Mortgage pricing gives company purchases more appeal

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Three-quarters of landlords who plan to buy a new rental property in the next year will use a limited company, new research reveals.

Paragon Bank’s poll of nearly 1,000 landlords, carried out by BVA BDRC in the second quarter of the year, shows this was the highest level recorded on BVA’s tracker survey and up from 62% during the first quarter. Those who plan to buy in an individual name fell to 17% from 41% recorded in the final quarter of 2021.

Mortgage interest

Buying via a limited company structure means landlords can deduct mortgage interest from company income and pay tax at corporation tax rates. It can also offer more favourable mortgage financing options; most lenders set interest coverage ratios at 145% for higher-rate taxpayers, while limited company applications require a ratio of 125%. They can typically secure higher loan amounts too.

Louisa Sedgwick, Paragon Bank’s commercial director of mortgages, says holding rental property within a limited company structure has been growing in popularity since the mortgage interest relief changes introduced in 2017, but has accelerated in the past year.

Portfolio landlords

She adds: “As a lender that specialises in portfolio landlords, we have always attracted a higher proportion of limited company lending, but that has certainly increased, particularly as interest rates, and subsequently mortgage pricing, have risen.”

The average portfolio size was 16.9, up from 15.6 in Q1 and 13.1 in the final quarter of 2021. Of those landlords, the average number of properties held within a limited company in Q2 was 12.3, up from 11.7 in Q1 2023 and 7.8 in the final quarter of 2021.

View Full Article: Mortgage pricing gives company purchases more appeal

Angela Rayner – Will rent controls and tax rises for landlords be on the agenda?

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The appointment of Angela Rayner by the Labour Party as Shadow Housing Secretary means that landlords might have a Jeremy Corbyn supporter keen to bring in draconian laws for landlords in the private rented sector (PRS), one landlords’ organisation warns.

View Full Article: Angela Rayner – Will rent controls and tax rises for landlords be on the agenda?

Capping rents will cause landlords to leave PRS warns industry body

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An industry body warns that capping rents will only deepen the current rental crisis.

The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) says capping rents would lead to a “stampede” of landlords quitting the sector.

They are urging the Government to look at increasing Local Housing Allowances to ease pressure in the sector.

View Full Article: Capping rents will cause landlords to leave PRS warns industry body

Disability group says hoarding and other mental health issues ‘not reason to evict’

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A disability rights group has vowed to push for stronger regulations in the Renters Reform Bill so disabled tenants don’t face discrimination from their landlords.

Disability Rights UK says increasing landlords’ powers to evict tenants displaying anti-social behaviour could be misused as a more harmful alternative to Section 21 evictions.

Its briefing for disability groups explains that hoarding can be defined as anti-social behaviour, while neuro-diverse people, those with learning disabilities or experiencing mental distress, might show behaviours which could be seen as anti-social.

While the proposed property portal could be an opportunity for tenants to understand more about their rights and extremely useful if landlords were forced to include information on a property’s accessibility – helping the case for arguing for more accessible properties – it fears that if councils don’t have the ability to ensure landlords use the portal, it won’t help disabled tenants.

Bad experiences

It also worries that councils won’t have the capacity or staff to enforce signing up to a new ombudsman.

It adds: “We know that many disabled people have had bad experiences with ombudsmen in other sectors such as social housing, health and social care or local authorities.

“Some ombudsmen schemes don’t even publish their case decisions which reinforces inequalities and hinders disabled people’s access to justice as there is no room to challenge or develop the law.”

Disability Rights UK also highlights the lack of measures in the Bill that improve the accessibility or adaptability of homes and the fact there is no mention of improvements to the Disabled Facilities Grant.

Speaking on ITV news, campaigns and policy officer Mikey Erhardt (main picture), said: “The law is pretty weak in that area and we know that weakness means that discrimination and poor behaviour is really commonplace.”

View Full Article: Disability group says hoarding and other mental health issues ‘not reason to evict’

Sell your properties with us now and complete by Christmas

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With just three months to go until the year ends, and talk of another property market drop come December, it’s time for landlords to sell. There’s still time to complete before Christmas with cash in the bank ready for the New Year

View Full Article: Sell your properties with us now and complete by Christmas

The Benefits of Limited Liability Ownership Structure for UK Landlords

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For landlords in the United Kingdom, choosing the right ownership structure for their property investments is a critical decision. Among the various options available, one that stands out for its advantages is the Limited Liability Ownership Structure. This structure offers several benefits that can help landlords protect their assets

View Full Article: The Benefits of Limited Liability Ownership Structure for UK Landlords

AGAIN? Landlords quizzed by seaside council over licencing renewal plans

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Scarborough landlords are being asked to comment on renewing two selective licensing schemes, covering 2,500 private rented properties in the seaside town.

A consultation into the plans, covering parts of the Castle, Northstead and the Falsgrave and Stepney areas, runs until 10th November and would take effect on 1st June 2024.

The proposed scheme will be a renewal of the Scarborough North designation, which ended last year, and the Scarborough Central designation which finishes next May.

There has been some adjustment of the boundaries of the schemes and some streets have been removed, but other new streets added.

Regenerate

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for culture, arts and housing, councillor Simon Myers, says: “Through the consultation we are looking to obtain the views of all those who could be affected by the proposed scheme.

“If adopted, it will be important in helping to uplift and regenerate the inner urban area of Scarborough and stimulate future investment.”

A £700 licence fee has been proposed and, because some parts of the new area are already subject to selective licensing under the previous schemes, those previously licenced, compliant properties would pay less.

In 2021, Scarborough won Secretary of State approval to extend its selective licensing scheme, covering parts of Weaponness and Ramshill ward from May 2022. Known as Scarborough South, it covers about 1,100 private rented properties.

Last year, LandlordZONE reported how landlords in the town were moving away from the PRS and into holiday lets after becoming fed up with shouldering rent arrears, bad tenants and government policies, resulting in a renting crisis.

Read more information on the consultation.

View Full Article: AGAIN? Landlords quizzed by seaside council over licencing renewal plans

An eviction notice is served on older tenants EVERY 16 minutes – Shelter claims

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Shelter claims that tenants over the age of 55 are being served with a section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice EVERY 16 minutes.

Its latest anti-landlord onslaught is being used to urge the government to scrap s21 evictions as part of its Renters (Reform) Bill.

View Full Article: An eviction notice is served on older tenants EVERY 16 minutes – Shelter claims

LATEST: Long-term rent controls confirmed for Scottish landlords

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The Scottish Government has pledged to introduce measures to enhance tenants’ rights and protections as well as long-term rent controls.

First Minister Humza Yousaf told MSPs he planned to introduce a new housing bill which would help to deliver its New Deal for Tenants as part of new housing policies aimed at tackling homelessness and the supply shortage.

Unveiling his Programme for Government, Yousaf said it would give councils the power to raise council taxes on second homes and committed £60 million to acquire empty properties to be converted into affordable housing. It would also invest £750 million in new affordable homes – 10% of which would be in rural and island communities.

“Westminster’s cost-of-living crisis has left tenants vulnerable, made all the more difficult by a market that can’t support demand,” said Yousaf.

Unique needs

“The Scottish government will continue to work with vital stakeholders across landlord and tenant groups as it crafts a tailored approach to this crisis that suits Scotland’s unique needs.

“During the cost-of-living crisis, this government took prompt action to introduce emergency rent caps for most private tenants and to introduce additional protections against eviction,” he added. “We’ve now laid legislation to ensure those measures will remain in place until 31st March next year.”

The Scottish government reintroduced a rent freeze and eviction ban in September 2022 and those protections largely remain, with evictions paused and in-tenancy rent increases capped at 3%. However, a coalition of landlords and letting groups including the Scottish Association of Landlords has been seeking a judicial review of the legislation and is still awaiting a decision. 

Chief executive John Blackwood tells LandlordZONE: “The biggest single issue for all parts of the housing sector in Scotland is the lack of supply, so the focus must be on investing in more social housing and encouraging investment from landlords in the private rented sector.  

“Any proposal to introduce rent controls must be done in partnership with all key stakeholders and reassure those landlords contemplating leaving the sector.”

Read more about rent controls.

View Full Article: LATEST: Long-term rent controls confirmed for Scottish landlords

Shelter claims landlords evicting older tenants via Section 21 ‘for no reason’

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Shelter has claimed that the renting reform bill’s slow progress through parliament is harming the health of older tenants, saying its research shows nearly a third live in fear of being evicted by their landlord.

The research, conducted by YouGov and funded by the Co-operative Bank, is part of Shelter’s ongoing campaign to persuade ministers to speed up their plans to ban Section 21 evictions, portraying the landlord community as keen to use ‘no fault’ notices to evict tenants ‘for no reason’.

16 minutes

The housing charity says a tenant over 55 years old is evicted every 16 minutes, it says dashing the retirement plans of some because they then struggle to find affordable properties to rent locally.

Now that Parliament is back from its summer break, Shelter is urging the government to “finally scrap no-fault evictions and protect at-risk renters from the threat of Section 21”. 

Shelter’s Chief Executive Polly Neate (main picture) has taken the gloves off, describing Section 21 evictions as causing ‘gross instability’ for older renters in particular.

“We hear from hundreds of over-55s who have worked for decades in search of safety and security later in life – it’s a disgrace that so many are being stripped of a stable home by the gross injustice of Section 21 no-fault evictions,” she says.

Shoddy

“Instead of forcing older renters to pay over the odds for often shoddy rentals that leave them sick with worry, the government must keep its word, and get the Renters (Reform) Bill over the line. Tenants are tired of waiting for a system that makes private renting safe and fair for all.”  

But as evictions experts highlighted only recently, landlords seeking to evict tenants will still be able to do so once the new rules come in next year albeit after jumping through more evidential hoops and going through the courts.

Several types of evictions will also remain ‘mandatory’ in the courts including when a landlord wishes to move back into a property and if they wish to sell the property – along with rent arrears cases and anti-social behaviour.

Read: Ultimate guide to handling the eviction process.

View Full Article: Shelter claims landlords evicting older tenants via Section 21 ‘for no reason’