Monday, October 31, 2016

BofE Mortgage Approvals for Sept

The Bank of England's mortgage lending figures for September saw 62,932 approvals, worth £11.1bn.

This is up from August's 60,984 approvals.

September's remortgages rose to 42,440, slightly higher than the six month average of 41,882 per month.

Download all the Bank of England's Money and Lending stats for September 2016


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A letting agent renewal fee question

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Homelessness Reduction Bill Changes

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Britain falls behind on home ownership

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BofE abandons plans to cut rates

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I have 7 BTL's but want more

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House price rises linked to S21 evictions

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House purchase approvals graph

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12 month prime-London property price change

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Sunday, October 30, 2016

Rent control through the back door


I have written before about my out and out opposition to any form of rent control. 

Why am I so vehement about rent control? 

It's not just because it will hit my pocket. 

No my main reason is that it simply doesn't work in the long term. 

Rent control fails to deliver lower rents for tenants. All that happens is that we end up with a diminished Private Rental Sector, meaning less choice for tenants and ultimately an unbalanced private rental market.

Labour Party rent control policy

Labour politicians have frequently muted the prospect of rent controls with the like of Ken Livingstone talking about rent controls in London, whilst Dianne Abbott also called for controls on London rents during her Mayoral election campaign. 

Despite promises at a national level, the Labour Party have been unable to bring rent controls in and make the policy stick.  However, the new London Mayor, Sadiq Khan is proposing just that, but this is rent control through the back door.

Khan back door rent control plan

Under Khan's proposals, he would force developers to offer rental property at a discount to market rents at80% of current market rents.  In some cases the discount on market rents would be much more. 

Property Week reports that in the London Borough of Newham rents could be as low as 55% of market levels.  All the checks, controls and restrictions will end up making what is an incredibly complex development procedure totally unworkable for many developers, resulting in them exiting the process, or putting their development plans on hold, hoping for an eventual reversal of the policy. 

Khan's policy is rent control through the back door. It will have no impact on the general level of rents in the capital or the rest of the country. It is simply tokenistic political meddling. 

What is needed in both the capital and the rest of the UK is more supply.

A system that ensures that there is healthy competition between landlords for tenants will do more to keep rents affordable than all the cock and bull tinkering dreamt up by vote grabbing politicians.

Build more!

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Prime London property report from Savills

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Saturday, October 29, 2016

Unaffordable rents map of the UK

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Fake landlords cheating tenants

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Estate agents see return of buyers

September's UK Housing Market Report from the National Association of Estate Agents shows -
  • Buyer demand up 16% ( 333 prospective buyers per branch, up from 287 )
  • Supply down ( properties available per branch 40, down from 41 )
  • Sales to first time buyers (FTBs) down ( 23% of sales, down from 28% )

NAEA M.D, Mark Hayward, comments : 

“This month’s report proves that buyer confidence is growing, which is obviously reassuring, given that we expected uncertainty following Brexit. Although supply has dropped marginally, this does not concern us as it’s still higher than the levels we saw between April and July. However, it is worrying that the number of sales being made to FTBs has fallen to the lowest number in 10 months. The fact the Government’s Help to Buy housing scheme is due to close this year might pose more of a challenge for those who were relying on this to help get their foot on the property ladder. We now look ahead to the Autumn Statement and look forward to seeing what plans the Government puts in place to assist FTBs towards their goal of homeownership.”
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Letting agents have a bumper September

Letting agents are happy according to September's PRS report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents. It appears PRS is continuing to enlarge, with agents reporting an 18 month supply high.

Key points

  • Number of rentals per agency branch at an 18 month high (average 40)
  • A rise in tenant demand ( average of 40 new tenant registrations )
  • Agents seeing rent hikes has fallen to lowest level this year

ARLA's M.D, David Cox, comments-

“This month’s findings paint a really positive picture for renters. Although demand is rising, we’ve seen this happen gradually over the course of the year, and would expect it to slow again in line with seasonal trends over the next few months. On the other hand, the supply of rental stock has risen astronomically, which suggest it’s not quite right that landlords are pulling out of the market as a result of Brexit. This is supported in our findings, which reveal the number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties hasn’t changed since April, when three landlords were selling up per branch.

“It’s good to see less landlords hiking rents this month, but 24 per cent is still too high. The cost of renting is already high in many parts of the country and until the Government converts its pledges and promises into bricks and mortar, we won’t see renters reach a position where they’re able to save to get on the housing ladder. It will be interesting to see how this is tackled in the upcoming Autumn Statement.”


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Khan's plan for discounted rent developments

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Mortgage approval graph - 2015 v 2016

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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Heathrow house prices face crash landing

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Cities are like magnets - global trend

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London property prices to fall 5.6%

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BTL returns map - Leeds comes out top

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London FTBs need to save for 121 years for a deposit

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Landlord insurance - building materials cover


I am in the process of refurbishing my penthouse apartment in Nottingham.  Progress is slow as any landlord will know and I'm wondering whether all the expensive building materials will be covered by the insurance policy. 

Are expensive building materials covered by my landlord building insurance?

I'm dealing with a gang of retired or part-time tradesmen.  this means that don't want to work too many hours.  So as a result I have a lot of expensive building materials lying about on site waiting to be installed.  This includes:
  • An expensive Italian spiral staircase
  • £4000 with of European Oak 
  • A partly installed Ikea kitchen and appliances
  • Parts of a luxury bathroom
An incident last week where 'somebody' left a window open made me think what would happen if there was a break in and somebody had the where for all to remove all these expensive building materials and would my insurance cover me for the loss?  For a start the fact that the window was left open would probably invalidate my building insurance because there would potentially be no forced sign of entry.  "I wasn't best pleased!"

The law on landlord building insurance covering a development project

As landlord property insurance is not my strong point I thought I'd consult the experts at Alan Boswell to see what their view was on it all.   They admitted that the area is a grey area but in general terms:

a)     If you are living in the property whilst it is renovated, the building materials would get classed as contents and be covered
b)    If no one is living in the property overnight (generally definition of unoccupied) then theft of unfixed building materials tends to be excluded
c)     If you have a contractor in to do the work they can generally cover the materials under their insurance until the work is complete, but you would need to ensure this is specified in the contracts between you as the contractor may have an extra charge to do this.

Looks like the safest bet is to keep the site fully secure and protect it from a break in as a risk to the development project is site theft and the left of expensive building materials unless they are fully installed.

Is it possible to obtain 5 star building insurance?

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Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Landlord jailed for re-mortgaging parents home


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Sunday, October 23, 2016

A ground rent nightmare

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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Tax hike to affect half a million landlords

Landlord tax hike

The tax hike or raid instigated by the government changing the way they work out a landlords rental profit leading to massive tax rises for some landlords could affect up to 440,000 landlords according to claims by the National Landlords Association.

Proposed tax changes will push landlords into higher tax bracket

The changes resulting in the loss of mortgage interest tax relief which are to be staggered will no longer allow higher rate tax payers to offset all their mortgage interest charges against their rental income.  As a result over a fifth of landlords claim that they will be pushed into the higher tax band triggering a higher rate of tax and an increased tax bill for many landlords.  Some landlords have been investigating using a company structure to reduce their tax bill.  This works because a landlord operating through a company will continue to be able to offset their entire mortgage interest bill.  We have explored previously whether landlords should incorporate their rental business.

Law society of landlord tax change

The way that the government has brought in the legislative changes to the landlord tax system on income tax has been criticized by a number of organizations.  The law society has actually slammed the way the finance bill has been introduced.  Despite these criticisms it is very unlikely that the government will back down.  In fact Cherie Booth ( Blair )representing a group action by landlords recently lost their case challenging buy-to-let tax changes.

More tax info:

5 ways to slash your tax
Calculate your tax return with our free online property manager
Capital gains tax explained

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Does foil behind radiators really work?

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A way to pay no tax on your BTL...??!

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Landlords could get stuck on high BTL rates



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Construction sector sees slow growth

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Friday, October 21, 2016

Cheap boroughs show strongest growth

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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Claiming for deposit deductions

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North/south rental divide shrinks

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Call to put up rents in taxation protest

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Increasing poverty in Northern Ireland's PRS

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Nottingham property auction kicks off

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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Four tenants renting a garden shed

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Global student property investment chart

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Savills London property auction - Nov 1st

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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Government UK HPI for August

Average house prices in the UK continue to go up according to the latest ONS data published today. 

The Government's UK HPI for August 2016 has annual property price growth now at 8.4% (up from 8.0% in July ).

Average house price across the UK -
  • England - £236,000, annual growth at 9.2% 
  • Wales - £236,000, annual growth at 2.7% 
  • Scotland - £145,000, annual growth at 4.3% 
  • Northern Ireland - £123,000

As for the English regions, the East now leads the way.

regional annual growth rate aug16





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More PRS lets than property purchases

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Airbnb is pushing up rents

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Land Registry repossessions data

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4 out of 10 homes are sub-standard

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The East leads re-surgent property market

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Kensington landlord fined £162,000

Hammersmith Magistrates Court handed landlord, Mr Abbas Rasul a fine of  £162,000 for not having a license for his House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) alongside 22 further charges under HMO Management Regulations. 
landlord fined
Environmental Health Officers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea found the flat on Hyde Park Gate, SW7 was being let to more than 18 tenants. The flat had been illegally subdivided into 14 tiny rooms, each rented out for an average of £800 pcm.

Mr Abbas Rasul  failed to appear in court.

The Environmental Health Officers described the conversion put tenants lives at risk, with no fire doors, smoke detectors or alarms for a flat with just one kitchen shared between all eighteen tenants. The gas boiler was described as 'dangerous', it had been serviced and had a cracked flue. Makeshift electrics had some rooms reliant on extension leads trailing from other rooms to provide a supply.

Conditions witnessed posed such a risk to safety that Environmental Health Officers issued a Prohibition Order to prevent further use of the flat.
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500,000 landlords to be hit by tax change

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Are houses unaffordable for millennials?

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Rogue landlord crackdown to include minimum bedroom sizes

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Monday, October 17, 2016

New bank to offer commercial mortgages

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More homes let than sold say Countrywide

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Luxury London property sales collapse

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Rightmove's HPI sees north/south divide

The Rightmove HPI for Octobert shows a rise of 0.9% (+£2,623).

The national average property is now at £309,122, just 0.4% (£1,349) down on the record high of June this year. 

However, the market varies across regions and sectors, with different areas of the country and different sectors experiencing contrasting market conditions. 

The north seems to be fairing better post-brexit than the south. 

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst comments: 

“After the referendum result and the usual summer slowdown, estate agents’ experiences appear to fall into one of two camps, with a definite north/south divide. Agents in the northern half of the country reported a quiet week or two after the surprise result of the Brexit vote, but most then saw a quick return to good levels of buyer enquiries and subsequent sales agreed. In contrast many in the southern regions saw more prolonged hesitancy among buyers, with it taking until September before a marked pick-up in activity. What has continued is the overall upwards trajectory in the average price of property coming to market, underpinned by years of inadequate new-build supply. After some price falls over the quieter summer period, the national average is now less than a couple of thousand pounds shy of its all-time high recorded in June.”

The North sees rising sales

“While the number of new-to-the-market sellers is actually up compared to this time last year in all the northern regions, it is failing to keep pace with high buyer demand. Agents report brisk sales in many areas, especially in the mass-market sectors. They say as long as it’s not over-priced, the right house in the right area is quickly being snapped up for close to, at, or even over the asking price.”
The South see falling sales

“This increase in the number of properties up for sale should not be misinterpreted as a glut of unsold property, but rather as an increase from the very low number of properties that agents have had on their books in the last few fast-selling years. While there is still underlying high demand in mass-market sectors, some find that affordability has become over-stretched while others judge that prices have risen beyond their true value. While many properties are still selling, in market sectors where there is now a lot more choice, buyers need enticing by an attractive price or by properties with special finish or appeal. If sellers fail to take this into account, then buyers will choose to buy elsewhere or bide their time.”


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47% of tenants told to ignore eviction notices

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Rats in the attic



A landlords life is full of surprises. The latest for me was a call from one of my tenants telling me about some unwelcome neighbours. It transpires that despite being in the first floor maisonette they have gained some unwelcome neighbours...rats! Clearly they were less than happy and called a pest control immediately to investigate. The outcome was that the private pest control business laid poison in the loft to get the critters!

One of the amazing things was that rats had been able to get into the property and at such a high level. It looks like the rats had got in through gaps in the pointing by scaling the adjoining vegetation. Paradoxically, the pointing can't be sealed up until the little critters have been dosed with the poison and died, hopefully in the garden.

This week I'll be  trying to convince the tenants that there will be no more instances of rats in the attic.

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Sunday, October 16, 2016

What's to know about Japanese Knotweed

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Saturday, October 15, 2016

Rental growth slows as supply increases


The rate of rental growth has slowed as more supply has entered the market according to the Landlord Insurance company Homelet which indicates that new tenants pay an average of £910 per month, up 3% on last year.

The average monthly rent in London is now £1,555.

Rentindex the real time monitor of rents indicates the average rent is now at over £680 surging 4% over the last 6 months and up 3.6% over the year.

Lies lies and rental statistics but in essence rents are still continuing there very gentle increase over the long-term but they are no way rocketing up in most of the UK in the way that many London MPs and tenants rights activists may try and suggest.

Rentindex - real time rents

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Thursday, October 13, 2016

UK city population growth rates since 2011

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Property or pension? - podcast debate.

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Prices up, as supply shrinks, predict RICS

The Royal Institute of Surveyors UK Residential Market Survey for September 2016 is out.

Key points

  • Buyer demand increases for the first time since February. 
  • House prices continue to rise.
  • New instruction levels stay low. 
  • Market confidence picking up following post-referendum jitters.
  • Agents sale stock levels remain close to historic lows at an average of 45 properties. 


Price and sales outlook

Low supply alongside increasing demand is expected to push up prices both in the short and long term. Surveyors are increasingly confident that prices will push up over both the next three months and twelve month periods.

The outlook for central London is less positive, with surveyors predicting small price falls to continue in the short term, thanks to Brexit and Stamp duty changes.




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Builders report post-Brexit bounce

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Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Rent hikes looming

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Only a quarter of Welsh landlords registered under Rent Smart

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BTL investing for expat workers

Jane Simpson, at Property Hawk Mortgages says:

The buy-to-let mortgage market is without doubt a fast-paced and ever changing environment in which to operate as an intermediary and it can sometimes be a challenge to keep up to speed. This is one of the reasons why Property Hawk Mortgages specialises only in buy-to-let mortgages and is able to provide added value to landlords with our expertise and in-depth knowledge of lenders and their criteria.

To illustrate the dynamic nature of the buy-to-let mortgage market, in the last month Property Hawk Mortgages has removed 370 buy-to-let products from its sourcing system and added a further 361 new rates. 

There are many reasons why lenders withdraw existing product ranges and release new ones, but any activity affecting the financial markets and monetary policy will immediately have an impact on the pricing of buy-to-let finance. It was not unexpected that The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced a further cut to interest rates of 0.25 per cent and it is therefore not surprising that the buy-to-let mortgage market is experiencing considerable change at the moment.

For landlord clients, the cut in interest rates presents a great opportunity. So far, most lenders are passing on the rate reduction through their Standard Variable Rates (SVR) and Bank Base Rate (BBR) tracker products. We have also seen a number of lenders releasing reduced fixed rate products following the MPC’s decision. 

For example, Axis Bank has launched a selection of reduced 2, 3 and 5 year fixed rates for both its standard and specialist ranges. 

At Property Hawk Mortgages, we have been getting a steady flow of enquiries from landlords about expat buy-to-let mortgages. This has always been considered a niche segment of the buy-to-let lending sector, but in reality there is a wide choice of lenders and products available for UK citizens who are living and working abroad.

Property Hawk Mortgages currently offers expat products from nine different lenders including: Kent Reliance, Shawbrook Bank, National Counties Building Society, Market Harborough Building Society, Bank of China, Axis Bank, Landbay, Saffron Building Society and Skipton International.

As you would expect, lending criteria for expat applicants is a bit different compared with standard buy-to-let mortgages for landlords who live and work in the UK. All of the lenders mentioned above require that the applicant owns an existing property in the UK, with the exception of Skipton International and Market Harborough Building Society which do not. Applicants must also have a UK passport and bank account.

Quite often we get calls about clients who have sold their home to move abroad and therefore are not current UK property owners. In this case Skipton International and Market Harborough are the only port of call.

Expat lenders also have a higher minimum income requirement than for standard buy-to-let mortgages. For example, Kent Reliance has a minimum income of £25,000, Axis Bank a minimum of £40,000 and Market Harborough Building Society a minimum of £45,000.

Following on from the higher minimum income requirements, lenders are also strict about the type of work the applicant does e.g. Kent Reliance requires they must be a professional or employed in a senior position within a UK, EU or US agency or recognisable and traceable company. 

Many lenders accept self-employed applicants such as an equity partner in a law firm or a business owner with an internationally recognised accountant, but may require a higher level of income. For 
example, Skipton International requires £40,000 for employed but £60,000 for self-employed applicants.

Most lenders also have a higher minimum loan size for expat cases, usually of between £100,000 and £150,000, with the exception of Saffron Building Society, which has a minimum loan size of just £30,000.

One of the most important questions to ask expat landlord clients is which country they are living and working in as most lenders have either a list of banned countries or a list of acceptable countries that they will consider.

Although there are particular aspects to consider when handling a buy-to-let expat case, there are plenty of products available for these clients. For some lenders, their core range of buy-to-let products is open to expats and for others such as Kent Reliance, Landbay and Skipton International a specialist expat range is offered separately.

Here is an example of expat buy-to-let mortgages currently available:



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BTL lending bounces back a bit - CML data

The Council of Mortgage Lenders figures for August are out.

Key points are -
  • Home-owner borrowing on 66,000 loans totalled £12.2bn, - up 14% on July, 11% up on August 2015.
  • First-time buyers borrowed £5.1bn on  31,800 loans,  up 13% on July and 24% on August 2015.
  • Home movers borrowed £7.1bn on  34,200 loans,  up 15% on July, 3% up on August 2015.
  • Remortgages on 34,900 loans, totalled 5.9bn, down 2% on July, but up 41% on August 2015. 
  • Landlords borrowed £3bn on 19,400 loans,  no change from July,  down 12% .on August 2015. 
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, comments:

'House purchase activity bounced back from a dip in July, reflecting resilience in first-time buyer activity. Mortgage rates remain at or close to historic lows, and the re-pricing of mortgages following August’s base rate cut should help to underpin a continuing, strong appetite for home-ownership over the coming months.

Buy-to-let by contrast continues to operate at lower levels five months after the stamp duty change on second properties. This appears to be a long-term trend, and with lenders potentially tightening affordability checks ahead of the tax changes in April 2017, activity on the buy-to-let house purchase side may well remain at current levels.'

BTL lending in August
Gross BTL lending was way down on early 2016, but showed signs of recovery, with 1,000 more BTL loans in August compared with July. Remortgages remain dominant in the BTL lending market amounting to nearly two thirds of BTL loans. 

btl loans cml august 2016
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Lease extensions Q&A by Land Registry

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All of the house price indices on one chart

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BTL buyer interest up 30% since May

Rightmove have seen a 30% rise in enquiries from BTL landlords/investors since May.

The BTK sales market is seeing a recovery in activity following the April dip caused by the introduction of the 3% stamp duty surcharge.

Rightmove’s Head of Lettings Sam Mitchell comments: 

“Investor activity has bounced back following the stamp duty changes, though some agents report that many investors are looking to knock sellers down on their asking prices to make up for the additional stamp duty they now need to pay. New rental supply has held up despite concerns that the stamp duty changes would lead to less fresh stock.

Once again Essex and other commuter spots are offering investors the best total returns, and those looking at long-term investments are seeking out areas with upcoming improved transport links. The changes starting in 2017 to lessen mortgage interest tax relief may see some seriously review their businesses and could scale back, though there appear to be no signs yet of landlords exiting the market. If supply of property to rent does scale back those that will win in the long term will be less highly-mortgaged landlords that chose not to sell off their property, and the big winners could be those that are investing in the right areas now. We expect some of the supply gap to be filled by Build to Rent but it could take some years for this to seriously increase rental stock levels. With this in mind 2017 could be another year of increasing rents.”

Key Points
  • BTL buyer enquiries up 30% since May.
  • This quarters new rental listings up 6% on this period last year.
  • Asking rents falling in London, down 0.7% on last quarter.


asking rent data september 2016


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Should a landlord rent to parrots?

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Give inheritance to grandchildren says minister

I'm wondering if Gavin has wealthy grand parents.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Knight Frank sees profits dip

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Falling home ownership graph

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Average income after housing costs deducted

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Home ownership chart since 1986

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Halifax House Price Index for Sept


The Halifax House Price Index for September 2016 is out.
  • House prices in the three months to September were 5.8% higher than in the same three months of 2015 
  • Prices in the last three months (July- September) were 0.1% lower than in the preceding quarter

The banks housing economist, Martin Ellis comments:

“House prices in the three months to September were largely unchanged compared with the previous quarter. The annual rate of growth eased from 6.9% in August to 5.8%.

"The housing market has followed a steady downward trend over the past six months with clear evidence of both a softening in activity levels and an easing in house price inflation.

“The reduction in annual house price growth from a peak of 10.0% in March to 5.8% six months later remains in line with our forecast at the end of 2015. A lengthy period where house prices have risen more rapidly than earnings has put pressure on affordability, therefore constraining demand. Very low mortgage rates and a shortage of properties available for sale should, however, help support price levels over the coming months.” 

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Monday, October 10, 2016

DPS customers targeted by fraudsters

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Do I need boiler insurance?

 

 

Landlord boiler insurance

Do you need boiler insurance?  The short answer is of course not!  It's not a legal requirement and many landlords such as myself have managed with no or limited cover for years.  For a more in depth look at the whole topic of boiler insurance have a look at this investigation into landlord boiler insurance.

Landlord boiler insurance obsolescence 

More concerning for me and I suspect a lot of landlords is that of boiler obsolescence.  What do I mean by this?  Well it's not that the boiler has to be scrapped because it can't be repaired or no longer works properly.  No the problem is that the boiler as in my case can be fixed but the part is no longer available.  I have a property with a Baxi Solo Boiler and everything is fine apart from the plumber just cannot get the thermostat he needs to replace.  Have a look at the serial numbers and if you can find one or know somebody who supplies this part please let me know.  It will save me having to needlessly scrap a perfectly good boiler.

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