TAX: New rates rules for holiday rental properties go live

admin    Uncategorized     agents

New rules on holiday lets in England and Wales have taken effect which could force many owners to pay council tax instead of business rates.

Self-catering properties in England must now be available for letting commercially for short periods of 140 nights or more in the previous and current year, and actually let commercially for at least 70 nights in the previous 12 months, to continue to be eligible for business rates.

Properties in Wales will only be eligible for business rates if they are available to let commercially for short periods totalling 252 nights or more in the previous and current year, and actually let commercially for at least 182 nights in the previous 12 months.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will look at whether the property was occupied immediately before midnight to establish whether it was let on a certain night.

This means that a property let out from Friday evening to Sunday morning would have been let for two nights for the purposes of meeting the self-catering criteria.

New rules

The new rules apply only to properties classified as self-catering holiday lets by the VOA within the broad use category of short stay accommodation in hotspots like Dartmouth (pictured); they don’t apply to hotels, hostels, and guest houses.

Valuation officers check that properties listed as self-catering meet the eligibility rules by asking owners for details via the Request for Information form, which will be sent out soon. A rolling programme will ask for information at different times during the 2023/24 operating year.

View Full Article: TAX: New rates rules for holiday rental properties go live

LATEST: Ministers to force landlords to rent out empty shops

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlords are being asked for their views on plans to forcibly rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants in a bid to rejuvenate high streets. 

High Street Rental Auctions – a new power for local authorities in England – is part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and the government consultation is looking for ideas on what lease arrangements should look like, possible costs, and the application of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard requirements.

It says prolonged vacancy of shops and buildings is a blight on high streets which significantly impacts economic performance, negatively affects footfall, risks closing businesses and losing jobs, and forces people to move away.

Some of the worst affected areas include Manchester, North-East Lincolnshire, Luton, and East Staffordshire where vacancy rates range from 20% to as high as 28%.

Cooperation

The government also hopes to increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities, and to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including local businesses and community groups.

Auctions would allow councils to auction the rental rights of a commercial high street property that has been vacant for longer than 12 months in a 24-month period.

Read more about empty retail units.

Successful bidders would enter into an agreement for lease with the landlord, and then a lease of between one to five years following completion of any pre-tenancy works. The process would not apply in the case of properties whose landlords are actively seeking to fill their premises or where it is going to be redeveloped.

When a landlord doesn’t cooperate, they would get an eight-week grace period to find a tenant, after which time the local authority could arrange an auction and then enter into a lease agreement with the successful bidder.

The consultation ends on 23rd June.

View Full Article: LATEST: Ministers to force landlords to rent out empty shops

NEW: Huge demand for rental property pushes up average rent to £993 a month

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Demand for rental properties reached ‘exceptional high’ levels last month pushing asking rents for new tenancies to new highs, it has been revealed.

Referencing and rent guarantee firm Homelet, which processes approximately a million tenancy applications every year, says the average rent for a tenancy in the UK is now £993 a month when London is excluded, up 0.8% on February.

Its index reveals that the average London rent is just shy of £2,000 a month and that rents are rising fastest in the North West of England.

“As every region of the country reports a month-on-month rental price rise, it’s fair to say that demand for rental properties remains exceptionally high,” says Andy Halstead (pictured), CEO of HomeLet & Let Alliance.

“It had been interesting to observe a few months of decreased prices in London, but the capital appears to have recovered from a slight dip, in line with rises across the country.

“Given the insufficient housing stock and continued rising rents, rent guarantee becomes ever more essential for landlords and letting agents.

“As a group with rent guarantees protecting £1.5 billion in annual rents, we are acutely aware of how important it is for landlords to be protected should their tenants be unable to pay their rent.

“The lack of available properties means that the market is likely to continue to be very competitive, so landlords must remain vigilant, and tenants should be aware that finding a suitable property is proving to be a tricky task for many.”

Homelet’s index also reveals that the number of suspicious or fraudulent tenancy applications has increased by 10% over the past 12 months to some 50,000 ‘red flag’ references in total.

Read more about landlord insurance.

View Full Article: NEW: Huge demand for rental property pushes up average rent to £993 a month

Sadiq Khan calls again for a rent freeze in London

admin    Uncategorized     agents

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has again called for a rent freeze for tenants to be implemented in the capital.

He was responding to a news report that highlighted data from Rightmove that shows the average asking rent in London leapt by 15% over the year to reach £2,480.

View Full Article: Sadiq Khan calls again for a rent freeze in London

‘Sickened’ landlord slams Scots eviction ban after nightmare tenants trash home

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A landlord has warned others to make more regular checks on their rental properties after falling foul of Scotland’s ongoing eviction ban.

Speaking to LandlordZONE, Diane Gilmore is trying to evict nightmare tenants who have trashed her flat in Stranraer but could potentially be forced to wait until the ban ends on 30^th September to get them out.

She served three months’ notice on the tenants last November but hadn’t realised the ban had been extended.

This week, they called to tell her a ceiling had collapsed in the living room but when she went round to check, she was shocked to discover scenes of devastation in her home, with rubbish strewn across every room, and a filthy bathroom and kitchen – in stark contrast to the immaculate property which was rented to them in 2020 (see before and after pix, above).

Courts backlog

Gilmore is now waiting to see if a tribunal will accept her submission for an early eviction on the grounds of needing the property back to sell it, after serving a Section 11 notice.

“Even if it goes to tribunal, no doubt it will be months before a court date because of the backlog,” she says.

While she waits, Gilmore is living in a static caravan on a holiday park until she’s able to reclaim the house, and is legally obliged to fix the damage so the temporarily rehoused tenants can move back in.

“This is a warning to every landlord,” Gilmore tells LandlordZONE. “I hadn’t been round to check on the place since I rented it out as these people are acquaintances and I didn’t want to be intrusive – I should have done it more regularly.

“Instead, it’s going to cost a fair bit of money to decorate, the carpets will need to be burnt and they’ve damaged the new kitchen. I am so sick.”

View Full Article: ‘Sickened’ landlord slams Scots eviction ban after nightmare tenants trash home