Written By Em

Em Morley

NIA and NLA join forces to assist with energy efficiency regulations

Published On: March 16, 2017 at 10:20 am

Tags: Buy-to-Let,energy,energy efficiency,EPC,landlords

The National Landlords Association and the National Insulation Association have joined forces to give landlords a simple online facility in order to source local insulation installers.

This is an initiative to ensure that all landlords meet new energy efficiency standards, coming into force next April.

Efficiency Standards

The 2015 Energy Efficiency Regulations moved to set out minimum energy efficiency standards for England and Wales. These regulations make it unlawful for landlords to let out properties on a new lease that have an EPC rating below E from April 1^st 2018. This is unless the property is registered as an exemption.

Landlords must make sure that they plan sufficiently to mitigate the impact of the new regulation. Those with properties with an EPC below an E rating should take action now to avoid falling foul of the law.

Neil Marshall, chief executive of the National Insulation Association, said: ‘Our partnership with the NLA will provide a timely service to help private landlords to meet the new energy efficiency standards. Landlords can contact local NIA installer members via the NLA or NIA websites to arrange a survey and quotation.’[1]

NIA and NLA join forces to assist with energy efficiency regulations

‘They can be safe in the knowledge that NIA installers will have met stringent criteria and sign up to the NIA’s Code of Professional Practice providing added assurance and recourse,’ he added.[1]

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of the National Landlords Association, noted: ‘It’s important that landlords have access to the most trusted and reliable of local specialists, particularly when it comes to insulation and we hope that this online service will enable landlords to meet their obligations by making their properties more energy efficient.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/3/nla-and-nia-join-forces-to-help-landlords-meet-new-regulations

Renting an Apartment in the Top Financial Centres of the World

Published On: March 16, 2017 at 9:44 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: average rents,London,London property market,New York City,rent prices

The findings of a new study conducted by apartment search platform RENTCafé expand the understanding of the rental housing markets in the world’s top financial centres.

The research explores the average monthly rent for one-bedroom apartments measuring between 55 and 85 square metres (600 and 999 square feet) in the 30 most powerful financial hubs in the world.

Renting an Apartment in the Top Financial Centres of the World

Among the most potent global financial centres – as ranked in Z/Yen Group‘s Global Financial Centres Index – New York City is home to the world’s highest rents, pegged at $3,680 per month for a one-bedroom apartment home.

Given the increasing global mobility of today’s workforce, the RENTCafé study aims to put rent prices in these cities in context for professionals working in the financial and economic sectors, and provide an overview of potential alternatives to the city they currently live and work in. While most of these urban business hubs have been well-known for asking high rents, the analysis reveals just how much a renter needs to shell out on housing every month and how these cities compare to each other when it comes to apartment rents.

Surprisingly enough, London – currently the leading financial centre of the world – is one of the least expensive cities for renters seeking the benefits associated with living in a thriving business hub. The British capital’s £1,351 average rent ($1,650 in US dollars) means it is only the 20^th most expensive rental housing market among the world’s top financial centres.

New York City’s average $3,680 (£3,014) landed the home of Wall St. in 1^st place, followed by two further US cities: San Francisco with $3,360 (£2,752) and Boston with $2,930 (£2,400).

Coincidentally, Hong Kong is in 4^th place both when ranked by financial performance and average rent ($2,740 or £2,244). Other, financially lower-performing cities with higher rents than London include Geneva ($2,320 or £1,900), Zurich ($2,200 or £1,802), Singapore and Tokyo ($2,050 or £1,679), Sydney and Dubai ($2,040 or £1,671), Los Angeles ($2,030 or £1,663), Washington, DC ($1,940 or £1,589), Shanghai ($1,910 or £1,564), Beijing ($1,900 or £1,556) and Paris ($1,730 or £1,417).

The average rent for one-bedroom apartments in most of the top-performing financial markets is above the £1,000 mark ($1,221), but there are exceptions, like Toronto (£983 or $1,200), Munich (£909 or $1,100), Taipei (£745 or $910), Montreal (£696 or $850) and Casablanca (£674 or $820).

For the US cities analysed in the report, RENTCafé used average rent data provided by Yardi Matrix, the source for rents in Canadian cities was Point2Homes, and Global Property Guide provided the average rents for the remaining international markets, with the exception of London (GOV.UK), Tokyo and Osaka (Utinokati), Hong Kong (HK Rating and Valuation Department) and Dubai (Bayut).

Tenants Flood Online to Find new Property

Published On: March 16, 2017 at 9:16 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: online advertising,online letting agent,tenants,UK rental market

James Davis – Portfolio landlord and property expert

After being a landlord for 22 years and becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of quality tenant find services for landlords, James started o nline letting agent Upad. Upad has mastered the intricacies of online to provide landlords a service they can rely on. In this article, James unravels the significant changes in tenant behavior and how it affects landlords.

Right now, 92% of tenants start their search for a new property online – and that number is going in one direction. If you’re a landlord, it’s no longer good enough to only use a high street property agent, book a few adverts in the local classifieds and wait for the phone to ring. It’s time to change.

At their convenience

There has been a seismic shift in how people look for rental property – and it’s not simply that people are doing it online.

Tenants Flood Online to Find new Property

People are increasingly looking on mobile devices, whether that’s on the way to work or walking home from yoga. Times have changed. There has been a 50% increase in tenants searching on mobile devices in the last 12 months. In fact, 39% of tenants are now searching for their next property out of hours, meaning traditional estate agents aren’t able to catch this segment of the market.

This is important. It means that people now want to be able to search every spare moment they have. They don’t want to have to book a day of flat viewings just to see what’s available. Exactly the opposite, they’re making snap judgments in under three seconds before they decide to swipe and move on.

Uber for properties

It might be tempting to ignore this trend – people will always want places to live, right? And besides, traditional ways of advertising your properties have never failed before.

This is a dangerous attitude to have. As evidence, look no further than Uber. It’s a great example of what is happening to the UK rental market, as new channels emerge for advertising property.

Like Uber, Zoopla and Rightmove have both launched apps. They let tenants browse easily from their phones while on the go. Last year, five million users had downloaded the Zoopla app alone. They can use it to browse properties and book viewings in just a few taps.

Just like Uber, these apps are highly convenient and streamlined to give the user what they need, with minimal extra functionality. But also, given that nearly all property stock appears on Zoopla and Rightmove, they are sure to serve up more properties than any estate agent or classified page ever could.

Just as websites have superseded traditional rental property advertising, so too will mobile browsing eclipse desktop. Already, smartphone internet usage is double desktop usage.

Tenant channels have shifted

It’s still the case that 22% of landlords use classified adverts, but the times are changing. Rather than rely on ads, landlords must change their behaviour to ensure they effectively advertise their properties in the digital world too.

To learn about the concrete steps you can make to advertise your property online, join our free webinar.

To learn some steps to ensure a successful property advertising campaign online, join our free webinars. Register here: https://blog.upad.co.uk/blog/landlord-webinars-2017

More backing for rental payments to be used to prove eligibility

Published On: March 15, 2017 at 2:52 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,mortgages,rental payments,tenants

Specialist mortgage lender Together has become the latest company to give its backing to the use of rental payments being used in order to measure the eligibility of individuals to secure mortgages.

Recently, an online petition has been set up by an individual tenant that urges regular rental payments to be considered as a measure of his eligibility to secure a mortgage when coming to purchase a property.

Popularity

Pete Ball, head of personal finance at specialist lender, Together, says that the support for the petition shows how popular the idea would be.

Ball noted: ‘The changes the Government has introduced in the buy-to-let sector were intended to level the playing field and ensure more property was available. But what this petition highlights is that there needs to be better access to finance alongside this, so that these aspiring homeowners can get a mortgage for the property.’[1]

‘The impressive surge in popularity of this petition is clear evidence of the growing frustration among thousands of renters that aspire to own their first home but are struggling to obtain a mortgage from the mainstream banks,’ he continued.[1]

More backing for rental payments to be used to prove eligibility

Criteria

Moving on, Mr Ball observed that many traditional lenders exercise rigid criteria, with proof of rental payments sometimes not taken into account as part of the process.

Concluding, Ball said: ‘As this petition clearly demonstrates there is a need to compile more detailed data on the credit profile of individuals, which will then help lenders to assess their applications when they look to obtain a mortgage. If there is a debate following the petition and it leads to new and improved measures in this space, that will be a positive step for both lenders and these aspiring homeowners.’[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/3/more-backing-for-using-rent-payments-as-iad-to-mortgage-eligibility

Construction Industry Could Lose 200,000 Workers due to Brexit, warns RICS

Published On: March 15, 2017 at 12:28 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Brexit,construction,housebuilding,property market

The UK construction industry could lose around 200,000 EU workers due to Brexit, should Britain lose access to the single market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has warned.

Construction Industry Could Lose 200,000 Workers due to Brexit, warns RICS

The trade body highlighted figures showing 8% of the UK’s construction industry workers are EU nationals, accounting for some 176,500 individuals, while 35% of construction professionals surveyed revealed that hiring non-UK workers was important to the success of their businesses.

RICS warns that losing these skills would put some of the country’s biggest infrastructure and construction projects under threat.

The organisation has cautioned that, for Brexit to succeed, it is essential to secure continued access to the EU single market, or to put alternative plans in place to safeguard the future of the property and construction industries in the UK.

Suggestions include allowing skilled workers from outside the UK to be able to passport their services in a similar way to international financial services firms.

RICS is also calling for professionals in the construction industry, such as quantity surveyors, to feature on the Shortage Occupations List, making it easier for them to be allowed to work in the UK.

The Head of Policy at RICS, Jeremy Blackburn, says: “A simple first step would be to ensure that construction professions, such as quantity surveyors, feature on the Shortage Occupations List. Ballet dancers won’t improve our infrastructure or solve the housing crisis, yet their skills are currently viewed as essential, whereas construction professionals are not.

“Of course, we must also address the need to deliver a construction and property industry that is resilient to future change, and can withstand the impact of any future political or economic shocks.”

He continues: “Key to that will be growing the domestic skills base. As the industry’s professional body, we are working with Government and industry to develop that skills base, building vital initiatives, such as degree apprenticeships, in our sector to drive the talent pipeline forward.

“This survey reveals that more work needs to be done to promote the indisputable benefits of these schemes to industry, and RICS intends to take this forward as a priority.”

Buy-to-let purchase activity still sluggish

Published On: March 15, 2017 at 9:48 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,buy-to-let landlords,buy-to-let loans,Stamp Duty

The total number of buy-to-let loans taken out by buy-to-let landlords rose in January to the second highest monthly level since the Stamp Duty surcharge rises last April.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that the number of loans taken was at the greatest level, save for November 2016.

Remortgaging

However, rather than loans to invest in needed private rented housing, the activity was particularly driven by buy-to-let remortgage lending, which accounted for two-thirds of total lending.

The volume of loans for buy-to-let house purchases in January dropped to an eight-month low- partly due to the dip in activity during the Winter.

In contrast, buy-to-let remortgage lending reached its highest monthly level since November.

With mortgage interest tax relief set to be phased out from next month and given the fact the Bank of England has been given greater powers to oversee the buy-to-let sector. This in turn will make it harder for many buy-to-let landlords to get a mortgage, as activity levels in the sector will slow further.

Buy-to-let purchase activity still sluggish

Paul Smee, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, noted: ‘Buy-to-let house purchase activity continues to be weak, despite strong buy-to-let remortgage levels. This will likely remain so going forward as lenders tighten affordability criteria ahead of the PRA mandated stress tests and the introduction of tax changes in April.’ [1]

‘Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and former residential chairman of RICS, said: ‘While there is little change month-on-month, the figures are encouraging because they demonstrate market resilience – which is what we are seeing at the coalface. Encouragingly, we have noticed a bit of a pick-up in activity over the past few weeks as buyers and sellers seem to be getting on with it as they usually do at this time of year.’[2]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/3/buy-to-let-property-purchase-activity-continues-to-be-weak

[2] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/house-purchases-fall-to-lowest-levels-since-2015.html