RLA commissions research on affects of Section 24

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The RLA are asking Landlords to have their say on the impact of the removal of Mortage Interest Relief under Section 24 under a new research project by the University of Cambridge.

The RLA has commissioned academics from the university to conduct the research and will use the findings to provide evidence to the Government as part of their ongoing campaign to have these unfair changes reversed.

The post RLA commissions research on affects of Section 24 appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: RLA commissions research on affects of Section 24

Buying a property with an existing tenant

admin    Uncategorized     agents

As being a landlord becomes less financially lucrative, with higher taxes and more regulation, there are more properties coming to market with existing tenants. We’ve put together the things you should be considering if you are buying a property with a tenant.

The post Buying a property with an existing tenant appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Buying a property with an existing tenant

Is government thinking of disallowing operating costs, and for companies as well?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Yesterday the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government launched a survey “Questionnaire used for the English Private Landlord Survey 2018.”

“The Ministry says that landlords and agents who are protecting a deposit in one of the authorised schemes are randomly chosen to participate

The post Is government thinking of disallowing operating costs, and for companies as well? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Is government thinking of disallowing operating costs, and for companies as well?

Section 21 no-fault possession claims down nearly 5000

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlord Action responds to latest MoJ statistics

The latest landlord possession figures released by The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show that the number of accelerated possession cases (section 21 no-fault eviction) are on a downward trend, with nearly 5000 fewer cases in 2017 than in 2016. 

The post Section 21 no-fault possession claims down nearly 5000 appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Section 21 no-fault possession claims down nearly 5000

Do I just write off the judgement?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A quick question of general interest that may warrant floating past Property118 readers and experts. I have obtained a judgement for arrears that a problem tenant owed.

However, the tenant has gone to Poland with no thought of returning and is gleefully telling friends and everyone that there is nothing anyone can now do!

The post Do I just write off the judgement? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Do I just write off the judgement?

Scottish Labour leadership contender pledges rent controls

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Rent Controls:

Richard Leonard, in his campaign to succeed Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour leader, has staked his claim to introducing a ‘Mary Barbour law’ for rent controls.

The biggest applause from the crowd at Scottish Labour’s spring conference came after a proposal by Leonard to introduce a “Mary Barbour law”, which he said would “reign in the power of landlords” and create “stringent” rent controls.

Mary Barbour led the 1915 Glasgow rent strikes, and a statue of the rent strike legend was recently unveiled in her honour in Govan.

He said Scottish Labour, if he became leader, would do more than “tinker around the edges” of society’s problems and introduce a radical set of policies which put power back into the hands of the many.

New legislation recently introduced by the Scottish Government has given local authorities the ability to introduce limited caps on rent increases in what they call “rent pressure zones”, primarily the major cities in Scotland, but Leonard’s proposals, like those of Jeremy Corbyn in England, would it seems go much further.

Leondard has proposed a similar system to that proposed by the Living Rent Campaign, a points-based system which would link rents to housing standards, and then rent control would be tied to the average income of Scotland’s tenants. In their policy paper, Living Rent has argued that linking a package of rent controls to housing quality would force landlords to drive up housing standards in the private rental market.

Jeremy Corbyn has set on a path for Labour policy in England, lengthening tenancies to five years with inflation-linked controls on rent rises within these terms, but Mr Corbyn has also said in a recent speech that Labour would go further than this and directly limit rent, based on models seen in other countries.

Meanwhile, rent controls have been discredited around the world as long-term counterproductive to a rental market and tenants in particular.

Research carried out by the London School of Economics (LSE) for the London Borough of Camden concluded that:

“Economic principles suggest that traditional rent freezes (often called first generation rent controls) work badly, especially over the longer-term. They lead to immobility, poor quality housing in the sector and incentives for landlords to transfer to other tenures if possible.

“Almost all countries that have had such controls have either liberalised their systems completely (the UK) or limited their purview to rent increases within tenancies (often called rent stabilisation).”

Even housing charity Shelter has said that Jeremy Corbyn’s proposed rent controls could “exacerbate Britain’s housing crisis”, and “would result in a reduction of rental property.”

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, has said that:

“What ends up happening is landlords will just sell because they can’t make any money. That actually exacerbates the crisis, because you end up with an even greater housing shortage.”

Given that small-scale landlords continue to play such a vital role in the UK in the provision of housing for tenants in the private sector, including government funded tenants on social benefits, upending a delicate balance stuck by the shorthold tenancy, at market rents, over the last 30 years or so, is perhaps a risky strategy.

Dr Julie Rugg of the Centre for Housing Policy, at the University concludes in another LSE report:

“Evidence from across Europe shows that small landlords own a large proportion of the sector. Even Germany, traditionally held up as the model for institutional investment, has a substantial proportion of properties owned by individual landlords.

“Given that this situation is likely to continue, it is essential to consider in more detail the economics of small landlordism, and – perhaps less tangibly – the cultures of letting across Europe. If we allow the contention that small landlordism might not be innately problematic in the UK, we need to ask what successful small landlordism looks like.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Scottish Labour leadership contender pledges rent controls | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Scottish Labour leadership contender pledges rent controls

Mick Roberts makes front page of Nottingham Post on Selective Licensing

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Property118 member Mick Roberts has been fighting the introduction of punitive Selective Licensing rules introduced by Nottingham City Council.

Mick Roberts on BBC Radio Nottingham

Our Own Property118 member Mick Roberts appears on BBC Radio Nottingham’s Mark Dennison Show.

The post Mick Roberts makes front page of Nottingham Post on Selective Licensing appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Mick Roberts makes front page of Nottingham Post on Selective Licensing

Where is the best place to invest in student accommodation?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Investing in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is big business. The sector has become increasingly popular around the world thanks to the relatively low cost of entry and the high potential returns on offer.

Savills estimates that a total of 75,000 beds were traded in 2017, to a value of at least £5.3bn. This represents a 17% rise over the 2016 totals, and goes to show the health of the market. Furthermore, Savills believes that the Brexit situation has only heightened the appetite for PBSA, with more being invested after the 2016 referendum than before it. Given that barely a week goes by without the announcement of a new student development in one of the UK’s major cities, it is perhaps not surprising that most observers only see the continued growth of PBSA as an investment class.

All of which raises the question: where is the best location for a discerning investor to put their money? When it comes to PBSA the most important considerations are a growing student body, a university with a lack of its own accommodation, and a local area which has big investment plans likely to make the university more attractive.

With all of the above taken into consideration, there aren’t many places which fit the bill for PBSA investment better than Salford. The local university is expanding and teaching more students, it has accommodation for fewer than 10% of its students, and the area is the subject of an £800m investment masterplan.

Recently announced by the University of Salford and Salford City Council, the masterplan covers 240 acres around the university site and brings with it significant opportunities. One million sqft of educational space, six million sqft of commercial space targeted at industrial growth sectors and around two million sqft feet of parkland, green landscaped routes and cycleways are the main attractions for students in the area. Locals will also benefit, with 2,500 new residential homes and apartments planned for the area.

The industrial space, based around a new Industrial Collaboration Zone on Frederick Road North, is particularly interesting. It will be aimed at attracting businesses in the creative, digital, health and wellbeing, environment, sport and engineering sectors – not coincidentally the sectors within which the University of Salford excels and enjoys such a fine reputation.

The University already enjoys beneficial collaborative links with local businesses in similar sectors – for instance the campus at MediaCityUK – and further growth of its preferred sectors in the nearby area will provide even more opportunity for its students. It looks as if the Frederick Road Campus is set to become an impressive hub which will allow education, research and business to collaborate freely.

Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett agrees, saying of the scheme: “the City of Salford has attracted billions of pounds of private sector investment in the last decade and delivered nationally important regeneration projects that have brought new industries, new training and development opportunities and new jobs to the city.

“The combined assets of the city and the university around The Crescent present a huge opportunity for the continued growth of the city linking education with enterprise and industry and arts, culture, heritage and community.”

All of the above will make Salford an even more attractive higher education destination than it already is, leading to the growth of the student body. With the University of Salford already having nowhere near enough accommodation for its students, this is the perfect time to invest in PBSA in Salford.

X1 The Campus is an outstanding student accommodation investment opportunity. Located on the Frederick Road Campus, this development will be extremely popular with student residents looking to live only a few minutes’ walk from both their university and the new educational and commercial facilities set to be built as part of the new masterplan. Frederick Road is at the heart of Salford’s exciting future, and X1 The Campus is situated perfectly to take advantage of this.

Click here for more information and to enquire about this opportunity today – availability is limited so don’t miss out!

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Where is the best place to invest in student accommodation? | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Where is the best place to invest in student accommodation?

Tenant in custody!

admin    Uncategorized     agents

My tenant was arrested last week and is still in custody. She is 1 month into a new 6 month AST.

I understand she was involved in some kind of drug deal (on behalf of her boyfriend) –

The post Tenant in custody! appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Tenant in custody!

Tax rises are slowing housing investment

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Tax Rises:

An analysis released today by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirms the impact of tax increases on choking off investment in rented housing.

In its Economic and Fiscal Outlook published today, the OBR warns of “subdued growth in residential investment.” The assessment comes following a string of tax hikes on private rented housing, including a stamp duty levy on the purchase of new homes to rent and restriction of mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax.

Alan Ward, Chair of the Residential Landlords Association said:

“Today’s assessment by the OBR demonstrates the folly of taxing the supply of new homes to rent.

“It is more important than ever that we recognise the dynamic role the rental market can play in swiftly responding to the country’s ever changing housing needs. The Government should come forward with a package of pro-growth tax and planning policies to support private landlords who want to invest in the new housing the country needs if renters are to be able to find the accommodation they want.

“The build to rent sector is not delivering at the rate required and in the past private landlords have delivered three out of five of all new homes.”

The Residential Landlords Association: The home for landlords

The RLA represents the interests of landlords in the private rented sector across England and Wales.

The Office of Budget Responsibility has published its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook. It can be accessed at: http://cdn.obr.uk/EFO-MaRch_2018.pdf   Page 67 notes:

“Real residential investment rose by 7.8 per cent in 2017, up from 7.6 per cent in 2016. In line with our forecasts for house prices and property transactions, we expect relatively subdued growth in residential investment over the forecast period. Housebuilding is expected to slow in the near term, reflecting subdued turnover in the housing market and modestly higher interest rates. Housebuilding is then expected to rise as housing market turnover picks up. Housing improvements are also expected to slow in the near term thanks to recent weakness in real wages, before picking up as real earnings growth picks up. Over the medium term, residential investment is expected to grow broadly in line with real GDP.”

The Chancellor has delivered his Spring Statement, a copy of which can be read at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spring-statement-2018-philip-hammonds-speech  In it he declared: “We are the champions of small businesses and the entrepreneur.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Tax rises are slowing housing investment | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Tax rises are slowing housing investment