short-term letting there are mutterings that the Government might pursue a consultation on whether to update its policies on short-term lets, which are typically properties that have tenants for six months or less, and often just a few days or weeks.

Some of the options that are said to be under discussion for rule changes include increasing the rates of council tax for short-term rentals, and also assessing whether there is a need to create a mandatory registry for English holiday property rentals.

On a more positive note, for those landlords able to navigate these challenges – inflation, stagnating wage growth and higher income taxes – it will mean that peoples’ ability to save for deposits and pay higher mortgage rates will maintain the demand for renting. Recent studies have shown that higher interest rates mean it’s still less expensive for the average young person to rent rather than taking on a mortgage.

Abolishing Section 21

The three-year clamour by the homelessness charities and tenants’ bodies for a ban on Section 21 continued into 2022. Shelter suggested in January that government data showed landlords ending private tenancies were to blame for 20% of rental households finding themselves homeless, or at risk of being made homeless by their council. Something of a huge exaggeration I would suggest.

Following Michael Gove’s reinstatement as Housing Secretary, to the great disappointment of residential landlords, the new government reaffirmed its commitment to abolishing Section 21. This will come as part of its radical overhaul of the private rented sector (PRS) in England, due to be on the statute books some time in 2023 – the Renters Reform Bill. The Bill introduces one of the most significant developments for English landlords in 2022,  a white paper to introduce the following major changes:

– Abolishing Section 21

– Rights for tenants renting with pets, and the right to redecorate

– A new private renter’s Ombudsman

– A legally binding Decent Homes Standard (DHS)

– An end to rent review clauses and rent repayments orders for below standard rentals

– Doubling rent increase notices and more powers for tenants to challenge increases

– A new national online Property Portal for landlords and tenants

– Extending grounds for repossession on Section 8 and streamlining court processes

– Stronger powers for councils to tackle rogue landlords

– An end to fixed term assured shorthold tenancy agreements

– Banning blanket bans on tenants on benefits – ‘No DSS’ ads.

– Making it easier for landlords to remove tenants for anti-social behaviour

It appears that the idea of creating lifetime deposits to ease the financial transition for tenants when changing tenancies has been dropped.  Other deposit innovations do exist, such as the HFIS group’s own version via Ome’s deposit replacement option where tenants replace their five week deposit with a small, monthly subscription, but keep the same protection. Eddie Hooker, CEO of HFIS  had this to say on the issue:

“There’s been a lot of innovation in the deposit protection marketplace, but ultimately landlords feel more comfortable taking a physical cash deposit. And for most tenants outside London and the south east, finding a deposit isn’t a huge ask, notwithstanding the kind of vulnerable person who will always struggle to find any deposit.”

You can watch a video of Eddie explaining why lifetime deposits were dropped by the Government here.

Amendments to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, came into force from 1 October. These are important changes that landlords need to know about, whether in the private rented sector or social housing – they apply to the latter for the first time

You should make sure there’s a working (ideally hardwired and interconnected) smoke alarm on each storey of the rental home, ideally top and bottom of a staircase. A carbon monoxide alarm must be provided in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance, but excluding gas cookers, though no harm in providing one anyway where there’s any type of combustion device.

As with smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms must be working, so provide hard wired or 10 year battery operated units and check regularly on inspections or if a tenant reports a fault. These regulations have now been extended to the social rented sector for the first time. Read more in the article, Ultimate guide: Fire safety in a rental property

Energy efficiency

Another really significant change in 2022 was the continuation of a move on tightening the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) rules. There’s also to be a review of the EPC rating system to straighten out some of its anomalies. For example, under the current system, installing a heat pump or LPG boilers can make some properties appear less energy efficient because replacing a traditional gas boiler automatically cuts an EPC rating: “We are already looking at ways the system can be improved through our EPC Action Plan to ensure they are as accurate and effective as possible,” said the Government. They certainly were not before!

Currently, a rental property must have a minimum of EPC rating “E”. It’s not law yet, but the Government has proposed that for all new tenancies beginning in 2025 this minimum rating should go to a “C”. It has also said it would like to see a minimum “C” rating across all rental homes by 2028, even for those that have long-standing tenants. It has even been suggested this level could rise to a “B” after 2030. Personally I think many rental properties will struggle to reach an EPC rating of “C” never mind a “B”.

Build-to-rent

The build-to-rent sector, weather new-build or retrofit, is still a minor segment of the lettings market compared to that operated by small-scale landlords, most of whom have just one of two properties, but nevertheless it is growing and in some locations, mainly in the big cities, the competitive force in some locations is becoming significant.

New analysis published at the end of October 2022 by the British Property Federation (BPF) shows the total number of build-to-rent (BTR) homes either in planning, under construction or completed in the UK is up 15% between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022 from 209,313 to 240,202. This compares to something like 4.4 million privately rented homes (18.5% of total housing) in England, down slightly since peaking at 20.3% in 2017.

Build-to-rent’s approach is often to provide a premium tenancy experience, as well as ensuring the location and neighbourhood is prosperous and integrated. As one such provider states: “Good quality homes aimed at general or targeted demographics, with longer term tenancies and predictable rents. They are mainly in larger towns and cities, and often situated near good public transport interchanges.”

What are the consequences for landlords?

A recession is looming. It means that unemployment will probably rise into 2023 and this, coupled with high inflation (which will hopefully be down to mid single figures by next summer), the highest tax rates since the World War two and rising, and the biggest cost-of-living crisis since records began, means more rent arrears and repossessions will be inevitable.

Faced with the changes we see more landlords have been selling up. Many of these have been renting out property for many years and are ready to retire, and the Chancellor has just added impetus to the incentive to sell before next April, when the capital gains tax (CGT) allowance drops from £12,300 to £6,000.

All these changes, and especially the removal of Section 21 and the reduction in capital gains tax (CGT) allowances, have given those landlords who were planning to leave a real incentive to do it now. They will use the time left with Section 21 to evict, sometimes long-stay loyal tenants, to try and meet next April’s CGT cliff-edge. It’s hard to understand the Government’s thinking on this.

The other side of the coin to this situation is the opportunities it creates for others to enter the market, especially as demand for rental looks like it will remain high. New landlord investors entering the field could pick up some bargains as property prices drop back during a recession and with mortgage rates peaking. If new blood can cope with the labyrinth of letting regulations, buy-to-let still offers a very competitive return compared with other types of savings and investment – it just needs a committed management effort.

I worry about the way the Government is going about implementing these drastic regulation changes. I was not convinced by the minister’s performance at a recent scrutiny committee hearing on the Renters’ Reform Bill. 

Glib and not convincingly enthused talk about mediation and making courts “efficient” as the answer to all the eviction issues is “cloud cuckoo land” to me. With the courts already overstretched, taking a tenant through mediation or the courts when it is in six months’ arrears, and patently can’t afford the rent, or making neighbours lives a misery, will just drag things out unnecessarily.

As we’ve seen, what most judges will do in this situation is give tenants another chance. They probably won’t, and indeed many can’t, change. It simply prolongs the agony for landlords, leaving them faced with double the length of time to evict a tenant, quite possibly into 18 months with no rent!

I can see the sentiment in giving tenants more security to complain about conditions without fear of eviction, but it just gives the bad ones even more ways to exploit landlords. What should happen, in my view, is that councils inspect every single tenanted property in their borough and the council officers should then enforce the housing standards on landlords.

The irony is, most councils don’t even know how many rentals they have, and few of them fully enforce the regulations they’ve already got. What resources would it take for ONE housing officer to work his or her way through inspecting the whole of a borough’s housing stock? Enforcement to follow!

The other worrying aspect to this performance was the fact that almost every measure the committee brought up to solve a problem involved a “small fee” from the landlord.  Also, how many rogue landlords will be honest when providing details for the “Landlords’ Portal”? Not too many I’d wager.

The whole approach to replacing shorthold tenancies and Section 21, which has been valued by landlords for the past 40 years or so, is a “can of worms”. Realistically, there are no easy solutions to landlord-tenant issues, but to my mind much of this proposed legislation won’t do it, and it could easily make the sector worse, not better, for both landlords and tenants.

Wise and experienced landlords will be extra cautious with pre-tenancy checks in the future. When all these new regulations apply, you need to think very seriously about taking guarantors and rent guarantee insurance. The amateurs will get themselves into trouble and many will just give up. The Tenants’ Reform Bill has the potential to make life more difficult for tenants as well as landlords.

Conclusions

I guess change is inevitable in any business sector these days. This year has been a real roller coaster for landlords and with over one hundred and fifty laws, rules and regulations to comply with already, there are always more to follow; the residential landlord’s lot is never going to be an easy one.

The economic environment over the next few years in the UK will be a challenging one. But with change comes opportunity and for those landlord investors who invest wisely and are willing to study up on the rules, follow the changes and make sure they are meeting the requirements, there’s no reason at all why they can’t prosper.

Professionalism is the key to success in this business now. Do your homework, make sure you are on top of the rules and regulations – not too difficult if you put your mind to it – and make sure your properties are up to standard. 

Read more about what 2022 meant for landlords and how the economy and property market is looking for 2023.

View Full Article: Tom’s tips: 2022 – it’s been a roller coaster but what did it mean for landlords?

NEW Property Cast episode: What a year it’s been for landlords!

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In this episode of The Property Cast Eddie Hooker, CEO of HFIS and Paul Shamplina, Founder of Landlord Action and Chief Commercial Officer at HFIS, are joined by our very own Nigel Lewis, award winning property journalist and Editor of LandlordZONE to review the top landlord stories of 2022.

Drawing on over 25 years in the industry providing hot off the press property news and insights into the rental sector, Nigel picks out the most popular stories of 2022 according to LandlordZONE readers.

Eddie, Paul and Nigel bring decades of experience and informed opinion to this episode of The Property Cast. Should tenants be given more rights to have a pet?

Deeds not wealth?

And should landlords be judged by their deeds, rather than their wealth? From redress and rental reform to EPCs and stock shortages, tune in to listen to a passionate podcast packed with lively debate and insightful nuggets of advice for landlords.

Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Don’t forget to listen out for brand new episodes of The Property Cast, powered by Total Landlord Insurance, with new special industry guests every episode.

For more analysis of 2022, a year characterised by economic turmoil and political uncertainty, read Total Landlord’s roundup of what 2022 has meant for landlords. And for a look ahead to the latest economic and property market forecasts, read their economic and property market update for 2023.

View Full Article: NEW Property Cast episode: What a year it’s been for landlords!

Is there a future market for fully paid in advance 6 month ASTs?

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Hello, As we’ve now entered a tougher period for the prospect of increased rent arrears, what do fellow members feel about stipulating that all enquirers, for example to a self managing platform like Openrent, are to have the necessary resources to put the landlord into a positive cashflow position in advance?

The post Is there a future market for fully paid in advance 6 month ASTs? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Is there a future market for fully paid in advance 6 month ASTs?

BREAKING: House prices see biggest monthly drop since dark days of pandemic

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The average house price plunged -2.3% to £285,579 last month, the biggest monthly drop since October 2008.

Halifax’s November house price index reports that the rate of annual growth slowed further to +4.7% (from +8.2%) in October, as the market was battered by strong economic headwinds and extensive house price inflation.

The slowing market is reflected across the UK, with the Northeast of England being the only exception, where the rate of annual growth edged up slightly to +10.5%. Wales (+7.9%) and the Southwest (+8.4%) saw the sharpest slowdown of annual growth, from +11.5% and +10.7% respectively.

Fine & Country MD Nicky Stevenson says there’s an expectation that the Bank of England will continue to nudge its base rate higher as it seeks to tame inflation, and a consensus that mortgage rates of between 5% and 6% may become the norm. “Against this backdrop, we expect momentum in the housing market to remain subdued as we approach the New Year,” she adds.

Not panicking

Most estate agents and mortgage brokers are not panicking however, and don’t expect prices to drop by more than 10-15% next year as inflation starts to come under control.

Matthew Jackson, director of Mint FS, believes the natural lull in November and December will be replaced with renewed activity and a semblance of calm from lenders in terms of pricing.

“We’re already starting to see that now that the shock of the mini-Budget has started to dissipate. This will see buyers and sellers return to the market, albeit not in the volumes of previous years but enough to drive growth in the market and keep prices fairly static.”

Chris Goodwin, partner at Hortons Estate Agents, strikes a note of realism. “Prices are coming down, but your home is still worth much more than it was three years ago, before the pandemic,” says Goodwin. “There is still a phenomenal lack of supply and that will support prices.”

View Full Article: BREAKING: House prices see biggest monthly drop since dark days of pandemic

New Welsh ‘occupation contracts’ will need amending by landlords, warns law expert

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Landlords must ensure they amend the Welsh government’s model tenancy agreements or risk eroding their rights, warns a leading property lawyer.

Following the introduction of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, the government produced a model agreement to help landlords cope with the switch to the new written statement of ‘occupation contracts’.

However, Tessa Shepperson (pictured), a solicitor who runs Landlord Law, says failing to include additional terms such as not automatically being allowed a pet, making rent payable in advance, or being able to make deductions from a deposit could land them in hot water.

One positive thing about the new, but extremely complex, legislation is a new abandonment procedure. “However, the right to use this is conditional upon the contract requiring contract holders to live in the property as their only or principal home,” she tells LandlordZONE.

“This wording doesn’t appear in the model contracts – landlords need to include these clauses to protect themselves.”

Tribunal rights

Another positive for landlords is that, if they increase rent in a periodic contract using the notice procedure, contract holders no longer have the right to refer this to the First Tier Tribunal for review. 

They do need to give contract holders a copy of the agreement within two weeks of the occupation date or face a penalty of up to two months’ rent. 

“Some government officials are saying that a new occupation contract doesn’t need to be given to the contract holder in advance, so long as it is provided within 14 days of contract holders moving in,” adds Shepperson. 

“This protects them from being liable for the penalty, however contract terms are only enforceable if people agree to them in advance. 

If the contract is served late, the prescribed terms will all apply but not any ‘additional terms’ added by the landlord, as the contract holders can’t be bound by something they haven’t seen before the contract is made – and by the time they have moved in it will be too late. 

“Landlords must always ensure that contracts are signed by contract holders before they move in.”

View Full Article: New Welsh ‘occupation contracts’ will need amending by landlords, warns law expert

UK house prices dip by 2.3% – the biggest fall since 2008

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The UK’s house prices slipped by 2.3% in November which is the biggest monthly fall since October 2008, the Halifax house price index reveals.

The bank’s figures show that the annual rate of house price growth has fallen from October’s 8.2% to 4.7% in November.

The post UK house prices dip by 2.3% – the biggest fall since 2008 appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: UK house prices dip by 2.3% – the biggest fall since 2008

Tories scrap mandatory housebuilding targets

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The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has been forced to drop mandatory housebuilding targets in a bid to see off a backbench rebellion from Tory MPs.

That would see demand remaining strong for the private rented sector (PRS) and Labour says the move shows the Prime Minister is ‘weak’.

The post Tories scrap mandatory housebuilding targets appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Tories scrap mandatory housebuilding targets