Your HMO Success Blueprint

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Would you like to make more money from your property investing? Most people invest in single let properties, which unfortunately don’t make much money.

However, smart investors make at least £1000 profit per month from each property using HMOs.

View Full Article: Your HMO Success Blueprint

PROFILE: The young City trader who returned home to be a landlord

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Ross McColl is not your average portfolio landlord. He is 36 years old and with his brother runs one of the South East’s largest PRS property operations which includes some 300 properties, a lettings agency and an in-house property management team.

Trading under the Link Property name, McColl and his brother took over the operation from their mother ten years ago, subsequently growing it into a large operator within the Medway region.

McColl initially worked in the city as trader for Citibank but the allure of taking on his mother’s business proved too strong, albeit after finishing a Masters in Finance course.

Despite the challenges of running a large portfolio, you’ll hear few complaints from young CEO, with only the looming challenges of the government’s EPC upgrade scheme really irking him (read more about his comments on this here).

His mother now divides her time between Guernsey and Tenerife but McColl is busy growing the business including buying more houses – which tend to be Victorian stock at the cheaper end of the market in his quest for yield – as well as launching and growing a burgeoning temporary accommodation business.

“We have been lucky because some of our houses are in Swale, which covers the area around Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey, that we bought there ten years ago for £60,000 or £70,000 and that are now worth 200,000,” he says.

“My mum bought a wide range of properties from one-beds to detached houses with 20 acres, although we’ve sold off some of the latter because the big properties tend not to make any money – 3% if you’re lucky.

“We’ve tried to focus our portfolio an hour from where Link Property is based [in Thanet] not only because of the economies of scale but also because, due to our infrastructure being in Medway, we can get anywhere quickly.

“I know other people spread themselves thinner across the UK and get agencies in to help, but because we have our own in-house team we can bring our costs down – and that means we can match the higher net returns that people buying property up north can bring in but keep our portfolio local.”

Temporary growth

McColl spotted the opportunity within the temporary accommodation sector six years and has set about expanding this as councils have sought to place vulnerable tenants such as those leaving prison and people evicted from PRS properties.

“During the pandemic the client group was very challenging as they were all anti-social tenants and similar. That’s because no one was being evicted for rent arrears following the eviction ban, plus we couldn’t do weekly or two-weekly property inspections,” he says.

“On the other hand, we were able to stay open during that time because were were signed off as key workers.”

“The temporary accommodation business is growing really fast – and continues to grow in the SE corridor as landlords avoid riskier tenants and these people turn to temporary accommodation, so it’s boomed in past few years – but it’s not for the faint hearted.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – PROFILE: The young City trader who returned home to be a landlord | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: PROFILE: The young City trader who returned home to be a landlord

Split titles and Stamp Duty circumvention?

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Hi, I’m looking to split titles on a 3 flat conversion I completed in 2018 to lower the finance costs.

I’ve been advised there will be stamp duty to pay even if the leases are transferred to my spouse and myself.

View Full Article: Split titles and Stamp Duty circumvention?

9% annual reduction in rough sleeping

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The annual rough sleeping statistics, published 24 February 2022, show that rates have fallen for a fourth year in a row with a 9% reduction in rough sleeping compared to last year. Numbers have fallen in every region of England

View Full Article: 9% annual reduction in rough sleeping

BBC joins in the ‘endless grind’ of media landlord bashing over evictions

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The BBC has joined the ranks of landlord-bashing media by publishing a story that gives a distinctly one-sided view of an eviction, helping bolster Shelter and other organisations’ campaigns to ban Section 21 notices.

It quotes a tenant as saying she was in “panic mode” when given notice to quit via a Sectoin 21 and makes no mention that, under restored pre-Covid rules, tenants given notice via this route get two months’ notice, and are usually asked to move out informally beforehand.

Instead, the online article describes how Rachel, her partner and her adult daughter had lived in their rented home in east London since August 2019 but had struggled to pay rent during the pandemic.

It quotes her as saying: “I got an email to say she [the landlord] was serving us notice…I was quite upset, quite emotional, it was panic mode.”

Interestingly, the BBC story points to the latest quarterly evictions data from the Home Office highlighting how evictions are down compared to the same period in 2019.

Fewer notices

LandlordZONE has previously reported how fewer landlords are using Section 21 notices to evict tenants; according to recent government data, their use dropped by 55% over the past two years and by 50% between 2015 and 2019.

Despite this, the BBC quotes research from Shelter and only includes a short comment from the National Residential Landlords Association.

An NRLA spokesman tells LandlordZONE: “The NRLA is unable to comment on the specifics of the case reported by the BBC. However, whatever means a landlord uses to repossess a property it is vital that they follow due process. Where tenants feel this has not happened, they should raise their concerns with their local authority.”

LandlordZONE has approached the BBC for comment.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BBC joins in the ‘endless grind’ of media landlord bashing over evictions | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: BBC joins in the ‘endless grind’ of media landlord bashing over evictions

‘Don’t bother complaining about benefits errors’ leading UC expert warns landlords

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Landlords have been advised not to raise a benefits complaint with the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) or Ombudsman – or risk it disappearing into a black hole.

UC Advice & Advocacy Ltd’s Bill Irvine (pictured) says landlords are continually frustrated by having to make numerous applications for an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) for Universal Credit without getting a response.

However, if they complain to ICE or the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), they’re now just being told to go back to the DWP.

Shambles

“The process is a shambles,” Irvine tells LandlordZONE. “ICE used to write to the DWP and say there’s been a complaint and sometimes the DWP would respond – now they’re refusing to do that.”

He adds that it can take two or three years to get an outcome from ICE, and even in those cases where the DWP has been found wanting, landlords still don’t get recompense.

Irvine advises: “You’re wasting your time if you’re looking for compensation. It’s better to escalate things through the DWP at a local level by continually following up an application and try to avoid using the word ‘complaint’, and call it a ‘query’ instead.”

PHSO replies

A PHSO spokesman tells LandlordZONE that the pandemic has affected its productivity and that it has a queue of more than 2,500 complaints.

He says: “We advise anyone who has a complaint regarding a service provided by Department for Work and Pensions to try and resolve the matter through DWP’s own complaints process first.”

Mick Roberts, who operates one of the largest private property portfolios in Nottingham, has had numerous run-ins with the DWP, and has a number of outstanding cases with ICE concerning incorrect payments.

He says benefits landlords like him have had enough, adding: “I’ve tried to be loyal but I’m not going through this process anymore, it’s too much hassle – I’m just going to evict tenants. Tenants don’t complain, but they are the ones losing out as all this means they can’t move because other landlords won’t take them.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Don’t bother complaining about benefits errors’ leading UC expert warns landlords | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: ‘Don’t bother complaining about benefits errors’ leading UC expert warns landlords

Pandemic Right to Rent check changes extended to 30th September 2022

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The adjustments to Right to Rent checks, which were made due to COVID-19, will now be extended from 5th April and continue to 30 September 2022.

This follows the government’s announcement enabling landlords to use Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to carry out digital checks on behalf of British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport (or Irish passport card) from 6 April 2022.

View Full Article: Pandemic Right to Rent check changes extended to 30th September 2022

EPC Commercial Confusion?

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I am in the process of renewing a lease with a commercial tenant for the next 6 years., The EPC conducted in Feb 2017 is an F (carried out by the previous owner just before we bought the property –

View Full Article: EPC Commercial Confusion?

Spike in Welsh landlords quitting as rent reforms begin to bite, say agents

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Many experts claim most landlords shrug off attempts to make renting riskier or more bureaucratic if it’s still a moneymaking exercise, but the Welsh government’s recent efforts to complicate its PRS seem to be digging deeper.

Latest figures from trade body Propertymark show that its Welsh letting agency members report five landlords per branch withdrawing from the market, more than twice the national average and far higher than any other region.

The trade body says the most likely cause of this is the Welsh government’s plans to extend notice periods, along with other restrictive measures, within its Renting Homes (Wales) Act due to be implemented later this year.

This includes an already-in-place six-month notice requirement for a landlord to end a contract where the tenant is not at fault and a minimum ‘security of tenure’ of one year from the date of moving in.

Surveys

Also, this is the first time that Propertymark has begun to report the number of landlords leaving the sector. Its surveys in recent years have made little or no mention of this, so it is significant that it is now a key metric in the latest one.

The trend is already having repercussions for tenants. Letting agents report that while landlords are exiting the market, tenant demand for properties remains high and in Wales, they saw 313 applicants per branch, a trend mirrored across the UK.

“With several changes on the horizon from the implementation of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, landlords will be faced with further regulatory pressure,” says Propertymark boss Nathan Emerson (pictured).

“Coupled with the extremely high demand within the sales market in areas across Wales, these could well be contributing to the number of landlords exiting the sector.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Spike in Welsh landlords quitting as rent reforms begin to bite, say agents | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Spike in Welsh landlords quitting as rent reforms begin to bite, say agents

UPDATE: Ministers delay Right to Rent changes deadline for landlords

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The government has delayed changing Right to Rent rules until 30^th September to give landlords more time to prepare for the digital system.

Temporary adjusted checks were due to end on 5^th April, but it says that deferring the date ensured landlords will have sufficient time to, “develop commercial relationships with identity service providers, make the necessary changes to their pre-tenancy checking processes and carry out responsible on-boarding of their chosen provider”.

It will also allow landlords and letting agents to put measures in place to enable face-to-face document checks if they did not want to adopt digital checks for British and Irish citizens with a valid passport, or Irish passport card.

Video calls

Checks can still be carried out over video calls and tenants can send scanned documents or a photo of documents for checks using email or a mobile app, rather than sending originals.

Landlords should use the Home Office Landlord Checking Service if a prospective or existing tenant cannot provide any of the accepted documents.

When carrying out a temporary adjusted check, landlords must ask the tenant to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents and arrange a video call with them.

Listen to an advice podcast about Right to Rent by Paul Shamplina.

They should ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera to check against the digital copy of the documents, record the date and mark it as ‘adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19’.

If the tenant has a current Biometric Residence Permit or Biometric Residence Card or has been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme or the points-based immigration system, landlords can use the online Right to Rent service while doing a video call. From 6th April, all biometric card holders will evidence their right to rent using the Home Office online service only.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – UPDATE: Ministers delay Right to Rent changes deadline for landlords | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: UPDATE: Ministers delay Right to Rent changes deadline for landlords