Reports from China suggest that Chinese property investors from that country – a staple in the buy to let market in many UK cities – are buoyed by the landslide Conservative victory in the General Election. “Those foreign investors who watch UK politics believe the Conservative victory reaffirms the UK as a safe place to invest and an appealing place to live. Yes, the Conservative government has been chaotic and… Continue Reading Chinese Property Investors Buoyed By Tory Landslide

Generation Rent, a campaign group that is consistently critical of lettings agencies and landlords, says a priority of the new government must be to bring down rent. Yet at the same time, the group also wants the Boris Johnson administration to continue with the previous government’s policy to scrap Section 21 eviction powers. Commenting on the election results, Generation Rent director Dan Wilson Craw says: “The Conservatives re-enter government with a… Continue Reading Tories should adopt Labour housing policy, say anti-agent campaigners

The NLA, which represents 42,000 landlords, calls on Boris Johnson to introduce a new dedicated housing court and to redefine the terms of Section 8 “fault-based” evictions. The National Landlords’ Association says the new Conservative government must do these two things in its early phase in office. If this doesn’t happen, the NLA predicts there will be a big reduction in the number of houses available for rent and a disproportionately… Continue Reading Section 8 Reform And Dedicated Housing Court

As a whole, London rental stock has plummeted by 22 per cent in just one year according to a market snapshot by the listings website Home. And the site claims that as a result of diminished London rental stock, 10 boroughs in the capital have seen rent increases of 10 per cent or more in 2019. “Scarcity is driving rents up at a most alarming rate in a growing number… Continue Reading London Rental Stock Plummeted

Unusual research undertaken by an alternative deposit scheme suggests that women pay a substantially higher proportion of their salary than men, even to simply put a deposit on a rental property. Research by Hamilton Fraser’s Ome shows that with a current annual net wage of £29,068, the average male tenant is paying 4.5 per cent of their yearly income to secure a rental property. But because women earn less on… Continue Reading Alternative Deposit Scheme Research

Once again the monthly market snapshot from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reports a decline in the available rental stock. RICS says this has now been an ongoing theme in the available rental stock over much of the last three years. In this month’s study, out today, a net balance of 29 per cent of contributors report a fall in landlord instructions in November – the net balance was 21… Continue Reading Fall In Available Rental Stock

Almost 40 per cent of battery-powered smoke alarms failed to activate in residential fires in England in the past year – a level virtually unchanged in nearly a decade, the Local Government Association has revealed. Latest figures show a fifth of mains-powered smoke alarms failed to operate in residential fires in 2018/19 – but this “failure rate” is almost double for battery-operated alarms and has stayed between 38 and 40… Continue Reading Battery Powered Smoke Alarms Safety Risk

One in seven British renters expect their landlords to resolve arguments over bill payments, a utilities provider claims. The study, by Glide, surveyed 1,000 British renters either currently renting a property, or who have previously, to find out which issues they expect their landlords to be responsible for dealing with. One in seven say they would leave a dispute over how to split bills with flatmates for their landlord to… Continue Reading British Renters Say Landlords To Resolve Amenities

Redbridge tops the chart of house price predictions for expected house price growth to 2024 thanks to Crossrail. The next five-year phase of the property cycle will be marked by the outcome of tomorrow’s General Election. Knight Frank’s Liam Bailey believes certainty on Brexit, either way, is a good result for the housing market. “Brexit has hovered above the market since mid-2016 and in London more than any other part of the UK it… Continue Reading House Price Predictions

New rents have hit their lowest average level for seven months as the letting sectors enter their traditionally quiet season, says Goodlord. The letting sectors platform analyses new tenancies it helped process for November in England and Wales and claims average rents decreased to £898 from £925 a month before. This is the lowest rent recorded since March, when rents also averaged £898. Rents decreased by the most in the… Continue Reading Letting Sectors Hit Seven Month Low

Northern cities may dominate the tables as buy to let hotspots for house price growth but a different picture is emerging for the rental market. New analysis claims to have uncovered the best UK cities for a landlord’s buy-to-let investment. The research by Aldermore assesses and provides a score for the average rent per room per month, short-term yield for a new buy-to-let purchase, average property price rises over the… Continue Reading Southern Cities Dominate Buy To Let Hotspots

A prominent buy to let mortgage chief says lenders should be able to access the rogue landlord database launched last year. John Heron of Paragon Mortgages, writing on the Bridging and Commercial website, says the database may take some time to become fully established but will become “a valuable resource as it grows.” Heron says the government’s recent consultation includes plans to give current and prospective tenants the opportunity to… Continue Reading Lenders See Rogue Landlord Database

Buy to let owners across the UK could be entitled to compensation due to onerous ground rent charges according to a legal firm. As has been well documented in the past year, in the past developers started selling homes on a leasehold rather than freehold basis – often without the buyer fully understanding the contracts they were entering into. In some cases, the freeholds were then sold to offshore investors,… Continue Reading Buy To Let Owners Compensation

A mortgage lender’s new Buy to Let City Tracker tool has calculated the best cities in the UK for buy to let investments – although it looks at only 25 locations. The Buy to Let City Tracker tool analyses five indicators – average total rent, the best short-term returns through yield, long-term return through house price growth over the past decade, the lowest number of vacancies as a proportion of… Continue Reading Buy To Let City Tracker Tool Revealed

Letting Agents & Landlords who prepare for a dispute at the outset of a tenancy increase their chances of avoiding one when it ends, according to The Deposit Protection Service. In new advice to the industry, The DPS emphasises the importance of inventories and the use of photos. Matt Trevett, managing director, says: “Thorough, mutually-signed documentation that describes the condition of a property and its contents when tenants arrive can… Continue Reading Letting Agents & Landlords Avoid Deposit Dispute

An industry supplier says letting agents should respond supportively to the growing eco-consciousness shown by younger people who are likely to make up a high proportion of private tenants. According to utility and comparison service Tenant Shop, while renters will always prioritise keeping bills down they are also increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their energy consumption. It cites research by Your Move showing that 42 per cent of… Continue Reading Agents should respond to renters’ growing eco-worries, says supplier

As a company based just outside the confines of one of the most notorious roads in the UK, it’s always interesting to hear the impact that the M25 has – without being too dramatic – on people’s lives. It is certainly a fairly common topic of conversation here in the office, especially from those who live in ‘the inner circle’ and have to navigate some part of this beast. It’s… Continue Reading Location remains key for landlords, even on the M25

Number 10 briefings to the national media suggest that the scrapping Section 21 – long talked about by the previous Conservative government – will be one of four key measures to be announced in Thursday’s Queen’s Speech. “In a bid to win over Generation Rent the government will promise to outlaw no-fault ‘section 21’ evictions, which allow landlords to instruct their tenants to leave a property without having to have… Continue Reading Scrapping Section 21 In Queen’s Speech

A consultation into the use of section 21 landlord rights notices to evict fixed-term tenants is currently underway – but critics have claimed that scrapping the legislation altogether may leave 960,000 fewer homes available to renters as landlords pull out of the market. While the legislation still stands, Paula Haverkamp, paralegal in East Midlands-based law firm Nelsons’ property disputes team, shares her advice and tips for landlord rights and how to… Continue Reading Landlord Rights Section 21 Explained

New research from the National Landlords Association reveals that migrant workers, and not professional executives, provide the best rental income. The NLA says it study shows that average rental income on property rented by companies or executives was just 4.9 per cent—the lowest of any tenant type. The main reason for this was that the properties typically require significant upfront investment to match the high-spec expectations of the tenants. The… Continue Reading Rental Income – Migrant Workers Best