The UK Rental Market is not all doom & gloom…

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Buy-to-Let:

Andrew Turner, interim
chief executive of Commercial Trust, writing for the FT Adviser, thinks that buy-to-let is far from a sick patient when
it comes to providing good returns for private investors.

Responding to media
reports about how uncertainty has slowed down both the buy-to-let and
residential housing market, particularly because of Brexit, Turner is still
bullish.

Not denying there’s been a slowdown in both residential and
buy-to-let markets over the past 12 months, Turner cites UK Finance reporting
that while buy-to-let re-mortgage activity has soared, the total number of
buy-to-let purchase completions in 2018 was 11.2 per cent less than in 2017.

Also, UK Finance’s figures for January 2019 show a 1.5 per
cent reduction in the volume of residential lending, over the start of 2018. People,
Turner concludes, are sitting tight, and renting for now, rather than buy their
own homes.

Some Key Property
Market Indicators:

• There has been a slowdown in the buy-to-let sector
• There has been intervention by the government in the buy-to-let market, but
• The number of buy-to-let products shows lenders are positive about the outlook

Index of Private Housing Rental Prices indices, Great Britain, January 2011 to January 2018

A main reason for the continuing health of the rental sector
is that for many of those who are renting, saving for a deposit remains very
challenging. The average time for a young person to scrape together a
sufficient amount for a deposit on a small property in London is something like
10 years.

According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local
Government’s (MHCLG) in its recently published English Housing Survey for
2017-18, the private rental sector (PRS) has remained unchanged over the last
five years at 4.5m households. This is equal to almost 20% of the total.

The survey shows that around 58 per cent of tenants expect
to buy a property eventually, and 26% of them expect to do this within the next
two years. On the other hand, around 41% thought it would take around five
years before they could own.

Those timescales, Turner suggests, means that Brexit is not
a major consideration, but that landlords have “more immediate and tangible
concerns�, basically because of the accelerated government intervention in the
sector.

Tax changes such as the introduction of a stamp duty premium
on additional properties, and the gradual reduction of mortgage interest tax
relief are worrying developments for buy-to-let landlords.

In addition, regulatory changes around the tenancy laws including
new HOM (house in multiple occupation) licensing laws, tougher safe living and
energy efficiency standards, plus the imminent tenant fees ban, have all
conspired to make some landlords decide to sell up, or at lease downsize, if not
delay investment.

Small-scale and amateur landlords are finding it
increasingly difficult to keep abreast of the changes and many are at a loss to
adapt and develop a successful formula which works for them. Letting is
becoming more labour intensive due to all the “red-tape� around lettings, so
unless they are very well organised it’s difficult for them to find the time,
when they are working as well.

Larger-scale portfolio landlords are able to devote the
necessary time and position their business operation in a tax efficient way, particularly
in regard to the new mortgage borrowing requirements.

So the game is swinging away from the casual or amateur
landlord towards the portfolio landlord who is well organised, has strategies in
place that take advantage of economies of scale and risk reduction.

“There are still plenty of reasons why buy-to-let
investments can offer opportunities to those looking for solid financial
returns,� says Turner.

In the right place and with the right kind of tenancy
management, buy-to-let still compares very favourably with other forms of
investment.

The positive factors that Turner identifies are:

• There are opportunities in the market as prices come “off
the boil� meaning that opportunities are waiting out there. Buying an existing rental
might mean less work is needed when purchased.

• Forecasts as the survey above suggests, there is no
reduction in demand for rental homes as thousands are putting buying on hold. In
February, London estate agent Foxtons reported that in 2018 there was an 8 per
cent increase in renter registrations in London, compared to 2017.

• There are big difference in the performance of buy-to-let
throughout the regions, some locations giving much higher income yields than others,
especially in the north of England.

• With government investment in infrastructure such as the “Northern
Powerhouse�, businesses are relocating to the regions in the UK and workers
have followed. This has helped to create vibrant economies across the major UK cities
for buy-to-let.

• Historically, house prices have always recovered from short-term
economic or political crises, and investment in bricks and mortar has always
been regarded as a long-term strategy, and post Brexit will be no exception.

• The massive volume of buy-to-let mortgage products in the
market place (1,162 in late February 2019, according to Moneyfacts), reflects a
positive buy-to-let outlook from lenders. This choice also comes with lots of incentives
and competitive mortgage rates.

Interest rates remain historically low and there’s no sign
of a change here. For example, the rate for a five-year fixed-rate buy-to-let
mortgage is more than 2 per cent less than in 2010.

Turner sees this time as a buying opportunity not to be
missed, while these rates remain low. By delaying he says, landlords could miss
out on the lowest deals, if rates should rise in the future.

With a sound and responsive investment plan in place, Turner
argues, “buy-to-let landlords can prosper and Brexit offers no reason why that
should not continue.�

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – The UK Rental Market is not all doom & gloom… | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: The UK Rental Market is not all doom & gloom…

Instant Rent Offer and Free Money?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Following the success of our article Big Incentives to Assist with Housing Crisis we have given away THOUSANDS of pounds in FREE money to landlords as a combination of grants and incentives. We have a new list of eligible properties (see below).

The post Instant Rent Offer and Free Money? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Instant Rent Offer and Free Money?

Labour’s Plan to axe permitted development rights a mistake

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Right-to-Buy your council home, if you were a sitting tenant, was a key Conservative policy introduced in the 1980 Housing Act by Margaret Thatcher. All of a sudden, people who had never had the option before could realistically think about owning their own home.

The post Labour’s Plan to axe permitted development rights a mistake appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Labour’s Plan to axe permitted development rights a mistake

Nationwide Foundation £1.2 m ‘Fair Housing Futures’ project hosted by Shelter

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A £600,000 pot of funding launched in Greater Manchester aims to find real-life solutions to the housing problems facing thousands of vulnerable private renters in the city.

Funded by the Nationwide Foundation and hosted by housing charity Shelter

The post Nationwide Foundation £1.2 m ‘Fair Housing Futures’ project hosted by Shelter appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Nationwide Foundation £1.2 m ‘Fair Housing Futures’ project hosted by Shelter

TPO complaints rise 16% in 2018

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has released its 2018 annual report reflecting ever-increasing consumer demand for the service.

The report reveals TPO received a record number of enquiries in 2018 (29,023), up 22% on 2017.  Of these, 4,246 went on to be formal complaints

The post TPO complaints rise 16% in 2018 appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: TPO complaints rise 16% in 2018

Section 21 – serving EPCs for HMO tenants?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Court Case:

With all the additional prescribed requirements introduced for assured shorthold tenancies of late, there is something of an inevitability that an abundance of cases will be coming to court in the future, testing potential “loopholes� in administration.

Tenants’ lawyers will without doubt attempt to stymie evictions for their clients (often publicly funded) because of landlords’ and agent’s failures to fulfil one or more of these numerous and rather complicated requirements.

Without good documentary evidence that all the many “boxes have been ticked� on setting up a new tenancy, landlords and agents will inevitably be stymied time and again.

A case in point was the one of Home Group Ltd v Henry (2018) which involved an HMO tenant who claimed that because he had not been issued with an EPC when he took up the tenancy, the landlord’s possession order under section 21 was invalid. Good try Henry!

Since the introduction of the energy performance regulations and the EPC, it’s always been a bit of a “grey� area within the legislation where HMOs are concerned, and whether an HMO tenant was required to be served an EPC as a prescribed requirement. After all it is very clear than tenants of single properties must be served an EPC at the time the tenancy is set-up.

Since October 2015 the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015, section 2a states the prescribed requirement: regulation 6(5) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012(2) (requirement to provide an energy performance certificate to a tenant or buyer free of charge).

The question as to whether an EPC service is necessary for an HMO tenant revolves around the distinction between a tenant occupying a building, or a section or room within a building (bedsit), re the wording in The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, which states:

The relevant person must ensure that a valid energy performance certificate has been given free of charge to the person who ultimately becomes the buyer or tenant.

Mr Henry had an AST for a room in an HMO and argued that he should have been served an EPC when his tenancy started, and that therefore the landlord’s possession order was invalid. To support this argument Henry pointed to the fact the guidance in the new section 21 notice (form 6A) made no distinction between a single letting and an HMO, regarding the service of a valid section 21 notice.

The landlord, Home Group, on the other hand, argued that the requirement to provide an EPC under reg 6(5) of the 2012 Energy Regulations referred to the letting of a building or building unit and not a section within a building.

The relevant legislation refers to a “building� and a “building unit�, without mention of a section within a building, a room or bedsit, and on that basis the landlord argued the case.

The appeal was dismissed and the judge stated that while there was nothing expressly made in the 2005 AST regulations for HMOs tenancies, this would have required a new definition of EPCs to be relevant to a room, not a building or building unit.

He also stated that the explanatory note to the form 6A was guidance only and not in itself the law, and he thought these notes were misleading.

As this judgement was laid down by a county court appeal to a circuit judge, it is not binding and may not be the last word on the matter if further appeals transpire.

However, the reasoned argument seems pretty clear, so any future challenge, says Giles Peaker of Nearlylegal.co.uk, is “whether a room in an HMO falls under ‘building unit’ as designed or altered to be used separately, whether the MHCLG guidance on EPCs is right, and whether there is really any policy reason why a prospective HMO tenant should not be informed of the energy efficiency of the building.â€�

Acknowledgements to Giles Peaker of www.nearlylegal.co.uk

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Section 21 – serving EPCs for HMO tenants? | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Section 21 – serving EPCs for HMO tenants?

Landlords! We are looking for one last story for our Channel 5 show!

admin    Uncategorized     agents

We are now filming our 5^th series for a Channel 5 show, due to be aired very soon. Our previous series’ includes ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords and Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords’, featuring Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action.

We would like to film one last eviction story with a landlord attending at the property to meet the bailiff by the end of May, if you are interested in telling your story, please email me at:beth.teverson@britesparkfilms.com.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords! We are looking for one last story for our Channel 5 show! | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlords! We are looking for one last story for our Channel 5 show!

The Government is to fund and speed up cladding replacement

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Cladding of Flats:

It will no doubt come as a great relief to those landlords and leaseholder who are affected by the cladding scandal. For a long time it looked as though the cost of replacing dangerous cladding would be the primary responsibility of freeholders, which would have been passed on to the leaseholders.

However, the Government has now stepped in, number one to speed-up the replacement of the dangerous cladding, but two, to relieve leaseholders of a potentially horrendous liability and the stress that that threat was causing.

Around £200 million will be made available to remove and
replace unsafe cladding from around 170 privately owned high-rise buildings.

The government will fully fund the replacement of unsafe
aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on high-rise private residential
properties where building owners have failed to do so

Communities Secretary the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP says
he is calling time on “reckless� building owners who have refused to take
action. New funding estimated at £200 million to ensure this work takes place
urgently

This step has been taken, says Mr Brokenshire, after private
building owners failed to take action and tried to offload costs onto
leaseholders.

Prime Minister, Theresa May said:

“It is of paramount importance that everybody is able to feel
and be safe in their homes.

“That’s why we asked building owners in the private sector
to take action and make sure appropriate safety measures were in place.

“And we’ve seen a number of private building owners doing
the right thing and taking responsibility, but unfortunately too many are
continuing to pass on the costs of removal and replacement to leaseholders.

“Today I can confirm we will now be fully funding the replacement of cladding on high-rise private residential buildings so residents can feel confident they are secure in their homes.”

Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

“Although temporary measures are in place to ensure people
living in these buildings are safe, too many owners are treating this as a
permanent fix. Others are trying to pass on the costs to residents by
threatening them with bills running to thousands of pounds.

“While some building owners have been swift to act, and I
thank them for doing the right thing, I am now calling time on the delay
tactics of others. If these reckless building owners won’t act, the government
will.

“The government appreciates the work of Grenfell United and
the UK Cladding Action Group who have campaigned prominently, outlining the
challenges in getting private building owners to fund the replacement of
cladding on their homes.

“The government has already fully funded this work in social
housing developments. However, private developers and freeholders have been too
slow to act and leaseholders have been threatened with significant, often
unaffordable, costs resulting in delays.

“The latest figures show that 166 private buildings are yet
to start works on removing and replacing ACM cladding, compared to 23 in the
social sector.

“Building owners will have 3 months to access the new fund.
We will look carefully at those who fail to remediate and consider what further
action can be taken.

“Building owners and developers who have already fully funded the remediation of buildings are Pemberstone, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barratt Developments, Fraser Properties, Legal & General, Mace and Peabody.”

As a condition of funding, the Government will require the
building owner to take reasonable steps to recover the costs from those
responsible for the presence of the unsafe cladding.

The fund will be available for private high-rise residential
buildings (those containing homes). The government is already fully-funding the
replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on social sector properties.

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the government
established a comprehensive building safety programme that included an
independent review of fire safety and building regulations. Plans outlined on
18 December 2018 explain how the government will implement the recommendations
made by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review of building regulations and fire
safety.

Building owners will be able to register for the fund by
early July.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – The Government is to fund and speed up cladding replacement | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: The Government is to fund and speed up cladding replacement

Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner release latest edition ‘The Landlord’s Friend’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Today, with more than 170 pieces of landlord legislation in place, two well-known names in the world of property, Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner, have once again joined forces to co-write a new version of their book ‘The Landlord’s Friend’. 

The post Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner release latest edition ‘The Landlord’s Friend’ appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner release latest edition ‘The Landlord’s Friend’

Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner release latest edition of their book, The Landlord’s Friend

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Today,
with more than 170 pieces of landlord legislation in place, two well-known
names in the world of property, Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner, have once
again joined forces to co-write a new version of their book ‘The Landlord’s
Friend’.  Its aim is to help both novice
and seasoned landlords navigate their way through the ever-changing Private Rented
Sector (PRS) with an A-Z of legal advice and practical tips.

Paul
Shamplina is a landlord and eviction specialist and is featured on Channel 5’s
‘Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords’, he’s been helping landlords for over 25 years
and is the Founder of Landlord Action. Kate Faulkner has written a number of property
books for Which?, is considered one of the UK’s leading Buy to Let experts and
appears regularly in the media talking about the property market and key issues
affecting investors.

With
this book, the pair have pooled their extensive experience to help property
investors successfully navigate the business of Buy to Let, from those just
considering making an investment through to experienced landlords. The book has
50 chapters divided into three sections: 1. Preparing for successful letting:
2. Letting your property: 3. Running your portfolio the right way.

“It’s hard to believe that it was
nearly five years ago that Kate and I first published ‘The Landlord’s Friend’,
and today, landlords have never needed a friend more. The Buy-to-Let landscape
has changed vastly during this time, particularly with the constant changes to
tax and now Section 21, meaning small landlords are seriously having to think
whether they want to stay in the sector.

However, I think it’s important to
remind people that demand is still extremely strong, with the PRS making up 21%
of our total housing sector and predicted to rise to 24% by 2021. All of these
people need somewhere to live, and the government is under pressure to support
a more professional sector which provides a safe environment for tenants. There
is still very much a place for landlords who take their legal and moral
responsibilities seriously, so we want to help landlords stay profitable while
ensuring they do it the right way� says
Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action.

Kate
Faulkner, Managing Director of Propertychecklists.co.uk,
adds:

“Landlords are going through a
tough time just now. Not only are they being hit by increased taxes, the
changes in legislation to the Private Rented Sector are coming in thick and
fast, with Local Authorities able to find landlords who make mistakes up to
£30,000 for each breach. Meanwhile, tenants’ expectations of being delivered a
beautiful home to live in rather than a temporary place to stay are increasing.
The latest version of ‘The Landlord’s Friend’ helps to equip both new and
existing landlords with the information they need to invest and run a buy to
let property successfully.�

The
2019 Edition of ‘The Landlord’s Friend’ is available to buy on Amazon now. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781784566388&ref=nb_sb_noss
E

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner release latest edition of their book, The Landlord’s Friend | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Paul Shamplina and Kate Faulkner release latest edition of their book, The Landlord’s Friend