Rental market boom continues as lockdown eases, letting agents report

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The rental market is booming as demand for properties rises, according to ARLA Propertymark’s latest PRS report.

The average number of new prospective tenants registered per branch jumped to 84 in March, up from February’s figure of 82 – the third consecutive monthly increase. Regionally, the West Midlands saw the highest number of new tenants registered, with an average of 157, while Scotland’s agents saw the lowest, with an average of 31 new prospective tenants.

Tenants experiencing rent rises went up last month, as 60% of agents saw landlords increasing rent compared to 49% in February, while it was just 30% in March 2019. The number of tenants successfully negotiating rent reductions fell to 1.7% in March, down from 2%, which is the lowest number recorded since October last year.

Managing to fall

The number of properties managed per letting agent branch fell from 195 in February to 193. The West Midlands had the highest number of properties managed per letting agent branch with 260, while the capital’s agents experienced the lowest amount of rental stock with an average of 128 properties managed per branch.

The average number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties remained consistent for the sixth month in a row, at four per branch in March. This figure was also the same in March 2018 and March 2019.

ARLA Propertymark’s chief policy advisor, Mark Hayward (pictured), says: “Of course, as demand rises and the number of properties decreases, rent prices will inflate, but we’d encourage letting agents to continue to support landlords and their tenants throughout the ongoing Covid-19 difficulties where possible and ultimately it is positive to see rent flowing and incomes returning for many people.”

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Extreme rogue landlord avoids jail despite breaching national banning order

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An extreme rogue landlord who ignored all attempts to make him adhere to HMO regulations has been fined £8,500 after breaching a national banning order.

Bournemouth businessman Mahmut Gilgil gained the dubious fame of being the second landlord in the UK to be given a banning back in June 2020 after numerous regulation breaches.

The 44-year-old was banned from letting or managing a property for five years but despite this he has been found to have violated multiple HMO regulations at a property in Poole above a kebab shop.

This included overcrowding, a lack of natural light or ventilation and ignoring required repair and upgrade works at the address.

Three improvement notices were issued to Gilgil by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council two years ago but last summer it was clear he had ignored them, so the council decided to bring a prosecution instead, which has now been completed despite his failure to attend court.

He has now been convicted of both failing to comply with an improvement notice, ignoring an overcrowding notice and failing to comply with a housing prohibition notice.

Magistrates issued an £8,500 fine, with a requirement to also pay £500 costs and a £190 victim surcharge.

“It is unfortunate that the notices given were breached and the correct standards were not met, but ensuring housing is both safe and legal is paramount and the council will take formal action against landlords where these standards are not being maintained,” Kelly Ansell, BCP’s service director of communities (pictured) told local media.

Read more about Gilgil’s banning order.

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Housing Possession Mediation scheme could save on expensive lengthy evictions

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 The pilot of the government’s Housing Possession Mediation Scheme can help letting agencies and landlords recover arrears without lengthy waits for court evictions, according to PayProp. Launched recently by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the free arrears mediation service aims to help parties resolve disputes more quickly without the need for court action.

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New code of practice for assessing cladding

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Residents and building owners are set to benefit from a new code of practice for professionals assessing buildings’ external walls and cladding systems. As part of reform of the building sector, the government has commissioned the British Standards Institution (BSI) to draft a new code of practice for assessors when examining external walls and cladding.

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What does 118 mean?

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I have been asked many times over the last 10 years why we decided to call our website Property118

There have been many wrong guesses, and I have to admit several of them have been absolutely fascinating, so I decided to do a bit more research.

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Student disappointment over ‘useless’ rent repayment orders goes viral

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Students who won a rent repayment order against their rogue landlord are angry that they’re now having to pursue the money in the small claims court.

One of the tenants, Megan Cole, says they left the tribunal feeling overwhelmed and powerless, and has used the experience to write her dissertation, ‘The Power Dynamic in Renting: Rogue Landlords, Vulnerable Tenants and Policy Proposals for Change’, which has since caused a Twitter storm when she posted it online, with more than 117,000 likes in a few days.

After spending a year living in their shoddy and unlicensed HMO in Selly Oak, Birmingham, the eight students were awarded £35,000 by a tribunal.

But their landlord denied all responsibility for the house not being licensed as well as the poor conditions, which included leaky showers, broken boiler and ants’ nests.

After checking with Birmingham City Council, which told them of the landlord’s rogue status, the eight-bedroom property was deemed un-licensable due to its condition and was only suitable for five tenants.

Landlords can pay a rent repayment order in instalments but if they’re reluctant to pay at all, tenants can apply to the county court for permission to reclaim the money as a civil debt.

More money

“We feel stuck in our situation, unsure of how to obtain the money we are entitled to and wary of forking out more money,” says Meghan.

“This anger and frustration fuelled my dissertation. Those suffering in poor quality housing and squalor shouldn’t require power and money to fix their situations. Ultimately, the nature of UK legislation means this is the case.”

Giles Peaker, housing lawyer at Anthony Gold, tells LandlordZONE that their situation is not uncommon. He says: “Plenty of people don’t pay and the court can’t order your bank to pay either.

“If it’s a rogue landlord company they’ll just fold that and it will reappear with a slightly different name, while it’s also more difficult with a rent-to-rent set up.”

Read more about recent rogue landlord cases.

Pic credit: Megan Cole, Twitter

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Student disappointment over ‘useless’ rent repayment orders goes viral | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST TRENDS: Covid boosts demand for medium-term renting

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Business people relocating with their families has increased demand in the emerging medium-term let market.

Relocation rentals giant HomeLike reports rising bookings for its properties as families look for temporary accommodation for relocation and work, or to be closer to relatives.

The global online platform, which rents fully furnished apartments for those needing temporary accommodation for 30 days or more, adds that the increase in digital nomads – capable of working and living anywhere, and the need for UK companies to have an EU office following Brexit, is likely to spark a further increase in bookings.

As more people work from home, the option to travel for work and take the whole family is something HomeLike hopes to capitalise on, says Cherry Wang (pictured), country manager UK & Ireland.

She adds: “Mid-term rentals offer business executives the opportunity to create temporary second homes in their location of work, meaning their families can either live with them or visit more frequently where it feels like their home rather than a temporary living space.

“This need has been highlighted due to the pandemic where people wanted their families with them as we went into local lockdowns.”

In 2020, nearly 70% of its bookings were either for a work relocation or work project, which would normally last three to four months, while 25% of bookings were for temporary accommodation needs, such as to self-isolate, while doing house renovations or in-between house moves. The average length of stay increased by 10% last year.

HomeLike reports that 52% of all bookings for stays of over 30 days are now booked instantly, which shows that temporary home searchers are more comfortable making bigger ticket transactions online and points to a significant shift towards digitisation in the sector. 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST TRENDS: Covid boosts demand for medium-term renting | LandlordZONE.

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HMO clampdown: Leading northern council to tighten planning rules

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A large unitary authority in the NW of England is proposing more restrictive planning rules for landlords who seek to gain permission for HMOs.

Cheshire East Council has published plans within an obscure document detailing various changes to existing planning policies as well as proposed new ones.

The council’s ‘emerging plans’, which detail how it expects to develop planning laws within its borders, says aims to further restrict HMOs.

This says: “The change of use of a dwelling to an HMO will be permitted provided that the number of existing HMOs within a 50 metre radius of an application site does not exceed 10% of all dwellings and proposals must not result in the ‘sandwiching’ of an existing single household (C3).”

Adverse impact

The proposed changes will also require that any development of a property into an HMO must not have an adverse impact upon the character and appearance of the property or the local area; on-street car parking levels; the capacity of local services/facilities and the amenity or the environment of surrounding occupiers.

Cheshire East covers a large swathe of suburban and rural England to the south of Manchester covering affluent towns such as Knutsford, Macclesfield, Congleton and Nantwich (pictured).

Faced by criticisms from local residents that many areas have too many HMOs and that many of them have been converted poorly, councils are reaching for these kinds of planning guidance rules more and more.

The highest profile decision was made by Brighton and Hove Council, which introduced similar restrictions in June last year.

Pic credit: General Views via Flickr

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – HMO clampdown: Leading northern council to tighten planning rules | LandlordZONE.

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Portfolio Landlords: Now is the time to sell your properties for the best price

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By David Coughlin, CEO, National Residential

House prices are predicted to fall following the end of the stamp duty holiday and tax bills are high. If you’re a portfolio landlord, now is the perfect window to sell part or all of your buy-to-lets, from the experts who know exactly how to do it, for the best price.

We’re all in the same boat, having built up a handful of properties in our portfolio, we’re now facing higher tax bills than ever before, and the fear of our portfolios losing their value when the stamp duty holiday ends. As a private landlord myself, I understand all the challenges landlords are facing right now. It’s why I set up the Landlord Sales Agency, and the best team in the business to help, with over 20 years of experience behind us to solve every landlord problem, no matter what the problem. I’ve personally got 2,500 houses over the line and sold, even with tenants still in the properties. There’s no issue myself and my team can’t overcome, delivering win-win solutions for landlords, so they can sit back and relax knowing everything is in hand.

A study conducted by landlord insurance provider Simply Business found that over a quarter of landlords have already made the decision to reduce the size of their property portfolios. That number is set to increase as landlords cash in whilst they can still get the best prices before the 30^st June. You need a company you can trust, who will take away the hassle, and make sure you get the best price, fast. That’s where we come in.

Here at the Landlord Sales Agency, we know exactly what to do, and as it’s founded by landlords for landlords, there’s no better team in the country to solve all your issues. We’ll raise the cash you need by getting the best price for your properties, whether it’s in selling part of your portfolio, or selling the whole portfolio. We’re faster than any other company: all our properties sell within 28 days or less.

What’s more, we’ll go that extra mile to not only solve your tax issues, we can even pay your tax bills for you with cash advances, that’s how confident we are we’ll get the job done.

Recently a landlord approached us with a portfolio of 5 tenanted properties that spanned from Staffordshire all the way up to Newcastle Upon Tyne. Like many landlords who’ve been approaching us recently, he wanted to sell up his portfolio fast, but get a great price. We promised him exactly that. With a mixture of marketing to both investors and first-time buyers to drive up the prices, and Covid-friendly video tours, we went all out to keep that promise.

Recently a landlord approached us with a portfolio of 5 tenanted properties that spanned from Staffordshire all the way up to Newcastle Upon Tyne. Like many landlords who’ve been approaching us recently, he wanted to sell up his portfolio fast, but get a great price. We promised him exactly that. With a mixture of marketing to both investors and first-time buyers to drive up the prices, and Covid-friendly video tours, we went all out to keep that promise.

The first property sold in 2 days. 10 days after that 2 more sold. By day 24 the fourth property had sold in Durham, and by day 26 the last and final small property was sold in Lancashire. The fifth property was sold to a buyer who was so happy with the photos and the video tour we’d got from the tenant, he made an offer without even viewing the property.

The only task the landlord had done throughout the sale was make the decision to contact us to sell. We handled everything else.

It really was that simple. £500,000 made in 26 days with zero hassle, worry or stress.

The landlord was able to sit back and enjoy just over 3 weeks of relaxation knowing he had the best team in the UK solving every single challenge for him.

Whether it’s selling part of your portfolio to release cash to pay the upcoming tax bills, or selling your full portfolio now before house prices fall, Landlord Sales Agency are doing it, solving all your problems in a way that no other company is doing.

So if you’re a Landlord who is considering selling your property portfolio, get in touch today and see for yourself what we can do for you.

Contact Landlord Sales Agency:

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©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Portfolio Landlords: Now is the time to sell your properties for the best price | LandlordZONE.

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Tenant’s accidental damage to bath?

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I have an apartment in a block of flats where the buildings insurance is paid for as part of the management charges.

My tenant has accidentally put a hole into the side of the bath and a replacement bath

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