Private Investors Cash In On Social Housing Boom

Triple Point Social Housing, a real estate investment trust, has completed the acquisition of six supported housing properties. The REIT company says increasing political and financial pressure on housing associations to improve delivery for vulnerable people is creating opportunities for private sector investors to participate in the market. The company has also acquired the land and entered into forward funding arrangements to develop another two supported housing schemes, comprising 80 units in total, for an aggregate commitment of £14.8 million. Read more on the Insider website.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/private-investors-cash-social-housing-14389470

Investors 'Rushing To Snap Up Homes Before Buy-To-Let Tax Comes In'

Estate agents are reporting a rush of interest from property investors trying to buy homes ahead of the government’s new stamp duty surcharge on second homes. From 1 April, anyone buying a property for more than £40,000 to let or use as a holiday home will pay stamp duty on the purchase at a rate three percentage points higher than the standard rate. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) recently reported that the housing market had seen an “unusually buoyant” December, and suggested that this was in part a result of investors trying to beat the tax change. Those involved in the market suggest that this has continued into 2016. Read more on the Observer website.

The Birth of a New Age of Corporate Landlordism?

The rise of the corporate landlord follows an explosion in private renting in Britain. Numbers have more than doubled since 1980, to about 4.5 million in 2014. Property agent Savills estimates that rental demand will rise by a further 1.2 million households by the end of 2019. The market is still dominated by small landlords. But large investors are increasingly getting involved. This week saw Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate, a property investor, make its UK debut in the private rental market. And last week the housebuilder Crest Nicholson announced that it had teamed with a mainstream UK investment institution, M&G Real Estate, on a private rented development. Read more on the Independent website.

Property Investors Who Leave Homes Empty Could Face Jail

Property investors who leave homes empty just to make money from property price rises could be fined or even jailed under proposals made by a London council. Islington plans to force owners of newly built homes to prove they are occupied. If homes are left empty for longer than three months owners will face high court injunctions which if breached, could bring fines, repossession and, in the worst cases, jail for owners, the council said. The north London borough revealed that 30% of 2,000 homes built in the last six years have nobody on the electoral register and, even when students and foreign tenants are discounted, close to a quarter of homes in five of the newest residential developments appear to be empty. Read more on the Guardian website.