Consultation reveals majority of residents oppose wider selective licencing

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Plans to bring in a vast new selective licencing scheme within Brent have been given a resounding thumbs down from both landlords and, surprisingly, the London borough’s residents too.

Brent’s housing team has been operating a small selective scheme in Dollis Hill and Kensal Rise since 2018 but that is now due to end this month.

Councillors conducted an energetic 12-week public consultation that ended in January on two proposals to renew the existing scheme for another five years with landlords due to be charged £640 for a five-year licence.

But the proposals also include a second phase that would add a further 18 wards where there are ‘poor housing’ standards.

Unlike other consultations, where opinions on selective licencing are usually split starkly between landlords/agent and residents, this time opposition to an expanded, 21-ward scheme in Brent is more balanced.

Of all the 853 respondents to the consultation 46% opposed the larger scheme while 43% supported it (see results box above).

Among landlords, 75% opposed the larger scheme, while 25% of local residents and businesses also opposed it.

Comments from landlords and residents widely viewed the larger scheme as an addition financial burden on the PRS, some describing it as a ‘money grab’, ‘cash grabbing’ and a ‘cash collecting’ scheme, the council’s consultation results reveal.

One landlords said: “I paid the fee [for the original scheme] and have seen nothing from the council. No checks, no property inspection.”

Brent councillors must now vote on the proposals following the consultation at a Cabinet meeting due on Monday (17^th April).

The 18 wards to be added to scheme

Alperton, Barnhill, Brondesbury Park, Cricklewood & Mapesbury, Kenton, Kilburn, Kingsbury, Northwick Park, Preston, Queens Park, Queensbury, Roundwood, Stonebridge, Sudbury, Tokyngton, Welsh Harp, Wembley Central and Wembley Hill.

View Full Article: Consultation reveals majority of residents oppose wider selective licencing

AIRBNB: Tory ‘free marketeers’ attack Gove over short-lets clamp-down

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Michael Gove’s plans announced yesterday to require owners of holiday lets in tourist hotspots to get planning permission for their properties has not gone down well in some quarters of the Conservative party.

The proposals, which are being consulted on until early June by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, have been slammed by several figures on the right of the party, who claim the measures are ‘anti-business’.

Writing on Twitter former housing secretary Simon Clarke (pictured) said today that: “So many of our interventions in the housing market, from anti-business ones like this to very costly demand-side subsidies like Help to Buy, stem from our failure to build enough homes, and to make the argument to the public about why this matters”.

His comments were supported by former business secretary and free marketeer Jacob Rees-Mogg (main picture) who, speaking on TV, questioned why property owners should not be able to rent their homes out “to whosoever they liked and freely – what has the Government got to interfere and create cost and regulation for people who aren’t creating any harm”.

Divisions

His comments are entirely at odds with yesterdays announcement by Gove, suggesting divisions are now beginning to appear within the Conservative party on housing policy.

The consultation launch yesterday was emphatically on the side of communities where more properties are being turned over the short-let holiday rentals, albeit without damaging local tourism.

“The government has listened to calls from local people in tourist hotspots that they are priced out of homes to rent or to buy and need housing that is more affordable so they can continue to work and live in the place they call home,” the announcement said.

“The proposed planning changes would support sustainable communities, supporting local people and businesses and local services.”

View Full Article: AIRBNB: Tory ‘free marketeers’ attack Gove over short-lets clamp-down

Room rents reach record high in London

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For the first time ever there’s not a single London postcode with an average monthly room for rent at less than £700, new data reveals.

The findings by flatshare site SpareRoom reveal that average monthly room rents in the capital have now soared to £952

View Full Article: Room rents reach record high in London

Landlord mortgage costs rising faster than rent rises, research shows

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Landlords’ mortgage costs have been faster than rent rises over the past two years, new research has highlighted.

Estate agency Barrows and Forrester says its analysis of average landlord borrowing costs show a BTL investor with a variable rate repayment mortgage is now paying a 20% more a month than in 2021, or £1,113 compared to £942.

Figures for interest only BTL mortgages are even more severe, revealing a 44% increase from £486 to £703 a month.

Although only a guide only to rising costs for landlords which don’t reflect the differing debt levels and interest-rate deals landlords have, what they show is mortgage costs running away faster than rent rises.

Data from referencing firm Homelet reveals that rents across the UK have increased on average by £120 a month over the past two years, or an 11.7% increase, substantially lower than the mortgage costs increases.

Higher cost

“As it stands, the nation’s landlords are yet to hand down the far higher cost of borrowing to their tenants and while rents have climbed of late, they haven’t increased at the same rate as the monthly cost of a mortgage,” says James Forrester, the agency’s MD (pictured).

“This is partly due to the fact that many landlords will have secured a favourable rate on a fixed product before interest rates started to climb. But those that managed to do so are likely to be approaching the end of their fixed term this year and will be hit with far higher rates when they do.

“Unfortunately for the nation’s tenants, [landlords] are left with little choice but to recoup this higher cost via an increase in rents and so we expect to see sharp upward growth in the average cost of renting as the year progresses.”

The data is based on a BTL mortgage for a property costing the UK’s average house price of £289,818.

View Full Article: Landlord mortgage costs rising faster than rent rises, research shows

How Technology is Reshaping Property Management

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Managing BTL properties can sometimes be a complex and challenging task whether you’re managing a small portfolio of 3 properties or 15. Keeping track of your tenants, utilities, recurring payments, and cash flow can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, property management technology is available these days to make this task more manageable.

View Full Article: How Technology is Reshaping Property Management

Flat sales help propel the market back to pre-pandemic levels

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The popularity of buyers investing in flats is helping to propel the housing market back to its pre-pandemic level for the first time since September, research reveals.

And, according to Rightmove, sales are now just 1% behind March 2019.

View Full Article: Flat sales help propel the market back to pre-pandemic levels