Our most popular BTL mortgages

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Lender
85%	4.99% Fixed	2 Years	3%	£130.00	No	Kent Reliance Semi Exclusive
85%	5.49% Discount	2 Years	3%	£130.00	No	Kent Reliance Multi Let & Ltd Co. Semi Exclusive
80%	5.39% Variable	0 Years	2%	£0.00	No	Saffron Light Refurbishment
80%	3.99% Fixed	2017-02-28	£2495	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
80%	3.9% Discount	2 Years	0%	£0.00	No	Hanley Economic Exclusive
75%	2.34% Fixed	2017-02-28	2.5%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
75%	3.69% Fixed	2017-02-28	0%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
75%	2.5% Discount	2 Years	£1995	£250.00	One free Valuation on properties valued up to £1,000,000	Hinckley & Rugby Exclusive
75%	5.39% Variable	0 Years	2.5%	£0.00	No	Saffron Light Refurbishment
70%	2.35% Fixed	2017-01-31	£2495	£0.00	Free valuation and free standard legals for remortgages.	Skipton Exclusive
60%	1.99% Fixed	2017-01-31	£2495	£0.00	Free valuation and free standard legals for remortgages.	Skipton Exclusive
60%	2.45% Discount	2 Years	£1950	£250.00	One free Valuation on properties valued up to £1,000,000	Hinckley & Rugby Exclusive

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.  

 
Search the whole BTL mortgage market free
 
Email:info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

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.

---

1 in 20 use rents to up their incomes

One in twenty people in the UK use rents to suppliment their main income according to latest research.

The average rent that these amateur landlords receive is £645 per month.  Over one in four landlords of landlords are planning to rise their rents by over 3% in 2015 according to reports in the Telegraph.

The research also indicated that many of these landlords were not aware of their general safety obligations.

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Latest rent check stats

Allsops latest rent check give an interesting insight into the rents landlords are charging.  Key stats:

• 28% of landlords questioned anticipate rental growth over the next 6 months
• 5% of landlords have lowered their rent over the last 12 months
• 85% of landlords achieved their rental asking price (down 3% since the spring)
• The most expensive rents for a 2 bed flat are found in London zones 1-2 for Q2 - Q3 2014 was £1480 down £25 on the year
• The average length of a tenancy is 2 years 6 months

 For more details on the rent check follow the link

 Rentindex - for the latest real time rents

Three un-wise landlords face costly Christmas

I've been keeping my eye out for a Christmas themed landlord story for the blog and it has arrived just in time, thanks to an unlikely source - Thanet District Council.

A Christmas Tale

Cliftonville West and Margate Central are selective licensing areas where all privately rented properties require to be licensed by Thanet District Council unless they fit into specific exemption criteria.

Three 'un-wise' landlords from London who'd followed their calculations for high yielding property and made their way to Margate have failed to get the required licenses.

The first un-wise landlord, a Mustafa Omar Mohamed Baridhwan of Wellbeck Road, East Ham, failed to make an application in respect of Flat 4, 36 Athelstan Road in Margate. Forget frankincense, he has had to pay up for a £10,000 fine, a £120 victim surcharge and costs of £120. 

The second un-wise landlord, Veronica Collis of Birkenhead Avenue, Kingston Upon Thames, failed to make a licence application for 1 Harold Mews, 39 Harold Road in Margate. She has been told to pay a £2,000 fine,  £120 victim surcharge and £120 towards costs.

The third un-wise landlord, with a fabulously festive sounding name of  'Rudolph Pink' of Clapham Road, London, has been made to pay a fine of £15,000, a £120 victim surcharge and £120 costs.

Cllr. Richard Nicholson , Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning Services at Thanet District Council, said: 

"Selective licensing, which helps the council tackle anti-social behaviour and improve living conditions, is proving to be a great success. Over 1600 dwellings are now licensed and significant efforts are being made to ensure that all landlords comply with the scheme. While we will try and help landlords through the licensing process, those who simply ignore their statutory obligations will be prosecuted. With 17 successful prosecutions since April, and with more in the pipeline, landlords who haven’t applied for a licence should know that we will leave no stone unturned."

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Cheers to my tenants

It's nice to be appreciated by your tenants.

I called round to one of my rental properties this week to check to on how things were going along with the recent repair of some sash windows.

I've found it's always handy to keep good relations with you tenants. I'm fortunate that I have an excellent relationship with my long-term tenants. Having said that,  it's always nice to be recognised by your tenants;so when I popped round and was presented with a couple of bottles of real ale I was made up.

So cheers Steff and I'm looking at acquainting myself with the fabulous taste of Bath Ales.

It's not all bad being a landlord so cheers to my tenants as well as all the landlords out there.

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2015 property price predictions from RICS

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have polished their crystal ball, sat around with some tea and biscuits and come up with their forecast for next year's property price growth.

RICS have summoned up the figure of 3% for average UK property price growth during 2015. The figure is in-line with many other industry predictions, maybe more on the cautious side of what appears to be a 3-5% consensus.

London prices to flat-line in 2015

Sorry London, but you're the only area predicted not to see any growth, with RICS perceiving a flat line in the capitals average prices in 2015, but this does follow the stellar growth of recent years. The story is, as ever not quite that simple, with RICS predicting 'wide variations' in London boroughs, with some areas suffering from the recent changes in stamp duty, and the worry is that expensive areas such as Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden, and Hammersmith and Fulham will more likely see price falls.

The London property market is already starting to stall.

Best performing areas

The areas that RICS forecast will perform the best are the North West, South East, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber. 

Other industry experts are predicting that areas outside of London will out perform the capital's property price growth in 2015.

2015 is predicted to be a year when the rest of the country tries to catch up.

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Online security tip - keep your passwords safe

Sony’s experience highlights that one shouldn't store passwords in a file entitled “Password” http://t.co/XdMac6s6xT pic.twitter.com/ctGnSXeZhu
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 19, 2014

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Where not to invest in Europe

#Dailychart Advent calendar: where not to invest in Europe http://t.co/jvsH1u4sAU pic.twitter.com/ZM5oyh56QW
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 18, 2014

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Map of housing offences by companies

Enviromental Health News have won their freedom for information request to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The request has allowed them access to information on property businesses convicted of housing offences in England and Wales. 

EHN have compiled the data into an interactive map.

The worst offender appears to be a Burnley-based company, Aspire Group Developments. A company that has been successfully prosecuted five times! 

Agents forced to choose - Rightmove/Zoopla

Annoyingly the launch of a new property search portal, OnTheMarket, will fragment the online property market place. Sadly it will mean we will all have to get back into the routine of checking in at numerous portals to be sure we've seen all the properties up for sale.

For a while, we've been able to go to Rightmove and feel that pretty much every property on the market is on there, but not after the new portal launches on January 26th. 

Rightmove or Zoopla?

OnTheMarket has been set up by a conglomerate of six estate agency chains, and in their wisdom they set down the requirement that any agency using the site can only advertise on one other major property portal. 

Put simply, if any agent wants to be on OnTheMarket they will have to drop either Rightmove or Zoopla.  

The founding agents have began to announce their own ' one other portal' choice, and so far Rightmove are sitting 2-1 up.

One founding agency, Chestertons have just announced they are opting to stay with Zoopla, whereas Savills and Frank Knight had already announced they are sticking with Rightmove.

The three remaining founders, Douglas & Gordon, Glentree Estates and Strutt & Parker are yet to announce their choices.

So be warned, if you don't want to miss out on property after January 26th you'll have to search in more than one place. 

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New online accelerated possession form

A new online form for accelerated possession & eviction of a tenant has just appeared on the government website.

Initial reactions from landlords is that the form is easier to use than the N5B form which is the alternative. This is because the autofills and the date checker which makes it quicker to fill in and less likely that a landlord makes a simple error. There is always plenty of discussion around the questions posed by the N5B form on our forum.

The N5B form is a difficult one as there are a number of very ambiguous questions.

We found as part of our Property Hawk Training Event - Letting Essentials that the N5B workshop was particular helpful for our landlords.

New accelerated possession form

The new form may be slightly easier to use but it is no online end to end possession solution.  What would be really useful is if landlords could not only fill out the form online but also upload a copy of the tenancy agreement and proof of service and then pay the £280 online.  All this could be done and the form could have a digital signature from the landlord.  Having done all this online all a landlord would need to do would be to press 'Submit' and the whole legal bundle of paper work and payment would be sent as one job lot to the relevant court.

Dream on landlords!

To read more about filling out an N5B form for possession

Brighton landlord fined £6000 for HMO

The landlord of a House in Multiple Occupation in Brighton has been fined £6,000 following a prosecution lead by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The landlord, Antony Paul Martin pleaded guilty to four management offences.

The HMO was described as being in 'filthy' condition, tiles were hanging from the kitchen ceiling, there were holes in the bedroom ceiling, the heating was broken and no fire alarms.

Martin was fined £2000 for failing to have the required HMO licence in place, and £1000 for each of the four property management offences. 

On top of £6000 in fines, Martin was also ordered to pay costs of £600 and a £120 victim surcharge.


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NLA claim landlords are owed £850m in rent

According to NLA research, a third of UK landlords have experienced rent arrears in the last 12 months. 

Their figures equate to nearly 500,000 of us 'lettings folk' being owed cash by our current or ex- tenants - poor us.

With the average figure for outstanding rent at £1,649, the NLA have concluded a total of £850m might be owed in unpaid rent across the UK.

The NLA research also reported that 22 per cent of landlords are worried that their tenants won’t be able to keep up rental payments in 2015.

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Sellers cutting asking prices

Increasingly property owners are having to cut their prices to grab a buyer.

Zoopla are reporting that 3.8 billion have been knocked off the value of the initial advertised prices, with nearly a third of the properties advertised on the portal now discounted from when they first touched onto the market.

The property portal have also seen an increase in the value of these price reductions since the start of the year. The average reduction now sits at 6.7 percent taken from the initial asking price ( or £24,429 in hard cash ), a increase from the 6.3 percent (£20,781) that the site was seeing back in February 2014.

It seems increasingly owners are having to take a reality check, particularly those in the north.

Preston has the highest frequency of price reductions, along with Barnsley, Wakefield and Rotherham.

Zoopla’s Lawrence Hall remains buoyant (but he would) saying  

"The property market typically slows in December as buyers postpone their plans until the New Year and become pre-occupied with the festive season, but these figures suggest that sellers may be being forced to rest their expectations and become more realistic in order to secure a buyer. People are well attuned to a bargain at this time of year, so homebuyers may want to capitalise on the latest raft of reductions."

Stressing the positives, Hall added:

 "The recent Stamp Duty reforms have injected a real feel-good factor into the property market that is likely to last into January when there will be a renewed surge in buyers looking for property. There would usually be an air of uncertainty in the lead up to an election, but the positivity created by the tax overhaul should ensure this isn’t as keenly felt as usual."

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List of Savills property auctions in 2015

Savills have published the schedule of their property auctions for 2015.

Held in Nottingham and London, the first of their auction dates for 2015 will take place at Nottingham Racecourse on the 19th January.

See the full list of Savills future property auctions 

PRS All Party PG complain of 'bewildering' data

Following on from Sarah Teather's failed 'Revenge Eviction bill, the Private Rented Sector's All-Party Parliamentary Group has announced that far more work should be done to find out just how big a problem 'revenge eviction are in PRS.

The group complained the range of figures put forward were so “bewildering” and vastly different that they were impossible to properly judge what course of action should be best taken. They complained of not having access to “objective data that hasn’t been collected by a particular group with a vested interest was impossible”.

The data put forward by Shelter claimed that 213,000 tenants had faced eviction last year following a request to their private landlord for repairs, a figure that nobody in the lettings industry could vaguely recognise as been realistic.

The APPG chair Oliver Colvile said: “Evidence is crucial to making good policy – and at the moment we just don’t have that evidence.

“If the number of retaliatory evictions is as low as some of those who gave evidence at our inquiry suggested, then Parliament should consider whether making tenants aware of their existing rights might be better than introducing more regulations."

“If this latest amendment does go ahead, then we will still need good evidence to ensure that we can monitor its success.”

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ONS House Price Index for October 2014

The key points from the latest ONS data on UK house prices show that -

• UK house prices increased by 10.4% in the year to October 2014, down from 12.1% in the year to September 2014.
• House price annual inflation was 10.8% in England, 5.7% in Wales, 4.9% in Scotland and 4.9% in Northern Ireland. 
• House prices continue to increase strongly across the UK, with prices in London again showing the highest growth.
• Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in London of 17.2% and to a lesser extent increases in the South East (11.9%) and the East (9.6%).
• Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 6.7% in the 12 months to October 2014.
• On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.1% between September and October 2014.
• In October 2014, prices paid by first-time buyers were 12.0% higher on average than in October 2013. For owner-occupiers (existing owners), prices increased by 9.7% for the same period.

Read the full pdf report for October 2014 ONS HPI

Download all the data for October 2014 ONS HPI

Copy: Copy: Copy: Copy: Copy: Copy: Copy: |Create infographics

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The new Starter Home Initiative

The Government's new Starter Home initiative has been launched by the Prime Minister. 

The aim of the scheme is to help 100,000 first-time buyers under the age of forty into new homes with the aid of a 20% discount with help from house builders.

Under the new proposals, those builders who offer up new Starter Homes under the scheme would have them exempted from any Section 106 charges and Community Infrastructure Levy charges. This exemption could save developers, on average, £15,000 per new home. A cost saving that would then be knocked off from the sales price. Well that's the scheme in principle.

The homes will not be able to be re-sold at market value for a fixed period to avoid a 'flipping' re-sale opportunity, so we'll have to all wait and see if these discounts really end up being 20% or just less than a price that was too much.

The big builders have been very good at getting un-realistic valuations placed on new developments in the past. I remember some of the fantastical city centre apartment valuing that was going on in the boom times.

A sale is not always sale.

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Scottish prices settle after referendum

The latest data formulated by LSL/Acadata shows that Scottish average property price grew by O.7% in October.

Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move, comments: 

“Since the independence question evaporated, a new ray of confidence and certainty is radiating through the market, as normality is resumed. The feel-good factor is especially pronounced at the highest tiers of the property market, where political uncertainty froze activity most acutely. Sales of properties worth £1 million or above have more than doubled from September to October, as high-end homes begin to change hands again. In fact, October 2014 saw the biggest number of million-pound properties sold in a single month since September 2008.

In brief

• Scottish property prices jump 0.7% (or £1,200) in October, as market confidence returns 
• Average house price in Scotland now stands only £717 below pre-recession peak in May 2008
• Million-pound property sales soar after independence vote concludes and buoys top of market
• Biggest annual rise in East Renfrewshire, but prices drop in East Lothian and Aberdeen City in October 

Dr Peter Williams, housing market specialist and Chairman of Acadata, comments: 

"In October, house prices returned to positive growth in Scotland on a seasonally adjusted basis, finishing the month at an average of £164,800, up by £1,200, or 0.7%, on September. This was the tenth of the last twelve months in which house prices have risen, with falls limited to the months of August and September - the two months which straddled the referendum, and the resultant uncertainty that defined the period.
An example of the uncertainty that existed prior to the referendum, and the new-found confidence emerging in the housing market subsequent to the outcome being known, is shown by the number of property sales that were priced at £1 million or higher. Figure 1 below depicts the count of £1 million-plus property sales in Scotland by month, since January 2013."

View the full LSl/Acadata October 14 Scottish Property Price Report

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Roll out of universal credit locations

Landlords letting to tenants on benefits should be interested in the roll out of universal credit.

These are the next locations for the universal credit scheme which could be coming to a town near your soon.

Cynical landlords might say "Wait for the results of the next general election" which will see the scheme jetersoned by the Tories if they get in as an unworkable coalition inspired cock up.  If the others get it they we just say it's unworkable.

We look forward to it's replacement with bated breath - possibly something like Housing Benefit perhaps?

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Rents keep moving upwards

Property Hawks sister website the Rent Index is sparking interest across the pond in New York from researchers at Morgan Stanley looking at what UK private rental sector rents are telling us about the health of the UK economy.

Rent Index unlike other indexes of rents is a real time index meaning that landlords and property professional can see what the average private sector rent is at that particular moment using actual rental figures from the tenancy agreement used to create a tenancy created a recently as the previous day.

The Rentindex currently shows that private sector rents continue the long-term trend upwards having peaked at just short of £650 in October time they have fallen back slightly reflecting the usual Winter slowdown in the rental market.  At the time of writing the average rent was £647 up 2.5% on the year.

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Most popular BTL mortgages

Most popular buy-to-let mortgages

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Lender
85%	4.99% Fixed	2 Years	3%	£130.00	No	Kent Reliance Semi Exclusive
85%	5.49% Discount	2 Years	3%	£130.00	No	Kent Reliance Multi Let & Ltd Co. Semi Exclusive
80%	5.39% Variable	0 Years	2%	£0.00	No	Saffron Light Refurbishment
80%	3.99% Fixed	2017-02-28	£2495	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
80%	4.99% Fixed	2017-02-28	0%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
80%	3.9% Discount	2 Years	0%	£0.00	No	Hanley Economic Exclusive
75%	2.34% Fixed	2017-02-28	2.5%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
75%	3.69% Fixed	2017-02-28	0%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
75%	2.5% Discount	2 Years	£1995	£250.00	One free Valuation on properties valued up to £1,000,000	Hinckley & Rugby Exclusive
75%	5.39% Variable	0 Years	2.5%	£0.00	No	Saffron Light Refurbishment
70%	2.35% Fixed	2017-01-31	£2495	£0.00	Free valuation and free standard legals for remortgages.	Skipton Exclusive
60%	1.99% Fixed	2017-01-31	£2495	£0.00	Free valuation and free standard legals for remortgages.	Skipton Exclusive
60%	2.45% Discount	2 Years	£1950	£250.00	One free Valuation on properties valued up to £1,000,000	Hinckley & Rugby Exclusive

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.  

 
Search the whole BTL mortgage market free
 
Email:info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

 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.

---

HMRC gather £7.9m from Let Property Scheme

The HMRC Let Property Campaign has raised £7.9 million in additional tax since its launch back in Autumn 2013.

The Government's scheme was launched as part of initiative to recover  undeclared, or under-declared rental income by offering landlords the opportunity to take up more favourable terms on any voluntary disclosures.

Promoted Disclosure

40,000 landlords were sent a letter from the Let Property Scheme offering ‘promoted disclosure’ within a thirty day time window in which to make contact and regularise their tax affairs. The letters also made it clear that the same favourable conditions would not be available beyond the thirty day window. 

Landlords who ignored or failed to respond to the HMRC offer would then risk more substantial penalties on any paid taxes, of up to 100% of the unpaid liabilities (or up to 200% for offshore related income), investigation under Code of Practice 8/9 and in certain cases criminal prosecutions.

Penalties

The rate of penalties varies depending on the landlords individual circumstances and whether they made an 'unprompted' or a 'prompted' disclosure. Interest will be charged from the date the tax is due till the date it is actually paid.

Sources of Information

HMRC has recently started gathering information from a wider range of sources beyond Local Authorities, the Land Registry and the Electoral Roll.

In late 2014, hundreds of estate agents were sent statutory notices to provide details of rents collected on behalf of all landlords.

Ian Leigh, Property Tax Specialist at Accountancy Firm Jeffreys Henry LLP, commented:

“With increased data gathering actives, it’s less likely a case of if but more likely when HMRC catches up with you. Landlords with undeclared or under disclosed rental income who have not yet been contacted by HMRC and want to regularise their affairs should take this opportunity as soon as possible. Very favourable terms and affordable repayment plans can often be negotiated.”

HMRC estimates that up to 1.5 million landlords may be underpaying £500m in tax every year.

According to the official website, HMRC has so far collected £7,852,753 under the Let Property Campaign as at as at 30 Oct 2014.

Common Misconceptions

Many buy-to-let and accidental landlords have under declared rental profits having misunderstood the rules. The most common misconception is that landlords believe all of the mortgage repayments can be offset however it’s only the interest proportion.

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Southern property investors pile onto the North

Southern property investors are piling into northern cities according to report in the Sunday Times attracted by the low values and high yields.  Liverpool, Sunderland and Blackpool top the yield charts with 7%, 6.9% and 6.9% respectively.

A recent survey given to the Sunday Times shows 61% of investors buying in the north are based in London or the South.

Example of a property investor

The paper uses the example of Matthew Earl a 36 year old IT work who has used equity in his Streatham property to finance his northern portfolio which now numbers 10 properties in the likes of Chesterfield, Sheffield and Manchester.  He is attracted by the cash flow and favourable net rental yield of 4%.

All sounds familiar .....

Those of us who have been investing in property for a while recongnise the scenario of Londoners using their wealth into the north....will this bring about a property boom in our northern cities?  Probably not, unless the whole economy starts booming but it will help to support property values in the city and town centre apartment market.

One thing that landlords looking at investing in new apartments is the property management overcharging on the service charge.

Landlord licensing scheme fails

Enfield Council has just failed in its first attempt to be the latest local authority to introduce a comprehensive landlord licence for all landlords.

The licensing scheme was kicked out by Judge Mckenna on a technicality over the consultation process following representation from landlord Constantinos Regas.

The Council will be requesting leave to challenge the decision meaning that  a compulsive district wide license in Enfield is still on the cards.

This is another example of the creeping landlord licensing through the back door door as councils see it as a way of raising revenue through a blanket licence for landlords.  The proposed licence for Enfield landlords was to be £500 for each property owned and was originally to commence in April 2015.

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Landlord Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) - ends 2015

Landlords looking at minimising their income tax liabilities and looking at also reducing their impact on the environment and retaining their green credentials will need to move fast.

The governments Landlord Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) where landlords can offset up to £1500 each year against their rental profits for certain types of insulation. The LESA is due to end in 5th April 2015 meaning that landlords only have about 4 months to make their investment and claim their allowance before the end of the current tax year.

 For details of how landlords can save money on their income tax.

Landlords suffering possession delays

 Landlord Action say that courts are struggling to keep up with a 15% increase in possession cases and the system is buckling under the pressure.

Julie Herbert, head of legal at Landlord Action says

‘We are forever chasing courts for updates on possession orders, Notice of Issues or bailiff appointments. By the courts' own admission, cases are getting overlooked, administrative errors are being made and there are simply not enough bailiffs to support the number of cases, leading to long delays,’

These delays are leading to landlords losing thousands of pounds in unpaid rent. One landlord, Mr Waller, who has suffered delays after the courts managed to lose his claim, not once but twice reflected,

‘Our eviction case has been delayed for almost a year due to severe maladministration by the courts. Files were repeatedly lost and the inefficiency we and Landlord Action encountered was astounding,’


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Dianne Abbott's rent control proposals

Diane Abbott MP is calling for rent controls in the private rental sector.

The prospective London Mayor proposes a calculation for her rent control, restricting monthly rents to no more than half of a properties annual council tax bill.

Abbott says that those landlords who wish to opt out of her rent control scheme can, as long as they pay a surcharge on any rental amounts that are in excess of her proposed rental cap formula.

The money from these surcharges would then be fed into a newly created fund controlled by the Mayor of London and used to fund the building of new social housing.

Abbott argues : “A major international city without measures to stabilise rent runs the risk of rents spiralling out of people’s reach. It is no coincidence that New York, Paris and Berlin all have some version of rent control. For too long politicians have rejected any form of rent controls but it is time to look at the issue again.”

She has sent these proposals to the Prime Minister and Ed Miliband, including demands for
these powers to be granted to other local authorities across the country, if their local public want it.

The revolution is upon us....

The Standard report on Abbott's rent controls

Channel 4 interview Abbott about rent control proposal





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Noisy tenants now a landlords responsibility

A decision by Bournemouth Magistrates Court could mean landlords and letting agents of holiday homes become responsible for the behaviour of their tenants.

District Judge Stephen Nicholls upheld a noise abatement notice issued to a Poole lettings agent after an appeal case. 

The noise abatement notice had been served to letting agent Michelle King by the Borough of Poole, following a number of complaints about noisy weekenders / hen and stag parties  at a number of holiday rental properties around Poole.

The letting agent's legal team had attempted to argue that though the noise was unacceptable, it was a problem caused by the tenants of the property, and therefore something beyond their client's control, as she had never been present at the time of any of the incidents.

However, this argument was dismissed by the judge, who upheld the noise abatement notice served on Michelle King and her letting agency Deluxe Holiday Homes.

Earlier this year, the issues with problem of wild parties had been raised in Parliament by the local MP, Robert Syms. 

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Sweet spot from new stamp duty rates

The changes to stamp duty in England and Wales have created a property price 'sweet spot'.

Those properties valued between the £250,000 and  £280,000 are expected to do well out of the stamp duty changes.

Previously, properties valued at this range had prices somewhat artificially suppressed by the £2.5k hit applied by the stepped 1 percent rating on purchase price at £250,000.

With the chancellor's new graduated system, this segment of the market should see added price impetus, as the new thresholds ease up the gradual stamp duty charges through the tiers of the new version of stamp duty

The industry is predicting the changes will bring a boom in sales of homes between £250,000 and £280,000 — roughly the national average house price, and a big tranche of the sales volumes.

The 2015 property market can only be helped by the changes.

But before that kicks in - Christmas.

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Buy to let lending hits post crash high

The Bank of England's official data shows that buy-to-let mortgage lending hit the highest level since the crash of 2008.

Official data showed lending rocketing from £5.9 in the 3rd quarter of 2013 to £8bn in the same quarter this year.

Buy-to-let mortgage choice continues to increase with Moneyfacts reporting in July that the number of buy-to-let mortgage products had expanded to a post crash high of 665, a rise of 42.7% on a year earlier.

The cost of borrowing for landlords also continues to fall with rates of 4.17% for the average fixed rate and 4.03% for the variable rate mortgages as of July this year.

Buy-to-let mortgage search - free investment tool

Oxford HMO landlord fined £11,500

An Oxford HMO landlord, Juan Zaide Avila pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.

Environmental Health Officers from Oxford City Council discovered Avila was renting out an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) . The property was described as being in a'poor state of disrepair'.

Avila pleaded guilty to all charges. He was fined a total of £11,500, of which, £7,500 was for not having the required HMO licence, £2000 was for insufficient fire detection and fire doors and a further £500 for each of the four other offences relating to the properties poor state of repair.

The Council’s costs of £1,124 were also charged to the landlord.


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Cheapest street in Britain

Limetrees Close in Stockton-on-Tees has been named as Britain's cheapest street.

A two bedroom semi on the street is set for Eddison's property auctions in Leeds on Thursday with a guide of £5,000.

However, before we all get on the train to the North East, the street does seem to have it's fair share of issues - houses have been firebombed and gangs of flatbed trucks go around stealing scrap metal - including water and electricity meters.

One for the brave.

Read more on Britain's cheapest street in the Telegraph


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BOE report on impact of rate rises

Here's the Bank of England's report on the impact of a interest rate rise on households - the 2014 report from NMG consulting - alternatively titled - 'when the s**t hits the fan.'

Tax guide for landlords living abroad

Those lucky landlords who have the luxury of living abroad in warmer climes. I'm hoping to join you in the not too distant future. Perhaps Palma, Majorca or somewhere with a relaxed tax regime such as Belize. However, absent landlords need to take note of the latest guidance just released by the UK government on paying tax on rent to landlords abroad.

It appears that there is no escape for UK landlords living abroad even for more than 6 months a years under the Non-resident Landlord Scheme (NLS) which requires tenants paying over £100 per week in rent or letting agents to collect the tax from the rent and pay it direct to the Government  unless HMRC informs them that this is not required.

Yet another example of Government using us all as their own unpaid little tax collector.  Anybody who has a business that is registered for VAT will know all about this.

Guide on landlord income tax

Site glitch and server upgrade

The site glitches and software 'ave' now been sorted.

The issues were the result of our server upgrade.

We do apologise for any frustrations caused.

Progress is never straight forward!

The Property Hawk team

Exeter Council adds to HMO classification

Exeter Council have ammended their regulations covering Houses in Multiple Occupation following a recent consultancy period.

Two additional property types will be classified as HMO from the 23rd February 2015.

These are -

Flats or maisonettes either above commercial premises (shops, offices etc.) or in mixed use buildings, where the flats or maisonettes are let to three or more people, forming more than one household, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet
 
Buildings which have been converted entirely into self contained flats, where the conversion does not meet the standards set by the 1991 Building Regulations, and where less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied (properties converted into 2 flats or maisonettes will only require a licence if both flats or maisonettes are rented).

Go to the Exeter Council Site to download the additional HMOs clarification document

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Low interest rates until 2020?

According to Stephanie Flanders writing in This is Money today, the 'Office for Budget Responsibility is assuming that the first interest rate rise will come late in 2015, and that rates will be below 2 per cent for a further two years, reaching 2.2 per cent only by the start of 2020.'

So hopefully landlords will benefit from cheap money for a few more years to come, but nothing is guaranteed.

Read Stephanie Flanders evaluation of interest rates in This is Money




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Savills final property auction 2014

Our final national property #auction of 2014 takes place today, with 137 lots going under the hammer: http://t.co/AhApb5rTIk

— Savills Auctions (@SavillsAuctions) December 8, 2014

Landlord fined over electrical safety offences

Landlord Shahzad Afzal was fined by Teesside Magistrates under offences against the Housing Act 2004 relating to the electrical safety in a rental property.

The offences came to life after a tip off to environmental health officers in Middlesbrough. The electricity meters at the house had been removed in December last year by the electricity provider due to alleged tampering and following an inspection of the rental property a number of electrical installations at the property were found to be unsafe including sockets with exposed wiring.

The landlord was fined £525 and ordered to pay costs of £1,641 along with a victim surcharge of £52. To read more about the case.

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Most unaffordable rents outside London

London boroughs have the monopoly on expensive rents, but when factored against average local earnings,  cities such as Oxford, Brighton and Bath are calculated to be more unaffordable than many of the capitals boroughs.

The most unaffordable area outside London is the Three Rivers area in Hertfordshire. A place where the average rent swallows up more than half of the average income of residents in the area.

The data has been compiled by YouGov on behalf of the National Housing Federation, who clearly have an agenda to get more houses built. Saying that, half your wages going on rent is no place to be. 

Top 20 most unaffordable places to rent outside of London were

Three Rivers, with 54.3% of average wages going on rent, followed by South Bucks, 54.1, Oxford
50.3%, Forest Heath 50.2%, Brighton and Hove 49.5%, Runnymede 48.8%, Cotswolds 47.9%, Welwyn Hatfield 47.5%, Hertsmere 46.3%, Bath and North East Somerset 45.7, Exeter 45.3%, Sevenoaks 44.6%, Purbeck 44.6%, Epsom and Ewell 44.6%, Bracknell Forest 44.4%, Guildford 44.0%, Tandridge 43.9%, Elmbridge 43.6%, Windsor and Maidenhead 43.5%, East Dorset 43.1%.

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It's time for landlords to get any leaves cleared

This morning I have been clearing up leaves at one of my rental properties - bags and bags of cold damp leaves, swept up from the pathways, pulled out from drains and scooped out from the gutters.

Despite an icy rain shower I quite enjoyed it.

If you haven't cleared away your leaves yet, it'll be worth sorting it this weekend or getting someone over to do it.

The last thing you want is a tenant slipping on the ice caused by a leaf blocked drain and making a claim on your landlord insurance.

So gloves on, it's that time of year to get the rake out. 

New stamp duty rates

The new stamp duty rates announced by George Osborne yesterday will mean most buyers will see a saving in their purchase costs.

According to the government calculations 98% of those buyers liable for stamp duty will see their charges reduced.

The 2% of buyers who will see an increase in stamp duty will be those buyers of property worth more than £932,000.

The new stamp duty rules will use a graduated approach, similar to the way income tax is calculated. A properties purchase price will be taxed via a banded system instead of the old flat rate.

Therefore, a property will see no tax payable for the first £125,000 of its price, then 2% on the value up to £250,000, followed by the subsequent bands below for properties of a greater value.

The bands of stamp duty are -

0 - £125,000 = 0%
£125,001 - £250,000 = 2%
£250,001 - £925,000 = 5%
£925,00 - £1,500,000 = 10%
£1,500,000 and over = 12%

The new rates come into play as of today - December 4th 2014.

My view

This appears a far fairer system than the old flat rates. It will avoid the sudden leaps in purchasing costs at the banded divisions.

Read the Treasury release on the reforms of stamp duty


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Why landlords should love immigration

Immigration and landlords are both hot topics at the moment. The first because there is a general perception that there are too many immigrants; coming in stealing our jobs, taking our houses and plundering our welfare system. We after all live on this Sceptered Isle which is both crowded and precious.

Immigration could be good for landlords
Funnily, I don't agree.  Landlords in my view should not only tolerate but embrace immigration and avoid the UKIP little Britain reaction to people coming legitimately to the UK.  The reality is that most immigration is from young people from the likes of eastern europe who are both highly educated, motivated and eager to work and contribute to the British economy.  They also by and large need rental accommodation and as they are not in receipt of benefits they will pay for it out of earned income and not UK benefits.  Witness the booming rental markets in immigration hotspots like London & places like Lincolnshire and parts of the East Midlands. Not only will these younger immigrants bring skills and a refreshing industrious attitude to work, they also produce children.  More children is vital if the UK if it is to avoid the inverted population pyramids suffered by countries such as Japan and Italy where a reducing number of people of working age are having to support an aging population who cling militantly to their benefits granted to them in an age when old people were in the minority.  Politicians refuse to grasp the pension nettle because it is politically poison to tell people that they will need to work past 70 so our pension system remains unfunded.

In my view landlords should embrace genuine immigration as it will be good for rents, property prices and the economy.  Personally I'd keep the new economic immigrants and ship the load of workshy, feckless 'Brits' somewhere without a welfare state.  This might just wake them up from their benefit induced coma long enough for them to appreciate: a free education, free health service and free housing all need paying for through hard work. 

Remember the landlord immigration bill means that rent checks are coming and have a look at this government right to rent landlords code of practice.  

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Most popular BTL mortgages

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Lender
85%	4.99% Fixed	2 Years	3%	£130.00	No	Kent Reliance Semi Exclusive
85%	5.49% Discount	2 Years	3%	£130.00	No	Kent Reliance Multi Let & Ltd Co. Semi Exclusive
80%	3.99% Fixed	2017-02-28	£2495	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
80%	4.99% Fixed	2017-02-28	0%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
80%	3.9% Discount	2 Years	0%	£0.00	No	Hanley Economic Exclusive
80%	5.39% Variable	0 Years	2%	£0.00	No	Saffron Light Refurbishment
75%	2.34% Fixed	2017-02-28	2.5%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
75%	3.69% Fixed	2017-02-28	0%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
75%	2.5% Discount	2 Years	£1995	£250.00	One free Valuation on properties valued up to £1,000,000	Hinckley & Rugby Exclusive
75%	5.39% Variable	0 Years	2.5%	£0.00	No	Saffron Light Refurbishment
70%	2.5% Fixed	2016-11-30	£2495	£245.00	Free valuation (maximum of £781 for properties up to £1,000,000) and free legals for remortgages.	Skipton Exclusive
65%	2.99% Fixed	2017-01-31	£1995	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
65%	3.49% Fixed	2017-01-31	0%	£150.00	Free valuation	Mortgage Trust Exclusive
60%	2.25% Fixed	2016-11-30	£2495	£245.00	Free valuation (maximum of £781 up to property value of £1,000,000)and free legals for remortgages.	Skipton Exclusive
60%	2.45% Discount	2 Years	£1950	£250.00	One free Valuation on properties valued up to £1,000,000	Hinckley & Rugby Exclusive

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.  

 
Search the whole BTL mortgage market free
 
Email:info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

 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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Property auction opportunities

Do you fancy increasing your property portfolio before Christmas?

This could be one of your last opportunities to add to your property portfolio this year.  If you fancy picking up a property have a look at the new auction catalogue from Allsop which has been just released.

London property may be overpriced but there are still some bargains at the property auctions in the regions if you play your cards right and do your research.

Finance my investment - BTL mortgage search tool

Midland landlords join border control

West Midland landlords are the first to don boots, pull on their uniforms and begin work on the frontline of UK border control. 

"Can I see your papers?"

From today landlords renting out properties in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton areas will be required to check the passports of any new tenants to make sure they are not illegal immigrants. 

Any passports / documents need to be photocopied by the landlord and kept as record of the checks.

In those cases where a prospective tenant cannot produce a passport, a  landlord will be required to make further checks using the gov.uk websites 'Right to rent' tool. (good luck with that)

Failure by a landlord to follow the proper checks could result in prosecution and a maximum £3000 fine.

The requirement is expected to be rolled out across the entire country during 2015.

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FT article on the future prospects for BTL

The Financial Times have done a piece on the mid-term future of Buy-to-let.

Pensioners face heavy taxation on BTL investment

With the new pension annuity reforms coming into place in April 2015 many pensioners are considering dragging out a big chunk of their pension annuity to invest in BTL property.

Be warned, the tax implications might out weigh the returns. Overtime, five different forms of taxation will potentially be applied to the property investment.

• Income tax when the amount is withdrawn.
• Stamp duty on buying the BTL property. 
• Income tax on the rents paid. 
• Capital gains tax if sold. 
• Inheritance tax on the asset.

Read the article on tax implication of withdrawing cash from annuity to invest in BTL property

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Landlord Action reflect on ‘Revenge Eviction’ Bill defeat

Following  Friday's defeat of MP Sarah Teather's Tenancies Reform Bill, Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action commented,

“This is great news for landlords. Whilst I fully agree that tenants need to be protected from the small minority of rogue landlords, there simply wasn’t enough evidence to support the need for more legislation, which would have impacted a large number of good, reliable landlords.

In the 24 years I have been dealing with problem tenants, I have only ever heard of the words 'retaliation/revenge eviction' in the last 18 months. Section 21 gives a landlord an automatic right of possession without having to give any grounds (reason) once the fixed term has expired. Shelter’s figures that 213,000 tenants have been served Section 21 notices as revenge evictions must be guess work because without surveying every landlord, it is hard to understand how they have reached this figure.”

“Passing this Bill would have created a loophole for tenants to remain in properties for longer, lead to further rental arrears problems, stretched the resources of local authorities even further and lead to longer delays at court. Yes, we want to make sure tenants live in a safe and pleasant environment, but preventing the proper use of Section 21 is not the way to do this and would simply tarnish good landlords with a bad name.”

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Land registry October price data released

The Land Registry has released data on sold property prices for 2014.

Their data for October 2014 shows the average house price in England & Wales is now at £177,377. The peak was back in November 2007 at £181,269

London remains the best performing region, with annual growth of 18.6 %, compared with the worst performing region, Wales with just 2.0 % growth.

View the full Land Registry House Price Data for October 2014

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