Energy rebate/loan questions for student accommodation?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

OK so in October every house using electricity will get a £200 rebate (loan by stealth) then it has to be paid back over 5 years.

The information says that if someone shares and moves to a new property they don’t take a share of the £200 loan

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Stamp duty trap transferring property back into sole name?

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Dear All, I am trying to re-mortgage a leasehold flat as my current deal has moved onto an SVR.

The flat is jointly owned with my wife (as a Tenancy in Common with the intention of my share being 99% and my wife 1% –

View Full Article: Stamp duty trap transferring property back into sole name?

Avoid ‘no money down’ gurus and invest in property cautiously, new book advises

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A new book shines the spotlight on get-rich-quick chancers in the property training industry in a bid to stop investors from getting ripped off.

Property developer and trainer Henry Davis says the sector is rife with charlatans who charge exorbitant prices and, from personal experience attending courses, reckons their training is dishonest and misleading as you’ll never get rich from doing it.

“The only reason they say you can ‘buy a property with no money down’ is because they don’t want to reduce their target audience by giving a minimum figure to attend,” he tells LandlordZONE.

Investing proactively, yet cautiously, believes Davis, will result in making fewer mistakes, and he’s penned The Truth About Property “a no-nonsense, definitive guide to truly succeed in the property market, at any level” to explain just how, by offering no-nonsense advice on due diligence, valuations, buying tricks, and the art of project management.

“Watch the live auctions in your target area and don’t worry about the data, you’ll find out what’s in demand and you’re also teaching yourself how to value property and rental yield,” advises Davis.

“And make sure your first project is a major refurbishment – that way, by working with a professional architect, surveyor and planning consultant you’ll get a great crash course.”

Mentoring

His suggestions are based on 32 years of experience in residential and commercial property – he now operates under We Buy Any House Liverpool, M Luxury & H Apartments and Genii Developments Ltd – and already shares his knowledge on NRLA-run courses as well as through one-to-one mentoring.

The Liverpool-based author started off by buying a neighbour’s house in 1990, then began trading in apartment blocks 20 years ago, buying in bulk from developers and flipping contracts by selling them on individually – using the deposit from each buyer to fund his deposit with the developer.

Davis now focuses on developing large HMO blocks, all en-suite and a minimum of nine square metres, which is the secret to low tenant churn, he explains. “I average 24 months with these HMOs, whereas the industry average is six to eight months.”

Buy his book via Amazon.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Avoid ‘no money down’ gurus and invest in property cautiously, new book advises | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Avoid ‘no money down’ gurus and invest in property cautiously, new book advises

Belvoir CEO warns of continuing rental increases in 2022 and beyond

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Belvoir’s rental statistics reveal the highest rental increases since records began in 2008. Belvoir CEO Dorian Gonsalves warns of further challenges to come, as years of flawed government policies continue to impact the market, resulting in stock shortages and high tenant demand.

View Full Article: Belvoir CEO warns of continuing rental increases in 2022 and beyond

89% of local authorities built zero council homes in 2021

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Using the most recently published data by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Admiral Home Insurance analysed which parts of England have seen the most and the fewest new homes being built.

With a shortage of housing for many years in England

View Full Article: 89% of local authorities built zero council homes in 2021

TORY thinktank slams Gove’s plans to abolish Section 21

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A leading ‘free-market’ economic commentator has questioned the government’s latest push to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices.

Ryan Bourne, who is a regular TV pundit and Daily Telegraph columnist but also a member of the US-based thinktank the Cato Institute, doubts that abolishing Secton 21 would be a ‘win for tenants as campaign groups imply’.

“What we have here is an example of [tenants] wanting more of something – security – without being willing to pay for it,” he writes.

His comments follow Michael Gove’s decision to roll-up his department’s rental reforms, including abolishing Section 21, into the government’s ‘levelling up’ plans.

“In these scenarios, basic economics tells us that mandating benefits will lead to a waterbed effect of other margins adjusting, as landlords seek to protect themselves against the new higher risks of lock-in that such tenancies entail.”

Unintended consequences

Bourne, who is a long-standing opponent of rent controls, goes on to outline the unintended consequences of abolishing Section 21 including tougher referencing for tenants as landlords seek to weed out high-risk candidates, making it harder for those on benefits to access the PRS, higher rents as some landlords use rent hikes to force out tenants.

But, most worrying of all, he predicts fewer people will be willing to become private landlords and more will choose Airbnb not the traditional route.

He also slams the government’s plans to beef up Section 8 eviction notices to enable landlords to evict tenants under some circumstances such as needing to move back in or sell the property. Bourne claims, as many landlords commentators have, that this route will make it more difficult and expensive for landlords to evict tenants.

“Those harmed most by limited rental options will be the poorest, those without deposits for owner-occupied housing, and those for whom accessing new private rental accommodation is a route to a better job or life,” he adds.

“The beneficiaries will be those who want to stay in a property for years and years.

“This really highlights why fiddling with landlord-tenant relations is no alternative to major planning reform.”

Read the original blog on the ConservativeHome website.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – TORY thinktank slams Gove’s plans to abolish Section 21 | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: TORY thinktank slams Gove’s plans to abolish Section 21

GREEN taxes unfairly hitting poorer tenants hardest – warns landlord

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Tenants in homes with electric heating are being unfairly penalised by the government’s green tax policy, says one concerned landlord.

Young, single tenants – often on low wages – are discriminated against because the green levy on their bills is higher on electricity than gas, according to Tricia Urquhart who has tenants in one and two-bed houses using electric heating.

They are generally paying far higher bills to heat their homes – often four to five times per kWh – and the recently announced 54% rise means their already expensive heating is even more costly in real terms.

The Nottingham landlord tells LandlordZONE: “I put in electric radiators when electricity was 10p a unit and the selling point was that they shouldn’t cost you more than gas – now it’s 21p.

One tenant couple never put their heating on because they don’t think they can afford it, while I’m surprised that another single tenant, who works from home and has the heating on, hasn’t given me notice.”

Little difference

Recently announced government help will mean 28 million households will receive about £350 to help offset soaring energy prices, but Urquhart says this will make little difference to these sole electricity users, whose bill is made up of 40% in green levies.

Currently, 23% of the cost of electricity is made up of environmental and social obligation costs, however, gas costs include less than 2%.

She adds: “Given that these users are using the green fuel it seems really unfair that the young, the single and the lower paid are paying such a large proportion of the green tax.

“I accept that the green levies may still need to be paid but they could be added to high use gas users and so penalise the polluters.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – GREEN taxes unfairly hitting poorer tenants hardest – warns landlord | LandlordZONE.

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EPC targets are a threat to the PRS

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Specialist Buy to Let and commercial bank Shawbrook has released a report concerned about the threat to the rental market posed by a future C rating EPC target. Click here

The headlines of the report indicate that 23% of landlords surveyed say the EPC ratings of their properties are currently D or below and that a further quarter of landlords are unaware of the specific energy efficiency rating of their property.

View Full Article: EPC targets are a threat to the PRS

SHOCK RESEARCH: 27% of landlords have no idea their tenants have cats or dogs

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Nearly one-third of pet-owning renters have been hiding their animals from landlords for more than three years, according to new research by build to rent giant Quintain Living.

Its survey of 1,000 renters also found that 38% don’t feel comfortable asking for permission to keep a pet and 29% had difficulty finding a property to rent as a pet owner. Almost one in five pet owners (17%) have considered giving up their furry or feathered friend in order to find somewhere to live.

Birds were named as the most secretly kept pets in the UK – a staggering 50% of respondents who keep birds admitted hiding them from their landlord – with rabbits in second place (43%) and rather bizarrely, horses, with 33% of respondents.

Walkies

Tenants find various ways of hiding their pets during landlord inspections, according to the buy-to-rent management firm: 35% take their pet for a walk, 32% ask a friend to pet-sit, 19% get neighbours to watch it, 15% hide it in a wardrobe or cupboard and 9% disguise it. As a result, 27% of landlords don’t know that their tenants keep pets.

Its research also found that Brighton is the most pet-friendly city in the UK – and Belfast is the least pet-friendly – with the most pet-friendly living in Norwich, Leeds and Sheffield. Plymouth, Cardiff and Edinburgh were at the other end of the scale.

Danielle Bayless (pictured), COO of Quintain Living, says: “For too long, renters have been excluded from keeping pets in their family homes, but, as we have proved, there is no reason why we cannot live in harmony together.

“We are proud to have been one of the first to offer pet-friendly homes to rent, as well as a host of pet-friendly amenities on site.”

Take our recent poll on attitudes to pets among landlords.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – SHOCK RESEARCH: 27% of landlords have no idea their tenants have cats or dogs | LandlordZONE.

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Free Financial Management Software for Landlords from Lendlord

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Lendlord is an online platform that helps landlords (with and without letting agents) to optimise their property investments with the following features:

Document Management

Securely store all your property details and documents in the cloud

View Full Article: Free Financial Management Software for Landlords from Lendlord