Who are the best UK Property Educators?

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I don’t have a lot of money but I am passionate about property investment, development, flipping etc. and want to learn the following wealth-building techniques from the best of the best:-

1. How to source and package viable property projects with a view to selling those deals on to other investors
2. How to put joint venture deals together
3. How to attract investors
4. How to identify viable residential to commercial development opportunities
5. How to make the most of networking events
6. Affiliate marketing opportunities associated with property networking

Some people have told me that I’m wasting my time

View Full Article: Who are the best UK Property Educators?

Rising number of tenants forced to leave Scottish private rental sector

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The number of households becoming homeless from private rented tenancies in Scotland is now higher than it was pre-pandemic, according to new government data.

It reveals that homelessness from a private rented tenancy accounted for 19% of homeless households between April and September 2022, an increase from 14% the previous year and from 17% in 2019. The main reason was being asked to leave (down from 27% to 25%) but there was a notable increase in ‘other action by landlord resulting in the termination of tenancy’, which surpassed pre-pandemic levels (up from 6% to 11%).

Rent arrears

The Scottish government says that the slight increase in ‘termination of tenancy/mortgage due to rent arrears/default on payments’ (up from 1% to 2%) was likely a result of the end of the ban on evictions, home repossessions and mortgage deferrals in September 2021.

The figures show that homelessness applications, open applications, and households in temporary accommodation have all increased. There were 28,944 open homelessness applications in September 2022, an increase of 11% from 2021 and the highest since records began in 2002. There were 19,066 homelessness applications recorded from April to September, an increase of 6%.

Supply issues

The government says the increases were partly the result of the backlog of cases built up during Covid and the ongoing cost and supply issues for materials and lack of tradespeople required to provide settled accommodation. Its Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act introduced last October to protect residential tenants from increases in rent and from eviction won’t have impacted the data, which only covers up to 30th September.

Earlier this month, The Scottish Association of Landlords, Scottish Land and Estates and Propertymark announced they were seeking a judicial review of the legislation after hearing that rent controls for the PRS would continue, but would be removed for the social rented sector from 1st March.

View Full Article: Rising number of tenants forced to leave Scottish private rental sector

Peterborough looks to repeat success of former licensing scheme

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Peterborough councillors have agreed to push forward with a new selective licensing scheme covering 40% of all private rental properties.

The scheme now needs the go-ahead from the full council next month and if agreed, would go to the Secretary of State for approval.

Its original scheme ran from December 2016 in 22 different areas of the city and according to the council, resulted in several improvements, including 284 properties where serious hazards have been corrected and a reduction in anti-social behaviour.

High deprivation

It reports that about 9,000 more properties in the PRS across 24 areas now fit the criteria for selective licensing, which include high anti-social behaviour and crime, poor property conditions and high deprivation.

Councillors have also agreed to analyse the potential for an additional licensing scheme covering three- and four-bedroom rental properties with shared amenities. It estimates there are up to 2,000 small HMOs in the city and says the introduction of additional licensing would also help regulate properties not covered by selective licensing.

Big success

Councillor Marco Cereste, cabinet member for climate change, planning, housing and transport, believes selective licensing has been a big success, with an improvement in the quality of private rental accommodation and a reduction in anti-social behaviour.

He adds: “As a result, we have seen widespread demand for selective licensing to be introduced across Peterborough, but we can only apply for a scheme in areas which meet certain criteria. We believe the revised scheme covers as many properties as possible.”

View Full Article: Peterborough looks to repeat success of former licensing scheme

Capital gains for landlords as tenants flock back to London

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Landlords with properties in central London saw the highest levels of tenant demand across England and Wales in the last quarter of 2022.

After falling out of favour during the Covid pandemic, the appeal of centrally located properties in the capital is growing, according to Paragon Bank research, which found that 94% of landlords with investments in central London reported strong levels of tenant demand. In the second quarter of 2020, just 12% of these landlords saw increased demand during the previous three months but this figure was up to 90% by the end of last year.

Landlord survey

The survey of more than 750 landlords shows that the overall proportion of landlords reporting increased demand during the previous three months has remained at the record high level seen in Q3 2022.

Other popular regions include the East of England and Wales, both with 92% strong demand, followed by the North East of England where 90% of landlords report that demand is strong.

Current boom

Richard Rowntree, MD for mortgages at Paragon Bank, says while the trend towards home working and an increased desire for access to green space was more evident among owner occupiers and probably overstated in its effect on the rental market, it is interesting to see the current boom in Central London.

“We see that the overall record high level of increased tenant demand reported in Q3 2022 continued into the final quarter of last year,” he adds. “This is unsurprising given the pressure on household finances and the relative affordability of rented homes, reinforcing the need for an environment that encourages investment in the private rented sector.”

View Full Article: Capital gains for landlords as tenants flock back to London

How long will the housing market slump last?

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Falling house prices will only last a couple of months, according to a new report.

The findings from GetAgent reveal that while 155,000 home sellers could be hit by a price drop, the organisation says that price depreciation will only last a matter of months before the market rebounds.

View Full Article: How long will the housing market slump last?

Private rented sector is not ‘broken’ as campaigners claim, says new report

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Ministers and campaigners who claim that tenants are ‘trapped’ in a ‘broken’ private renters sector are wrong, a new independent report commissioned by the NRLA has claimed, highlighting how three quarters of tenants think their rent fair or excellent value for money.

Written by senior economist Chris Walker (pictured) based on research among 2,000 renters conducted by polling firm Opinium, it has found that fewer than one in ten of private renters want to switch to social rented housing.

In addition, whilst three quarters said they want to buy a home of their own at some point in the future, less than one in five would have done so already if they could.

Walker, who works for Chamberlain Walker Economics, says the sector “has attributes that make it the tenure of choice for many private renters, and that a high-quality and well-provided PRS is likely to be a good thing both socially and economically.”

The survey found that 41 per cent of private renters rated the affordability of their rents as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ with a further 38 per cent rating it as ‘fair’.

Generation buy

With the Government committed to supporting ‘Generation Rent’ to become ‘Generation Buy’, the report finds that for many private renters, job security is the biggest factor in determining when they choose to buy a home and that one in three renters were more likely to buy their first home if they had a stable, secure job.

Also, with a growing number of older people now reliant on the private rented sector, almost half of renters aged 55 and older said they wanted to stay in the sector.

The report also tackles the ongoing debate around property under-occupation and the role downsizing from ownership to the PRS in older age can play in solving it.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, says: “Today’s report makes clear the positive and vital role the rental market has to play in the economic and social life of the country.

“Contrary to the rhetoric from many, for the vast majority of tenants their experience in rented housing is positive.
Read in full (PDF download):­­­­­­ “A housing market that works for everyone: Rethinking the role of the private rented sector”.

View Full Article: Private rented sector is not ‘broken’ as campaigners claim, says new report

Cleaner has cost me over £1,000 on energy bill?

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Hello, I wanted to share a bad experience I had this week whereby a cleaner has cost me over £1,000 in electricity. I share this as a warning to others but also I would like to know if anybody else has ever encountered a similar situation and if they managed to resolve it or hear from anybody who may have advice on resolving it.

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The Property Ombudsman scheme excludes six agents

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In its latest report, The Property Ombudsman (TPO) reveals that it has excluded six agents from its scheme in the last quarter of 2022 for failing to pay a compensatory award.

All six agents were referred to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee which ruled that they should be excluded.

View Full Article: The Property Ombudsman scheme excludes six agents

CLAIM: ‘Banning new HMOs makes student housing market worse’

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Students are finding it even harder to find accommodation following a four-year freeze on new HMOs in a leading university city, according to one councillor.

The Scottish seaside town of St Andrews stopped approving licences for new HMOs in 2019 in a bid to relieve pressure on the overcrowded housing market and to free up flats for those not studying at the university.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Ann Liston (main image) says she predicted the move would only spread the student population more thinly but that the situation is even worse than she feared, with many properties being divided into two-bedroom flats to avoid HMO rules.

“We have all heard of pairs of students under-occupying properties where the other bedrooms are locked, resulting in huge rent increases for each tenant and driving the poorest students out of St Andrews and into accommodation 13 miles away in Dundee,” she told The Courier.

The policy’s aim to free up potential student-occupied flats for low and middle-income households hasn’t happened, said Liston, while many landlords are choosing to go down the short-term lets road instead.

Oblivious to noise

“With most students wanting to be in the town centre, which includes many properties only suitable for fit young people oblivious to noise and unencumbered by children or cars, there is an opportunity to make best use of our limited housing stock by encouraging students to live there, leaving the further-out residential areas for families,” she added. “The current policy fails to do this.”

Students are campaigning to end the freeze after scores struggled to find accommodation at the start of last term. Councillors are set to discuss the policy in April following a consultation which has just ended.

Picture credit: Jane Ashton/Twitter

Read more about HMOs.

View Full Article: CLAIM: ‘Banning new HMOs makes student housing market worse’

Expenses to improve a EPC rating on BTL – capital or revenue?

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Hello, Hopefully, most prospective landlords would make checking the EPC one of their first tasks when looking at a property to buy. But say you inherit a property you want to use for a buy-to-let. The property is in a good state of repair

View Full Article: Expenses to improve a EPC rating on BTL – capital or revenue?