Landlords contribute £3.61bn annually into local economies

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Aldermore’s new buy to let research2, surveying 1,000 UK-based landlords, highlights the important contribution landlords make to their local economy with eight in ten (81%) turning to a local tradesperson when their property requires work or renovation. Landlords spent on average £1,443 in the last 12 months on services such as plumbers

The post Landlords contribute £3.61bn annually into local economies appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Landlords contribute £3.61bn annually into local economies

Pockets where rental yields have lifted post tenant fees ban

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The latest research by lettings management platform, Howsy, has looked at which pockets of the buy-to-let market have seen the biggest uplifts in rental yields since the tenant fee ban came into force as part of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 back in June of last year.

The post Pockets where rental yields have lifted post tenant fees ban appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Pockets where rental yields have lifted post tenant fees ban

Today in politics: CMP, RLA research, Universal Credit and housing benefit

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We look at plans to extend the CMP deadline for letting agents yet again, debates on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit and research from the RLA and LGA. CMP regulations published  The draft Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Approval and Designation of Schemes) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 and explanatory note have now been published. Rules were […]

The post Today in politics: CMP, RLA research, Universal Credit and housing benefit appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

View Full Article: Today in politics: CMP, RLA research, Universal Credit and housing benefit

Newbie renting to Universal Credit claimants?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I have been browsing this site and found it to be very useful with lots of handy information and a great bunch of valued members – so I decided to join as well! I am having a few issues (with the agent &

The post Newbie renting to Universal Credit claimants? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Newbie renting to Universal Credit claimants?

Nation’s most valuable property postcodes revealed

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The latest research from estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has looked at which postcodes across the nation are the most valuable when it comes to the average price paid by UK homebuyers in the last year.  

GetAgent.co.uk
compiled data from Land Registry property transactions over the last year,
breaking each sale down to postcode level to see which two to four digits had
the highest property pedigree.  

London

Of course, the capital tops the list and in
fact, the top 22 most valuable postcodes are all located in London across the
boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.  

The cream of the crop is W1J, where property
sold prices averaged a respectable £7.6m over the last year. SW1A follows with
an average sold price of £5.5m, with W1S (£4.3m), W1K (£4.1m) and SW1X (£4m)
also amongst the most prestigious.

Outside of London

While the capital dominates there are postcode
pockets outside of London where the average sold price is £1m plus. GU25 in
Surrey is the most expensive property postcode (just) outside of the M25.
Property sold prices in the area averaged £1.5m last year placing it in the mix
with the capital’s big hitters.

You’d be forgiven for thinking this exclusive
property price club is restricted to the South, but you would be mistaken.
Manchester’s M2 postcode flies the flag for the North, with an average sold
price of £1.3m.

Buckinghamshire’s HP9 is the only other
postcode where sold prices have averaged over £1m in the last year at
£1,089,664.  

At the other end of the scale, Stockton’s TS2
ranks as the most affordable postcode with an average sold price of just
34,000, with 40 other postcodes also seeing the average property price come in
under the £100k mark.  

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk,
Colby Short, commented:

“Apparently there’s been a Brexit inspired
market slowdown? Although someone clearly forgot to inform homebuyers in these
pricey postcodes, with the average selling price remaining at a very healthy
level indeed.  

When it comes to the prices being paid for the
property in these postcodes it boils down to two things. Prestige and supply.
Well to do homebuyers want the prestige of living in one of these well-renowned
postcodes but unfortunately, there’s only a finite supply of homes available
within them.  

Therefore when one does hit the market, not
only does it hold its value pretty much regardless of wider market conditions,
but the chances of two or more buyers running the price up in a bidding war are
also high.  

Who would have thought four little letters
could have such an impact on property prices?” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Nation’s most valuable property postcodes revealed | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Nation’s most valuable property postcodes revealed

Low LTV costs?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I have two BTL interest only mortgage, which are coming to an end and I need to find another provider.

Unfortunately, the LTV has changed considerably as the flats have reduced in value and in order to find another decent mortgage rate I will have to reduce the mortgage amount by £65000 from my savings to get the LTV to 75%.

The post Low LTV costs? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Low LTV costs?

Will self-managing landlords ever embrace tech?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Small fortunes have been spent trying to persuade self-managing landlords to use online platforms, but are they really needed? We asked one tech CEO to make his elevator pitch.

Hundreds of millions of
pounds have been spent developing online tech to help landlords manage their
properties direct.

And this outpouring of
investor cash appears to be working. When LandlordZone sat down with a dozen
landlords last week to talk to them about their thoughts on the property
market, many but not all had used tech in one form or another to manage their
tenancies or businesses.

We sat down with Calum
Brennan, CEO of England’s largest and oldest online lettings platform
Howsy.co.uk, to find out if all this tech has a future or whether it’s just a
passing tech fad.

What advantages does tech
offer landlords?

Brennan says he started up
Howsy because he believes data can be used to make renting better and, for
example, accurately price properties when they are listed and therefore help
‘shift them quicker’.
But Howsy’s tech can also complete some slightly more Orwellian feats including
predicting when a tenant is going to default on a rent payment, and whether a
landlord should repair or replace a boiler, for example.
“That’s what got me excited,” he says.

Landlord acceptance

Brennan says it used to be
difficult to get landlords to accept tech, but claims it’s getting easier as
they begin to use comparable ‘disruptor’ platforms such as Uber and become
familiar with the advantages of online.

“I recently moved to a small
town near our new Coventry customer service centre and found that I could use a
laundry app to get my clothes dry cleaned; something that would have been
unimaginable five years ago,” he says.

Costs

Brennan says Howsy’s tech enables it to hugely increase the margins that it makes from each property compared to a traditional letting agent and therefore this is passed on to the landlord as a lower fee.

Don’t landlords like local?

“Local expert agents have
much to offer but their service levels and quality can vary from town to town
or area to area, whereas our tech offers a consistent service and a national
brand regardless of where it’s delivered,” he says.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Will self-managing landlords ever embrace tech? | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Will self-managing landlords ever embrace tech?

HMO Landlord Defeats VOA in Land Tribunal Ruling on Banding Individual HMO Rooms for Council Tax

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We published an article a few weeks ago by Andrew Roberts from The Great Property Meet which asked our community for help and guidance for one of his Members in preparation for a Land Tribunal hearing (article link here).

The post HMO Landlord Defeats VOA in Land Tribunal Ruling on Banding Individual HMO Rooms for Council Tax appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: HMO Landlord Defeats VOA in Land Tribunal Ruling on Banding Individual HMO Rooms for Council Tax

Cardiff licensing consultation extended over RLA consultation period concerns

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A consultation on plans to renew an additional HMO licensing scheme in the city has been extended. The initial consultation period ran for only seven weeks and was due to close on 31st January, something the RLA raised concerns about in its response to the consultation. Specifically, because the consultation was short and ran over […]

The post Cardiff licensing consultation extended over RLA consultation period concerns appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

View Full Article: Cardiff licensing consultation extended over RLA consultation period concerns

Scotland mulls reform of outdated commercial lease laws…

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Commercial Lease:

In Scotland (unlike
in England), the law of commercial property leases, when it comes to
ending a lease, is based largely on ancient common law and some
obscure statute law, and is deemed to be out-dated for modern
commercial practice.

Although there has
been a general reluctance to legislate – and in contemplating it
there is disagreement among stakeholders as to what should replace
the existing rules – there is nevertheless concern that the current
system is likely to discourage investors and occupiers, giving
England a competitive advantage when attracting inward investment.

In England and Wales
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (Part II) was an important piece of
legislation which has governed the letting of commercial premises
relatively effectively for many years. English & Welsh Business
Tenancies are primarily contractual in nature, i.e., based on English
contract law, a contractual agreement between the parties and usually
result from a protracted pre-contract negotiation of the terms
between landlord and tenant.

However, in England
& Wales Part II of the Act recognises that business tenants need
protection since they stand to lose their business and any goodwill
they may have built up over years, and perhaps much of the value of
their stock and equipment, if they have to leave the premises
abruptly at the end of their lease term. Therefore, the statutory
rules kick in when the lease terms ends.

So, the L&T 1954
Act is primarily intended to provide business tenants with some
certainty, the right, if they wish, to renew their lease on the
expiry of the contractual term on essentially the same terms, subject
to a review of the rent to open market rent.

The landlord is
entitled to oppose lease renewal on limited and specified grounds
(such as redevelopment), but may have to compensate the tenant. The
downside is that if the tenant contests the issue, the matter is
referred to arbitration or court potentially resulting in significant
uncertainty, cost and delays.

The 1954 Act does
give a degree of certainty for both sides if they follow the
statutory rules, which are quite clear. It is well tried and tested
and many precedents have been set through court cases over the years,
meaning the process, though not perfect, works well for both
landlords and tenants, large and small.

In Scotland,
commercial lease law is a “grey area of lease law” and needs to
be in black and white argues Stephen Webster, a Partner, Commercial
Property, at Urquharts writing for The Scotsman newspaper.

Following an
extensive consultation exercise, the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) is
soon expected to make recommendations for the reform of Scots law
relating to the termination of commercial leases.

Landlords and
tenants will often assume that a Scottish commercial lease will end
on the date the lease says it will, but that is not necessarily so.
Under the Scottish common law doctrine of ‘tacit relocation’, if
neither party has given the required notice to quit in time, the
lease is extended automatically at the same rent and otherwise
essentially on the same terms, for at least a year.

For the unwary
landlord or tenant this can cause much disruption and possibly
financial distress if a new tenant has been lined up, or the tenant
has made commitments elsewhere. On the other hand it can sometimes
work to the advantage of one or other party if they are ignorant of
the rules.

According to Mr
Webster, there is no obvious reform solution in Scotland.

“If tacit
relocation is abolished, should parties have the right to opt back
in? But if they don’t opt back in and then, after its expiry date,
act as if the lease is continuing, does there need to be a new
statutory scheme to regulate what happens (like there is in
England)?” he says.

“…would such a
statutory scheme provide more certainty, or would it just introduce a
raft of new areas for dispute? If tacit relocation is retained, could
its main dangers be addressed by allowing the parties to agree at the
outset that any automatic extension will be only for short rolling
periods, rather than potentially a whole year?”

“Consultation
responses indicate that there is no clear consensus on what should
happen. Tacit relocation operates where neither party has given the
requisite notice to quit. It is therefore vital that landlords and
tenants know exactly what is required (i.e. when notice needs to be
given, what it needs to say, and how it needs to be given).”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Scotland mulls reform of outdated commercial lease laws… | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Scotland mulls reform of outdated commercial lease laws…