Yet another property training company bites the dust!

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I have lost track of the number of firms offering property investment courses and investment vehicles that have gone bust in my own experience, some offering dodgy training courses or imaginative investment schemes of one sort or another, and right down to those plying outright scams.

Asset Academy Limited was a property training organisation linked to well known TV personality and “Homes Under the Hammer” presenter, Martin Roberts.

The firm, which was fronted by Roberts as their “Brand Ambassador” went to the wall recently owing creditors over £3million.

Quite how a training organisation, with little in the way of overhead should owe so much money beggars belief?

Nevertheless, the company went into administration according to Company’s House records owing that enormous sum. Roberts, through a complicated web of listed companies, and his wife Kirsty, were directors of the failed company, though they claim to have had little involvement in its running.

According to newspaper reports the company has laid off all its staff. It has left in its wake a trail complaints from would-be property investors who claim to have been cheated out of thousands of pounds in cash payments. Many claim to have been chasing the company for refunds, but sadly, now, there is little chance of them getting anything back.

Anyone with an interest in property will be familiar with the BBC celebrity Martin Roberts who hosts the popular and seemingly ubiquitous “Homes under the Hammer”, a programme which has had a very successful formula and proves to be an informative and interesting programme.

Robert’s involvement in this venture however, it would seem, has been an unfortunate segue which threatens to tarnish reputations.

Personal experience

Many years ago now, after having received several flyers through the mail about a “Martin Roberts” training event, I decided to go along to one, at a Manchester venue near me, to find out what this was all about. I suppose curiosity got the better of me and the prospect of listening to a TV celebrity first hand got the better of me.

However, this was not to be! I turned up at the event, joined the small audience and to my surprise, no Martin Roberts? Maybe he would be on later after the speaker who was confronting us. But no, I was to be disappointed.

Instead we were all assailed by this presenter (not a very slick one either) who was telling us how he had become a multi-millionaire property tycoon, and how we could be one too. What’s more, we wouldn’t need to put any money down to do it?

I’ve been in property for over 45 years and involved in property events for over 20, so you can imagine, I was approaching this with my cynical hat on – I had seen it all before. The presenter proceeded to explain to this quite obviously naive and inexperienced crowd that the starting point to their property investing career, their road to virtually instant riches, would be to apply for as many credit cards as possible, go away and sign up for a dozen, that would be good.

You’ve got to remember this was when property was booming and money was cheap, banks were falling over themselves to lend and people were being made redundant. I imagine that for some in the audience, it was their last roll of the dice. So, in a nutshell, the strategy was to accumulate these credit cards and max them out, to get yourself a run-down property at auction, renovate it, then mortgage it and take out a chunk of cash, before moving on to the next deal.

Well, I had no doubt that this strategy could be applied successfully by about 1 percent of the population, but certainly not by this inexperienced and seemingly desperate bunch of would-be property tycoons I was sat among. In fact, it would have frightened me to death to attempt such a risky feat!

During questions, asked of us by the presenter, my reply went down like a lead balloon. It certainly deflated his sales patter balloon, and he made it plain I wasn’t welcome. The point was I felt sorry that he was misleading people.

They come and they go…

Over these many years in property, and doing the property event circuit, I’ve seen so many of these so call property “trainers”, property “experts”, property “gurus” (guru used as it’s easier to spell than charlatan) and downright scams artists, so many in fact that I’ve lost count.

It’s hard to believe how easily they take people in with their slick brochures, presentations, websites and taster days. They take people for thousands of pounds in fees for, in the main, information that’s readily available for free. Select a decent book on Amazon, written by a bona fide property expert, with some real world experience, and you will learn more.

But people like to be led, they like reassurance and they like to be told what they want to hear. They’re often sold a dream which turns into a nightmare!

Yes, it’s certainly possible to make a lot of money in property given the right approach, but not overnight and certainly not stress free with “no money down.” There are some legitimate property educators who do a good job, without charging excessive amounts of money, but you need to do some research to find them – see below.

Research, research and research…

All property investment should start off with a good deal of research, whether that’s finding a good location and a good property to invest in, sourcing finance, finding the right book or indeed finding some help through an educator.

You don’t need to look very far with a company like Asset Academy Limited to realise its risky to invest in its training – its TrustPilot entries – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/assetacademy.co.uk are crammed full of very negative one-star reviews, peppered with a series of 5 star reviews which tip it’s overall score, but which seem decidedly overly-glowing to me?

Martin Roberts has been described in the press as an “advanced speaker” for the firm, offering to share his knowledge of buying at auction, though when I check the Asset Academy website today, still live – https://www.assetacademyonline.com – all reference to Martin Roberts seems to have been removed.

My colleagues at LandlordZONE have written recently about the dangers of property courses offering quick routes to success and how to avoid them if you want to get help with your property investing education from reliable sources.

I would endorse this approach and suggest you follow their advice:

Investors looking for trustworthy and ethical operators should turn to the PEAS or Property Educators Accreditation Scheme.

Launched in 2021 and backed by LandlordZONE, its founder Cyril Thomas said at the time:

“PEAS will help future students looking for a property educator to discover ‘the good guys’ who have signed up to be ethical and transparent, and that it will strike a balance between cooperation and enforcement”.

View Full Article: Yet another property training company bites the dust!

Claiming EPCs will cost £1000s to upgrade from D to C ‘inaccurate’ says expert

admin    Uncategorized     agents

There have been many articles in the media stating that it will cost £5,000 to £6,000 to improve a residential landlord’s EPC from D to C.

James Tanner, whose family operates a London-based PRS portfolio, and who also runs a consultancy to help landlords improve their energy efficiency and EPCs, says that this is not what he sees on the ground.

“It is only when upgrading from an E, F or G to a C will a landlord face such high costs,” he says.

“I’ve been in this sector for 15 years and my experience tells me that it will cost most landlords substantially less to upgrade their properties to an EPC band C from a band D.

Real-world costs

“In my opinion most of this published data is based on desktop research and using averages, which doesn’t point to what the real-world costs are likely to be,” he adds.

“Releasing this kind of high cost analysis is only going to unnecessarily drive more landlords out of the market, reduce stock and drive rents even higher.

“An average property in the UK has an EPC of D with an EPC score of 60, so upgrading from 60 points to a C (minimum 69 points) is a nine-point increase, and usually that doesn’t require expensive work.

“There are a number of inexpensive and simple measures a landlord can take such as new LED eco-bulbs costing a few pounds and adding TRV radiator valves – if the property does not have them – for example would improve the EPC at least one point for each measure.”

Improvements

It’s also important to point out that some landlords have already made energy efficiency improvements since they last had an EPC done, as EPC certificates must be carried out every 10 years.

These landlords may not need to spend any money at all but instead get an up-to-date EPC carried out, which Tanner says is particularly so for landlords with a current EPC score in the mid to late 60s.

“From my experience of helping landlords improve their EPC to a C the expensive of improving from D to C is substantially less than £5,000, although of course every property is different,” he adds.

View Full Article: Claiming EPCs will cost £1000s to upgrade from D to C ‘inaccurate’ says expert

COMMENT: Landlords have ‘nothing to fear from looming Decent Homes Standard’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Nearly two thirds of landlords support the Government’s plans to introduce a set of minimum standards for the private rented sector, it has been claimed.

BTL lender Paragon Bank says its polling among some 500 landlords reveals 62% either strongly or generally supported the Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector.

Richard Rowntree (pictured), Paragon Bank’s MD of Mortgages, says: “The vast majority of landlords have nothing to fear from a Decent Homes Standard as they are providing a good quality home to their tenants already.

“It’s the minority of landlords who don’t meet these standards that are tarnishing the wider reputation of the sector.”

This new standard was included within the government’s recent ‘A fairer private rented sector’ white paper published last year, which is expected to enter parliament as draft legislation next month.

As well as the Decent Homes Standard, it will also include extra cash for local authority pilot schemes to bolster policing of bad landlords, something Paragon says good operators within the PRS are increasing annoyed about.

Three quarters of those polled said they felt frustrated that Local Authorities don’t act against landlords who let sub-standard homes.

Decent improvements

Despite this, a new report by the lender points out that the Government’s own data highlights how the ratio of non-decent homes within the PRS has been reducing over the past 15 years from 44% in 2008 to 23% today.

The addition of good quality homes has diluted the presence of poorer stock; in 2008, 1.8 million privately rented homes were classed as decent, rising to 3.3 million in 2021 – an 83% increase.

There has also been a reduction in the number of properties classed as non-decent – falling from 1.4 million to 990,000, a 29% reduction.

View Full Article: COMMENT: Landlords have ‘nothing to fear from looming Decent Homes Standard’

TV: Shamplina defends landlords who conduct ‘extreme tenant vetting’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

TV star Paul Shamplina has defended landlords who ask tenants to provide additional referencing information such as copies of their CV or LinkedIn profiles.

Appearing on TV this morning (watch below), he told presenters Eamon Holmes and Isabel Webster from GB News that in a highly competitive market where dozens of tenants are often competing for each rented property, landlords are entitled to “make an informed choice about which tenant is most likely to pay the rent”.

The comments followed a Guardian article over the Easter weekend that reported how some tenants face extreme vetting procedures in order to access homes to rent.

This included one tenant, who is also a member of the Renters’ Reform Alliance, who told the newspaper he had been asked to provide photos and a personal statement in addition to his tenancy application information.

One letting agent, who worked for London firm KFH, told other tenants to use any tactic to put their ‘best foot forward’ including bidding over the asking rent.

Toughest

“It’s the toughest it’s ever been in the private rental market with demand up 50%, supply dwindling by 35% and landlords leaving the sector,” said Shamplina, who is also Chief Operating Officer of the HFIS Group.

“Although this is not common practice but there are some letting agents out there asking tenants to put their best foot forward so that the landlords can make an informed decision about their ability to pay the rent.

“As I know running Landlord Action, it can take up to six or even 12 months to evict a tenant at the moment – so landlords want to minimise the chance of that happening.”

Read more: Ultimate guide to tenant referencing.

View Full Article: TV: Shamplina defends landlords who conduct ‘extreme tenant vetting’

No evidence for Diane Abbott’s claim of landlords demanding ‘pay-to-view’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A controversial appearance by Labour MP Diane Abbott on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ led to claims that landlords are ‘charging tenants to view’ a property.

But when Ms Abbott was asked by Property118 for evidence to back up this claim

View Full Article: No evidence for Diane Abbott’s claim of landlords demanding ‘pay-to-view’

Council warns of ‘stiff HMO penalties’ as it fines landlord £23,000

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A big council in the South East of England has warned landlords who don’t licence their HMO properties that they face stiff fines for non-compliance.

This follows a fine of £22,861 for repeat rogue landlord Mohammad Safdar after he committed an offence under the Housing Act 2004 of having an unlicensed HMO at his property in Hexham Road in Reading.

The town’s borough council chose to fine Safdar in July 2022 rather than bring a prosecution, but the landlord appealed the penalty notice.

Unlawfully sub-let

He said the property had been unlawfully and unknowingly sublet by his tenants, but the council defended the appeal, including the level of financial penalty levied and disputed Mr Safdar had not let the rooms to all tenants. 

During an investigation, council officers found that former tenants of the property all confirmed they had rented their rooms from Mr Safdar and paid him the rent directly. 

Mr Safdar also had form – he had previously been issued a penalty notice for a different address, which he also claimed was unlawfully sublet, but for which he had paid.

After a hearing at a First Tier Tribunal, Safdar was unsuccessful in his appeal and must not pay the full financial penalty.

A council spokesperson says: “[We are] now reminding all landlords that properties in Reading occupied by more than one household where there are five or more occupants, require a licence from the Council. 

“Typically, this includes shared houses and bedsits. Since 2018 the requirement also includes one and two storey properties operated as HMOs.”

Read more: Complete guide to letting an HMO property.

View Full Article: Council warns of ‘stiff HMO penalties’ as it fines landlord £23,000

Landlords support Decent Homes Standard for the PRS

admin    Uncategorized     agents

There is strong support for the introduction of a minimum set of property standards for the private rented sector (PRS), research reveals.

Paragon Bank says that six in 10 landlords would support such a move – 34% ‘strongly support’

View Full Article: Landlords support Decent Homes Standard for the PRS

Migrating to managing agent from residents’ management Co?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hello, We are a small block of 7 flats with a mix of owner occupiers and owners who let their flat. Approx 22 years ago we set up a Ltd company and jointly purchased the freehold so that each flat owner has 1 share in the company.

View Full Article: Migrating to managing agent from residents’ management Co?

NEW: 36% of tenants would accept a rent increase from a good landlord

admin    Uncategorized     agents

New research within the private rented sector has unearthed surprising attitudes to rent increases among tenants.

Uswitch asked 2,000 renters whether they would accept an increase when renewing their rental contract and found that on average 36% would accept an increase while 50% said they would not.

The others, some 10% of those surveyed by the mortgage and insurance platform, said they would quit their home rather than face an increase in the hope of finding somewhere cheaper.

Tenants reported that they were more likely to accept an increase if they had a good relationship with their landlord with older renters more likely to accept a rent increase than younger ones.

By ‘good relationship’ tenants said they meant landlords who were good at communication, upkeep of the property, those who abided by the terms of the rental contract and who were aware of their responsibilities.

Positive values

“It is clear from our survey data that tenants place a lot of importance on the positive values that go into a successful landlord-tenant relationship,” says Uswitch spokesperson Kellie Steed (pictured).

Tenants who do not accept rent increase demands from landlords will soon have extra tools at their disposal when the Government’s Renters’ Reform Act becomes law, most likely next year.

This aims to prevent landlords in England increasing their rent more than once a year, and make it easier and quicker for tenants to challenge unjustifiable or excessive rent increases through the First Tier Tribunal system.

The most recent English housing survey found that almost 11,000 households in the private rented sector reported moving recently because their landlord put up the rent.

Read more about rent increases.

View Full Article: NEW: 36% of tenants would accept a rent increase from a good landlord

Be wary of property courses offering ‘quick routes to success’ says expert

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Leading landlord and evictions figure Paul Shamplina has warned those seeking property investment training to be “wary of courses which seem to provide easy shortcuts to success”.

His comments were made over the weekend within an investigation by The Telegraph newspaper into the ‘no money down’ property investment training sector.

As LandlordZONE has reported many times, these courses encourage investors to become rent-to-rent landlords by sub-letting properties through ‘property deals’ from superior landlords/legal owners and then renting them usually as HMOs for a profit.

What some of these courses fail to highlight is the inherent financial risk of doing this, the difficulty of sourcing deals or the increasing property licencing regulation that now covers many rented properties.

Money

“The reality is to get into property you have to have some money,” says Shamplina.

“The no-money-down dreams seldom come true. Education is absolutely imperative for investors but you can get a lot of the information for free online or at landlord events.”

The Telegraph article focusses on one such ‘no money down’ trainer, who charged one student – a nurse – £7,254 including a £3,000 course sign-up fee, nearly £600 in management fees and £3,666 to be mentored all for minimal return on the outlay.

Investors looking for trustworthy and ethical operators should turn to the PEAS or Property Educators Accreditation Scheme.

Launched in 2021 and backed by LandlordZONE, its founder Cyril Thomas said at the time: “PEAS will help future students looking for a property educator to discover ‘the good guys’ who have signed up to be ethical and transparent, and that it will strike a balance between cooperation and enforcement”.

View Full Article: Be wary of property courses offering ‘quick routes to success’ says expert