Various reports have suggested that a number of private landlords plan to sell up and quit the Private Rental Sector as a consequence of recent buy-to-let tax changes, but the latest Landbay Rental Index suggests otherwise. The P2P lender reports that the rental value of a new letting in the UK increased by just 0.24% in the first six months of 2017, which is only a third of the 0.79%… Continue Reading No sign of landlords exiting Private Rental Sector despite ‘catalogue of challenges’

The UK housing market may have currently flattened to the lowest level since 2013, but this does not necessarily mean that property prices are suddenly about to nosedive. Halifax released its latest house price data last week showing that growth in property prices had eased from 3.3% in May to 2.6% in June, while the figures also revealed that home values in the period between April and June were 0.1%… Continue Reading Slowdown in UK housing market ‘doesn’t mark the start of a sustained fall in prices’

The latest investigation into the ability of the private rental sector to meet the needs of the population is calling for evidence from interested parties. Back in March we reported that the Nationwide Foundation was funding the University of York to conduct a review to establish broadly whether the private rental sector meets the needs of tenants, and whether the string of fiscal and regulation changes now underway will help the sector… Continue Reading Latest ‘Rugg Review’ for private rental sector calls for evidence

One of our founding Directors, Romesh Muthiah recently wrote a comprehensive review about Enfield Councils Direct Let scheme that they offer to landlords letting their residential properties in the LB Enfield. The overview looks at both the pros’ and cons of letting through this scheme offered by Enfield Council to local landlords. The article has been featured in the ‘Comment’ section on the ‘London Property Licensing’ website. See the link… Continue Reading Enfield Council’s Direct Let Scheme – An Overview

A lettings firm and a property management company that converted a family home into micro flats have been found guilty of breaching a planning enforcement notice. The owners of the house in Harlesden, north London – the companies Lettings firm Wise Estates (UK) Ltd and Manlow Property Management Ltd – converted the three bedroom house into six studio flats without planning permission. Brent council issued the owners and managers with… Continue Reading Lettings firm face criminal confiscations over illegal micro-flats

NEWS RELEASE Central Housing Group shortlisted for two letting agency Awards Central Housing Group, London Residential Letting & Management Agency and Guaranteed Rent Specialist has been shortlisted as a finalist for 2017 in the ‘London Agency of the Year’ category & ‘Small Lettings Agency of the Year’ category of the acclaimed ‘The Negotiator Awards 2017’. https://www.thenegotiatorawards.co.uk/ The Negotiator Awards is the most prestigious and popular awards scheme in residential property… Continue Reading Guaranteed Rent Specialist shortlisted as Finalist at ‘The Negotiator Awards’ 2017

Asking rents outside London continue to hold up despite the market having more available rental properties, according to Rightmove. Prices rose 2.8 per cent compared to last quarter, similar to the 2.7 per cent average over the past five years. Properties marked as available by letting agents on Rightmove are up seven per cent compared to the second quarter of last year outside London, though new rental properties coming on… Continue Reading Rightmove sees supply in rental properties surge but steady rents – except for London

The average rent of a new letting in the UK grew by 0.24 per cent in the first six months of 2017, just a third of the growth seen during the same period in 2016. The claim, by Landbay, suggests that the slowdown began as long ago as April 2015 when the first of the recent spate of tax changes for the private rental sector was announced by then-Chancellor George… Continue Reading UK rental growth slows as London goes negative, index claims

The government’s proposal for a deposit cap to one month of rent and reservation fees to one week of rent will directly hurt tenants, warns lettings guru David Lawrenson. He says the proposals – which he claims were ‘easy targets’ for a minority government badly damaged by the election result last month – will hit renters in various ways. Lawrenson, writing on his LettingFocus newsletter, says most deposits in the… Continue Reading Deposit cap will make it harder for many to rent says lettings guru

The Residential Landlords’ Association has been told in no uncertain terms by the government that changes to Energy Performance Certificate scheduled for April 2018 will not be delayed – and the lettings sector should prepare now. The government will be publishing detailed guidelines in October to clarify the new rules and the obligations of agents, landlords and others. This is expected to include news on a possible cap on improvements… Continue Reading New Energy Performance Certificate rules will come in next April

Limited company landlords rushing to incorporate in order to preserve mortgage interest relief on their buy-to-let portfolio may still end up paying more. Lenders such as OneSavings Bank have reported increasing buy-to-let applications from limited companies but research by broker Private Finance shows that any savings made by keeping mortgage interest relief may be surpassed by the higher costs of a mortgage deal for a company. A limited company borrower… Continue Reading Limited company landlords facing higher mortgage costs

Landlords rank reversing mortgage interest relief as key buy-to-let priority for Government, which is facing yet more pressure to reverse controversial changes to mortgage interest relief, according to Paragon Mortgages. The lender’s second quarter PRS Trends Report, based on interviews with 201 experienced residential landlords, asked landlords to rank the action they would most prefer the new Government take to help with their residential lettings business. The highest-ranking answer was… Continue Reading Landlords rank reversing mortgage interest relief as key buy-to-let priority for Government

Residential house prices rebound in June in the UK after falling for three months, fresh data from Nationwide has revealed. House prices rose 1.1% in June alone after falling 0.2% in May, the mortgage lender said. However, it added that it was unclear at this stage if the increase in home values reflected improved demand, with Nationwide economist Robert Gardner pointing out that “monthly growth rates can be volatile, even… Continue Reading House prices rebound in June – Nationwide

Many young people have no alternative but to live with their parents to save enough money for a deposit to buy their own home due to high house prices. The specialist bank Aldermore has estimated that 22% of aspiring first-time buyers are currently living with their parents. Of those, just over a quarter – 26% – say they will have to live with their family for five or more years to… Continue Reading High house prices force many adults to live with their parents

There has been a fall in demand for homes across much of the UK, enabling buyers to negotiate better prices, fresh data from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA Propertymark) shows. In its May Housing Report, the NAEA said the number of homes which sold for less than asking price increased to 77%, up five percentage points from April, while just 3% of properties sold for more than the… Continue Reading Housing demand decrease amid election uncertainty

The recent surge in small deposit mortgage deals for first-time buyers is good news for purchasers, especially first-time buyers but more affordable housing is still needed. Recently released data from Moneyfacts shows that the number of 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage deals has increased four-fold since June 2012, with 288 95% LTV deals on the market this month, up from 251 this time last year and quadruple the 63 deals five… Continue Reading More affordable housing needed

A growing number of investors are being forced to sell their homes in order to pay off their interest-only mortgage debts, according to new research. A fresh survey of 104 estate agents found that 43% have seen an increase in the volume of customers forced to sell their homes to pay off interest-only mortgage debts over the past two years. The study revealed that mortgage debt issues are particularly affecting… Continue Reading Sharp rise in investors forced to sell to pay off interest-only mortgage debts

The annual rise in UK house price inflation picked up again in May, the latest figures show, with prices continuing to rise at a faster pace than the general cost of living. UK property prices increased by 3.1% annually last month, up from 2.1% the previous month, according to the latest Nationwide house price index. Increasing house prices pose a problem for many would-be property purchasers, especially first-time buyers struggling to… Continue Reading Govt urged to bring house price inflation in line with earnings

The Residential Landlords Association is urging checks on white goods in the private rental sector following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The association is urging checks on all appliances provided to tenants to ensure they are not subject to a recall or in need of modification – there are various recall websites but the RLA says registermyappliance.org.uk not only allows users to check their goods, but also allows them to register white goods… Continue Reading Checks on white goods across private rental sector

Reports from Australia suggest some of the country’s leading letting agencies have inserted clauses into their tenancy contracts to ban Airbnb sublets and similar platforms from renters. Although many Australian contracts already prohibit sub-letting – as they do in this country – some have been modified to specify more explicit bans on short-lets via internet platforms, which landlords say create more wear and tear on their properties. One lease, cited… Continue Reading Could it happen here? Australian agents specifically ban Airbnb sublets