Property Investors Academy

24/11/2022

Totally unacceptable!

A former employee of the Rochdale housing association, responsible for a flat in which a two-year-old child died because of damp, has told Sky News they fear...

24/11/2022

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has made an announcement overnight that “the government will always act to protect tenants.”
The claim comes as part of an announcement giving cash to seven areas to clamp down on rogue private landlords. At the same time there is to be a cash squeeze on failing social landlords, as a result of the tragic death of Awaab Ishak.
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has revealed overnight that £14m is to be given to seven areas with high numbers of poor privately rented homes “to crack down on rogue landlords and test new approaches to driving up standards.”

Projects include £2.3m for Greater Manchester – including Rochdale and surrounding councils - to increase the use of fines where a landlord is found to have committed an offence; £678,000 for Leeds to use behavioural science to change culture among landlords, improving knowledge and skills; and £1.14m for Cornwall to create a database of private rented accommodation in the area and record standards to target better enforcement action.
Meanwhile the social landlord at the heart of the Awaab Ishak case - Rochdale Boroughwide Housing - will now not receive its expected £1m funding from the Affordable Homes Programme or receive any new AHP contracts for new homes, until the Regulator of Social Housing has concluded its investigation and it can prove it is a responsible landlord.
Gove says the government will also continue to monitor housing standards of RBH tenancies closely, working with the Regulator and Ombudsman, to ensure that tenants have appropriate housing.
As part of a wider crackdown on poor standards, Gove adds that he will also block any housing provider that breaches the Regulator’s consumer standards from new AHP funding until they make improvements. Gove will also consider stripping providers of existing AHP funding, unless construction has already started on site.

The move comes after Gove wrote to all councils and housing associations last weekend, saying they must raise the bar dramatically on standards and demanding urgent action where people complain about damp and mould.
Gove says: “RBH failed its tenants so it will not receive a penny of additional taxpayers’ money for new housing until it gets its act together and does right by tenants. Let this be a warning to other housing providers who are ignoring complaints and failing in their obligations to tenants. We will not hesitate to act.
“Everyone deserves the right to live in safe, decent home and this Government will always act to protect tenants.”

Landlord Today

21/07/2022

HM Revenue & Customs has stepped back from a change in the deadline for first-time landlords to give notice of their liability for Income Tax Self Assessment or ITSA.

Currently, a self-employed person or a first time landlord is required to give notice to HMRC of their liability for Income Tax Self-Assessment no more than six months after the end of the tax year in which the self-employed person or landlord became liable to tax.
This gives HMRC time to issue a Unique Taxpayer Reference if the individual does not already have one, and gives the individual time to complete and submit it by the statutory deadline - the following January 31.

HMRC had recently proposed alternatives such as reducing the current six-month deadline to two, three or four months, or using the business’s start date to trigger a notification liability.
Now - in a statement issued yesterday - HMRC has stepped back from any change and has confirmed the six month deadline will remain.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has welcomed the announcement.
It had previously warned that the change would lead to upheaval for landlordswhile offering few benefits. The institute is now encouraging HMRC to focus its efforts on improving existing processes.
John Cullinane, director of public policy at the institute, says: “We are pleased that the government agrees there is currently no need for HMRC to inflict what would represent significant upheaval on the newly self-employed and first time landlords with changes to when they have to register to pay income tax.��“We believe the current Income Tax Self-Assessment registration process works well for most taxpayers, and there is insufficient evidence to change the current statutory deadline.”��The government says it remains committed to identifying new businesses earlier and that it will further explore other options, including better communication of the current deadlines, innovative ways to educate new and potential future taxpayers earlier, and whether the obligation to notify could be merged with the more familiar filing and payment obligations around January 31.

Cullinane adds: “It is right that HMRC should focus on improving its public education work and their own online guidance. As a starting point, HMRC may wish to undertake research amongst those businesses who have recently registered for ITSA, to identify what triggered their registration. That will provide a useful evidence base on which to develop a communications strategy.
“Even where awareness exists, there can be difficulties in navigating HMRC’s systems, such as creating a Government Gateway account or obtaining a Unique Taxpayer Reference, and in the meantime a taxpayer cannot file returns or pay the tax they owe. This is where we believe HMRC need to focus their attention and resources so that the registration process can work successfully and quickly for every taxpayer.”

17/06/2021

Voted the Most Liveable City in the UK (The Economist, 2019), Manchester is set to continue to be a great success and asset to the North West.
The Government’s UK House Price Index (UKHPI) summary of data to February 2021, published in April, reported that house price growth was strongest in the North West, where values had increased by 11.9% over the previous 12 months. In contrast, London, which is normally the ‘leader’ in house price growth, achieved one of the lowest year-on-year increases of 4.6%.
Manchester itself saw very strong annual growth, with property prices up by 11.4%. Flats grew by an average of around 10%, while houses - whether terraced, semi or detached - rose by 12%, according to Land Registry data
Part of the reason for Manchester’s current success is that property prices are still within reach of many across the area. The average price is just under £200,000 according to Land Registry data as seen in the image above. So if you’re looking for a flat, you’ll be able to find many for less than £171,500, or you could spend under £360,000 on a fabulous detached home in a leafy suburb.
• Flats and maisonettes can be bought for an average of £171,521
• Terraces sell for £187,376
• Semi-detached properties achieve £247,326
• Detached houses sell for nearly £360,000
Thriving Manchester rental market
People are as keen to rent in Manchester as they are to buy. The rental sector has grown from just under 19% of properties in 2001 to over 38% of properties today. The two key drivers of this growth have been an increase in the young population and new job creation, and much of it has been focused around the city and inner-city areas.
Manchester is truly a place where global businesses are keen to establish themselves, with 84% employment growth between 2005 and 2019. And the types of jobs being created are ‘future proofed’, specialising in the digital, tech and media spaces, with ITV and the BBC dominating Salford Quays. These types of business alone helped deliver around 100,000 jobs between 2011 and 2019.
The Manchester rental market now covers every sector, from incredibly high-spec ‘build to rent’ properties, that are achieving thousands per month, through to house shares for under £500 per month, delivering to landlords a healthy average rental yield of 5.37%.
With prices having grown by 15.76% over the last five years, it’s definitely a city worth investing in for those buy to let landlords looking to grow their portfolios in 2021. And even though the stamp duty holiday is coming to an end, with the zero rate still being applied for purchases up to £250,000 until the end of October, the average buyer in Manchester will continue to pay no stamp duty until then and landlords will only have the 3% higher rate to pay.
A great future for those that live, work and invest in Manchester
To date, Manchester has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK, with the third fastest-growing local authority. Much of the increase in the population has come from new graduates and young professionals wanting to live in, or close to the city centre, which is great news for the property market, as a young population helps drive demand for housing into the future.
Other changes to look forward to in Manchester include:
• Forecasted house price growth of 17.1% and rental growth of 16.5% (according to research from JLL)
• Delivery of the Great North Rail project in 2022, enabling 40,000 more passengers to move around the region
• Job creation, which is expected to outpace that of other major cities, such as Berlin, Tokyo and Paris between 2015* and 2020** (Sources: *Centre for Cities 2018 and **Beyond the City 2015, Oxford Economics)
• Regeneration projects focusing on Piccadilly, First Street, NOMA, Mayfield, St John's and Great Jackson Street
• A new world-renowned health and wellbeing resort in Trafford City, alongside a lake, public square and Event City, which is expected to host exhibitions, conferences and banqueting facilities
• Great connectivity to over 210 destinations via an integrated transport facilities and its international airport.
But Manchester isn’t all about work - there are plenty of places to enjoy yourself too. Whether you fancy extreme sports such as ski diving or have a love of music and the arts, there is plenty to do outside work hours. And if you want to live in the city but escape easily to the countryside, the nearby Pennines or Peak District will allow you to get away from the crowds and walk for miles. If you like to travel the world, that’s easy too with a variety of carriers at Manchester Airport offering routes to many international destinations.
Lenders

04/03/2021

CofE property portfolio estimated at over £10bn

There's a well-established rule of thumb that states that property prices double every ten years. Although not strictly true due to the cyclical nature of the markets, if you look at prices over a longer period of time then it could be said that property prices double 'on average' every 10 years.

Bearing this in mind, since its foundation in 1534, it's fair to assume that The Church of England will have benefitted from some significant property price growth. In fact, the latest research by Yes Homebuyers estimates that across England, the CofE is sitting on a religious real estate portfolio to the tune of £10.3bn.

The firm looked at the number of CofE churches in each area of England and the size of this property portfolio based on the estimated square footage then looked at what this equates to from a residential standpoint based on current property market values.

Oxford tops the table with 811 CofE churches covering an estimated 1,697,423 square feet in the area. With the current Oxford home going for £561 per square foot, the CofE is sitting on an impressive portfolio to the tune of £953m in Oxford alone.

London also ranks high in the CofE property portfolio, with 475 churches equating to 994,175 square feet of bricks and mortar worth an estimated £624,274,221.

St Albans (£571m), Bath &Wells (£555m), Chelmsford (£527m), Chichester (£513m), Southwark (£488m), Salisbury (£448m), Wi******er (£447.5m) and Exeter (£428m) also rank in the top 10.

At the other end of the table, the Diocese of Sodor and Man is the CofE’s smallest diocese, with just 39 churches on the Isle of Man. Even still, the 81,627 estimated square feet of religious real estate is valued just shy of £27.5m in today’s market.

Matthew Cooper, Founder & Managing Director of Yes Homebuyers, commented: “With so many churches the length and breadth of the nation, it’s fair to say that the Church of England is probably sitting on one of the most valuable real estate portfolios around.

"Should the Church of England decide to offload some of its portfolio, it would add a considerable sum to their balance sheet based on current market values.”

07/01/2021

HSBC UK is re-introducing 90% LTV mortgages for purchase and remortgage from Tuesday 12 January.

The Bank confirmed that it will offer a range of two and five-year fixed rate options up to 35 year terms. Mortgage rates will be announced on the 12th January.

Michelle Andrews, HSBC UK’s head of buying a home said, “I am pleased and proud to announce that we will be re-introducing mortgages at up to 90% LTV. These mortgages build on our significant support for brokers and mortgage customers throughout 2020 and will be available across the board – for home purchases, first-time buyers and to those remortgaging – all up to a maximum of 35 years.

“The new lockdown will undoubtedly present challenges, but the experience of overcoming numerous difficulties during the original lockdown, for example making more use of automated valuations, will be invaluable. We are all seeking a return to normal, although for many it will feel like we may not see that for a while. With us returning to the higher LTV space, hopefully that is a little bit of welcome normality.”

17/09/2020

NRLA slams London rent controls as 'disastrous'

Proposals by the Mayor of London for rent controls in the capital would be a disaster for tenants, driving landlords away from the capital, limiting the availability and quality of rental properties and, ultimately, increasing rents.

As Sadiq Khan once again seeks the powers to introduce them, the National Residential Landlords Association is pointing to a report published by The Treasury in 2010 under the last Labour Government, of which the Mayor was a member.
Assessing the impact of rent controls before they were abolished in 1988, the report warned that they had been a major factor in the “decay of much of the inner city housing stock.”
The Mayor's proposals fly in the face also of the Centre for Cities which has warned that strict rent controls “would close off London to new residents” and the Resolution Foundation which has concluded that holding down the true market price of private housing via rent controls rather than increasing housing supply is unlikely to succeed.

Professor Kath Scanlon, a housing expert at the London School of Economics last year warned too that the Mayor's rent control proposals would result in landlords simply leaving the market.
Chris Norris, Policy Director for the National Residential Landlords Association, said:
“Rent controls would be a disaster for anyone looking for somewhere to rent. As history and experience elsewhere tells us, all they would do is drive landlords out of the market exacerbating an already serious shortage of homes available.
“Rather than driving a wedge between landlords and tenants, the Mayor should focus on using the powers he already has to boost the supply of available housing, including for private rent. Only then will he make any discernible impact on improving the affordability of housing across the capital."
He continued: “We do though support the Mayor's calls for greater financial support for tenants struggling with rent arrears. In the end, this would help them, and the majority of landlords who are individuals and not property tycoons, to sustain tenancies.”

Mary-Anne Bowring, group managing director at Ringley and creator of automated lettings platform, PlanetRent, comments:
"A rent freeze is just another type of rent control and will have exactly the same effect: reduced investment into the rental marketing, reducing the availability and quality of rental housing and in turn pushing up rents.
"While the government was right to bring in initial protections for tenants at the start of the pandemic, landlords should not be expected to subsidise renters indefinitely. Already there is evidence of rent arrears mounting up and for many landlords, their rental property is their pension.
"If the government was serious about avoiding carnage in the private rented sector it would consider extending the furlough scheme and increasing benefit payments."

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17/09/2020

London mayor Sadiq Khan calls for two-year rent freeze.

Rents should be frozen in London to avert mass evictions, city mayor Sadiq Khan has told the government.
Khan wants new powers to prevent any rent hikes for two years and has warned that up to half a million people living in the capital could face eviction because of arrears accrued during lockdown.
Despite little evidence to suggest rents in London are currently rising, Khan is lobbying for guidelines to be changed.
It comes as the existing tenant evictions ban in England is set to come to an end this weekend.
The mayor is also requesting the introduction of grants to allow renters to stay in their homes to clear arrears and to scrap Section 21 evictions as well as expanding access to welfare by abolishing the benefit cap.
He commented: "More than ever, Covid-19 means that many of London's private renters are facing a really uncertain future.
"More likely to be in lower-paid and insecure work, the end of the furlough scheme means even more renters in the capital are now at risk of pay cuts or losing their job.”
“If Berlin can freeze rents for five years, there’s no reason London shouldn't be able to freeze rents for two years in these extraordinary times,” he added.
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14/09/2020

The Highs And Lows Of London’s Property Market
While average rental values in prime central London (PCL) have declined annually by 6.9%, average house prices in prime London property markets grew by the most in five years, according to Knight Frank’s latest report.
Prime London lettings market sees annual slump
Average rental values in London steadily declined in August as weaker-than-normal seasonal demand was met by higher levels of supply.
The latest data from Knight Frank found that average rental values in the capital fell 1% in August, taking the annual decline to 6.9% - the largest decrease since Q4 2009, when the global financial crisis was beginning to deepen.
Rental values in prime outer London (POL) also fell by 0.4%, producing an annual slump of 5.9%.
Activity in the lettings market has been robust since the reopening of the property market in mid-May and the number of new tenancies in August was 9% above the five-year average. However, higher levels of supply and weaker levels of demand has had an impact on rental values.
Between April and August, the number of market valuations carried out by Knight Frank for the lettings market was 37% higher than last year, as more owners initially decided to let rather than sell. Supply was also amplified as more short-term lets came onto the market.
Over the same time period, the number of new prospective tenants fell 26%, creating a downward pressure on rents.
Although students in particular faced uncertainty around the start of the academic year in light of the coronavirus pandemic, many are deciding to take advantage of falling rents. Knight Frank says this may, in time, lessen some of the downward pressure on rents.
Viewings reached a 10-year high towards the end of August and remain strong over the last fortnight.
What’s more, the ratio of demand to supply has picked up since lockdown ended, with the number of new prospective tenants for every market appraisal rising from 3.7 in April to 5.6 in August. The average figure was 7.8 between April and August over the last two years.
Average prices in PCL reach five-year peak
Average prices in higher-value London areas grew by the most in five years in the month to August, caused by resurgent levels of activity since the market reopened in May.
Prices lifted by 0.3%, the highest monthly rise since July 2015, the month that also marked the last high point for prices in PCL. After a bounce that followed the May 2015 general election, the impact of a stamp duty hike in December 2014 began to put downwards pressure on prices.
It was a similar story in prime outer London, where average prices rose 0.5% in August – the highest rise since June 2015. The quarterly rise was 1%, which compared to flat prices in PCL. The out-performance in POL reflects the growth in demand for outdoor space and greenery since lockdown was lifted.
Since the summer of 2015, prices in PCL have fallen by 17%, while POL saw a decline of 13%.
With these declines more marked than anywhere else in the UK, Knight Frank says there is scope for price rises in future years, as told in its latest UK property market forecast.
In addition to the recent ‘weak’ performance, buyers in higher-value markets are more likely to be protected from the economic fallout of the pandemic including any labour market weakness and tighter lending conditions.
The lifting of international travel restrictions will further boost prime London markets, particularly in areas popular with overseas buyers such as Knightsbridge and Mayfair. Prices in both markets were flat in August after respective annual declines of 4.5% and 5.8%.
This may coincide with more buyers acting on the fact that a 2% stamp duty surcharge will be introduced for overseas buyers next April.
Despite uncertainty over what Q4 will bring, activity levels have been strong over the traditionally quieter summer months as pent-up demand is released. The number of offers accepted during August was the highest total in more than 20 years.

Property Investor

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02/09/2020

New interest-free, tenant hardship loan scheme launched in Scotland
A new Tenant Hardship Loan Fund to help renters cope with housing costs during the Covid-19 pandemic has been launched north of the border.
The package to support people struggling to pay their rent due to financial difficulty associated with the coronavirus crisis, which will form part of a wider £10m fund, will open later in the Autumn.
The Scottish government hopes the new fund will go a long way to supporting tenants struggling to keep up with rent payments.
It has already been announced that the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) fund, which helps tenants in receipt of benefits, will increase by £3m, bringing the total to £19m.
In addition, the £60m DHP budget is already being used to fully mitigate the bedroom tax.
Emergency legislation put in place to protect private and social tenants from eviction during the coronavirus pandemic will be extended by six months, pending approval from the Scottish Parliament.
Ministers will also introduce new regulations to allow for the notice period for eviction for anti-social or criminal behaviour to return to one month to protect other neighbours.
Housing minister Kevin Stewart said: “Tackling inequality and supporting people is a central theme of this year’s Programme for Government and this package of support for tenants is part of that.
“We already know that the pandemic has hit the lowest earners hardest and the Scottish government has already put in place a range of actions in place to support tenants.
“This new £10m fund, along with a further increase in our Discretionary Housing Payment funds, will mean that no one should be left in a position where they cannot access support to pay their rent. The intention is that this fund will open in November for those unable to access other forms of support to help meet their housing costs.
“We have been clear that no landlord should evict a tenant because they have suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic. I fully expect landlords to be flexible with anyone facing such challenges, signposting them to the sources of financial support available, and tenants in difficulty should engage with their landlord and seek advice on the options open to them.
“I can confirm that emergency legislation will be extended to ensure no evictions can take place until March 2021. However, since the initial legislation was introduced we have listened carefully to tenants and housing authorities concerned that a three month notice period is too long where tenants have behaved in an anti-social or criminal way.
“We are therefore reverting back to a one month period for repossession for such cases to ensure we can protect other tenants, neighbours and landlords who should not have to tolerate such behaviour.”

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01/09/2020

Clarity on repossession cases will mean nothing unless courts reopen, warn NRLA

Recent announcements by the government clarifying how repossession cases in the rental market will be handled from 20 September have been welcomed by UK landlords, but concerns have been raised about whether courts will hear cases.

According to the new guidelines, buy-to-let landlords are now required to give their tenants at least six months’ notice period before seeking possession through the courts.

Tenants who have committed anti-social behaviour will only receive four week's notice of a landlords intention to repossess the property and for those who have committed acts of domestic violence, this drops to two week's notice.

Landlords dealing with rent arrear cases will only need to give four weeks’ notice where a tenant has built six months of arrears. This will ensure action can start to be taken now against tenants whose arrears had been built up before the Cocid-19 lockdown.

The government announced last month that the courts would only prioritise cases where tenants were in a year or more’s worth of arrears.

The National Residential Landlords Association has said that it is disappointed that the six-month notice period will remain in cases where landlords need to regain possession of a property in order to live in it. The NRLA argues that this will continue to penalise those, such as servicemen and women in the military, renting their homes out whilst working away.

Last week’s announcement by the government also fails to provide the financial package of hardship loans needed to cover Covid-19 related rent arrears which are vital to sustaining tenancies.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, commented: “The announcement provides welcome clarity about how possession cases will be handled. However, it will mean nothing without a complete guarantee that the courts will hear cases from 20th September.

“It is disappointing that the government has so far failed to heed the warnings of the NRLA and others that a financial package is needed to pay-off rent arrears built due to COVID. In the end, this is the best way to sustain tenancies. We will continue to campaign hard for this important measure.”

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06/08/2020

Greater demand for new tenancies placing upward pressure on rents

Average rents across the UK increased by 1.5% in July when compared with a month earlier, the latest data and analysis from Homelet shows.
The average rent across the UK now stands at £965 a month, according to the latest figures.
The rental data traditionally reveals wide regional variations across the country, but on this occasion, rents increased in the last month in all 12 regions covered by the research.
Looking on an annual basis, 10 of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet showed an increase in rental values between July 2019 and July 2020, with two of those regions seeing a rise of more than 4.5%
But rents in London are down year-on-year, showing a 3.2% drop between July 2019 and July 2020, the third decrease in annual variance in subsequent months and the biggest decrease for just over five years.
The South East also shows a yearly decrease, with a 1.8% fall year-on-year.
Looking at the regions monitored between June 2020 and July 2020, the North West recorded the largest increase, showing a 6.5% rise between July 2019 and July 2020.
In July 2020, average rental value in London, stood at an average of £1,611 a month, was 99% higher than the rest of the UK excluding the capital, at an average of £808 a month.
Martin Totty, chief executive at HomeLet, commented: “July appeared to be yet another encouraging month for lettings – with a rise in rental prices across all of the twelve regions monitored compared to June - although the data does indicate a downward trend emerging YOY for those in the South East and Greater London.
“Demand for new tenancies is still strong, HomeLet received the same volume of property applications for tenant reference checks this month as the same month last year. That coupled with the steadily increasing rents is positive for the sector, but there’s naturally caution around what could happen over the coming months.
“HomeLet’s tenant reference data – which is also forward looking – is one of the few sources with access to large data sets underpinning robust regional trend data. It’ll be interesting to see what trends emerge, especially on the regional level and how these variations will affect both landlords and tenants across the country over the coming months.”
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