Evictions By Private Landlords Outstrip Social Housing Sector For First Time During Pandemic

Evictions by private landlords have outstripped those in the social housing sector across England and Wales for the first time during the pandemic, official statistics show. But the gap narrowed significantly between January and March, with private rented sector possessions dropping 21.7% compared with the previous quarter while increasing 12.2% in the social sector, according to figures recently published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). A ban on bailiff-enforced evictions came to an end over the Bank Holiday weekend. Landlords have been restricted in their ability to remove tenants since the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020. Read more on Inside Housing.

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Landlords Publish New Deal For Rented Housing

Private landlords are calling on the government to establish a new landlord and tenant conciliation service as part of its planned changes to the private rented sector. The call, being made by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), comes as it publishes its proposals for the Renters’ Reform Bill. With the government committed to abolishing section 21, or ‘no fault’ evictions, the NRLA is calling for reforms to the rights of repossession that are fair to both tenants and landlords. The plans outline clear and comprehensive grounds upon which landlords should be able to regain possession of their properties. Read more on the Mortgage Introducer website.

https://www.mortgageintroducer.com/landlords-publish-new-deal-rented-housing/

Government Urged To Step In As Almost A Quarter Of Landlords Lose Rent Due To Covid-19

 Newly released data from the National Residential Landlords Association has revealed the scale of the financial impact caused by Covid-19 on private landlords, with 22% saying they have lost rental income as a result of the pandemic. According to the research, 19% of those questioned had lost up to half of their usual rental income as a result of COVID-19. However, 3% had lost more than half. An analysis of the results by the NRLA suggests that among those landlords surveyed saying that they have faced a loss of rent, the average (median) loss was between £751 and £1,000.  Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/government-urged-to-step-in-as-almost-a-quarter-of-landlords-lose-rent-due-to-covid-19.html

Landlords Support Mps Calls To Boost Housing Benefit

Private landlords are supporting calls by MPs on Parliament’s Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee to boost the financial support available to tenants during the COVID-19 outbreak. Responding to the Committee’s calls for the Local Housing Allowance to be set at a rate that reflects real market rents, Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “Our research shows that the vast majority of landlords approached for help by tenants struggling as a result of coronavirus are responding positively. We have long called for benefits to cover rents which would be by far best option for tenants and landlords alike.”  Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/landlords-support-mps-calls-to-boost-housing-benefit/

Private Landlords Are Willing To Take A Hit To Support Their Tenants

Research from the National Residential Landlords Association has revealed that private landlords in the UK have been fully prepared to take a temporary hit to rental income to support tenants struggling as a result of the ongoing crisis. The survey of over 4,500 landlords found that an overwhelming 90% of landlords who had received a request for support from a tenant had responded positively. This included offering tenants a rent reduction or deferral, a rent-free period, early release from a tenancy or a refund on service charges included in rents for homes of multiple occupation. Of all the landlords surveyed, 44% had received a request for help. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/new-data-reveals-that-private-landlords-are-willing-to-take-a-hit-to-support-their-tenants.html

Landlords’ Income Drops 20 Per Cent Since 2011

Private landlords report a reduction in average yields from 6.7 per cent in 2011 to only 5.4 per cent at the end of 2019. Challenging economic conditions, and uncertainty around future business prospects have seen landlords’ income from property investment and management fall by 20 per cent, according to a survey of National Landlords Association (NLA) members. In Q4 2019, NLA members reported an average yield of 5.4 per cent, down from 6.7 per cent in 2011. This fall represents a drop in income of more than £19,000 against an average residential property portfolio. Read more on the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/landlords-income-drops-20-cent-2011

Landlord Confidence In Market Drops

Many private landlords say they are less confident about the market than they were three months ago, according to a new report. In analysis, the gap between the percentage of landlords planning to sell properties and those planning to buy has risen in the last two years from four percentage points to 21 percentage points. Confidence is at its lowest in London and Wales and highest in the West Midlands, followed by the North East and Yorkshire and The Humber. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/landlords-confidence-plummets/

Landlord Regulations Up By A Third

The number of laws creating an obligation on private landlords has increased by 32 per cent since 2010. According to analysis by the RLA, the total number of regulations affecting landlords has increased to 156, up from 118 when the Conservative-led coalition government came to power.  The RLA is warning the increase in legislation has not led to an improvement in enforcement action against criminal landlords and many councils are failing to properly use the powers they already have. Previous research by the RLA has found that in 2017/18, two thirds of councils had not commenced any prosecutions against private landlords. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/landlord-regulations-up-by-a-third/

Courts Are Failing Landlords And Tenants

Seventy nine per cent of private landlords with experience of using the courts to repossess properties are dissatisfied with the way they work. According to one of the largest ever surveys of landlords and letting agents, 91 per cent of landlords would support the establishment of a dedicated housing court. In a letter to the new Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland MP, the RLA, which conducted the research, has warned that with Ministers pledged to scrap Section 21 ‘no explanation’ repossessions, the courts are simply unable to cope with the increased pressures they will face. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/courts-are-failing-landlords-and-tenants/

Courts Are ‘Failing’ Landlords And Tenants

Private landlords are waiting longer to repossess properties for legitimate reasons, according to official data. The Ministry of Justice has reported that the average time for a private landlord to make a claim to the courts to repossess a property to it happening is now 17.3 weeks. The figures, based on the government’s preferred measure, are said to cover the first quarter of 2019, and show that the process is taking one week longer than the final quarter of 2018. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/rla-courts-are-failing-landlords-and-tenants/

Renting Housing Crisis As Landlords Sell Up

A quarter of private landlords are looking to sell at least one property over the next year according to new research. Of almost 2,500 landlords who responded to a survey by the Residential Landlords Association, just over 25 per cent said that they were planning to sell at least one property over the next year, the highest proportion since the RLA started asking this question regularly in 2016.

The same survey shows that 23 per cent of landlords report an increase in the demand for rental property over the previous three months, with 57 per cent reporting it to be stable. Over a third of landlords reported low levels of confidence in the private rented sector over the next 12 months. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/renting-housing-crisis-as-landlords-sell-up/

‘Hassle No Longer Worth It’ For Private Landlords

As returns for the UK’s private landlords drop, strong returns have instead come from investing in their corporate residential equivalent, a new report reveals. Research from property investment specialist BondMason says despite seeing strong returns for the last few decades, most private landlords would have done better if they had sold their properties three years ago, as tax changes started to bite, and invested in listed corporate landlords instead. And the research suggest the worst is still to come as many private landlords may start to struggle to balance the annual costs of owning a rental property, with the post-tax rental income received. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/hassle-no-longer-worth-it-for-private-landlords/

London Councils Pay Landlords £14m In 'Incentives' To House Homeless People

Cash-strapped London councils are paying private landlords more than £14m a year in “incentives” simply to persuade them to house homeless people. The sweetener payments of up to £8,300 each were made to landlords more than 5,700 times in 2018 to house people who were either homeless or considered at risk of homelessness, freedom of information requests have revealed. The payouts are made in addition to rent and have been branded as ludicrous by housing campaigners and intolerable by councils. The fall in social housebuilding and a widening gap between housing benefit and market rents appear to be fuelling the payments. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/25/london-councils-pay-landlords-14m-in-incentives-to-house-homeless-people

Labour Would Force UK Landlords To Offer Indefinite Tenancies

A Labour government would oblige private landlords to offer tenancies of indefinite length, based on the German system, in an attempt to give renters more security. The plan would seek to protect tenants from arbitrary eviction without having to give a reason. In contrast in Germany, landlords are only allowed to evict tenants for reasons such as failure to pay rent or committing an offence in the property. Tenants would still be able to leave the property if they gave a period of notice. The proposal is a change from Labour’s pledge at the 2017 election, when it committed to making private tenancies three years by default. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/09/labour-would-force-uk-landlords-to-offer-indefinite-tenancies

Housing Costs: Five Surprises Explained

The UK's housing market is changing. People are renting for longer and buying their first home later. Some buy-to-let investors are pulling out, blaming a greater burden of tax, while some potential home movers are staying put amid an uncertain economic and political climate. It means some assumptions about housing costs may no longer be true. Here are five things you may not know about.

1.       First-time buyers are the most likely to buy a home

2.       There's no place like home (with your parents)

3.       Rent to a private landlord is more affordable

4.       We know exactly where we want to live

5.       New homes are not always brand new

Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47293697

Third Of Councils Have More Than 20% PRS Residents

A third of councils have more than 20% of residents renting from private landlords, new stats show. Generation Rent says the stats, released by the ONS, expose the extent of housing market failure. Generation Rent is campaigning for an end to Section 21, the law that allows landlords to evict assured shorthold tenants without needing a reason – one which has been recognised as a leading cause of homelessness. The stats show that in 2017, 32.50% of local authorities now have private renter populations of between 20% and 39% – up from 25.31% in 2012. A further 0.3% (one council) had a figure of 40% or more in both years. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/a-third-of-councils-have-more-than-20-of-residents-in-prs/

Ministers Urged To Halt Right-To-Buy

Ministers are facing calls to shelve the right-to-buy scheme after a devastating analysis revealed that more than 40% of council houses sold under its terms in London are now privately rented. The damning findings of an analysis of Freedom of Information data also show that:

•             Tens of millions of pounds are being paid by local authorities to rent former council homes in order to house growing numbers of homeless families;

•             Some councils have bought back their former homes at more than six times the amount they sold them for;

·         Hundreds of private landlords now own five or more right-to-buy properties. 

Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/19/ministers-urged-halt-right-buy-council-homes-rented

Councils ‘Ripped Off’ By Private Landlords

Desperate councils are being “ripped off” as private housing providers take advantage of the growing homeless population, experts have warned, after new figures revealed that local authorities’ spending on temporary accommodation had soared to almost £1bn. Analysis by the Guardian and the housing charity Shelter found that councils across England spent £997m on temporary accommodation in 2017-18, a 71% increase on the £584m in 2012-13. Some councils are spending as much as £200 per head of their population on sheltering homeless households. Housing policy experts said that the sharp rise in homelessness coupled with increasing charges from private providers were behind the increase. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/01/councils-ripped-off-by-private-landlords-experts-warn

Worries Among Tenants Over Deposit Return

Nearly a fifth (18%) of tenants renting from private landlords say they have waited more than three months to get a deposit back, according to a survey. Mortgage lender the Nationwide said 4% of those asked had a delay of more than six months. A leading deposit protection scheme says the money should be returned within 10 days of the tenant requesting it after they move out of the property. A landlords' group suggested disputes could slow down these refunds. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45916360

Landlords Are Losing Out By Evicting Tenants When They Want To Sell Up

Over half a billion of rental income is lost annually because private landlords are evicting good tenants mistakenly believing that they need to sell their properties tenant free. The average landlord loses over three months’ rent as a result of evicting tenants to sell and the loss to a single private landlord, typically with just one home to sell, ranges from £2,757 to £5,514, according buy to let marketplace Vesta. It concludes that the practice of evicting good renters is not only losing landlords critical income but it is also causing unnecessary distress and costs to thousands of long term tenants who have to find alternative accommodation. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/landlords-are-losing-out-by-evicting-tenants-when-they-want-to-sell-up/