Home repossessions defy predictions after mortgage rate rises

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The number of home repossessions by finance lenders after mortgage rates went up has decreased significantly – defying the expected trend that more people would lose their homes.

The findings come from the House Buyer Bureau which points out that since the Bank of England started raising interest rates at the end of 2021

The post Home repossessions defy predictions after mortgage rate rises appeared first on Property118.

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Demand for rented property to rise AGAIN as tenants put off home-buying

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Growing numbers of tenants are having to rely on the PRS for longer as they despair of ever being able to save for a deposit to buy their own home.

Paragon Bank’s survey of more than 2,000 private renters found that just over one third (35%) are actively saving to buy a home, with the majority of these (73%) in the process of saving for a deposit.

But over half of these aspirational home buyers (56%) expressed reduced optimism in their capacity to save due to economic pressures, either saying that they are only slightly confident or not confident at all.

While the majority – four in 10 – predict being ready to buy in the next one to two years, a similar proportion (44%) of those who are not confident in raising the funds for a deposit expect to buy a home within three and five years.

Over a quarter (28%) of those who are confident in their deposit-raising ability expect to buy a home within the next six to 12 months, falling to one in 10 among those who feel their capability to save will be compromised.

Paragon’s MD for mortgages, Richard Rowntree (pictured), says as would-be home buyers stay in rented properties for longer, it places further pressure on the supply of rented homes which is already surpassed by demand, exacerbating rising rents and limiting choice for tenants.

He adds: “This helps to reinforce my view that different housing tenures are inextricably linked, with the population moving between them influenced by their needs at the time. As a result, each tenure should be viewed equally, and policy should reflect this to minimise any barriers to much needed investment.”

View Full Article: Demand for rented property to rise AGAIN as tenants put off home-buying

LATEST: Number of licensing schemes and fines increased during 2022, data shows

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A record 525 landlord licensing schemes are expected to be live in England and Wales by next summer, with about 20 more active schemes compared to this month.

Licensing compliance company Kamma reports that 2022 has already been a busy year for local authorities, which have launched 52 schemes and consultations (mandatory, additional and selective), five more than the previous year.

Enforcement is also on the rise as councils step up their efforts to target the PRS. More than 12% of all fines in London were handed out in the last 12 months, an increase of £1 million since last December, indicating a major post-pandemic increase in enforcement.

Kamma says August topped the chart as the most active month for fine activity, with at least £238,000 in fines handed out in that month alone.

Errant landlords

Errant landlords and agents are also being hit with larger average fines, now £4,357 for landlords and £4,695 for letting agents. Kamma reports that 78% of all agent and landlord fines are related to management and licensing of houses and HMOs, which can be linked to the increase in both schemes and enforcement across London.  

Camden Council continues to top the enforcement list in terms of number of cases brought forward in the capital last year, followed closely by Newham and Waltham Forest, while Camden (£1.8m), Waltham Forest (£1.4m) and Newham (£1.2m) are the top three councils for total fines.

But Hammersmith and Fulham takes top spot for handing out the heftiest average fines of £19,800, followed by Hillingdon with an average of £13,500, and Hackney with £11,250.

Kamma CEO Orla Shields (pictured) says: “As awareness grows throughout 2023, more landlords and agents will be called out for malpractice, inevitably leading to a rise in fines.”

View Full Article: LATEST: Number of licensing schemes and fines increased during 2022, data shows

APPEAL: London landlords – help support your local community!

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If you’re a private landlord and would like to join Camden Council’s fight against homelessness, please get in touch.

Landlords in Camden and neighbouring boroughs are particularly being urged to come forward if they have studio flats or one or two-bedroom properties on the ground or first floor, or in a property with a lift.

Landlords will be offered cash incentives and extensive support for them and their tenants in exchange for letting to residents who we are helping to avoid homelessness or who are ready to move on from homelessness services and live independently. 

“A good home can change a life for the better, but it is something that can remain out of reach for some of the most vulnerable in our society, says Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member for Better Homes.

“In Camden – like the rest of London – the demand for affordable, safe homes outweighs supply.

“However, by bringing together and supporting landlords who can provide these homes for families at risk of homelessness, we hope to show once again the remarkable difference the community spirit in Camden can make.”

In exchange, the Council is offering landlords a cash incentive of up to £2,000 to let a one bed property and up to £4,500 for a two-bed property as well as an extensive package of support that includes: 

• Support from our Move on Team and Floating Support Service – Dedicated services that are ready to assist residents as they move on from homelessness. The teams provide tenants with guidance on finances, credit checks, utilities and managing housing benefit and other claims.
• Pre-tenancy training from the Piece-by-Piece Programme or Good Tenant Session – these services help residents to prepare for their tenancy by ensuring that they understand, and know how to meet, their tenancy and financial responsibilities.
• Advisers that will remain available throughout the lifetime of the tenancy. 

What we need

Studio flats or one or two bed properties including ground floor or a property in a block with access to a lift at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

What we offer

• A generous cash incentive
• Rent guarantee insurance
• Extensive support and advice to landlords and tenants throughout the life of the tenancy
• Reliable, long-term tenants for at least 12 months
• A free London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS) voucher worth £100

Interested in letting your property?

Get in touch with our Camden Lettings team on 020 7974 4158 or at camdenlettings@camden.gov.uk

View Full Article: APPEAL: London landlords – help support your local community!

New model for Student HMOs post Renters Reform Bill?

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For mitigation against the worst implications of the (expected) Renters’ Reform Bill for my Student HMOs, I am mulling a business model change to…. Leasing individual rooms on a fixed-term basis to the PARENTS rather than the occupying students….Will this work?

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Short term rentals trade body welcomes registration scheme

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Plans by the Government to introduce a registration scheme for short-term holiday lets have been welcomed by the Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA).

The trade association represents thousands of owners and businesses in the UK operating short term lets and they have been pushing for a national registration scheme.

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‘Abolishing Section 21 notices will make evicting anti-social tenants much harder’

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The Government must not proceed with its plans to abolish Section 21 evictions until the problem of anti-social behavior by tenants is tackled, it has been claimed.

To prove the point, some 3,500 landlords were quizzed this Autumn and, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has revealed, half of them who had served a repossession order did so due to anti-social behaviour.

Also, 84% of the landlords who experienced anti-social behaviour did not get any help from their local council and 75% were refused help from the police.

Evidence

They also faced difficulty gathering evidence, particularly when it concerned an HMO property because “tenants fear to speak up about other tenants acting aggressively or drinking or on drugs, for fear of safety”, one landlord reported.

Consequently, the NRLA claims banning Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will make evicting violent or abusive people even more difficult because in the future proving such behaviour will be difficult given a broader public reluctance to give evidence to a judge or help police.

The NRLA is calling for the Government to sort this out by prioritising the needs of anti-social behavior sufferers as set out in the Victims Commissioner’s 2019 report; make it a legal requirement of police and councils to tell landlords when tenants are behaving badly; and prioritise possession hearings that involve anti-social behavior.

Misery

Ben Beadle (pictured), Chief Executive of the NRLA, says: “The vast majority of tenants and landlords have a good relationship.

“However, the minority of renters committing anti-social behaviour cause misery for their fellow tenants and communities more widely.

“The police and councils are failing to provide the support landlords desperately need to take swift and effective action against nightmare tenants.

“This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency before Section 21 repossessions are ended.”

Read more: the nightmare of anti-social behavior among tenants.

View Full Article: ‘Abolishing Section 21 notices will make evicting anti-social tenants much harder’

NEW: Report says 87% of landlords will face full cost of EPC upgrades

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Just 0.2% of private landlords would qualify for full state support to help upgrade their properties under a proposed scheme to get the UK’s walls insulated, while 87% would be liable for the full costs.

The Economy 2030 Inquiry says simply basing hand-outs on means-tested benefits misses out too many poorer households, while using council tax bands includes too many richer ones. Instead, it suggests basing a model on the social care financial assessment to means tests assets and income which would share costs equitably between households and the state.

In its report – Hitting a brick wall – the think-tank says the PRS in England has the worst problem of very poor walls, with 25% of all rented properties having rock-bottom-rated walls, and a further 15% having poor walls.

Rental premium

It says that given that properties rated A to C on the EPC scale typically command a rental premium of about 5% on their D-rated counterparts, landlords can eventually recoup their outlay. When they come to sell, they would also be able to cash in on similar premiums seen in sale prices for more efficient properties.

It believes that insisting insulation upgrades are made at or around the point of sale would be a more effective policy approach for private rented stock than for owner occupied homes.

Read advice on energy efficiency laws.

Just one-in-eight (16%) of private rented properties in England with an EPC rating of D or below have not changed hands in the past decade, compared with two-thirds (67%) of low-efficiency properties in the owner-occupied sector.

The government is planning to extend the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards; draft proposals suggest that the minimum EPC requirement for rental properties could be increased to C for new tenancies in 2025 and existing tenancies in 2028.

Read the report in full.

View Full Article: NEW: Report says 87% of landlords will face full cost of EPC upgrades

Why now is the time to buy?

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So this isn’t going to be a subject everyone wants to hear! With the doom and gloom of property world war 3, are we landing our troops, or coming out of the ashes??

In other words, is now the time to buy or are we all going to see our portfolios drop in value?

The post Why now is the time to buy? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Why now is the time to buy?

LATEST: Government appears to confirm ‘biggest change to tenancy law in a generation’

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The Government appears to have confirmed that it will get rid of both Assured Periodic Tenancies and fixed-term tenancies in favour of a single, universal ‘periodic tenancy’.

This was originally flagged up in its Fairer Renting white paper published in June as a proposal but now officials want to hear the views of landlords, agents and tenants within a consultation due to finish on 25^th January 2023.

This consultation is part of a technical review of the effects on homelessness following the move to periodic tenancies and the abolition  of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions in favour of a revised list of mandatory of discretionary Section 8 grounds (see full list here).

It is designed to give renters more flexibility, stability and security in within the private and social rented sector, the consultation says.

But it will have one onerous consequence for landlords – all evictions will soon require a court hearing to evict a tenant at which a landlord will have to ‘prove grounds’.

This is different from the current situation, in which a Section 21 notice can be issued and an eviction notice secured (under certain circumstances) without having to give a reason.

Move quickly

“This quick-fire consultation on the impact on homelessness from the proposed Renters Reform Bill just shows that they are looking to move quickly next year and that they are concerned about the impact on local authority resourcing – and also that all references to Section 21, assured shorthold tenancies and fixed term tenancies are due to be removed,” says Tim Frome (pictured) of the Hamilton Fraser Group.

“Whether they have listened to the industry and allow fixed-term tenancies in certain sectors such as the student market remains to be seen.

“2023 is going to see the biggest change in tenancy law in a generation so all landlords and agents need to keep themselves updated with what is going on.”

View Full Article: LATEST: Government appears to confirm ‘biggest change to tenancy law in a generation’