Survey Shows PRS Ready To Defy ‘Armageddon’

Almost two million landlords will increase portfolios next year, defying claims the private rented sector faces “armageddon”. According to the study by investor forum and advice website The Property Hub, the vast majority of landlords will buy at least one more property in 2019. And 70% say even a no-deal Brexit would be unlikely to affect their growth plans. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/survey-shows-prs-ready-to-defy-armageddon/

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.

Home Ownership Is Only Rising For The Over-70s And Under-20s

Property ownership is growing fastest among the grandparent generation while their children are increasingly driven into the rental market, figures reveal. The over-70s and the under-20s are the only groups in which home ownership is rising, according to findings by the House of Commons library which prompted a Tory ex-minister to warn of a unhealthy generation gap. The figures suggest the older generation is building up buy-to-let portfolios and brought fresh demands for the government to intervene to tackle a growing housing crisis. Falling levels of ownership have been blamed on a shortage of supply of affordable homes and resulting increases in property prices across the UK. Read more on the inews website.

Landlords Urged To Stay Calm In Face Of Brexit

Residential landlords in the UK are being urged not to read too much into the decision by the country to leave the European Union, having gone through a turbulent period recently. Buy to let landlords are now paying a 3% surcharge in stamp duty on each additional property they buy to add to their portfolios and are also facing further tax changes. Now there are concerns that Brexit could affect their businesses. However, according the National Landlords Association (NLA), while leaving the EU is completely unknown territory, jumping to conclusions isn’t going to help anyone. Read more on Property Wire.

Government Shrinks Property Portfolio By 22% Through Office Sell-Off

The government’s property portfolio has shrunk by 2.4 million square metres - a 22% reduction. It means that the total central government estate has fallen below 5,000 holdings for the first time and could fit inside the area of West Finchley. The minister for the cabinet office and paymaster general Matt Hancock published the figures at the government property 2016 conference. Hancock was launching the latest State of the Estate report. Reductions were achieved through selling under-utilised buildings, ranging from the Old War Office in the capital, to an old bakery and a lighthouse. It was also announced today that the government plans to reduce its number of offices by 75% before 2023, moving from 800 to 200 offices. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Experts Predict a Disaster for Buy-To-Let Landlords

Many experts believe a Government led by Ed Miliband will wreak havoc on the attractive investment returns that many people now earn from owning a buy-to-let property – or a portfolio of properties. Mismanagement of the economy by a Labour Government, they say, could trigger interest rate rises and a sharp housing market correction, proving disastrous for buy-to-let investors. Eric Pentecost, Professor of Economics at Loughborough University, says: ‘Buy-to-let investors face several potential downsides on the horizon. They include a future rise in interest rates, a fall in house prices and political interference in the rental sector. A Labour administration would more likely bring these downsides much closer to home.’ Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Council Company Buys Homes for Homeless Families

A property company established by a London borough council to provide temporary homes at sub-market rents to people who would otherwise find themselves in expensive emergency accommodation has let out its first purchased property. Housing Gateway, established by Enfield Council, has presented the keys to the house to a homeless family; the family is said to be “happy and relieved” to have been moved to a “safe new temporary home”. The council said it is determined that Housing Gateway builds up a portfolio of properties that can be let at sub market rents to families who would otherwise be housed in emergency accommodation, sometimes in other boroughs, and at “considerable” cost to the council. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Reshuffle Prompts Fear Homelessness Will Be Sidelined In Election

The removal of homelessness from the housing minister’s portfolio has prompted concerns that the government is intending to ‘sideline’ the issue in the run-up to next year’s general election.  Last week, the government announced that new housing minister Brandon Lewis will not be responsible for tackling homelessness. The brief instead remains with former housing minister - and now more junior local government minister - Kris Hopkins, as a reflection of the ‘importance of the issue’, the CLG said. However, Howard Sinclair, chief executive of St Mungo’s Broadway, said: ‘The risk is that [homelessness] is sidelined at a time when housing is just beginning to get some influence and notice nationally, and that housing issues are sidelined.’ Read more on Inside Housing.

Biggest Buy-To-Let Landlords to Sell Entire Portfolio

Britain's biggest buy-to-let landlords, Fergus and Judith Wilson, are to withdraw from the property business, selling their entire portfolio of nearly 1,000 homes in the Ashford and Maidstone area in a deal likely to net the controversial duo at least £100m – and spark speculation that property prices have peaked. The Wilsons met with widespread condemnation earlier this year when it was revealed they had sent eviction notices to 200 tenants on housing benefit, saying they preferred eastern European migrants who default much less frequently than single mums on welfare. They first shot to prominence in 2006 when it was revealed that they had built up Britain's biggest buy-to-let empire, sometimes snapping up a property every day in the early part of the decade. Read more on the Guardian website.

Market Rent Case Study: Derwent Living

There is an increasing number of social landlords which are now beginning to build up portfolios of properties for let at full market rents. However, although this is a rapidly expanding area of work, it is not entirely new. A few social landlords have been letting properties on this basis for a number of years.  Derwent Living is one such landlord, so what can be learnt from them?  Read more of this case study on the CIH website.

Review into How More Social Homes Can Be Built

An independent and wide-ranging review into how more social homes can be built has been launched by Danny Alexander and Eric Pickles. The review will be led by Natalie Elphicke, chair of Million Homes, Million Lives, and Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council. This review will assess if councils are making sufficient use of their existing powers and flexibilities to deliver new social housing. For instance, councils could use their property portfolio more effectively to finance housebuilding by selling expensive vacant properties and using the receipts to build new affordable homes. The review will also consider how councils can work more closely with housing associations, housebuilders and businesses to build more new homes. Read more on the Govuk website.

Prudential Invests In 'Generation Rent' In £100m Deal

Insurer Prudential is buying more than 500 houses and flats to let in London and the south of England, in a calculated bet on years of good returns from 'Generation Rent'. In a deal worth £105.4m, the Pru's real-estate management arm, Prupim, is buying a portfolio of 534 private rental units from upmarket housebuilder Berkeley. The homes are a mix of studio flats and one, two and three-bedroom houses in 13 locations, including Hendon, Lewisham, Croydon, and Gosport and Cirencester. The deal follows last month's budget announcement from chancellor George Osborne that the "build to rent" fund – intended to boost homes for private rent – would increase to £1bn, from £800m, as the government bids to encourage new homes for rent in a more "professional" private market. Read more on the Guardian website.