Posts with tag: landlords

Chelmsford Council looks to attract landlords with guaranteed rent

Published On: September 15, 2016 at 11:57 am

Tags: Chelmsford,Homes2Lease,landlords,tenants

A local council has moved to try and attract more buy-to-let landlords with a new scheme, aimed at boosting levels of housing supply and meeting tenant demand.

Chelmsford City Council plans to host a number of events to promote its Homes2Lease scheme, the first of which will take place on Friday 23^rd September.

Homes2Lease

The benefits of the Homes2Lease scheme include:

guaranteed rental income paid directly to the City Council
no management fees or commission
3% annual rent increase
full tenancy management service
up to £1,000 for repairs

Chelmsford Council looks to attract landlords with guaranteed rent

Councillor Paul Hutchinson, Chelmsford City Council’s cabinet member for strategic housing, noted: ‘the last few years has seen a rapid growth in the demand for housing in Chelmsford and this had had an effect on the affordability of housing for residents of Chelmsford.’[1]

‘To meet the growing need for good quality accommodation, Chelmsford City Council is looking to grow our portfolio of properties that we manage working in partnership with private landlords.’[1]

The first Homes2Lease event takes place on the 23^rd September at 10am to 12pm in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre, Duke Street, Chelmsford.

Further events are planned on Wednesday 28^th September from 6:30pm-8pm and Monday 3^rd October from 2pm-4pm, again in the Council Chamber.

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/9/council-aims-to-entice-landlords-with-guaranteed-rent-income

Tax changes in buy-to-let sector will remove ‘dinner party’ landlords

Published On: September 15, 2016 at 9:07 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: buy-to-let landlords,landlords,mortgage interest tax relief,Stamp Duty

Alterations to tax measures, including the increased stamp duty and changes to mortgage interest tax relief, will lead to more professional landlords in the sector, according to a leading industry peer.

Adrian Moloney, of One Savings Bank, expressed his views at the Financial Services Expo (FSE) London exhibition. Moloney was one of an industry panel debating a wide range of issues.

Changing nature

When asked for his opinion of the changing nature of buy-to-let and the impact on landlords, Moloney said, ‘we are seeing a move towards a more professional sector and we’re going to see less of the dinner party landlord. This is very much an era of professionalism and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing for the private rental sector.’[1]

However, Moloney was not as keen to welcome alterations to mortgage interest tax relief- to be introduced from April next year. Moloney said, ‘my hope is that the Chancellor will change the tax rules for buy-to-let landlords in the Autumn Statement but that’s probably not going to happen.’[1]

Mr Gary Salter, of Nationwide Building Society, believes, ‘we will see a change. This is the direction of travel we are going in-we moved to a 145% rental calculation earlier this year. Lenders will need to be much more prudent.’[1]

Tax changes in buy-to-let sector will rid ‘dinner party’ landlords

Actions

The panel was also asked what action they would like to see Chancellor Philip Hammond take in his first Autumn Statement.

John Coffield, of Paradigm Mortgage Services, has proposed changes to stamp duty land tax, in London and the South East primarily. He argues that estate agents are not welcoming enough properties to market, as people are deterred by the costs of moving.

Mr Moloney agreed that stamp duty in these regions could be changed, stating, ‘I would like to see some help for home movers,’ adding, ‘perhaps we could relax stamp duty in that area.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/will-changes-in-the-prs-signal-the-end-of-dinner-party-landlords.html

Two-thirds of landlords live within ten miles of investment

Published On: September 12, 2016 at 11:32 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,buy-to-let landlords,investment property,landlords

An interesting new survey has revealed that 65% of landlords live within ten miles of their buy-to-let investment property. In addition, these landlords manage day-to-day maintenance of the property themselves.

Research into more than 10,000 addresses from Simple Landlords Insurance also shows that around one-fifth of landlords reside within one mile of their buy-to-let property. 46% live between one and ten miles away.

Another 13% live between ten and twenty-five miles from their property. Just 15% of landlords live more than 50 miles away from their investment.

Close comforts

Findings from the report suggest that people prefer to invest in properties in areas that they know well. This is despite advice from some property professionals that they could get higher rents further afield.

Further data from the report indicates that 65% of landlords made the decision to invest in a property, with 17% describing themselves as so-called accidental landlords. 9% said that they had purchased property specifically for family members to live in.

45% said that they own a single rental property, with 40% owning between two and four. 15% said they have a portfolio of 5 or more properties.

Two-thirds of landlords live within ten miles of investment

Manual maintenance

65% of landlords actively manage the property themselves, while 24% use a letting agent to find tenants and then take over. 41% of landlords said that they do everything themselves, while 35% use an agent to do everything.

Alex Huntley, from Simple Landlords Insurance, noted, ‘we are seeing an increasing trend of savvy landlords taking direct control of how their property is let and managed and becoming much more self-sufficient. While it can be easy to bash landlords as faceless investors, these results show they are more likely to be part of the community they invest in and take a personal interest in making sure their property is well maintained and tenancies are long-term.’[1]

‘We are also seeing a growing demand from landlords to be able to manage their insurance policies online 24/7 and to buy flexible and scalable policies as their investments change,’ Huntley added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/majority-of-landlords-live-within-10-miles-of-their-investment.html

Housing market beginning to settle after Brexit vote

Published On: September 12, 2016 at 10:09 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Brexit,Buy-to-Let,housing market,landlords

The UK housing market has begun to level out, following the surprise of the Brexit vote, according to a new survey.

Surveyors are now expecting sales and prices to rise in the upcoming months, data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggests.

Stable

Sales of property in the follow-up to the decision to the leave the EU fell sharply but has stabilised. RICS’s members predict that house prices in the UK will rise by an average of 3.3% over the next five years.

RICS thinks that a shortage of homes on the market was holding up property prices. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, believes, ‘there are clear signs that the housing market is settling down after the initial surprise of the outcome to the EU referendum.’[1]

‘Buyer enquiries did dip again in August but only modestly and more significantly, sales expectations are beginning to edge upwards once again. It is likely the swift response from the Bank of England has played a role in helping to support confidence,’ he continued.[1]

Housing market beginning to settle after Brexit vote

Rise and falls

Data from the report reveals that sales stabilised in August, but fell in some parts of the country, most prominently in London and the West Midlands.

The report from RICS measures housing sentiment and is one of the few that estimates future movements in the market. Results reveal that a higher proportion of surveyors expect sales to increase during the next three months. More believe sales will increase than those who expect them to fall.

An estimated rise of 3.3% annually is different from RICS’ prediction at the start of the year, when the firm estimated prices would rise by an average of 4% per year for the next five years.

Brian Murphy of the Mortgage Advice Bureau noted, ‘whilst the survey is based on sentiment rather than hard data, this provides us with a good temperature check in terms of what surveyors up and down the country are observing.’[1]

‘This is in line with other data released from lenders such as the Halifax which supports the same point of view that after a deep intake of breath in June and allowing for the traditionally quieter summer hiatus, the overall market picture for most of the UK is stable, with the continued lack of supply being the underlying factor which is likely to underpin the market in the months to come,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37297910

One in five landlords is embarrassed

Published On: September 9, 2016 at 2:53 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,buy-to-let landlords,landlords,national landlords association

An interesting new piece of research has revealed that as many as one in five buy-to-let landlords are too embarrassed to admit they are one!

The National Landlord Association’s Quarterly Landlord Panel quizzed 777 investors. Of these, 21% of landlords said they were too embarrassed to admit their role before.

Regional reluctance

In different regions of Britain, landlords in the East of England and the East Midlands were found to be most reluctant to disclose their role, with 29% and 28% of landlords in these regions respectively.

On the other hand, the English locations with the least embarrassed investors were the South East and Yorkshire and the Humber, with 18%. Only 13% of landlords in Scotland said they were reluctant to tell people, which was the lowest in the UK.

Mr Richard Blanco, a landlord in London and the East Midlands, admitted he hasn’t always been truthful about his role. He said, ‘before becoming a landlord I thought long and hard about it because I had always disliked landlords as a student due to a bad experience I had over my deposit. These days I’m more upfront about it, but I tell people I work in property instead, because I still assume people won’t like me if I tell them what I do.’[1]

‘I always say that I work for the National Landlords Association and that we campaign to improve the private rental sector, which tends to go down a bit better,’ he added.[1]

One in five landlords is embarrassed

Satisfaction

Findings from the report indicate that 400,000 UK landlords avoid telling people what they do. However, the National Landlords Association believes that despite the bad press, the majority of tenants are satisfied with their current landlord and tenancy agreement.

Richard Lambert, Chief Executive of the National Landlords Association, noted: ‘The number of people looking to invest in property is rising all the time yet the stigma attached to being a landlord never seems to diminish. It’s the minority of rogues and criminal landlords that make the headlines and this has a negative impact on everyone else. The majority of landlords are hardworking individuals who put their own money into providing homes for others and they should not be ashamed to say so.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/are-you-embarrassed-to-be-a-landlord.html

Buy-to-let market sees sharp rise in post-Brexit activity

Published On: September 9, 2016 at 10:46 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Brexit,Buy-to-Let,buy-to-let activity,landlords,rental market,tax changes

New research from Connells Survey and Valuation has discovered that during August, buy-to-let activity surged by 12.7%.

This data suggests that alterations to stamp duty, taxes and the Brexit vote caused only short-term blips for the sector.

Sharp increases

John Bagshaw, corporate services director of Connells Survey and Valuation, noted, ‘now the effects of the Government’s legislation have been digested by lenders and investors alike, buy-to-let activity has increased sharply. The market’s fears over the impact of Brexit are calming too and the Bank of England’s decision to cut the base rate last month for the first time in seven years may also have a psychological impact on property investors.’[1]

‘Encouraging economic data, high levels of employment and fading fears of a recession have also injected life into the sector. While we can see the impact of last Government’s damaging set of changes to legislation in the year-on-year numbers. August’s surge in activity highlights the resilience of the buy-to-let sector,’ he continued.[1]

First-time buyers also saw a strong increase in valuations during the last month, with increases of 6.8% on July and 19.6% on an annual basis.

Remortgaging has also seen an increase in valuations, both monthly and annually, rising by 4.2% and 1.5% respectively.

Buy-to-let market sees sharp rise in activity post-Brexit

Thriving

Mr Bagshaw continued by saying, ‘first-time buyers have enjoyed a month of growth and the sector is continuing to thrive following a strong July-given first-time buyers are the engine of the property market, this is very significant. August has also seen a surge in activity in the remortgaging sector, partially fueled by in the interest rate.’[1]

‘Overall market activity remains steady and fears of a post-Brexit slump has failed to emerge. In the first full month after the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates, the buy-to-let market has seen a surge in activity. Powered by low interest rates, landlords have taken the opportunity to remortgage,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/btl-market-sees-flurry-of-post-brexit-activity.html