Top Property Investment Strategies

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Investing in property can be an incredibly rewarding journey, offering financial stability and the potential for significant returns. Whether you dream of becoming a landlord, a savvy house flipper, or a successful property developer, having a solid investment strategy is the key to making your dreams a reality.

View Full Article: Top Property Investment Strategies

The Times wants to speak to the next generation of landlords

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The Times is looking to speak with the next generation of landlords who are still investing in buy-to-let despite challenges around interest rates, tax and regulation.

The piece will interview landlords who have recently invested in property for the first time or plan to grow their portfolio.

View Full Article: The Times wants to speak to the next generation of landlords

Agency boss to pay £8,000 after using ‘terrifying’ tactics to bully tenants

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A rogue letting agency boss who used heavies to scare tenants and misled them about their rights has been ordered to pay £8,000.

Four residents complained to Tower Hamlets Council’s environmental health and trading standards team about London Corporate Apartments Ltd (LCA), which at the time was based in serviced business offices (main picture) and had operated both as a letting agency and a landlord via rent-to-rent arrangements.

The council found LCA had issued licenses to occupy, rather than assured short-hold tenancies, which meant the tenants were misled about their tenancy deposit protection rights, and their rights as tenants, and were at risk of illegal eviction.

There were also complaints that aggressive tactics had been used to intimidate two of the tenants into leaving their properties.

Director Khaled Abed-Alrazek admitted two counts of misleading actions and one of aggressive commercial practice relating to his tenants from February 2017 to May 2018.

During this period his company was expelled from the The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to return a tenant’s deposit and that year was also fined £5,000 for operating as a letting agency without membership of a redress scheme.

Fines and costs

He was fined £3,800 for the offences and told to pay £1,255 compensation for the two deposits that weren’t returned, along with a further £285 compensation to one victim relating to the aggressive commercial practice, in what District Judge Matthew Bone described as “a terrifying experience at the hands of bullies acting in [Abed’s] name”.

Abed-Alrazek was also ordered to £3,000 in costs. The company was dissolved earlier this year.

Councillor Kabir Ahmed (pictured), cabinet member for regeneration, inclusive development and housebuilding, says it was a difficult case. He adds: “Everyone has the right to rent a house without fear of intimidation and the correct legal rights.

“We encourage all our residents to report any dishonest landlords so we can take action.”

View Full Article: Agency boss to pay £8,000 after using ‘terrifying’ tactics to bully tenants

‘Give tenants some of your equity gains when you sell’ says Big Issue founder

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Landlords should give renters some of their equity gains when they sell up to stop the “giant tenant rip-off”, according to The Big Issue boss John Bird (main picture).

Bird believes it’s not fair that a tena.nt who has paid rent on time for many years ends up with nothing and could also have to find a new home after being served with a Section 21 noticordinarily have been able to participate in this giant rip-off of the tenant,” he writes in the latest issue. “The tax relief that goes with owning property you let out, a tax bonus to encourage investment, adds to this.”

Bird explains that the billions paid out yearly in rents don’t allow renters to participate in the grand improvement that property ownership brings to a landlord’s bottom line. 

Shooting fish

While he acknowledges that some landlords defend their position by arguing that if the property market had gone the other way, they would have been taking all the risks, he adds: “For the last 30 years making money out of buy-to-lets has been like shooting fish in barrel.”

It would be better to get more people into owning their own property so they can enjoy the fact that paying out money each month results in an increase in their personal estate, he adds.

“It would only seem fair to me if [the tenants] could get their hands on some of the value that they have created for their landlords. 

“Something must be done to end this turning of the basic need for a roof over your head into the biggest bonanza for some to make themselves wealthy. At the expense of the renter.” 

View Full Article: ‘Give tenants some of your equity gains when you sell’ says Big Issue founder

ALL agents say Scots rent cap has ‘forced more landlords to quit and pushed up rents’

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One hundred percent of letting agencies in Scotland say they have seen more landlords exiting the market since the country’s government brought in and then recently-extended a rent rise cap and evictions ban.

Agents canvassed by trade organisation Propertymark also reported an increase in landlords serving notice on tenants prior to selling up and that, in addition, landlords are now more inclined to raise rents in between tenancies to cover the additional costs created by new regulation, rising running costs and rising mortgage rates.

Only rent rises in between tenancies are allowed of more than 3%, with those during tenancies capped at that level, measures that were extended until March 2024 last month.

As an example of rising costs, while mortgage rate increases are well documented, the price of inventories has increase from £95 to £175 over the past four years, while electrical and gas safety checks have both increased by 25%.

Propertymark says all this is creating a perfect storm for tenants including less stock and therefore rising rents despite the Scottish Government hoping its temporary rules would keep rent increases to a minimum during the cost-of-living crisis.

Pressure

A spokesperson says: “Recent Housing Insight reports from Propertymark show that pressure on rents remains with 50% of responding agents reporting rents increasing month-on-month on average at their branch in April 2023, while the number of properties available to rent per member branch remained stubbornly low at nine in May.”

One agent reveals that: “In our experience all our landlords are looking to uplift by the 3%…many wouldn’t have other than for the legislation and many of our landlords have not previously raised rent through Covid etc and are now being penalised by the 3% cap.”

Read the Propertymark report in full.

View Full Article: ALL agents say Scots rent cap has ‘forced more landlords to quit and pushed up rents’

Number of home sales halved since last year

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Transaction levels have plummeted by -54% this year, according to a new report.

Research by letting agents Barrows and Forrester, reveals both transactions and total market values of homes sold, fell by more than 50% across every area of England and Wales.

View Full Article: Number of home sales halved since last year

Landlords should be exempted from council tax premium on empty homes, says Government

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A consultation has opened into proposals not to charge landlords who are preparing a property to let or waiting to find a tenant the empty homes a council tax premium.

The government wants to strengthen the existing long-term empty homes premium by applying this to properties that have been empty and unfurnished for at least one year, rather than the current two years.

A new second homes premium will give councils additional resources to help manage the impact of second homes. However, under the proposals, those being actively marketed for let would have a maximum of six months from the date this started, or until the property was rented before being eligible.

Reasonable price

A landlord would need to demonstrate they were marketing the property at a reasonable price on the open market.

The government suggests that homes empty for long periods undergoing major repair works or structural alternations should be exempt for up to six months once the exception has been applied or when the work has been completed.

A total exception of up to 12 months might be available where a landlord has done major repair works and then carried out active marketing of the rental property.

Penalised

Its consultation – which ends on 31st August – explains: “The government believes that where owners are using their best endeavours to bring a property back into productive use, then they should not be penalised through the imposition of the long-term empty homes premium.

“The government recognises that there may be difficult judgements to be made in determining whether steps taken to dispose of the dwelling are genuine.

“However, it does not consider that these challenges are sufficient to count against providing greater protections to those owners who are responding positively to the government’s effort to bring more empty properties back into use.”

Read more about council tax.

View Full Article: Landlords should be exempted from council tax premium on empty homes, says Government