Written By Em

Em

Em Morley

Accord announces cuts on remortgage products

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 11:25 am

Author:

Categories: Finance News

Tags: ,,,,

Accord Buy-to-Let has today announced that it has made a reduction of 0.20% across a selection of its remortgage products.

These loans are available to standard investor landlords, alongside non-investor landlords and follows the announcement last week that it was re-entering the consumer buy-to-let market. This is in order to support borrowers who have let their only investment property where they or a family member previously lived.

Rates

Rates now begin at 1.76%, with a product fee of £1,995, for investors looking for a two-year fixed rate remortgage loan at 75% LTV.

For those borrowing lesser amounts, some options include a 2.25% two-year fixed rate with a £950 product fee, free legal assistance and free standard valuation.

Three different two-year fixed rate remortgage products at 75% LTV have also benefitted from a 0.20% reduction. These feature a range of options including free legal assistance, free valuation and cashback on completion.

Accord announces cuts on remortgage products

Accord announces cuts on remortgage products

Connectivity

Chris Maggs, Accord Buy-to-Let’s Commercial Manager, noted: ‘These 0.20% reductions will give brokers the chance to proactively contact landlords who may be looking to refinance some or all of their mortgage portfolio. With the new taxation rules being phased in earlier this month this is an ideal time for landlords to reassess their financial commitments.’[1]

‘These new products sharpen our buy to let range even further and having re-entered the consumer buy to let market we expect a very active time ahead. We’re sure these reductions will prove very popular and the additional features will really appeal to landlords who want to reduce their outgoings when remortgaging,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/accord-announce-cuts-on-remortgage-products.html

UK property auctions market sees decline

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 10:33 am

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,,,

The property auctions market in the UK continued to slow during the last month, with both the number of lots offered and sold sliding.

Data from a report by the Essential Information Group (EIG) shows that overall lots offered fell by 6.5% in the last month, from 2,962 to 2,769.

Lots sold also fell, by 5.7%, from 2,188 to 2,064.

In addition, the total raised at auction slipped by £32m to £402m, a fall of 7.3% from the £434 raised in March 2016.

Activity

The annual decline can be largely attributed to the surge in market activity seen between February and March last year, as investors rushed to complete deals before the Stamp Duty changes in April.

David Sandeman, managing director at EIG, said: ‘We may also be witnessing a market which is just easing back the throttle a little,” he said. “It wouldn’t be unsurprsing either, considering that the government has recently introduced measures to try and cool the buy-to-let market whilst house price inflation has also seemingly slowed.’[1]

Despite the fall in numbers, Mr Sandeman observed that it was encouraging that auctioneers are experiencing an average sale rate of 75%

The table below shows how the auction market fared in March 2017:

Overall Statistics March 2017  
Auctions Held in the UK 127
Total Lots Offered 2,769
Total Lots Sold 2,064
Percent Sold 74.5%
Total Realised £402,196,601

 

UK property auctions market sees decline

UK property auctions market sees decline


Instructions

The residential sector saw instructions slip by 9.3% over the last month, while sales fell by nearly 8% to 1,646.

Mr Sandeman went on to observe that the figures: ‘should not be cause for alarm’ as the decline is almost entirely due to ‘record-breaking activity’ seen in Q1 last year.[2]

[1] https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/4/uk-property-auctions-market-is-easing-back-the-throttle-a-little

 

Supply of Homes for Sale at Lowest Level since Records Began

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 9:47 am

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,,,,

The supply of homes for sale in March was at the lowest level for the month since records began, shows the March Housing Report from NAEA Propertymark.

Supply of homes for sale 

The number of homes for sale on estate agents’ books dropped to an average of 39 in March, from 44 in February.

This is the lowest figure recorded for March since records began 16 years ago, in September 2002.

Supply of Homes for Sale at Lowest Level since Records Began

Supply of Homes for Sale at Lowest Level since Records Began

Annually, the supply of homes for sale dropped by 28%, as agents had an average of 54 properties on their books last March.

Demand for properties

The number of homebuyers registered per NAEA member branch dropped in March as well. Estate agents had an average of 397 prospective buyers on their books last month, compared with 425 in February.

In March last year, there were 417 prospective buyers registered per branch, marking a 5% year-on-year decrease.

Sales to first time buyers 

The proportion of sales agreed to first time buyers increased to 25% in March, up from 22% in February.

The total number of sales to first time buyers dropped significantly from 30% in January to 22% in February, so this increase is a step in the right direction, notes NAEA Propertymark.

Sales agreed

The average number of sales agreed dropped in March, to ten per branch. In February, 11 sales were agreed per branch – the highest number recorded since September 2007.

In March, one in every 20 (5%) properties sold achieved more than the original asking price. This figure has continued to rise since the low of 12% recorded in November 2016.

Stamp Duty reforms

A year on since the higher rates of Stamp Duty for additional properties were introduced, two thirds (64%) of estate agents have seen demand from buy-to-let investors drop.

Just under two fifths (37%) of agents have seen house prices rise as a direct result of the Stamp Duty reforms.

The Chief Executive of NAEA Propertymark, Mark Hayward, comments: “There are currently ten house-hunters chasing each available property, and with supply at the lowest level for March since records began, building more homes to satisfy demand needs to be a priority.

“In line with this, while sales to first time buyers rose slightly in March, they’re still much lower than the levels seen in the last three months of 2016, which is cause for concern. The upcoming General Election is a good opportunity for each party to outline their plans for tackling the housing crisis – we hope to see it prioritised so we can make the market a better place once and for all.”

RLA Calls for New Housing Court for Landlords and Tenants

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 9:14 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,,

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is calling on the next government to set up a new housing court to speed up justice for landlords and tenants.

Statistics show that it takes an average of 43 weeks for a landlord to regain possession of a property through the courts, during which time they may not receive any rent.

Tenants would also benefit from the new housing court, as they would be able to take quicker action against rogue landlords that fail to provide accommodation to legally required standards.

RLA Calls for New Housing Court for Landlords and Tenants

RLA Calls for New Housing Court for Landlords and Tenants

Freedom of Information (FOI) data obtained by the RLA last year shows that, among the 255 councils that responded, just 827 prosecutions were brought against landlords over the preceding five years following notices to improve a property being issued.

The RLA argues that establishing a new housing court would enable landlords and tenants to more swiftly access justice to uphold their contractual rights.

The Chairman of the RLA, Alan Ward, says: “The current court system is not fit for purpose. It takes too long and is too costly for landlords to repossess a property where tenants are not paying their rent, as well as for tenants to uphold their rights when faced with a landlord providing substandard housing.

“New housing courts would greatly improve the situation, enabling justice for good landlords and tenants to be provided more swiftly.

“Landlords are more likely to rent property out to tenants for longer periods if they can more easily regain possession of a home where tenants are not paying their rent or committing anti-social behaviour.”

He urges the political parties: “We call on all parties to support this common sense proposal.”

The new housing court proposal is just one of six practical policy suggestions put forward by the RLA ahead of 8th June’s snap General Election:

  1. Boost the supply of new homes by bringing unused public land and empty properties back into use for private rental homes, coupled with positive taxation policies that promote growth.
  2. Establish a new housing court to deliver quick and cost-effective justice, to help landlords and tenants enforce their rights.
  3. A fairer approach to welfare reform, giving tenants that claim Universal Credit the choice of having rent paid directly to their landlord and speeding up the claim process.
  1. Effective enforcement against rogue landlords through guaranteed long-term funding for local authorities, backed by a system of co-regulation for the majority of law-abiding landlords.
  2. Support landlords to improve energy efficiency in private rental homes, for the benefit of tenants and the environment.
  3. Create a new deposit trust for tenants, enabling them to transfer deposits seamlessly between tenancies.

These proposals form part of the RLA’s ongoing campaigning around tax, the Right to Rent scheme, rent controls and landlord licensing schemes.

Online database to name and shame rogues in the capital

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 8:42 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

Rogue landlords and letting agents who wrongfully exploit their tenants will be named on a new online database aimed at protecting the two million private renters in London.

The measure was announced by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who said the database would be built in partnership with London Boroughs.

Criminals

Criminal landlords and letting agents who have been convicted for housing offences will appear on the list. Mr Khan hopes that this will give Londoners greater confidence to rent in the capital, by allowing tenants to check their would-be landlord or agent against this database.

The scheme is due to launch in the coming Autumn and will enable all London councils to easily share information on landlords’ criminal history.

During the next few months, the database will be developed with information from six councils, namely:

  • Newham
  • Brent
  • Camden
  • Southwark
  • Kingston
  • Sutton
Online database to name and shame rogues in the capital

Online database to name and shame rogues in the capital

Support

Speaking about the database, the Mayor said: ‘I refuse to stand by as thousands of Londoners suffer sky-high rents and horrendous living conditions in a city they call home.’

‘Today I have seen first-hand the abysmal conditions that some of London’s private renters are forced to endure as a result of rogue landlords. I want to be clear that the vast majority of landlords treat renters well – but a minority are exploiting their tenants and it’s simply unacceptable. This must stop now.’

‘To help renters, I will be working in partnership with London Boroughs to launch my new ‘name and shame’ database of criminal landlords and letting agents to help Londoners before they rent a property, and to deter dishonest landlords and agents from operating.’

‘I fully support the excellent work councils like Newham are doing to target the worst offenders in their borough. I will continue to support them and other boroughs who use licensing schemes effectively to drive up standards in the private rented sector.’[1]

Easier

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at the National Landlords Association, observed: ‘The Mayor’s ‘name and shame’ online database brings information on criminal landlords and agents together to make it much easier for renters to find and avoid landlords anyone who has been prosecuted for housing related crimes. Importantly, it is also the first time renters have had a central online tool that should take some of the stress out of reporting potentially criminal housing conditions to their local authority.’[1]

David Cox, Chief Executive at ARLA Propertymark said: ‘ARLA Propertymark welcomes the Mayor’s announcement today of the ‘name and shame’ criminal landlord database. We have campaigned for the government’s database of banned letting agents to be publicly available as, with no public access to the database, how will landlords or tenants know if they are using a banned agent? This online database overcomes that problem and means tenants and landlords in London can rent with the confidence of knowing their agent has not committed any offences.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/criminal-landlords-to-be-named-and-shamed-by-mayor.html

London Property Sales at Lowest Ever Pre-Election Level

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 8:25 am

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,,

London property sales are at the lowest ever levels recorded pre-election, according to analysis of the latest Land Registry data by Portico London estate agent.

London Property Sales at Lowest Ever Pre-Election Level

London Property Sales at Lowest Ever Pre-Election Level

The data shows that there were just 55 property sales in the whole of the Westminster borough in February this year – the lowest ever number recorded by Land Registry, and 60% lower than in February 2009, immediately after the market crash.

Portico’s study shows that there is a clear correlation between general elections and property sales; hence, the agent is predicting a further decline in sales volumes until the snap General Election on Thursday 8th June.

Historically, low levels of property sales in central London have pushed people further out of the capital, but Portico’s data shows that falling volumes are now a problem across the whole of London.

There were just 105 property sales in the south London Borough of Wandsworth this February, compared with 370 last year – a huge 72% decline year-on-year.

Likewise, the Land Registry figures show that there were just 82 property sales in the east London Borough of Redbridge in February, compared with 260 the year before – a 68% decrease on an annual basis.

According to Portico’s research, the market will likely experience a spike of activity post-election, when certainty in the market is restored. After the last general election in 2015, Wandsworth and Westminster experienced a 28% increase in property sales in the three months post-election, and Redbridge saw an even greater 34% jump in activity.

The Managing Director of Portico, Robert Nichols, comments: “Currently, transaction volumes, or the number of homes being bought and sold in the capital, are at an all-time low. The drop in transactions is in part explained by a big jump in sales in the run-up to April last year, when the change to Stamp Duty taxes came into effect, followed by an immediate fall. Since then, volumes have dropped to historic lows, and Theresa May’s decision for a snap General Election will further subdue the market.

“We are expecting to see some improvement in volume post-election, but, at best, we expect volume to track at -5% year-on-year to summer 2016, when volumes failed to recover after the Stamp Duty changes.”

However, he adds: “We cannot say for certain what impact a boost in market activity will have on property prices, but, historically, there has always been a slight increase. If we look at the last election, house prices rose by 2.4% in Wandsworth in the three months following the vote, 4.6% in Redbridge and 1.7% in Westminster. Similarly, in the election before that in 2010, property prices rose by 1.8% in Wandsworth, 2.5% in Redbridge and a staggering 19% in Westminster in the three months after the election.”