EXTRA red tape, scams and repairs drive more landlords to use agencies

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Almost two thirds (63%) of private landlords who manage their own properties are tired of sorting out repairs and dealing with red tape and considering using a letting agency or property manager instead. 

A Uswitch poll of 2,000 landlords found that the most common reason they might decide to pay an agent was to take a break from dealing with repairs (31%) followed by avoiding the hassle of finding tenants (30%) and avoiding legal responsibilities (30%).

More than a quarter (27%) would switch to a letting agency to avoid scams and fraud.

The comparison site believes that as soaring interest rates force mortgage rates up, the buy-to-let landscape has left some landlords apprehensive about what direction to take their properties in, or if they should continue renting them out at all.

Profits

Uswitch.com BTL mortgages expert, Kellie Steed (pictured), says while it can feel like selling up is the only option, there are other ways landlords can keep profits afloat during the cost-of-living crisis.

“Switching to a letting management company offers some attractive advantages and gives landlords the scope to hold onto their investment,” she explains.

“Property managers have a strong knowledge of the market’s changing regulations and can also take on much of the responsibility of owning investment property – lettings, repairs, rental disputes and complaints can all be tackled by an agency.”

Many offer increasingly attractive packages for landlords in return for 10-20% of profits, says Steed.

“Remortgaging a property can also save landlords money, as any equity held in the property will give them access to cheaper rates,” she adds.

“While a lower interest rate could offer less expensive loan repayments, releasing equity on a property can boost your finances and give you, and your property, more support in the form of a cash sum.”

Read more: Agencies must help landlords navigate looming reforms.

View Full Article: EXTRA red tape, scams and repairs drive more landlords to use agencies

Daily Telegraph wants to speak to landlords about the Renters Reform Bill

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Are you a landlord who is worried about the wide range of reforms expected in the Renters’ Reform Bill? Then, Alexa Phillips the personal finance reporter for the Telegraph would like to speak with you.

Alexa would like to speak to Property118 readers about:

• What do you think about the proposals in the bill

View Full Article: Daily Telegraph wants to speak to landlords about the Renters Reform Bill

Conservative MPs condemn government’s ‘war on landlords’

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Tory MPs fear the soon-to-be-published Renters’ Reform Bill will force more landlords to sell up.

According to the Telegraph, there are growing concerns amongst Conservative MPs that the government has gone too far with its war on landlords.

View Full Article: Conservative MPs condemn government’s ‘war on landlords’

How Shelter helped my tenant become homeless

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As a landlord, I recently faced a difficult situation with one of my tenants, a 68-year-old man who was struggling with drug addiction and had fallen severely behind on rent payments. Despite my efforts to work with him, I had to use a section 8 eviction notice to remove him from the property.

View Full Article: How Shelter helped my tenant become homeless

Tech firm gets public cash to help portfolio landlords improve energy efficiency

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Proptech company Propflo is working with BTL mortgage lenders to help portfolio landlords make their properties more energy efficient.

It has been given a grant by Innovate UK to encourage lenders to explore initiatives such as encouraging retrofitting in their products, creating buyer groups to lower installation costs, and providing tools so landlords can better understand the case for improvements and investment.

Propflo explains that although lenders can influence and enable energy efficiency upgrades, the investment case currently isn’t clearly presented, while there’s also a lack of ongoing engagement after a retrofit, and little automated verification and monitoring to show the real impact.

Proposals

The company has already engaged with more than 20 lenders and will now develop proposals for a phase 2 demonstration with one or more lenders in the buy-to-let, residential and shared ownership sectors. The project will also involve lettings agents, mortgage brokers, and landlords.

According to founder and CEO Luke Loveridge (main picture, centre), this will help lenders and landlords meet looming regulatory changes while forward-thinking lenders should see it as an opportunity to help them win and retain more business by adding value for their customers.

“We’re focusing on mortgage lenders as they now have to report on the energy efficiency of their back book and have a voluntary target to decarbonise this,” he tells LandlordZONE.

“It is primarily about providing as much support as possible and lowering the barriers to retrofitting for landlords, by leveraging the scale of lenders. We want to work with lenders to explore financial incentives in the project, but this isn’t the primary focus.”

View Full Article: Tech firm gets public cash to help portfolio landlords improve energy efficiency

Average rents hit £1,000 for the first time

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Tenants moving into a newly let property are facing average rents outside of London of more than £1,000 for the first time, data reveals.

Hamptons says renters are facing a £1,002 bill and in April, that was £72 or 7.8% more than it was in April 2022.

View Full Article: Average rents hit £1,000 for the first time

Hybrid LLP structures GAME OVER!

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It’s game over for most Hybrid LLP tax structures.

A “Hybrid” / Mixed LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership where one or more Members is a Limited Company.

Following our article “How Property118 Are Helping A Landlord To Resolve A Serious Hybrid LLP Tax Planning Blunder”

View Full Article: Hybrid LLP structures GAME OVER!

An open letter to Polly Neate at Shelter

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Below, we publish an open letter from Property118 reader, ‘Dismayed Landlord’.

He details issues about helping his tenants – and wants Polly Neate, the chief executive of the homelessness charity Shelter, to help him find housing for his tenants as he is intending to sell up.

View Full Article: An open letter to Polly Neate at Shelter

How Property118 Are Helping A Landlord To Resolve A Serious Hybrid LLP Tax Planning Blunder

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Stay tuned for the big reveal – the name of the accountant responsible for this catastrophic situation will be unveiled soon. But first, we’re working to negotiate a settlement with HMRC on behalf of the landlord who’s now facing a hefty bill in taxes

View Full Article: How Property118 Are Helping A Landlord To Resolve A Serious Hybrid LLP Tax Planning Blunder

Signs of a turnaround in the UK construction industry…

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Construction activity is continuing to grow in the UK. That’s according to the April S&P Global / CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI), as reported by PCBToday, a Construction, Planning and Building Control portal.

Construction companies in the UK the survey shows continue to experience an increase in construction activity. Although the PMI survey shows that this expansion is unevenly distributed across the sector, there are definite signs of growth, the early green shoots of a recovery, but housebuilding is still depressed.

The supply problems post-Brexit and post-Covid in the building materials market are beginning to ease with building materials supplies reaching their highest level since September 2009. Prices have stabilised as building materials have become more readily available, and the transportation bottlenecks and delays have eased. The materials price inflation brought about by the Brexit / Covid shocks has reduced to its lowest level in the last two-and-a-half years.

The monthly releases for the S&P Global / CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI®) provide an insight into construction production and the performance of the sector. The index is ‘based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in over 170 construction companies’.

The importance of PMI indicators

Construction activity indicators provide critical insights into the health of the broader economy, as an increased level of this activity gives an early sign of recovery, it plays such a key role in showing how the overall economy is performing perform.

Construction figures include residential, commercial, and industrial construction. Commercial and industrial building activity includes the construction of hotels, office buildings, schools, hospitals, and other institutional buildings. Residential activity includes new housing single family homes as well as multi-home buildings such as apartments and flats.

Construction spending accounts for around 5 per cent of the overall UK economy in any given year, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). When businesses are investing in new construction, it typically indicates that economic growth is building and on the road to recovery. The converse is true of course and weak construction activity is troubling news for the economy.

These construction activity indicators are based on statistics gathered through monitoring hard data as building approvals, construction progress over a given period, overall construction spending, the state of the construction workers employment market, and even the number of buildings being demolished. All of these data points can give insights into the direction of the economy, though one month’s data has to be viewed with caution, until a definite trend can be established.

Construction Statistics

In the case of UK construction, a PMI score of 50 represents the neutral line, neither increasing or decreasing. Anything higher indicates growth, while lower indicates weakness. The latest figure for April showed a slight increase from 50.7 in March to 51.1 in April. This will be the third month in a row that the figure has remained above 50 and growing, which would indicate the beginning of a positive trend.

According to PCBToday, construction activity has soared in the commercial sector with commercial building expanding the most with an index score of 53.9. This has been achieved despite survey respondents reporting headwinds in growth from tighter client budgets and higher cost-inflation.

The April figures also show positive growth in civil engineering and construction projects with an index score of 52.0, supported by ongoing and durable pipelines of large Government backed infrastructure projects.

Housebuilding is the problem child

The April PMI figures show that, as expected, weakest performing part of the construction industry is housebuilding with an index low of 43.0 Respondents in this sector put this down to a reduction in demand for private housing due to increased mortgage rates resulting in new building projects being put on hold.

Removal of house-building targets

The controversial move by Rishi Sunak, after admitting that the Government scrapped national housebuilding targets because Tory members do not approve of them has exacerbated the home building decline, and has led to fears that the decision puts at risk the Tory’s manifesto pledge to build 300,000 new homes a year.

The rate of decline in total residential work was the largest in almost three years says PCBToday. The April survey respondents said that “delays in new house-building projects and a reduction in demand due to softer market conditions and increased borrowing costs contributed to this decline.”

The growth in new work in the commercial sector was linked to robust demand from clients, particularly for new commercial building projects. Employment rates in commercial construction rose moderately, but input buying only expanded slightly.

Supply chain improvements are continuing with suppliers’ lead times now reduced to their highest extent in just over thirteen-and-a-half years says PCBToday. This improved supply and reduced demand have together reduced cost pressures throughout the construction industry. The purchase price inflation rate was reported as the lowest since November 2020.

Construction firms are optimistic about a rise in business activity for the upcoming year, although confidence levels decreased to a three-month low. Around 44% of the survey participants predict an increase in output over the next year, while only 13% expect a decline.

Rising construction activity has brought cautious optimism

Respondents to the survey expressed optimism concerning the robust demand from clients. However, some companies raised concerns regarding the sluggish housing market activity, increasing interest rates, and the uncertain economic outlook.

“After a difficult start to the year in January, it’s positive to see the sector continuing to bounce back with a sustained period of growth. While the sector as a whole may not be firing on all cylinders, reports of both commercial work and civil engineering expanding demonstrate the greater confidence found in the market. Avoiding a recession and the continued easing of both cost and supply pressures have undoubtedly been key drivers in boosting activity,” said Fraser Johns, Beard finance director.

View Full Article: Signs of a turnaround in the UK construction industry…