Student housing shortage worsens across UK cities

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Despite a rise in student numbers heading to university this year, there has been a big 24.5% drop in the number of student homes available to rent, a survey reveals.

The findings from Savills highlight that the number of student homes to rent is lower now than before the pandemic hit

View Full Article: Student housing shortage worsens across UK cities

Don’t blame landlords for childcare shortages, says NRLA

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The NRLA has hit back at the government’s call for landlords to be more open-minded when considering allowing tenants to become childminders.

Children and Families Minister, Claire Coutinho, has written to housing associations, developers and landlords, urging them to better support prospective childminders who face restrictive clauses in contracts which stop them from working in rented homes.

She says childminders in leasehold properties are sometimes being blocked by restrictive covenants, which won’t allow them to be used for business purposes. Some of those living in rented accommodation find tenancy agreements prevent them from registering their business or that their landlord’s mortgage agreements include restrictions from the lender.

Insurance options

In the letter, Coutinho advises: “You can put measures in place that work for you and your tenant, for example you might discuss insurance options or how your perspective tenant intends to manage pickups and drop offs to reduce disruption to neighbours. To freeholders…please consider working with the local authority planning teams to include exemptions to restrictions on business use for early education and childcare.”

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, says no landlord wants to stand in the way of the provision of childcare, but that government must recognise housing providers are not the issue.

Tenancy deposits

“The government’s encouragement to landlords to ‘be open-minded’ is no-doubt well-meaning but fails entirely to acknowledge the very real issues facing the childcare industry or the legitimate concerns of housing providers,” he adds. “Mortgage lenders and insurers need to be more flexible in enabling landlords to allow childminders to operate from the properties they let. Tenancy deposits must also be allowed to reflect the greater risk of damage to properties being used for childminding.”

Beadle adds: “We will continue to work with the government…but refuse to accept the blame for systemic issues in another industry.”

View Full Article: Don’t blame landlords for childcare shortages, says NRLA

Growing supply and demand mismatch fuels widespread rent rises

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The number of new prospective tenants registering at letting agent branches has increased by 38% in a year and shows no sign of slowing.

Propertymark reports that an average of 187 prospective tenants registered in July compared with 127 in July 2022. Its Housing Market Insight Report also showed that while the average number of properties available to rent per branch increased slightly to 14, this was not enough to keep up with current demand. 

July growth

It says the mismatch between supply and demand continued to grow in July with an average of 13 new prospective tenants registering per available property over the month. Propertymark also found that 70% of agents reported rents increasing month-on-month at their branch, down from 74% in the same month last year. 

Meanwhile, research from Paragon Bank reveals that more than 90% of outer London landlords reported rising tenant demand in the second quarter of 2023, with demand also particularly strong in East Midlands and Wales. The imbalance in supply was leading to rent increases; 87% of landlords said rental prices were increasing in their local market, with 51% planning to increase rents across their own portfolios within the next six months.

Alarming disparity

Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson says there’s an alarming disparity in the number of homes available to rent when compared with growing demand from prospective tenants.

“This gap is continuing to widen from already worrying levels,” he adds. “This mismatch in supply and demand is putting pressure on rents, with 6% of tenants per member branch falling into arrears doubling compared to February 2023. UK governments need to urgently address the fundamental problem of undersupply and look to adequately incentivise the provision of desperately needed homes in the private rented sector.”

View Full Article: Growing supply and demand mismatch fuels widespread rent rises

Landlord forced to pay for ignoring bed bug plague in mouldy home

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A rogue landlord has been ordered to pay back almost £15,000 in rent to tenants who had to live in dangerous and disgusting conditions.

Officers from Barking and Dagenham Council who visited the two-bedroom flat in Butteridges Close, Dagenham, found a litany of problems including damp and mould throughout the property and only one functioning heater. It had no working smoke alarms, the kitchen cupboards were all broken, the oven plug had been secured using duct tape, there was an exposed light in the bathroom, as well as a severe infestation of bed bugs.

Unlicensed property

Kehinde Wilson Gbadegesin, of Greenwich, had already been fined more than £11,000 in February at Barking Magistrates Court after failing to carry out improvements or register for a licence. At the hearing, estate agent Phil Davies Estate Agents was also ordered to pay £11,000 after the court heard both the firm and the landlord had been issued with multiple notices to take action and resolve the issues, which were all ignored.

A First Tier Property Tribunal has now handed Gbadegesin a rent repayment order for the period between February 2022 and January 2023 – totalling £14,400 – as well as a further £300 in costs.

Improve standards

Councillor Syed Ghani, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, says no one should be left to live in dangerous and disgusting conditions like those faced by Gbadegesin’s tenants. “I am pleased to hear this rogue landlord will be made to pay back every penny he unscrupulously took from them.”

He adds: “Our private rented property licensing scheme is there to improve standards for all, and I hope this sends a strong message that we will continue to take action against the small minority who think they can flout the rules and do as they please.”

View Full Article: Landlord forced to pay for ignoring bed bug plague in mouldy home

Student rents rocket by 30% in a year

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Students will be paying 30% more in rent this year as they head back to their studies, one index has found.

The NatWest student living index reveals that the increase has pushed the national monthly rent average to £591.

View Full Article: Student rents rocket by 30% in a year

Bailiff dilemma?

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Hello, in April, I obtained an order for possession from the county court. After a long wait, I was told it can take up to 18 weeks to get a date for the bailiff.

So I applied to transfer the order to the High Court for these reasons:

1- The tenant has not been paying rent since February.

View Full Article: Bailiff dilemma?

Landlords look to sell and not buy – survey

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Private landlords are twice as likely to sell a property than they are to buy – fuelling the country’s ongoing housing crisis, a survey has found.

The findings show that in the second quarter of this year, more than one in 10 (12%) landlords in England and Wales opted to sell their properties.

View Full Article: Landlords look to sell and not buy – survey

Landlords are now selling at a record rate despite house price falls

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In an almost unanimous decision, landlords are throwing in the towel, opting to take the cash and sell their property portfolios. It seems that the gravy train for buy-to-lets is well and truly over, and it’s time to put investment elsewhere.

View Full Article: Landlords are now selling at a record rate despite house price falls

Landlords looking to re-mortgage ‘should fix ASAP before another rate rise’

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Specialist buy-to-let broker Mortgages For Business (MFB) has urged landlords approaching re-mortgage to secure a new rate as early as possible following the latest update on inflation.

The ONS Consumer Price Index showed that inflation reached 6.8% in July, down from 7.9% in June, and although inflation is likely to fall to as low as 5% in the final quarter of the year, the Bank of England is expected to increase the base rate in September, probably by a further 0.25%, explains MFB MD Gavin Richardson (main picture).

“I recommend securing a new rate as early as possible,” says Richardson. “For some lenders, this can be up to six months before the end of your early repayment charge period.

“If mortgage interest rates decrease, many lenders allow you to switch to a more competitive product should one become available before you complete.

“Either way, you’ll have financial security and confidence that you’re on the most suitable mortgage for your circumstances.”

Before 21st September

Those landlords on a tracker or variable mortgage that follows the base rate have time to secure a fixed-rate deal before the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 21^st September.

“If you wait, you will see your mortgage repayments increase once again following the base rate rise,” he adds. “It’s worth exploring your fixed-rate options with a broker to see how much you could save on your monthly payments.”

MFB believes the latest inflation figures will act as a barometer for the MPC, which has increased the base rate 14 consecutive times, rising from an all-time low of 0.1% in December 2021 to 5.25% following this month’s increase.

Richardson adds: “As long as inflation continues the same downward trajectory though, we forecast the next rise will be the final increase this year.”

Read more about mortgages

View Full Article: Landlords looking to re-mortgage ‘should fix ASAP before another rate rise’

Court delays for landlords evicting tenants ‘at their worst for 30 years’

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Evictions expert Paul Shamplina says UK court delays for landlords are the worst ever he’s seen during his career within the private rented sector.

Shamplina, who is Chief Commercial Officer at Hamilton Fraser and founder of Landlord Action says the extraordinary delays, which in one recent case saw a landlord seeking eviction having to wait five-and-a-half months for a hearing at Romford Magistrates’ Court, says unless this is fixed the government’s plans to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will cause even more chaos.

As trade association Propertymark has outlined this week, a third of all possession cases are currently Section 21 notices which are ‘accelerated’ claims that bypass the court system.

The Renters’ (Reform) Bill plans to remove Section 21 and extend the grounds for possession under Section 8 instead – which will mean many more cases have to go through the courts.

Urgent review

Trade gris urging its 21,000 members to write to Justice secretary Alex Chalk, asking him urgently review capacity with the courts before abolishing no-fault evictions.

“It’s good that Propertymark members are being asked to put pressure on the Ministry of Justice,” says Shamplina.

“I totally agree with Propertymark that you can’t think about banning Section 21 until landlords have confidence in the courts, which are in the worse shape in my 33 years spent working in the legal sector.

Distraught

“It’s clear that we need more judges and more bailiffs when all the previous ‘no fault’ cases end up in court – my staff at Landlord Action have endless conversations with distraught landlords about court delays as it is – and when the ban is announced, there will be landlord panic.

“It’s time to bring the Housing Court conversations back as a priority; I attended a Housing Court Working Group in October 2019, then Covid happened and then it fell off the radar. 

“It all links into court reform and the abolishment of Section 21 and updated grounds for possession. Landlords and agents need confidence, which now is at a real low.

“For example, one court in central London is currently taking 40 days to correspond with us via post.”

Propertymark chief Nathan Emerson (pictured) adds: “The ability of landlords to access a swift, efficient, and cost-effective justice system is a key component of a successful lettings industry.”

View Full Article: Court delays for landlords evicting tenants ‘at their worst for 30 years’