LATEST: ‘Keep paying your rent’ lettings agents’ leader tell tenants

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Letting agents have called for tenants to keep up with their rent to ensure the private rental market is ‘sustained and the wider economy is boosted during these uncertain times’.

The comments have been made by Phil Keddie (pictured), President of trade association ARLA Propertymark as its own data shows the post-Covid property market continuing to boom, echoing similar data from tech platform Goodlord during June.

Last month was a record for the private rental market with tenant demand and rental supply both at their highest since records began for June.

ARLA Propertymark, which has gathered the data, says the extraordinary figures are due to the ‘post Covid bounce’ seen in other part of the housing market, and the fact that June is usually a quiet month for landlords.

The spike in activity within the market has also prompted more landlords to increase their rent when properties are re-advertised and Propertymark says nearly a third of its member agents reported this.

“Our latest figures show that the rental market is continuing to pick up following the Covid-19 lockdown,” says Keddie.

“The record-breaking supply of rental stock and demand from tenants for this time of year paints an optimistic picture for the summer months, indicating that the market will be more active than the usual seasonal lull.

“As the market continues to recover from the pandemic, it’s essential that everyone continues to keep up with their rent in order to sustain the market and help boost the economy during these uncertain times.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: ‘Keep paying your rent’ lettings agents’ leader tell tenants | LandlordZONE.

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Covid has hit low-income families in private rental accommodation hardest, says research

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One in five parents in private rented accommodation are now more concerned their family will become homeless following the Covid-19 crisis, Shelter has claimed.

The homeless charity’s research, carried out by YouGov, reveals the precarious nature of private renting as opposed to stable social housing for disadvantaged families.

Their findings show that many families in private rented accommodation have had to cut back on food since lockdown in order to pay the rent, as well as having to take on credit card debts and payday loans.

The new research also reveals that many parents have had to resort to help from food banks to feed their families since the pandemic hit.

Shelter is campaigning for more social housing to be built to give hard-pressed families access to affordable housing and a way out of private rented accommodation.

Polly Neate, Shelter’s Chief Executive, says: “Families are going hungry and taking on risky debt to pay private rent, and yet for too many even these sacrifices won’t be enough to avoid homelessness. 

“These parents need a way out of living hand to mouth, but so far the Government has offered them no alternative to private renting.”

“As rescue and recovery packages roll in, the government needs to prioritise building safe homes that everyone can afford. 

“Cuts to stamp duty are not a solution when you’re struggling to keep a roof over your head, and terrified of becoming homeless at the hands of this crisis. Many renting families will feel like they’ve been sold down the river without a paddle.”  

Read more about Shelter.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Covid has hit low-income families in private rental accommodation hardest, says research | LandlordZONE.

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Suburban commercial property boom predicted by surveyors

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Suburban office locations are set to flourish in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

In the RICS Q2 UK Commercial Property Survey, 64% of respondents answered yes when asked whether they felt demand for office space in suburban locations is likely to rise over the next two years.

In addition, anecdotal evidence from the survey shows that there could be a shift towards a demand for higher quality office space, with an increased focus on wellbeing and sustainability.

These findings represent good news for landlords with quality out-of-town office space as companies take the decision to relocate their operations away from major city centres.

With the increase in the prevalence of home working, the RICS survey also shows that rents are due to fall significantly across the office and retail sectors in the year ahead, reflecting a decline in tenant demand.

High street revival?

However, on a more positive note, other evidence from the survey shows that local shopping behaviour may be on the increase which could lead to a much-needed revival of the local high street retail environment.

Tarrant Parsons, RICS Economist, says: “The latest survey feedback unsurprisingly reflects the significant disruption and uncertainty that emerged across the economy during the lockdown period.

“With demand from both occupiers and investors falling sharply, respondents now anticipate rents and capital values will come under downward pressure while the market adjusts to a drastically changed economic environment.

“In particular, the recent shift into remote-working raises many questions across the office sector, with respondents expecting businesses to re-evaluate their office space requirements over the next two years. On a brighter note, the outlook is already showing signs of recovery across the industrial sector, which remains set to benefit longer-term from an acceleration in the growth of ecommerce.”

Read the report in full.

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Some signs of mortgage market recovery

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The Bank of England have released their June report for money and credit statistics showing UK household’s net borrowing was £1.8 billion after large repayments in previous months. The increase can all be accounted for by mortgage borrowing with mortgage interest rates broadly remaining unchanged.

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Has change of use application criteria relaxed?

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I bought a 4 bed property outright in Derbyshire and I would like to convert it from a c3 to a C2 (see below)

I have applied to the council for permission and waiting for a response.

However

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West End commercial property activity nosedives by 67% during Covid, reveals Savills

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Figures released by Savills show how hard the pandemic has hit London’s commercial property market.

West End leasing activity in the second half of the year is down 67% on the long-term Q2 average, not surprising given its covers the key lockdown months of April, May and June of this year.

To date, Savills has completed 102 commercial transactions, which is just over half the number it carried out in the same period last year (190).

Over the past two months, many of Savills’ tenants have put their requirements on hold, seeking short-term extensions and reviewing their options.

On a more positive note, there has been little evidence of any substantial downward pressure on headline rents.

At the end of the first half of this year, the average prime rent stood at £113.66 per sq ft, which is down by only 4% on the average achieved during the first half of 2019.

London’s tech and media sectors continue to account for more a third (35%) of demand this year for Savills’ clients’ properties followed by the insurance and financial sector (21%).

Next up are retail and leisure and business and consumer, each accounting for a 12% share of take-up.

Significant transactions for Savills‘ West End commercial team in June saw Roxor Games pre-letting the entire building at 25 Golden Square, Ted Baker pre-letting six floors of the Tribeca scheme at 2–6 Pancras Way, and Boohoo.com leasing the fifth floor of Euston Tower (pictured).

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – West End commercial property activity nosedives by 67% during Covid, reveals Savills | LandlordZONE.

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Sort out Universal Credit problems or landlords will begin drifting away, expert warns DWP

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The UK’s leading Universal Credit (UC) consultant Bill Irvine has warned that landlords will soon start drifting away from accepting tenants on benefits unless the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) sorts out its creaking administration system soon.

His comments come at a crucial time as the debate between landlords and housing campaigners hots up over the issue of ‘No DSS’ blanket policies employed by some landlords and letting agents, and the recent Shelter-sponsored landmark court case.

“Universal Credit in itself is workable for tenants and landlords and has admirable aims, but the way it’s run has been increasingly frustrating and illogical for several years,” he says.

Irwine works every day at the coal face, fielding calls from both newbie and experienced landlords, many of whom are trying to set up or manage an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) to have the housing element of their tenant’s UC paid direct to them.

He believes that the DWP’s ideological obsession with giving tenants more responsibility by paying what used to be called Housing Benefit direct to them also means that landlords are being kept out of the loop when decisions are made about individual APAs.

Talking about one case, Irvine says: When, finally, [the decision letter] arrived, it said – “sorry, but due to “GDPR” we can’t tell you anything.

Lame excuses

“Any landlord or letting agent involved with the scheme will be familiar with that same lame excuse used in APA refusals time and time again.”

One of the most common problems is that even when the DWP does decide to allow an APA, all too often the money is paid direct to the tenant by mistake anyway.

“In one recent case the landlord only got the money because I was involved and had been alerted informally that the payment was on its way – so the landlord went down and persuaded the tenant to pay the owed rent to him,” he says.

“That was a good outcome, but within a system that is sometimes run by inexperienced and poorly-trained DWP staff, and that is designed to keep human intervention to a minimum, it often means landlords are out of pocket for months and even years.

“And when a problem is uncovered by the DWP, they will often suspend payments while they investigate. This only helps the tenant get further into arrears and landlords be owed more money, and makes evictions more likely.”

Read more about Universal Credit and the private rental market.

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Licensing latest: Council introduces HMO rules in four towns in one go

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Denbighshire County Council has voted through an Additional Licensing Scheme for Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in a move to improve safety for occupants and help curb anti-social behaviour.

The scheme, which will apply to the Welsh towns of Rhyl, Prestatyn (pictured), Denbigh and Llangollen, brings in new regulations to better control safety, minimum room sizes, and “reasonable procedures” regarding anti-social behaviour.

The seaside town of Rhyl – which has the highest number of HMOs of the four selected towns at approximately 840 – has had an Additional Licensing Scheme in operation for 10 years.

But Denbighshire’s councillors have seen fit to enforce tougher regulations for both Rhyl, Prestatyn, Denbigh and Llangollen over concerns about anti-social behaviour and poor standards of accommodation.

As well as agreeing to abide by the new, stricter rules, landlords will have to pay between £420- £1,370 per property for a five-year licence.

Denbighshire’s Built Environment and Public Protection Manager Gareth Roberts says these four towns were picked because of their high proportion of HMOs and levels of complaints related to anti-social behaviour.

The new measures – which will come into force in around three months’ time – are intended to improve both the lives of Denbighshire’s HMO tenants and their neighbouring residents.

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DWP – obliged to helping tenant secure their TA?

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Where the DWP pays the rent direct to the Landlord, the position is due for review at certain periods. Are they obliged to tell the Landlord the review date? Especially when the Landlord has requested a direct payment.

Are they obliged to send payments direct to tenant if they ask at any time irrespective of the direct payment already established?

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Getting redress when agents offer poor service is now 60% faster, claims scheme

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Members of the public including landlords who complain about estate agents were given redress for their complaints within 16 days last year, down from 42 days the year before.

The figures are published today by the Property Redress Scheme (PRS), which says the time savings came despite last year being a busy period for the scheme as it saw a rapid increase in membership and a corresponding 51% surge in complaints from 959 to 1,444.

The membership surge reflects both new agents joining the industry and, in 2018, the withdrawal of Ombudsman Services from providing redress within the housing market, leaving PRS and The Property Ombudsman.

Schemes like these are the first port of call for landlords who have disputes with lettings agents about arguments over fees, service levels and other issues.

£616,000

Those who have their disputes adjudicated in their favour are then paid awards by agents, and last year the average stood at £1,224.81 while the scheme awarded £616,000 in total. Its highest award was £25,000.

“We aim to provide the best service for our members, which is why we’ve focussed on reducing the time it takes to resolve a complaint using early resolution,” says Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at PRS.

“We hope to continue to improve this record, which is why we launched our tenancy mediation service earlier this year. Not only will that help agents resolve issues faster, but it will also help with compliance as all parties will have worked together to bring the complaint to a resolution.”

PRS has teeth – last year it expelled 61 agents for non-compliance with awards.

If expelled, a sales or letting agents cannot carry on doing business legally, as they are required to be a member of an approved redress scheme by law and face prosecution if they don’t.

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