Posts with tag: tenants

Staying Up to Date with the New Generation of Student Tenants

Published On: January 23, 2019 at 10:07 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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Believe it or not, the days of binge-drinking, untidy and carefree students are long gone. The new generation of student tenants has changed with the times, so it’s important for landlords to keep up to date with their needs.

Broadband and utilities provider Glide has put together a helpful guide based on research conducted through YouGov Profiles, which surveyed 1,460 students taking part in their first university degrees.

To help you stay up to date with the new generation of student tenants, read on:

The environment

Seven in ten students (70%) consider themselves environmentalists, compared to less than half (46%) of the general population.

The new generation of student tenants is working for a better future and wants to make a difference in the world, starting with their homes – almost three-quarters consider fitting solar panels on their properties.

You should show your tenants that you are also aiming to improve the environment through your property, such as installing energy saving light bulbs, which could also cut electricity bills for your tenants by as much as 90%.

Broadband and social media

Wifi and broadband are crucial to the new generation of student tenants, not only for their studies, but for their everyday lives as well.

Three in four (75%) admit that they would not be able to manage without the internet and they value super-fast broadband far more highly than non-students, with 82% saying that it’s important to them, compared with 67% of the general public.

They are using the internet as their main source of information, to connect via social media, and to download materials to their phones and laptops.

Savings

The new generation of student tenants is invested in its future and has plans for its savings.

A huge 97% of generation Z believe that they will own their own homes one day. Despite travel ambitions, they see settling down in their own place as a life goal.

With this in mind, they will look to save money anywhere they can to put towards their savings, meaning that they are more likely to look for somewhere to live with low rent in the short-term.

No more partying

Binge-drinking rates have dropped significantly over the last few years, with almost 30% of young people saying that they do not drink alcohol at all. Most young adults prefer to stay in socialising with a few close friends and a takeaway. So, for the new generation of student tenants, the days of wild parties are over.

That’s right: no drunken property damage, noise complaints and dodgy stains. Instead, students are much more house proud and cleaning is even becoming more of a trend.

These are some of the most important considerations that Glide has found for student tenants today. Therefore, it is essential for landlords to accommodate these as much as possible. In return, the new generation of student tenants looks to be excellent renters, who are both considerate and forward thinking.

Tenants Prioritise Saving for a Holiday over a Home Deposit

Published On: January 22, 2019 at 10:26 am

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Categories: Tenant News

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More than a third (39%) of private tenants in the UK are not saving any money towards a deposit for their own homes, according to new research by Intus Lettings.

The letting agent conducted a survey amongst over 2,000 tenants, which found that those renting privately are more likely to save for a holiday (60%) than for a home deposit (47%) in the next ten years.

Other costs that tenants prioritise saving for include Christmas (29%), cars (36%), and a fund for a rainy day (37%).

The study indicates that simply keeping up with rent payments may be a more pressing priority for many tenants than saving towards a home deposit, as more than half (51%) said that they have worried about not being able to pay rent due to financial difficulty.

The Lettings Manager at Intus Lettings, Hope McKendrick, says: “As property costs continue to rise faster than wages in the UK, renters’ ambitions to purchase a home may be giving way to saving for more readily attainable goals, such as a holiday or new car.”

Of those surveyed, 18-24-year-olds were the most optimistic about their chances of affording their own homes, with 55% believing that they will be able to purchase a property in the future. This comes despite 39% of this group currently saving no money towards a home deposit.

Conversely, less than a third of tenants aged over 45 think that they’ll own their own homes one day.

McKendrick adds: “The lack of cash which renters are able to save towards a property seems to start having a real impact as they get older, as each age group surveyed is considerably less likely to believe they’ll ever own their own home.

“Although our research has shown that nearly half of tenants intend to save for a deposit in the next ten years, high costs within the UK housing market mean this isn’t always possible for renters.”

40% of UK Housing Stock is Private Rental, Report Shows

Published On: January 22, 2019 at 9:00 am

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Categories: Property News

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In the last quarter (Q4) of 2018, 40% of the UK housing stock was private rental, increasing to 50% in cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne and Manchester, according to a new report from TwentyCi.

The marketing consultancy’s Property & Homemover Report for Q4 reveals a steady increase in the percentage of rental properties available over the previous 12 months.

However, the study confirmed an overall property market slowdown in 2018.

Despite a 4% rise in new instructions year-on-year in Q4, there was a 1.2% decline in exchanges, with 20% of property sales falling through, which might explain why rental stock has increased.

Overall, the data suggests that the north-south divide is very much still in existence, despite higher salaries in the south. For example, the 25% of highest earners in London will be spending between 40-60% of their take-home pay on their mortgage to buy a home of equal standing with a 40% deposit.

Meanwhile, the 25% of lowest earners in the capital would not be able to afford to buy a property of equal standing, as it would mean spending between 70-131% of their take-home earnings on their mortgages.

For the lowest earners, the cost of renting a property of equal standing would be between 57-90% of their take-home pay.

However, the figures show that there are many locations in the Midlands and north of England where the 25% of lowest earners can afford to rent or buy.

In Nottingham, for instance, to rent a home of equal standing would cost 35% of take-home pay, while buying with a mortgage would eat up 37% of take-home earnings.

Colin Bradshaw, the Chief Customer Officer at TwentyCi, says: “Q1 2019 and the outcome of the Brexit process will determine the outturn for the next 12 months.”

With such a high proportion of private rental properties in the UK housing stock, demand from tenants looks set to remain high.

Students are Overpaying for Accommodation in most University Cities

Published On: January 18, 2019 at 10:24 am

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Categories: Tenant News

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Students are overpaying for their accommodation in most UK university cities, according to new data from Mojo, an online mortgage broker.

The study found that those in Exeter, Norwich and Newcastle are the worst affected.

This January, university students will be looking to secure their accommodation for the next academic year. For many students, it’s important that they find the perfect property, in a prime location, for a reasonable price.

However, students in some university cities could be forking out a lot more money for their accommodation, simply because they used a dedicated student letting agent.

Mojo compared the prices of rental homes listed on property portals, such as Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location, to those by specific student letting agencies.

Specifically, it looked at more than 30 four-bedroom, fully furnished houses in the most populated student areas of 19 UK cities. Generally, Mojo found that it was more expensive to use a student-specific service.

Students in Exeter fared the worst, overpaying by an average of £69 per person if they rented via a student letting agent. In close second and third places were Norwich and Newcastle, where students could be shelling out £62 and £59 more than they need to every month respectively.

Average cost per student, per month

Students are Overpaying for Accommodation in most University Cities

In total, Mojo found that rents were at least £10 greater on student letting agents’ websites than property portals in nine cities.

Houses on Rightmove in Bristol and Bournemouth, however, were actually £40 and £28 more expensive that on student letting agents’ websites respectively. Nevertheless, these two cities seem to be anomalies, with the majority of student letting agents charging higher rents than local estate agents using Rightmove.

The broker also found the most expensive areas to rent a student property in the UK.

Most expensive student areas

Unsurprisingly, London came out on top, with students in the capital paying £961 per month on average. Next in line was Durham, at £546 a month. Oxford and Exeter were close behind, at an average of £519 and £507 respectively.

Belfast boasts the cheapest student houses, at less than half the price of the top three – an average of £246 per month. Students in Wales can also take advantage of affordable rent, with the average monthly price in Cardiff sitting at £319, while Swansea’s is £324.

University or private halls?

Mojo compared the price of living in halls owned by the university, compared to those that are privately owned.

It found that most private halls of residence are more expensive than university-owned halls. In Reading, the average room in private accommodation will cost students £286 more on average than the university’s halls.

In fact, private accommodation costs up to three times more than university halls in eight other cities. However, in some locations, renting a room owned by the university will not be your cheapest option.

In Liverpool, Southampton and Cardiff, students can rent a room in private accommodation for an average of £100 less per week than university halls.

Top tips for student accommodation

Mojo has put together some top tips for students, following the results of its findings:

  1. Look for a property on a portal, as well as a student letting agent, to find the best deal possible.
  2. If you find a property that you like on an agent’s website, then double-check whether it’s listed on a portal, as you can sometimes find the same property for less.
  3. If you find your perfect property through a letting agent, take note of its features and run those through a portal’s search feature – you could find a cheaper property with the same specifications.
  4. If you want to stay in halls, make sure to compare the price of private and university accommodation, as the price varies greatly depending on what kind of room you’re looking for.

Rent Prices Hit an All-Time High in London, Rightmove Reports

Published On: January 18, 2019 at 9:09 am

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Categories: Lettings News

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Rent prices hit an all-time high in London in December, due to a worrying lack of supply of rental properties, according to the latest data from Rightmove.

Figures from the property portal for the period from October to December show that rental listings dropped by 22% on an annual basis in London, and have fallen by 10% outside of the capital.

This lack of supply has pushed the average asking rent up by 2.7% year-on-year, although it has declined by 0.6% on a quarterly basis, to £798 per month.

In London, the average asking rent hit an all-time high in December, of £2,034 a month, which follows annual growth of 5.4% and a quarterly increase of 2.1%.

Rightmove predicts that asking rents will rise by 3% outside of the capital this year and 4% in London.

Up to the end of 2018, Hertford recorded the greatest increase in tenant demand outside of London, while East Ham saw the biggest rise in the capital.

This widening supply-demand imbalance has led to a lack of choice for tenants, leading to the new all-time high rent prices, which surpass the peak seen in 2016.

The Commercial Director and Housing Market Analyst at Rightmove, Miles Shipside, says: “The increasing rents in London reflect that demand has been exceeding supply over the past year.

“When the Government introduced higher Stamp Duty on second home purchases back in 2016, it deterred many landlords from investing in the buy-to-let market, which, in turn, has exacerbated this ongoing dearth of available properties, and we’re yet to see any significant boost in stock from the many build to rent programmes. In addition, the more punitive treatment of tax reliefs has meant some landlords are also exiting.”

Outside of London, it is parts of the North West that have experienced the greatest increases in tenant demand, with six towns from the region making the top ten in 2018.

The top five comprises Hertford, Bootle, Bracknell, Winsford and Prenton.

In the capital, east London dominated the top five: East Ham, Forest Gate, Biggin Hill, Elephant and Castle, and Chadwell Heath.

Hayes, Notting Hill, Hammersmith, Canary Wharf and Highgate all featured in the top five London areas where the average asking rent has increased the most, with Newbury, Swansea, Dundee, Dudley and Hinckley being the spots where rent prices rose the most across the rest of the country.

Shipside believes: “We forecast that average asking rents will continue to slowly strengthen further in 2019, by perhaps 3% outside London. In the capital, there are no signs of an increase in buy-to-let activity, which may lead to asking rents growing further by around 4%.

“A mutually beneficial plan for both buy-to-let landlords and tenants is to strike up a genuine rapport. It eases landlords’ concerns if they have a tenant in situ for several years, while a tenant with a good relationship with their landlord will stand a better chance of negotiating more favourable rents.”

Tenant Fees Bill to Come into Force on 1st June 2019

Published On: January 16, 2019 at 10:57 am

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Categories: Law News,Tenant Fees Ban

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The Tenant Fees Bill will come into force on 1st June 2019 for all tenancies signed on or after that date, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth announced at the third reading of the Bill in the House of Lords yesterday.

The third and final stage of the Bill’s passage through Parliament comes after controversial amendments in the report stage, which lowered the cap on security deposits from six weeks to five weeks’ rent on properties earning an annual rent of less than £50,000. This will likely affect some tenants’ abilities to find a home, especially if they have pets or poor credit history, warns the National Landlords Association (NLA).

In regard to contractual damages, Lord Bourne also provided further reassurance to the House, arguing that there is plenty of case law in place that already deals with damages, which will ensure that they are not used as a back door to default fees.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government states: “We believe these amendments strike a fair balance between improving affordability for tenants, whilst ensuring that landlords and agents have the financial security they need.”

Tenant Fees Bill to Come into Force on 1st June 2019

Key points of the Bill include:

  • Default fees will be limited to charges for replacement keys or a respective security device and late rent payments only
  • Holding deposits will be capped at no more than one week’s rent, applying to a maximum of one property only
  • A civil offence with a fine of £5,000 for a first offence will be created, alongside civil penalties of up to £30,000
  • The Consumer Rights Act 2015 will be amended to specify that the letting agent transparency requirements should apply to property portals, such as Rightmove and Zoopla
  • Local authorities will be able to retain the money raised through financial penalties, with this money reserved for future local housing enforcement

Alongside rent and deposits, landlords and letting agents will only be permitted to charge tenants fees associated with:

  • A change or early termination of a tenancy, when requested by the tenant
  • Utilities, communication services and Council Tax
  • Payments arising from a default by the tenant, such as replacing lost keys

Now that the Bill has left the House of Lords, it will return to the House of Commons, after which it will receive royal assent and become law.

David Cox, the Chief Executive of ARLA Propertymark (the Association of Residential Letting Agents), comments on the news: “With the Tenant Fees Bill completing its passage through the House of Lords this afternoon, it appears the tenant fees ban will come into force on 1st June 2019; subject to Parliamentary scrutiny in the House of Commons.

“This now gives agents the legal certainty they need to prepare for a post-tenant fees ban world. To learn about the intricacies of the legislation, we encourage agents to come to our regional meetings over the next few weeks and, of course, our annual conference, where ARLA Propertymark will be doing everything it can to help agents plan and prepare for the introduction of the Bill.”

Jon Notley, the CEO of Zero Deposit, also says: “The passing of the Tenant Fees Bill is a watershed moment in the UK’s rental economy, but one that brings with it a sense of both optimism and caution. On the one hand, we welcome any proposed changes to legislation that enable tenants to move more freely – improving rental affordability is both clear and necessary, while the new regulations should improve practices and standards across the board.

“However, it is vital these changes do not overexpose landlords to risk or unnecessarily burden agencies with time-consuming admin that could be better invested elsewhere. The barometer of the success of this Bill will be a rental market that works for everyone.”