New Year Surge In Demand From Prospective Tenants

The number of new prospective tenants soared 27 per cent in the New Year according to figures released over the weekend from the Association of Residential Letting Agents. The increase was from 64 in December to an average 81 per agency branch in January. Year-on-year this is marginally lower than in January 2020 when the figure stood at 88 but is higher than January 2019 when the figure stood at 73. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2021/2/new-year-surge-in-demand-from-prospective-tenants 

Repossession Looms For Buy To Let Investors Because Of Eviction Ban

Reduce buy to let regulation or face a worsening housing crisis - that’s the message from a leading property lawyer.  Mary Rouse, from Midlands law firm Wright Hassall, says unless some temporary legislation is revoked - especially the eviction ban - thousands of buy to let landlords will face possession action by their lenders. She says many landlords are under increasing pressure from lenders to start repayments on buy to let mortgages despite possibly receiving no rental income. Rouse says the inevitable consequence of this is that families will be made homeless and there will be fewer properties to let, with landlords either losing their properties to lenders or selling up. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/8/repossession-looms-for-buy-to-let-investors-because-of-eviction-ban

Exactly What The Ban Extension Means To Agents And Tenants

The Law Society has set out exactly what the extension of the eviction ban means to agents, landlords and tenants. The society says:

- Courts are neither hearing nor progressing applications for possession orders made by landlords before March 24;

- This applies to all private or social housing tenancies

- There are exceptions: these include applications for possession against trespassers

- Schedule 29 Coronavirus Act 2020 also remains in force meaning landlords must provide tenants with a notice period of six months when issuing a notice seeking possession;

- Tenants are still obliged to pay rent during this period.

Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/8/exactly-what-the-ban-extension-means-to-agents-and-tenants

Housing Minister Enters Row Over Labour “Bung” Accusation

Housing minister Chris Pincher has entered the row over Labour claiming that the stamp duty holiday announced last week was in reality “a bung” to landlords and the private rental sector. Labour is aggrieved that the stamp duty exemption up to £500,000 applies to all buyers, including those investment purchasers and people wanting a vacation property. The party instead wants buy to let landlords excluded and Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, says: “It is unacceptable that the Chancellor tried to sneak out this huge bung to second home owners and landlords while millions of people are desperate for support. “ Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/7/housing-minister-enters-row-about-labours-bung-accusation

Council Branded Irresponsible By Lettings Body For Ignoring Virus Guidance

Coventry council has been branded as irresponsible by a leading trade body for allegedly ignoring government advice on licensing schemes during the Coronavirus crisis.  The National Residential Lettings Agency says that despite guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - that the introduction of new, non-mandatory licensing schemes should be paused – the council went ahead with a new scheme starting earlier this week. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/5/council-branded-irresponsible-by-lettings-body-for-ignoring-virus-guidance

Council Gives Advance Rent To Landlords Backing Homelessness Scheme

Private landlords are to be given a month’s rent upfront and 12 months’ membership of a trade body if they sign up to a local council’s new scheme to combat homelessness. The scheme, run by Stroud council, is similar in principle to others that exist - the landlord agrees that the council lets their property to a homeless or vulnerable tenant in return for a guaranteed rent, and the pledge that the property will be returned to the landlord in the same condition at the end of the tenancy. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/9/council-gives-advance-rent-to-landlords-backing-homelessness-scheme

Housing Starts And Completions Still Below Pre-Recession Levels

A briefing note for MPs prepared from government statistics shows that housing starts and completions have increased from the lows observed in late 2008 and early 2009 but remain below the levels they were at before the recession of a decade ago. Citing figures from the MHCLG, the briefing note prepared by the House of Commons library says there were 36,630 house building starts in England in the first quarter of this year - the most recent data available. This was a nine per cent decrease compared with the previous quarter, and also a nine per cent decrease compared with the same quarter of 2018. Read more on Letting Agent Today.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/8/housing-starts-and-completions-still-below-pre-recession-levels

Thousands Of Buy To Let Homes Are Dangerous

A compliance company has accused “thousands” of buy to let investors of failing to address major household hazards which render properties dangerous. In the past 12 months VeriSmart has conducted over 60,000 property inspections and reports on rental properties with 4,521 resulting in at least one Housing Health & Safety Rating Assessment (HHSRS) per inspection - some involved three or more. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/5/thousands-of-dangerous-buy-to-let-homes-exist-claims-compliance-firm?source=newsticker

Here We Go Again: More Councils Want Licensing Schemes

Leicester is the latest council to begin consultations on selective licensing in six parts of the city - with the threat that other locations could be considered in future. It has launched a public survey on selective licensing in the six areas, with the claim that the initiative “would help safeguard would-be tenants, who would know their landlord is correctly licenced to operate” and “would also help finance action to tackle ongoing problems of antisocial behaviour.” The proposed scheme would cover about 20 per cent of the city’s private rented sector - so future schemes extending beyond that limit would need to be confirmed by the Secretary of State. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/3/here-wo-go-again-more-councils-want-licensing-schemes

Plummeting Lettings Supply Means Higher Rents For London Tenants

The number of available properties to rent is falling at an alarming rate, particularly in Greater London, according to property platform Home. It says this is bad news for tenants, who are facing higher rents and stiff competition to secure the best homes. Rents have already risen by 4.0 per cent in the Greater London area over the last 12 months. The number of available homes to rent in Greater London that have been on the market for 20 weeks or less plummeted by 24 per cent over the last year, from 52,388 in August 2017 to 39,746 in August this year. Read more on the Lettings Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2018/9/higher-rents-for-london-tenants-as-lettings-supply-plummets-24

Net Loss Of 133,000 Homes To Let In Coming Year

A trade body says the country faces a net loss of 133,000 homes for private rent over the next year - and only a radical rethink on lettings taxation can avoid it. That’s the view of the Residential Landlords Association, which says that government figures themselves show a loss of 46,000 private rented properties in England alone between March 2016 and March 2017. The RLA says that based on questioning over 2,600 landlords, no fewer than 84 per cent have seen tenant demand increasing or at least remaining stable - and this is despite some years of policies which, the association claims, have been geared to increasing owner occupation. Read more on Letting Agent Today.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2018/7/net-loss-of-133-000-homes-to-let-in-coming-year-trade-body-warns?source=newsticker

Rents Rise Gently - But Tenants May Be Persuaded To Pay More

The latest figures from LSL Property Services suggest that rents have increased across the UK by an average 2.5 per cent in the past year with yields stabilising in most areas. The average UK rent is now £829 per month and over the past 12 months only two regions - London and the North East - have seen falls. While the strongest growth has been seen in southern areas in recent years, rents in the North West and East Midlands grew faster than anywhere else in the year to the start of February with the typical monthly rent in these regions 2.9 per cent higher than 12 months ago. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2018/2/rents-rise-gently--but-tenants-may-be-persuaded-to-pay-more-says-lsl

Government Backs One Of UK's Largest Selective Licensing Schemes

The government has given the go ahead to what will be one of the UK’s largest selective licensing scheme outside of London. Letting Agent Today has previously reported that Nottingham was getting tough with unauthorised To Let boards; now it seems the council also has the powers to introduce mandatory licenses for landlords of around 31,000 private rental units within its boundaries.  This constitutes around 90 per cent of all privately rented homes within the city. Money raised through the scheme will help to cover the cost and the council says it hopes to be able to introduce the scheme from summer this year. Read more on Letting Agent Today.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2018/2/government-green-light-for-biggest-selective-licensing-scheme-outside-london

Pace Of Annual Rent Rises Now Lowest Since 2014

The average asking rent across the UK - excluding London - rose by just 0.7 per cent in 2017 according to figures released this morning by Rightmove. This is a much more muted increase than the annual rises recorded in 2015 when rents rose 3.7 per cent, and in 2016 when they increased by 3.0 per cent. Over the last three years tenants have therefore seen landlords increase asking rents by 7.6 per cent - around £50 per month on the typical rent. The asking rents of new rental properties coming to market in London are rising again, leading to the first increase in the annual rate of growth since the start of 2016. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

Landlord Numbers Down But Portfolio Sizes Are Up

The number of landlords has fallen over the last two years despite a rise in supply of homes available to rent, meaning the typical buy to let investor now has a larger portfolio than ever before.  Countrywide estimates that the number of landlords peaked at 3.72m in 2015 when there were some 171,000 fewer rented homes than today.  In 2017 there are just over 154,000 fewer landlords (3.56m in total) but the number of rented homes has increased from 4.9m in 2015 to 5.1m today.   Fewer landlords and more rental properties means the size of the average landlord’s portfolio is the biggest since Countrywide first recorded such information in 2005.  Read more on Letting Agent Today.

General Election Hurt Demand And House Prices

The National Association of Estate Agents says the General Election led to a drop in the number of registered house hunters per branch by eight per cent in May - and it also reports a sharp fall in the number of homes selling above asking price. The NAEA says the number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch fell from an average of 381 in April to 350 in May - “unsurprising as political uncertainty ahead of the election stalled buyers” says the association. Only three per cent of properties sold for more than asking price in May, down four per cent from April and the lowest level since October. Read more on Letting Agent Today.

'Fit For Human Habitation' Amendment May Be Reconsidered After London Fire

A proposed amendment to the government's Housing and Planning Bill which suggests landlords are required to make homes 'fit for human habitation' may be reconsidered following the fire at Grenfell Tower. The amendment was tabled by the Labour Party last year, but was defeated by MPs following a vote of 312 to 219. The proposal was also included in Labour's manifesto for the General Election. According to a report on The London Economic website, Parliament's register of interests shows that 72 of the Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment were themselves private landlords. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

Liberal Democrats Back More Build To Rent

A Liberal Democrat spokesman has outlined his party’s support for a range of private rental initiatives including Build To Rent and the proliferation on online reviews about properties available to let. Lord Shipley says Lib Dems “want a rental market that is fair for tenants and fair for landlords” - but that allows responsible landlords to run their businesses as they wish.  “So whilst we can and should take all possible steps to ensure that tenants are well-treated by their landlords and that the houses they rent are of appropriate standard, we must also make sure that landlords don’t get taken for a ride by their tenants” he writes.  Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

Industry Pours Scorn And Derision On Fees Ban Consultation

The government’s consultation on its proposed ban for fees levied on tenants by agents has been greeted with derision and contempt by a string of industry bodies. Isobel Thomson, chief executive of the National Approved Letting Scheme, described the proposed ban as “a misguided attempt to help tenants which will only serve to hit the most vulnerable and make their access to the private rented sector even less attainable.” Meanwhile the Residential Landlords Association issued a statement claiming that the last four housing ministers - including the current one, Gavin Barwell - had publicly opposed a fees ban. Read more n Letting Agent Today.

Industry Body Urges Major Tax Breaks To Boost Build To Rent

The British Property Federation is urging Chancellor Phillip Hammond to bring in tax measures to help the purpose-built Build To Rent sector assist the government in meeting its housing targets.  BPF figures show that in the past year the number of BTR units in with planning permission, under construction or completed in the UK has surged by over 200 per cent to 67,000 units. The regions have seen an increase of almost 400 per cent, from 7,000 units in October 2015 to over 34,000 a year on. The BPF has stressed that although these figures are encouraging, the sector could be delivering far more homes. Read more on the Lettings Agent Today website.