Posts with tag: tenants

Renters prefer shorter tenancies

Published On: December 8, 2015 at 10:54 am

A new investigation has indicated that a growing number of renters now prefer shorter tenancies.

Data from a report conducted by Knight Frank shows that 53% of tenants favour either a six month or one year agreement.

Flexible

The results from the firm’s PRS research shows that rented accommodation as a whole is now becoming a flexible form of tenure, particularly amongst younger workers. 69% of tenants between 18-24 said that they preferred agreements for either six months or a year. 61% of 25-34 year olds said that they also preferred this timeframe for tenancies.

By nature, the rental market allows a lot of freedom and therefore a lot of movement. This mobility is underlined by reasons why people move property, with 30% of tenants who have lived in at least one rented home identifying a desire to upgrade as their motive.

52% of tenants said that living close to their place of work was a key priority.38% of those questioned have lived in five or more rental properties. 23% of these had moved less than a mile from their previous property, with 19% moving more than 60 miles for study or work purposes.

28% said that they would be happy to pay up to 30% of their total gross income on rent. In the capital, 31% of under-25s said that they were prepared to pay 50% of their income on rent.

Almost one-quarter of those in the private rented sector said that they live alone, with 34% living in a home as a couple but with no children. 43% of 18-24 year olds said that they were currently sharing rental accommodation with a friend.

Renters prefer shorter tenancies

Priorities

‘The Tenant Survey shows us that priorities for tenants when choosing a property include proximity to their place of work or study, how easily they can reach transport links and how affordable the property is,’ said Grainne Gilmore, Head of UK Residential Research. ‘Tenants are mobile, owing to the flexibility offered by renting as a tenure and while the motivations for moving vary, the largest cohort of respondees identified the wish to upgrade to a bigger or nicer property as their key motivation for moving into their current rented property.’[1]

Tim Hyatt, Head of Lettings at Knight Frank, noted that,’ the face of the Private Rented Sector is changing rapidly amid increasing large-scale investment. Already a dominant form of tenure in the UK, it is also becoming an established asset class and we believe that Knight Frank’s market-leading Tenant Survey provides key insights into the market, addressing the fundamental questions for investors seeking to bring to market a Build-To-Rent development which perfectly meets tenant requirements.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/renters-opting-for-shorter-tenancies.html

Welsh Housing Bill Will Make it More Difficult for Vulnerable Tenants to Access Homes

Published On: December 4, 2015 at 1:07 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: private rental sector,rental property,tenants,Wales

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has voiced its concerns that vulnerable tenants will find it more difficult to access accommodation after the Welsh government’s Renting Homes Bill was passed.

Welsh Housing Bill Will Make it More Difficult for Vulnerable Tenants to Access Homes

The bill introduces huge changes to the way the private rental sector is operated in Wales. The RLA believes that while the bill was being passed, the government missed an opportunity to improve access to housing for vulnerable renters.

Prior to the bill, private tenants had to be offered a minimum of a six-month tenancy. The Renting Homes Bill originally planned to abolish this, known as the six-month moratorium.

Explaining this decision, Lesley Griffiths AM, the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, noted that the moratorium prevented landlords “from offering tenancies to people they deem to be high risk”. She said the situation concerned her “greatly”¹.

The government reversed its decision as the bill passed, admitting that this will make it more difficult for vulnerable tenants to access rental homes.

Now that the bill has completed its passing through the Assembly, the RLA has expressed its concern that the minister did not meet with it or any other landlord organisation, despite repeated requests since her appointment.

The RLA Vice Chairman for Wales, Douglas Haig, comments: “Ministers in Cardiff will now be implementing a set of radical changes to the private rented sector that will cause many landlords to consider if it is worth continuing in the market. At a time when we need more homes to rent, this will only make it more difficult still, especially for young and vulnerable people to access the homes they need.

“Given this, it is deeply concerning that the minister responsible for housing has so far failed to meet personally with bodies representing landlords to understand the true impact of the Government’s policies.

“Even at this late stage, we urge the minister to find time to meet to discuss how we can work constructively to meet our shared agenda to kick out the criminal landlords, whilst supporting the vast majority of good landlords to provide the homes we need.”¹

¹https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/12/welsh-housing-reforms-a-missed-opportunity

London Tenants Need to Earn Over £21k Just to Cover Rent

Published On: November 28, 2015 at 2:22 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: London,London property market,mortgage interest tax relief,rent prices,tenants

Tenants in London need to earn over £21,000 per year just to cover the rent, according to new research.

The average rent price in the capital grew to £1,467 a month in October, up from £1,402 in June, says the Rentify Property Index. This is more than a £21,000 annual salary, which provides an income of £1,447 per month after tax.

The study revealed that rents in London increased by 4.67% since June, with the greatest rises recorded in Greenwich.

Rents in Greenwich increased by £340 per month, followed by a rise of £210 a month in Brent and £197 per month in Newham.

Most expensive London boroughs to rent in

Position	Borough	Average rent per month
1	Westminster	£2,182
2	City of London	£2,149
3	Kensington and Chelsea	£2,030
4	Camden	£1,836
5	Hammersmith & Fulham	£1,776

London Tenants Need to Earn Over £21k Just to Cover Rent

Could these price rises be the result of the announcement that buy-to-let landlords will see their mortgage interest tax relief cut?

Earlier this year, Chancellor George Osborne revealed that this change would be gradually introduced from April 2017. By reducing the amount of tax relief that landlords can claim, investors could lose thousands of pounds per year.

Chief Executive of Rentify, George Spencer, says: “The high cost of rent in central London is continuing to drive people away to outer boroughs in search of affordable housing. This however, means that these so-called cheaper locations are seeing a remarkable rise in rent due to their popularity. They are hot on the heels with central London due to strong demands.

“Furthermore, the recent buy-to-let tax hike introduced by the Chancellor will further constrain supply as less people invest in property to rent, making life increasingly hard for Londoners.”¹

Rents dropped in areas such as Wandsworth, by £33 per month, and Kingston-upon-Thames, by £90 a month.

Cheapest London boroughs to rent in

Position	Borough	Average rent per month
1	Bexley	£1,064
2	Croydon	£1,114
3	Sutton	£1,118
4	Waltham Forest	£1,146
5	Barking and Dagenham	£1,192

¹http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-3333353/Tenants-London-need-earn-salary-21k-just-cover-rents-s-not-including-bills.html

‘Harry Potter’ room to rent in Manchester

Published On: November 24, 2015 at 2:00 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,landlords,rental market,tenants

Tenants are being invited to live like Harry Potter by applying to live in a tiny room in Gorton, Manchester.

The room, advertised on house share website SpareRoom.com, is tucked away underneath the stairs and is available to rent for £380 per calendar month.

Home ‘comforts’

Would-be tenants will find a bed in the cramped space, with a shelf area to store personal belongings. Hardly magic by any standards!

Alongside a wardrobe (of sorts), the potential lodger gets access to a shared living room, bathroom and broadband, as well as a kitchen and garden.

Should anyone be interested in renting the ‘room,’ they will be sharing with two women, aged 40 and 41, with interests in music and gaming.

On the plus side, the £380 does include bills…

‘Harry Potter’ room to rent in Manchester.http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/gorton-harry-potter-spare-room-10490905

Descriptions

A description of the property on the SpareRoom website reads, ‘we have a spare room in our home in Gorton. Very close to Ryder Brown train station and a five minute walk, through Sunny Brow Park, to Hyde Road, buses into Manchester and Tescos. Ten minute walk to Debdale Park and a short drive to M60.’[1]

To put the room into perspective, a room with a double bed to rent in the same area would cost tenants just £320 per month. In addition, homehunters could rent out a studio flat overlooking Debdale Park for £385 a month.

A spokesman for SpareRoom said,’ we have taken down ads in the past from people trying to advertise Harry Potter style spaces under the stairs, but it looks like this one’s a whole room, just that the bed is built into an alcove to make best use of the space. We are contacting the advertiser though to check and will remove the ad if necessary.’[1]

Tenants might want to use their magic wand to create a bit more room!

[1] http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/gorton-harry-potter-spare-room-10490905

Landlords out of pocket after tenant damage

Published On: November 18, 2015 at 12:58 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: landlords,property damage,tenant damage,tenants

More than two thirds of buy-to-let landlords end up out of pocket as a result of property damage caused by outgoing tenants.

A survey from services company Fantastic Services revealed the largest problems landlords face at the end of an agreement.

Most Common Issues

The most common property damage landlords are left with were stained carpets, with 76% indicating that this was the case. Next came dirty ovens (67%) and marked walls that required redecorating (58%).

47% said that they had to sort out garden damage at the conclusion of a tenancy, while 22% said they had to fix damaged worktops.

Landlords out of pocket after tenant damage

More than a third of landlords said that they believed the damaged inflicted on their property was caused by pets. Marked floors, ripped carpets and scratched woodwork were common giveaways, with 24% of landlords claiming this damage occurred despite the tenancy agreement stating pets were not permitted in the property.

Alongside everyday property problems, 54% of landlords questioned said that they had been forced to repair more expensive facilities, such as cookers, gas boilers and showers, that their previous tenants had not informed them about. Many said the cost amounted to at least one month’s rent.

Half of subletting occurs with landlord consent

Published On: November 18, 2015 at 11:53 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: landlords,rental market,subletting,subletting property,tenants

Alarming new research suggests that nearly half of tenants that sublet their property do so without the knowledge or consent of their landlord.

Findings from the report by the National Landlords Association come as the Government recently proposed the introduction of minimum room sizes in order to clamp down on problems with rented accommodation, such as unauthorised subletting.

Permissions

11% of tenants admitted that they have sublet all or part of their property in the past. Of these, just 5% did so with the permission of their landlord.

26% said that they have approached their landlord over the possibility of subletting, but had their request turned down. 22% of requests were permitted. 63% said they hadn’t or wouldn’t approach their property owner about this.

‘These findings indicate that subletting is not common in private rented homes, but worryingly that where it does happen, much of it takes place behind landlords’ backs, without their knowledge or permission,’ said Carolyn Uphill, Chairman of the NLA. ‘This isn’t something apparently harmless, like putting your flat on AirBnb while you are on holiday.’[1]

‘We are talking about individuals looking to deceive their landlord and maximise their personal gains at the expense of proper property management standards and the risk of others. It not only increases the cost of renting for the unwitting sub-tenants, it affects their rights and can reduce security of tenure,’ she added.[1]

Half of subletting occurs with landlord consent

Problems

Uphill went on to say that, ‘subletting can also breach a landlord’s mortgage terms, the conditions attached to licenses granted for letting out shared homes and invalidate existing insurance products-so they must be aware of the problems it presents.’[1]

‘The NLA advises all landlords to insert a clause into new tenancy agreements that makes clear sub-letting is only allowed with the landlords’ permission, which should not be unreasonably withheld. This would reduce their exposure to a whole host of unnecessary risks, including hefty fines and even a prison sentence,’ she concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/half-tenant-subletting-occurs-behind-landlords%E2%80%99-backs