7 Steps For Recession Success Over The Next Five Years

admin    Uncategorized     agents

7 steps to succeed in recession over the next 5 years presented by Ranjan Bhattacharya at the Baker Street Property Meet.

History is repeating itself, it’s like we’re back in the 1980s!

However, Uk property investors can use this past and present data to predict the future of property over the next five years and get ahead.

View Full Article: 7 Steps For Recession Success Over The Next Five Years

EXCLUSIVE: Can landlords still access councils’ empty homes funding?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Landlords with empty properties are being urged to take advantage of council cash to help fight the housing shortage.

About 300 councils currently offer a scheme – mainly loans to carry out repairs – although some provide grants, usually ranging from £5,000 to more than £25,000.

However, since 2015 when central government funding stopped, councils have had to find the cash from their own budgets.

Kent County Council’s No Use Empty scheme, for example, offers short-term loans of between £25,000 and £175,000, while Preston Council will offer to buy an empty property and renovate it for its use.

Often councils will only offer grants on the condition that landlords then take tenants in council temporary accommodation.

Camden’s Landlord Empty Property Grant scheme offers £15,000 for a bedsit up to £80,000 for a large building and has provided 56 grants – mainly for flats – since 2013/14.

It believes that many empty homeowners might struggle to repay a loan and that loan schemes can be complex and a burden to administer, says councillor Meric Apak (pictured) cabinet member for better homes.

He says: “One of the most successful approaches available to us is to use grants to support empty homeowners to undertake any works required, in return for which we ask them to house a homeless household we are working with.”

Action on Empty Homes says take-up is better wherever the scheme is more generous, but believes that with housing waiting lists getting worse, it’s a good way to help.

“It’s worth finding out whether your council does it,” campaigns manager Chris Bailey tells LandlordZONE.

“For those landlords looking to buy property at auction in up-and-coming areas, these are more likely to need some work, so it makes a lot of sense to look at a scheme that will help you.”

It believes a new national empty homes strategy would create a national fund to support councils in bringing tens of thousands of long-term empty homes back into use and says council tax rises alone are unlikely to be effective. “Carrots are needed as well as sticks,” adds Bailey.

Read more about empty homes.

View Full Article: EXCLUSIVE: Can landlords still access councils’ empty homes funding?

LATEST: Five letting agents kicked out of private rented sector after failing landlords

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Five estate agents have been kicked out of the property industry after failing landlords clients, it has been revealed.
Out of the half-dozen firms, RB Estates in Reading was the worst offendor, The Property Ombudsman (TPO) reveals.

A complaint against them came from a landlord when tenants set up a cannabis farm in their property.

The landlord complained about the quality of the referencing checks conducted by R B Estates (main picture) who classed the tenants as a group of professionals.

TPO found a number of significant concerns with the referencing process and several failings and made an award totalling £5,910 which included the loss of three months’ rent).

Closed down

The award is likely to be too late for the landlord – the agency has closed down.

Other agents stripped of their TPO membership, who therefore cannot carry on trading legally, including Slough firm Kingdom Property Services Ltd, which failed to hand over rent totalling £1,726 and Westminster-based Silverstone Properties London Ltd, which badly failed landlords on many occasions by poorly managing rented homes.

Silverstone traded as a Belvoir branch under the firms franchise model, but this office has now been taken over by the head office.

The other firms are SW London firm George Proctor & Partners, who recommended to a landlord a contractor who turned out to be a cowboy builder, national firm Rentify (which has subsequently closed down) which charged a landlord for work without informing him why.

As part of TPO’s process, notification of these expulsions are shared with all relevant bodies, including both Local and National Trading Standards for further investigation.

The memorandum of understanding between TPO and other redress schemes prevents agents from registering with another scheme until outstanding awards have been paid to consumers.

View Full Article: LATEST: Five letting agents kicked out of private rented sector after failing landlords

LATEST: Leicester ploughs on with selective licensing despite landlord criticism

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Leicester is going ahead with its selective licensing extension in three areas of the city, charging landlords £1,090 per property – the highest fee in the Midlands.

The council is introducing the scheme in parts of Westcotes, Fosse, Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields wards, while another will include Stoneygate, and a third cluster will focus on part of the Saffron ward, impacting 8,853 properties.

Interestingly, it seems to be giving landlords plenty of leeway as those who make a late application – after 10^th April 2025 – will only get a penalty of £200 added to the full licence fee.

As well as offering a 10% discount for those properties with an EPC rating of C or higher, landlords who apply within the first six months of the 10^th October launch date will also get a 10% discount.

EMPO believes that as similar schemes across the East Midlands have demonstrated, selective licensing doesn’t improve anti-social behaviour, bins on streets and deprivation.

Business development manager Giles Inman (pictured) tells LandlordZONE: “Our experience shows discretionary licensing schemes, without exception, deliver increased rents as landlords pass on the cost of licensing to tenants.

“With the cost-of-living crisis and the change in the Energy Price Cap in October 2022 and January 2023, the merits of implementing an expensive licensing scheme at this time will surely raise some eyebrows.”

Assistant city mayor for housing, councillor Elly Cutkelvin (pictured) says it finds some of the worst conditions in the private rented sector.

She adds: “We are committed to working with and supporting landlords and tenants to improve the quality of private-sector rented housing in the city and protecting the most vulnerable people by ensuring their housing and their landlords meet a higher standard in terms of management and safety.”

View Full Article: LATEST: Leicester ploughs on with selective licensing despite landlord criticism

Tribunal makes blatant ‘one set of rules for tenants, another for landlords’ judgement

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A First Tier Property Tribunal has admonished a council for coming down too hard on a sub-letting and benefit-claiming tenant who flouted housing rules.

Fenland District Council had fined Vasil Iliev £35,000 for non-compliance of HMO regulations and renting an unlicensed HMO, but the tribunal reduced this to just £3,500 after it ruled there was no evidence he had exploited the occupants.

Housing officers discovered eight Bulgarian men living in four bedrooms at the flat above a takeaway in Norfolk Street (pictured), Wisbech, which was in a poor state of repair with four category one hazards (excess cold, fire, food safety and domestic hygiene, pest and refuse) and one category two hazard (electrical deficiencies).

Worst ever

One officer said the property was ‘the worst condition’ he’d ever seen and was unsuitable for housing. An Emergency Prohibition Notice was issued and the tenants moved to temporary accommodation.

Iliev claimed he was only a tenant and that the occupants were not paying rent but merely contributing £60 per week towards the bills and that he was helping them out.

Although the tribunal agreed the property was an HMO, it ruled that the council had only assumed Iliev was the landlord and didn’t try to establish the extent of his interest in the property.

Read more: the difference between an HMO and a bedsit.

It added that he had tried and failed to run the takeaway downstairs and then allowed members of the community to occupy the flat for a short period – well below the market rate of at least £100 per room or £400 a week.

Professional landlord

It said: “He is clearly not a professional landlord and the arrangement was not at a commercial rent.

“There was also no evidence that he had any knowledge of the requirements for private sector lettings or licensing. Since the applicant is in receipt of benefits it is likely to take a very long time for him to pay this amount and it is clearly sufficient to deter him from reoffending.”

Read the judgement in full.

View Full Article: Tribunal makes blatant ‘one set of rules for tenants, another for landlords’ judgement

What landlords letting abroad need to know about Making Tax Digital

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Letting out property abroad can be a great way of generating extra income.

The property might have been bought primarily as an investment but for others or it could be second or holiday home let out when not in use.

There are plenty of things to think about, though. Different countries have different rules on renting out properties, and you may have to obtain and pay for licences.

You will also have to consider how you will manage the property remotely and the many other issues from insurance to maintenance.

Another important thing to think about is tax.

There are already a number of issues to consider, but now Making Tax Digital (MTD), the UK’s government initiative that aims to revolutionise the way that we all report and pay tax, is changing the landscape again.

Regular reporting

Making Tax Digital for landlords will require regular reporting of your finances using MTD-compatible accounting software, such as that offered by Sage, or a ‘bridging’ software that can take data from sources such as spreadsheets and make it accessible to HMRC’s own software.

Using a good accounting software package has a number of benefits, including allowing you to manage your bookkeeping, invoicing and expenses all in one place – which also helps you to keep on top of your tax affairs.

MTD currently applies to businesses registered for VAT. As the staged rollout continues, most individuals currently using Self-Assessment will have to make the change to MTD by April 2024 for income tax accounting and reporting.

This includes landlords, but only generally if the income from their properties is greater than £10,000 per year.

MTD also applies to sole traders, however, and the incomes from the rental and any sole trader businesses are combined for the purposes of tax reporting under MTD. This also applies to rental income from foreign (non-UK) property.

There’s a difference between making a mistake and deliberately trying to avoid tax, of course, but even making an honest mistake can land you in hot water.

One of the key differences between the existing tax reporting system – which is generally done annually – and MTD is a ‘regular obligation’ to provide quarterly updates.

Penalty points

If you fail to meet submission deadlines, you will accumulate ‘penalty points’, and if these build up, fines will automatically be applied. A new penalty system is also set to be introduced for late payments.

Letting property abroad also has a number of tax considerations that are not specifically connected to the change to MTD, beyond the requirements to make regular update submissions.

And there may be local taxes on foreign properties to be aware of, for example, which could include purchase taxes, tax on sales, income tax on rents, and annual taxes related to the property value.

Also, you may end up being taxed twice on your rental income, but you can normally claim tax relief to get some, if not all, of this tax back.

View Full Article: What landlords letting abroad need to know about Making Tax Digital

Property Redress Scheme Seeks 15 New Advisory Panel Members

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) was launched in 2014 and is the UK’s largest lettings redress scheme with over 13,250 letting agency branches covered. All estate agents, lettings agents and property managers in England and Wales must become members of such a scheme with the fine for non-participation up to £5000.

View Full Article: Property Redress Scheme Seeks 15 New Advisory Panel Members

There are signs that the property market is returning to normal

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Lloyd’s of London one of the world’s biggest high-risk insurers occupies one of London’ s landmark tower buildings, affectionately known as the inside-out-building.

Lloyd’s has occupied the building for 36 years. Its lease will run out in 2031 but there is a break coming up in 2026 which would give the business an opportunity to move, to downsize floor space or change configuration in a new home, in the light of Covid.

Instead the company has indicated it wants to stay in the building. It seems it has now abandoned the idea of downsizing from this famous City of London tower and is already in talks with the owners extend its stay.

The pandemic efficient switch to working from home (WFH), followed by a slow return of brokers to the central City office, has influenced the directors to re-consider any plans it may have had to exercise the break clause in 2026.

The company has confirmed to The Financial Times that it has decided face-to-face trading remains a key function of its insurance markets and it seems it still needs this amount of floor space to perform these operations.

Lloyd’s has also confirmed that it is in discussions the its landlord, Chinese insurer, Ping An, to extend its lease beyond 2031, according to the FT, “if the right terms are agreed”. Lloyd’s has said:

“Our preference is to stay in the building… We remain on course to confirm our plans later this year.”

Lloyd’s decision to stay probably comes as a relief to its landlord Ping An, which the FT says, last month instructed its architects, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) to come up with ideas as to what it should do with the building if Lloyds were to leave.

The near 300ft unique office high tower known as the “inside-out” building, so named because facilities such as its lifts and pipework are visible on the outside, and the covering is predominately glass.

Designed by the late Lord Rogers, the building was bought by Commerzbank for £231 million in 2005 and Ping An paid £260 million for the tower in 2013.

Now it is planning to stay, Lloyd’s has said that it wanted to build “the marketplace of the future”, which means having an integrated digital offering, as well as a “thriving physical space for our market to convene”.

More signs of recovery

Another sign of recovery is the aims of the latest cohort of graduates moving into the employment market. Having endured enforced lockdowns, living with parents for extended periods and on-line tutoring, students want to enter physical spaces and workgroups.

Some students have gone through their whole courses doing remote learning and now they simply have one priority at their interviews: they want to learn about the world of work through meeting people, interacting physically and making friends at work.

Companies also want to see their new starters in the office, even when the company is perhaps already offering working flexibly for its staff, but this means that enough of the key staff need to be in the office to help with inducting, training and developing new staff.

In many industries it’s still an employees’ and graduates’ market – there’s a scrabble for talent from companies that want to employ the best. In the case of, for example, property agents JLL, the company intends to take 100 trainees in the UK operations this year, that’s twice as many as they took on last year, and other companies seem to be doing likewise.

The students coming back

Another effect of the relaxing restrictions and a return to normal, the giant student accommodation specialist landlord, Unite Group PLC, is looking to raise its student hall rents more that it had forecast, as more students plan to return to national university campuses.

The multi-site student accommodation provider says it is experiencing strong demand again from both domestic and foreign students for the 2022-2023 academic year and has already firmed up 90% of its room lets.

With a general relaxation in Covid restrictions, students are planning on returning to face-to-face lectures, and there will be less restrictions on international travel. The company is banking on an occupancy in the high 90s percentage level.

Joe Lister, Unite chief financial officer told The Times:

“We continue to make good progress with bookings, with reservations now ahead of pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the strength of student demand.”

The company thinks it is well protected from a cost / price squeeze due to inflation, as it will be implementing annual re-pricing and cost hedging.

View Full Article: There are signs that the property market is returning to normal

Your last chance to sell your property portfolio for the best price

admin    Uncategorized     agents

You may think that you’ve missed your chance to sell a property portfolio for the best price, but surprisingly, the markets are showing otherwise.

According to the Halifax, property prices are defying the current economic downturn by continuing to rise.

View Full Article: Your last chance to sell your property portfolio for the best price

Landlords told to ‘brace themselves’ for inspections at 29,000 properties

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Durham Council has warned landlords covered by its new selective licensing scheme to brace themselves for inspections next month.

At least 29,000 properties, 42% of the county’s PRS, are covered by the scheme which launched in April after winning government approval.

Durham had originally submitted a plan that covered 65% of the county and included 51,000 private rented properties, but scaled it down following a consultation.

Councillor James Rowlandson (pictured), cabinet member for resources, investments, and assets, explains that the scheme is about holding landlords accountable who fail to provide appropriate living standards for their tenants.

He adds: “This is an opportunity for landlords to ensure their properties meet the required standard ahead of inspection, and to ensure they are complying with their legal obligations.”

The council is encouraging landlords to apply before the first inspections begin in August and says: “Landlords are required to carry out any necessary action identified during the inspection, such as repairs, in order to comply with the licence conditions. Failure to do so may result in enforcement action.”

The licence fee per property is a maximum of £500, with a discount if landlords meet certain criteria, however the reduction period for new applicants ends on 31st July.

In April, LandlordZONE reported that the council had waited three weeks after launching its scheme to share the news on its website – potentially leaving some landlords in the dark.

Despite announcing it had won approval back in December for a launch on 1^st April, the council’s website went quiet on the subject until 21^st April.

View Full Article: Landlords told to ‘brace themselves’ for inspections at 29,000 properties