Rents climb above £600 again

After the seasonal dip in rent. The spring kick up has resulted in monthly rents climbing back above the £600 pcm level for the first time since January.

The good news is that the general trend to rents according to the Rentindex is upward and with strong demand and lack of supply we can't see this changing in the short term.

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Tenants & water meters

Many tenants who are responsible for paying their water bills will look at reducing their bill by getting a water meter. Can they do that? Well not unless there fixed term tenancy is for more than 6 months under the provisions of the Water Industry Act 1999. Then they may be able to install a water meter unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise. It is normal that the tenancy agreement requires that the tenant should obtain consent from the landlord first before approaching the water company to obtain a water meter.

The difficulty for a landlord is that once a water meter has been installed it can only be removed by paying the water company to do this (not cheap). I generally would advise that landlords should refuse consent unless the tenant is bound to procure (and pay for) meter removal when the tenancy ends.

Landlord insurance - professional rates

More rental data news

According to BM Solutions average rents in the London are twice that of the rest of the UK.

Londons average rent is £1,212 a month, the next highest is the South East at £858 a month.

The cheapest areas are Wales at £474 per month and the North and Yorkshire and the Humber both £488 per month.



BM Solutions data recorded that the national average monthly rent increased by 4.8% overall last year.

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BTL mortgages - most popular

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Overall Cost for Comparison
85%	5.99% Fixed	2 Years	1%	£130.00	No	6.6% APR
80%	4.79% Discount	2 Years	£2999	£130.00	No	8.2% APR
75%	4.49% Tracker	Jun 2 2014	£1999	£0.00	No	5.6% APR
75%	4.88% Fixed	2 Years	£1999	£0.00	Free legal fees for remortgage	5.7% APR
70%	3.85% Discount	3 Years	£995	£0.00	No	5.3% APR
70%	3.74% Discount	Jul 31 2014	£899	£0.00	No	5.9% APR
65%	3.49% Tracker	May 31 2014	3.5% (min £595)	£0.00	No	5.3% APR
65%	5.84% Fixed	May 31 2014	0%	£150.00	Free valuation for properties valued up to £500,000 (excludes Scotland)	5.3% APR
60%	3.39% Tracker	Mar 31 2014	2.5%	£0.00	Free valuation for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	5.1% APR
60%	3.25% Discount	2 Years	1.75%	£250.00	Free valuation on properties valued up to £1m	5.3% APR

Search the whole BTL mortgage market free

Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice. Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages.

The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

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Drug farms double

Here's another interesting fact that I stumbled across that landlords should be aware of.

Nearly 7,000 cannabis factories, containing 750,000 plants, with an estimated yield valued at £85million, were discovered by police in 2009-10, double the figure two years earlier.

Worth been observant.

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Rental yields top 6%

The latest buy-to-let yield revealed by BM Solutions show that the highest rental yields were in the North (7.0%), North West, Yorkshire and the Humber (both 6.3%), Wales (6.0%), West Midlands and the East Midlands (both 5.9%).

Greater London (4.8%), South West (5.0%), South East (5.2%) and East Anglia (5.3%) all registered yields below the UK average. Rental yields were marginally lower in 2011 at 6.1% than in 2010, when they stood at 6.2%.

Rental yields are notoriously difficult to measure accurately on buy-to-let property because of the complexity of measuring buy-to-let property capital values and rents.

Landlord insurance - all risks

Tenants to get credit history

A new scheme which up a tenants credit rating if they keep up to date on their rent is being introduced by credit referencing company EXPERIAN.

The scheme called the Rental Exchange could help to strengthen a tenants credit history in the same way that a good payment record for a mortgagee helps a homeowner gain credit.

This seems a positive development to me to incentivise tenants to pay their rent on time and gain a higher credit score which will help them obtain credit including a mortgage in the future.
Currently the Rental Exchange will only operate with a number of the larger corporate private landlords but if it could be widened to small private landlords it would be an excellent way of incentivising tenants to be prompt with their rental payments and bring down rental arrears.

For more details

Landlord insurance - professional rates

Extending REITS to social housing

The Government  launched a consultation on extending REITs its tax-friendly property investment regime.

The consultation could result in Real Estate Investment Trusts been extended to allow  housing associations to take on the tax-efficient status, exempting them from corporation tax, and tax on rental income and property gains.

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NLA reactions to budget

“Regrettably, there has been no recognition in the budget statement of the barriers to investment presented by the current system of property taxation,” says David Salusbury, Chairman, National Landlords Association (NLA).

Read the NLA's full budget review here 

Most expensive BTL

Is the the Uk's most expensive buy to let property?

Candy’s CPC Group have just paid £35 million for a BTL terraced house. For most landlords this would seem a touch over priced, for many £35 thousand would be a more realistic figure.

This terraced house does happen to be near Regents Park, in an area that can commond more than £3000 per square foot.

Rumour has it that the property has already found a tenant for the period of the Olympics for a rent of £400,000. I wonder if that includes council tax?

Read more in the Independent

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My tenants are dumb!

My tenants are testing my patience this week.

Do any other landlords spend all their time resending emails and texts with contractors details on?

Do tenants not have the facility or acumen to store a name or contact on their phone or search their email inbox.

Apparently not!

Landlord insurance - professional rates and cover

BTL mortgages - most popular

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Overall Cost for Comparison
85%	5.99% Fixed	2 Years	1%	£130.00	No	6.6% APR
80%	4.79% Discount	2 Years	£2999	£130.00	No	8.2% APR
80%	4.99% Discount	2 Years	£2995	£0.00	Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.	5.7% APR
80%	4.99% Fixed	Apr 30 2015	2%	£0.00	Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.	5.8% APR
75%	4.25% Discount	2 Years	2.5%	£250.00	No	5.5% APR
75%	4.78% Fixed	2 Years	2.5%	£130.00	No	6.8% APR
70%	3.74% Discount	Jul 31 2014	£899	£0.00	No	5.9% APR
70%	4.25% Discount	2 Years	0%	£199.00	Free valuation up to £335 for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	6% APR
60%	5.49% Fixed	2 Years	2.5%	£130.00	No	6.9% APR
60%	3.25% Discount	2 Years	1.75%	£250.00	Free valuation on properties valued up to £1m	5.3% APR

Search the whole BTL mortgage market free

Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice. Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages.

The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

---

DPS dispute resolution

Landlords are familiar with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).

Any body who has worried about a dispute with their tenant over their tenancy deposit should have a look at Tom Derretts' excellent series of posts and advice on disputes over the tenancy deposit.

For information about repaying the tenant's deposit have a look at this recent magazine article.

Landlord insurance - all risks

Average rents fall in February

Average rents took a surprising fall in the February according to LSL Property Services data.

Well all good things come to an end I suppose.

The figures report that the average rent across England and Wales fell by 0.6% to £707 per month. The biggest falls were seen in the East Midlands (-2.2%) and West Midlands (-1.8%).

There was even a fall in rents in the capital, with a drop of 0.4%.

David Newnes of LSL, commented that “In the longer term, it’s difficult to see a prolonged decrease in the tenant demand underpinning rental inflation.”

He adds: “There are already indications that mortgage lending is falling back, and that mortgage rates are beginning to climb, which will limit the number of prospective homebuyers leaving the rental sector.”

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Landlords urged to use RCD's

The Electrical Safety Commission (ESC) is calling on landlords to ensure that there is adequate RCD protection in all of their buy-to-let properties.

Currently the ESC estimate fewer than half of UK households (49%) have adequate RCD protection and this number drops to just 30% for private tenants.

A Residual Current Device (RCD) is a life-saving device that protects against dangerous electric shock and reduces the risk of electrical fires. The ESC urge that a Plug-in RCDs should be used if there is no RCD in the fuse box.

Electrical Safety for landlords

Complaints about letting agents rise

The Property Ombudsman is calling again for reforms to the lettings industry after receiving a further increase of 26% of enquiries regarding letting agents. The Ombudsman is calling for letting agents to be bought under the same level of regulation as estate agents to protect tenants and landlords. Read more on this in the BBC

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Landlord kills tenants' cat

Having problems with your tenants?

We don't recommend this as a course of action!

Pay up or else "Kitty gets it!"

Reference my tenants - For LESS

BTL mortgages - most popular

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Overall Cost for Comparison
85%	5.99% Fixed	2 Years	1%	£130.00	No	6.6% APR
80%	4.79% Discount	2 Years	£2999	£130.00	No	8.2% APR
80%	4.99% Discount	2 Years	£2995	£0.00	Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.	5.7% APR
75%	4.49% Tracker	Jun 2 2014	£1999	£0.00	No	5.6% APR
75%	4.88% Fixed	2 Years	£1999	£0.00	Free legal fees for remortgage	5.7% APR
70%	3.85% Discount	3 Years	£995	£0.00	No	5.3% APR
70%	4.59% Fixed	Jun 30 2014	£750	£245.00	Free valuation and free legals for remortgages (properties valued up to £500,000).	5.1% APR
70%	3.74% Discount	Jul 31 2014	£899	£75.00	No	5.9% APR
65%	3.49% Tracker	May 31 2014	3.5% (min £595)	£0.00	No	5.3% APR
65%	5.84% Fixed	May 31 2014	0%	£150.00	Free valuation for properties valued up to £500,000 (excludes Scotland)	5.3% APR
60%	3.39% Tracker	Mar 31 2014	2.5%	£0.00	Free valuation for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	5.1% APR
60%	3.25% Discount	2 Years	1.75%	£250.00	Free valuation, property valued up to £1m	5.3% APR

Search the whole BTL mortgage market free

Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice. Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages.

The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

---

MPs 'hot under collar' over rents

It seems that it's not only landlords and tenants who are getting 'hot under the collar' over the subject of rents.

There seems to be some disagreement between the Tory and Labour ranks over whether private sector rents are rising or not. The Lib Dems seem conspicuously absent from the debate. No doubt mulling over much higher matters - such as the working conditions of university lecturers and possibly the true meaning of Nietzsche.

To view the red and blue banter have a look at this link to the excellent TheyWorkForYou website.

It's good to see that some things don't change. The Labour party is still agitating that rents are too high for hard pressed tenants ( but don't have the guts to put forward a credible tax & spend alternative to private landlords ) and the Tories do their best to stand up for market principles.

I do hope the Lib Dems are alright though........

It gets terribly draughty in those Ivory Towers!

Landlord Insurance - no nonsense cover

Property market feels sunny

Surveyors are becoming more buoyant on future property prices, it seems that many see the worst of the grey clouds behind us.

Estate agents are reporting an increase in sales last month.

Are we all getting a bit giddy now the suns come out?

I mean estate agents tend to hold an optimistic character , very much live for today, live for my next commission kind of guys, have they forgotten whats been going on?

Now the suns popped out, is everything forgotten?

We'll have to see if the winter is really behind us or if this is just a temporary break in the clouds before the bitter forecasts return.

We do have the New Buy scheme, the scheme launched yesterday by the Government that aims to enable First Time Buyers to purchase new build property with just 5% deposits, with the Government acting as some kind of parental guarantor. Maybe this will drive up the property chain and sustain our temperate property price climate. But some are already having concerns about the impact of New Buy on the housing market.

Whose to know.

There are still some large storms circling in Europe and the US and if they blow in we could still see a lot of damage in the UK.

Landlord insurance quotes

Real Estate Investment Trusts

For those looking for alternative ways to invest in property this article in the FT Advisor is a good introduction into the potential of Real Estate Investment Trust ( REITs ).

The article frameworks both the potential tax savings and flexibility of a more passive way of property investing.

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Tenant cashback?

The latest Tory idea to kick start the jobs market and save money into the bargain is Tenant Cashback also known as the tenant apprenticeship scheme.

The scheme announced last week offers tenants who are wannabe decorators and carpenters the opportunity to become an apprentice in their own home and to get paid for it.

Under the scheme tenants would get paid for fixing their own taps, fitting doors and painting their own property. OH DEAR!

Clearly Grant Shapps who has been the Minister pushing the idea has never witnessed the average persons first attempts at DIY. Whilst the theory is great; that we train up a people to become a less reliant breed of tenants. Any landlord on the receiving end of the DIY treatment would wince at the thought of what state their property would be left in. Lopsided doors, floods and a paint scheme straight out of the text book of Playschool for those older enough to remember this childrens classic.

Before you panic....the scheme is only available to tenants living in the social sector.

PHEW ....one definitely left filed under nice idea but in practice a potential disaster.

My experience of tenants decorating my property is let them practice on somebodies else's property and perfect their skills before before letting them loose on my buy-to-lets!

Landlord insurance - where do professional landlords go for cover?

Another bogus landlord scam

Another scam for landlords to look out for is the sub letting scam.

A perfect example of this is the recent case in Croydon in which Rose Chimuka, 32 from Peterborough has just been sentenced for four years

The bogus landlord rented large family properties from Croydon letting agents to supposedly house her large family. Instead of moving in, she would divide up and sub let rooms to up to fifteen tenants per property, taking rental payments in cash.

Chimuka did this on a total of six large rental properties around the Croydon area between August 2009 and June 2011.

This example further underlines the importance of regular property inspections by landlords or their letting agents.

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Buy a street

Anybody who follows football will remember the short & occasionally brilliant Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler. Robbie as well as scoring a 'hatful' of goals also was a bit of a hit as a landlord, buying up streets of houses in Liverpool when you you could still buy a terraced house for the price of a small car.

Now landlords have their chance to emulate Robbie success off the park by buying their own Liverpool street all for the price of a Mayfair studio flat.

The property comprises of 32 bed spaces situated within 5 fully compliant HMO properties

Rent Passing (fully let) - £125,273 - 11.93% GIY
Fully let for 2012/13 academic year - £133,045 - 12.67% GIY
Inviting Offers in excess of £1,050,000

Further Details:

James Wilson
Email: james.wilson@allsop.co.uk
Tel: 0113 236 6679

Michael Gorman
Email: michael.gorman@allsop.co.uk
Tel: 0113 236 6683

Mortgage Search - whole of market

PM3 Auto-complete

As a trial, we just added an "auto-complete" function to the Expense screen. So when you type a letter or two into Description or Provider, the system offers you values you've used before.

If this is a popular idea we will add it to other screens where it makes sense to do so. Let us know what you think.

Illegal Eviction

I often get landlords asking me if they can change the locks of the property because their tenant has not paid rent - the answer to this is no. If you require possession you must follow the correct procedure of serving Notice and obtaining a possession order through the Court.

Changing the locks is both a criminal and civil offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Through the Civil Courts the tenant could claim an injunction against the landlord for immediate access to the property, alliteratively they can claim compensation to cover their costs in paying for emergency accommodation and distress and inconvenience. The Court could also make a special award to the tenant which is the difference between the value of the property it if was sold with vacant possession or sold with a tenant in occupation. The landlord would also have to pay both their own and the tenant's legal costs, if the matter went to a full hearing you could be looking at £8000 per party.

In the Criminal Courts you could either be given a fine or a custodial sentence. Landlord Mohammed Khubiab was fined £400 for illegally evicting his tenant and ordered to pay costs of £1265. He was also ordered to pay compensation to the tenant in the sum of £2890.

Although the process of serving Notice and going through the Court process seems long and costly, it is cheaper than a claim for illegal eviction.

If you would like any advice on obtaining possession of your property please email me at propertyhawk@fidler.co.uk

Rebecca

Landlords on the hunt for mortgages

According to the latest figures from Property Hawk Mortgages there are record numbers of landlords on the hunt for the best buy-to-let mortgages deals.

Property Hawk Mortgages received over 1300 landlords accessing the market leading quotes over February.

No broker commission is charged by Property Hawk Mortgages so it might be spending a few valuable minutes checking out the latest rates.

Mortgage Search - whole of market

Landlords - who are we?

The latest Private Landlord Survey carried out by the Department of Communities & Local Government reveals some interesting stats about who landlords actually are in the UK today.

Apparently 89% of us are private individuals. These 89% are responsible for only 71% of the rental stock though as companies let out relatively higher numbers of properties.

Most of us, over three quarters (78%) only have a single property that we rent out whilst only 8% of landlords considered they were "full time" landlords.

With all that variety of landlords and accommodation out there - no wonder we are such a difficult species to pin down. This is why heavy handed legislation just doesn't work. Anyway who am I?

Oh yes I'm a landlord.

Reference my tenants - For LESS

BTL Mortgages - most popular

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Overall Cost for Comparison
85%	5.99% Fixed	2 Years	1%	£130.00	No	6.6% APR
80%	5.79% Fixed	2 Years	2.5%	£130.00	No	7% APR
80%	5.49% Discount	2 Years	2.5%	£130.00	No	6.9% APR
80%	4.99% Fixed	Apr 30 2015	2%	£0.00	Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.	5.8% APR
75%	4.78% Fixed	2 Years	2.5%	£130.00	No	6.8% APR
75%	4.25% Discount	2 Years	2.5%	£250.00	No	5.5% APR
70%	4.25% Discount	2 Years	0%	£199.00	Free valuation up to £335 for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	6% APR
70%	3.74% Discount	Jul 31 2014	£899	£75.00	No	5.9% APR
60%	2.99% Discount	2 Years	£1249	£250.00	No	5.2% APR
60%	3.25% Discount	2 Years	£999	£250.00	Free valuation, property valued up to £1m	5.2% APR
60%	5.49% Fixed	2 Years	2.5%	£130.00	No	6.9% APR

Search the whole BTL mortgage market free

Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice. Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

 
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages.

The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

---

New EPC guidance stalled

The proposed changes to the EPC that have been timetabled from the April 6th are still without revised guidance from the Communities and Local Government Department (CLG). An insider has confirmed that the changes will still definitely go ahead on the 6th April despite the fact that the redesigned EPC has not yet been approved.

I suspect that these delays are something to do with the untimely resignation of Chris Huhne as Energy Secretary resulting in a considerable amount of paper shuffling in Whitehall as the mandarins re-allocate their work load.

Check out the proposed changes to the EPC

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We need landlords!

The country needs landlords!

It seems that the gap in demand and supply on rental property is continuing to stretch as record levels of search online is not been met by increased supply.

Rightmove have reported the biggest gap they've experienced between search activity on the site and rental property supply, with search activity now twice that of two years ago, whilst the rental stock on the site is down ten percent over the same period..

Tenants are sensing greater competition for rental property with 63% of tenants predicting rents rising over the coming year.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove comments has placed a call to action to property investors: “Attention investor landlords: now, more than ever, your country needs you! As well as potentially earning a good return on your investment compared to other asset classes, private landlords can help provide a long-term rented roof over a grateful tenant’s head. While hard-nosed rental investors may not welcome the appearance of too many new landlords if it results in downward pressure on rents, if you invest wisely it seems to be a genuine win-win of good rental yields for landlords and a secure stream of tenants paying a fair return.”

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Record search activity for rentals

The latest Rental Forecast prepared by Rightmove shows that the gulf between search activity from tenants looking to rent compared to the amount of rental property available is at it's highest ever recorded.

Search activity has doubled over the last two years whilst available rental stock is down by nearly 10%.

This is all good news for new landlords looking to invest in the sector over the next 12 months or for existing landlords looking to expand the size of their buy-to-let portfolio.


Mortgage Search - No Broker Fee

Electrical safety "shock"

The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) has recently highlighted some of the confusion that arises between landlords and tenants in rented accommodation.

Their survey of showed that almost 30% of landlords did not relealise that they were responsible for the electrical safety within their buy-to-let properties. This potentially could lead to very dangerous consequences for both landlords and tenants.

For example if a landlord is found to be negligent over electrical safety then they could be liable for a fine of up to £5000. Currently, 38% of landlords do not believe there is a penalty for failing to maintain an adequate level of electrical safety within their properties. More importantly they could be putting their tenants lives at risk. What price can you put on somebodies life?

To download the ESC guidance have a look at the ESC website.

Landlord Insurance - protect my property