Posts with tag: rental market

DPS calls for more support over Right to Rent

Published On: October 6, 2016 at 1:08 pm

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The Deposit Protection Service has called for more support and information to be offered to buy-to-let landlords, in order for them to understand the Right to Rent Scheme.

The Government announced this week that from December, it will be a criminal offence for landlords to let their property to people who are in the UK illegally.

Illegal letting

During her first speech to the Conservative Party conference as Home Secretary, Amber Rudd informed activists that the Government plans to clamp down on illegal immigration. She plans to attack landlords providing people who are not legally permitted to live in the UK.

Rudd said: ‘From December, landlords that knowingly rent out property to people who have no right to be here will be committing a criminal offence. They could go to prison.’[1]

However, the Deposit Protection Service is concerned that there is insufficient information available to landlords to protect them from breaking the law.

DPS calls for more support over Right to Rent

DPS calls for more support over Right to Rent

Fouling foul

Julian Foster, managing director at the Deposit Protection Service, said: ‘Although landlords will always want to operate within the law, changes in the regulatory environment can mean that many fall foul of legislation without realising it.’[1]

‘Pressures on landlords can be significant, particularly those who are in fulltime work, so it’s vital that they receive sufficient information and support whenever the rules change. Anyone letting out property must fully understand regulations that affect them as well as their obligations as a landlord to both their tenants and the authorities,’ he added.[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/10/landlords-need-support-to-avoid-unwittingly-falling-foul-of-illegal-immigrants-legislation

 

The Property Ombudsman reveals annual information

Published On: October 4, 2016 at 9:55 am

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The Property Ombudsman scheme has today released its most recent annual figures, which show a rise in the number of consumers contacting the scheme for assistance.

In her first yearly report following her appointment early in 2015, Katrine Sporle revealed some interesting data concerning the scheme.

Advice

In 2015, The Property Ombudsman received 16,265 enquiries from consumers looking for advice. In addition, it resolved 3,304 formal complaints, a substantial increase of 32% from the previous year. What’s more, the Ombudsman instructed agents to pay awards worth £811,134.

With regards to lettings, some key figures were revealed to be:

  • 1,965 formal complaints were resolved, 33% more than in 2014
  • 83% of complaints were supported
  • 50% of complaints were made by landlords
  • 47% of complaints were made by tenants
  • The greatest award for a lettings dispute was £16,954
  • The average lettings award was £522
  • The highest volume of complaints were in the South East (24%), Greater London (24%) and the South West (9%).

The top three causes of lettings complaints were found to be:

  • Management (including repairs, maintenance)
  • Communication & record keeping
  • End of tenancy issues (deposits, damages etc)
The Property Ombudsman reveals annual information

The Property Ombudsman reveals annual information

Raises

Katrine Sporle noted: ‘The number of agents joining The Property Ombudsman has grown by 82% in the last 5 years. 35,374 offices are now signed up and following our approved Codes of Practice. Importantly, these figures show that more and more consumers are able to access The Property Ombudsman to have their disputes resolved.’[1]

‘Being the largest government-approved property redress scheme does mean that we receive a commensurately large number of enquiries every year. In the vast majority of cases, those enquiries are dealt with satisfactorily through TPO intervention to facilitate early resolution between agents and consumers.’[1]

Concluding, Sporle said: ‘Last year, out of 16,265 enquiries, 3,304 complex complaints required formal review and, a high percentage of those complaints were supported (83%). Overall, this is good news for consumers and redress, but not so great for the reputation of agents who collectively paid out over £800,000 in awards.’
‘My message for those agents is simple; pay more attention to TPO’s Codes of Practice and raise your standards.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/the-property-ombudsman-reveals-32-increase-in-complaints-resolved.html

RICS calls for Government to address shortage of rental homes

Published On: October 4, 2016 at 8:49 am

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New figures released by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows that soaring property prices is making homeownership more unaffordable for families.

As such, the report claims that 1.8m more households will be forced to rent by the year 2025.

Pressures

RICS is calling on the Government to cool financial pressures on investors by introducing tax breaks. In addition, it has called on ministers to shift their focus from supporting homeownership to rebuilding the buy-to-let market.

Data from the report indicates that between 2001 and 2014, the number of UK properties renting a property rose from 2.3m to 5.4m. Further investment has been hit by the changes in stamp duty last April.

The report indicates that as a result of the stamp duty changes, 86% of landlords have no plans to add to their portfolio in the coming year.

Supply issues

An extract from the report reads: ‘RICS is urging the Prime Minister to abandon David Cameron’s previous home ownership focus and reverse April’s Stamp Duty measures in order to address short term rental supply issues. However, they are recommending that Government takes a much bolder long-term approach and pioneers a new build-to-rent sector, with the private sector encouraged to build properties specifically for residential letting.’[1]

‘It would like to see pension funds incentivised with tax breaks to build large scale rental properties with affordable elements. Additionally, local authorities holding brownfield sites should be encouraged to release land for such properties.’[1]

RICS calls for Government to address shortage of rental homes

RICS calls for Government to address shortage of rental homes

Critical

Jeremy Blackburn, head of policy at RICS, added: ‘it’s time for Theresa May to get out her hard hat. We are facing a critical rental shortage and need to get Britain building in a way that benefits a cross section of society, not just the fortunate few.’[1]

Richard Lambert, CEO of the National Landlords Association, believes: ‘The stamp duty surcharge for second home purchases was nothing more than a crowd-pleasing policy from a Government that was dead set on championing homeownership at all costs.’[1]

‘However, it frankly isn’t raising any money for the exchequer, so it makes sense for Mr Hammond to reverse it and give private residential investors the opportunity to help ease the housing crisis. This government should be commended for setting out a programme for building one million homes by 2020 and it needs to put the effort into making sure this is realised. In the meantime we’ve still got a burgeoning renting population that need to be housed right now,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/rics-calls-on-government-to-address-18m-shortage-of-rental-homes.html

Demand for rental property remains high

Published On: September 29, 2016 at 11:18 am

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The latest report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) indicates that demand for would-be tenants increased during August.

There were 37 prospective tenants registered per ARLA branch during August, the highest number since June.

Ups and downs

Data from the report shows that in the first half of 2016, there were signs that demand was dropping, with month-on-month figures down on the same periods in 2015.

However, the last three months has seen a rise in annual demand.

In August, the number of rental properties available by member branch stood at 183. This was one lower than in July. Year-on-year, supply increased by 3%, with August 2015 seeing an average of 178 properties per branch.

Rising rents

Tenants negotiating rent reductions actually increased during August to the highest levels seen since records began at the beginning of last year. Members of ARLA said that around 3% of tenants got a rent reduction last month, in comparison to 2.1% in July.

Last month, 51% of ARLA members reported some signs of uncertainty from those looking to rent, or looking to let, following the Brexit vote.

This however seems to have had little impact on the rental market. During the last month, there were no reported changes in rent prices, supply of properties or demand.

Demand for rental property remains high

Demand for rental property remains high

Good shape

David Cox, Managing Director at the Association of Residential Letting Agents, noted: ‘Although Brexit painted a temporary picture of uncertainty for tenants and landlords, our findings show that the market remains in good shape. We’re not seeing anything across supply or demand that is out of the ordinary, and while demand is at high levels, this is being matched with a decent volume of properties on the rental market.’[1]

‘What’s good is that more tenants are managing to successfully negotiate rent reductions, and that agents and landlords seem to be responding well to this. The rising cost of renting, especially in major cities such as London, is an ongoing issue in both the buying and lettings market so it’s promising to see small steps towards better affordability for renters,’ Cox added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/rental-demand-remains-high-according-to-arla.html

Record Best Rental Market in Some UK Regions in August

Published On: September 16, 2016 at 8:37 am

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Although many parts of the country have experienced declines in the lettings sector over the past month, some UK regions have seen record best performances in the rental market for August.

The findings from Agency Express’ Property Activity Index found that the rental market experienced declines across the UK on a monthly basis, although the lettings sector remains robust year-on-year.

Record Best Rental Market in Some UK Regions in August

Record Best Rental Market in Some UK Regions in August

Traditionally, the UK rental market sees a slowdown in activity over August, and last month was no different. New listings to let dropped by 4.1% and properties let by 1.9%.

However, Agency Express’ historical data shows that the decreases seen this year were considerably less than those recorded in the same month last year, when new listings fell by 13.2% and properties let by 9.2%.

Just four of the 12 regions recorded in the Property Activity Index saw a rise in new listings, while three experienced increases in the number of properties let.

August’s top performing region was East Anglia, which saw growth in both new listings, at 1.1%, and properties let, at 6.1%.

A buoyant rental market was also seen in the North East, where properties let rose by 20.2%. Looking back at Agency Express’ historical data, the figures seen in East Anglia and the North East were record bests for the month.

Other regions that bucked the seasonal trend include:

New listings to let  

  • Wales: +15.3%
  • South East: +3.7%
  • South West: +2.3%

Properties let 

  • London: +5.9%
  • South West: -0.4%

The greatest decreases in August were seen in central England. New listings to let fell by 16.2%, while the amount of properties let dropped by 9.2%. Again, the decline in new listings is lower than that recorded in 2015, when they were down by 21.7%.

Stephen Watson, the Managing Director of Agency Express, comments: “This month, the UK rentals market has seen some seasonal decline, but our data shows this to be less than in years previous. This year, we have seen more regional growth, with areas reporting their record best increases in new listings, whereas in 2015, only one region reported an increase – Wales at 3.4%. As we collate September’s data, we would expect to see a spike in activity once again. Last September, new listings sat at 4.2% – this year we’d hope to see a larger increase, based in current activity.”

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

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

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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

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