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Friday, December 30, 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Have your say on the Spring Budget

Heres a gift for those of you who truly hate Christmas.

Crack open the Quality Street and get those fingers tapping.

Peace.
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Thursday, December 22, 2016

ONS rental data for November

The ONS have published their data on private rents for November 2016.

There data shows annual growth of private rents in Great Britain rose by 2.3% (the same growth rate recorded in October)

Annual growth of private rents are 2.4% in England, 0.1% in Scotland and 0.3% in Wales in the 12 months to November 2016.

Regionally, the South East still has the highest growth rate at 3.4%.

rent data ons november 2016

ons rental data nov 2016


Bexley Council consult on licensing scheme

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A graph of housing policy changes

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The rise of generation rent

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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Crossrail's house price boost already 22%

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Gov calls to stop housebuilder's leasehold sales

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New build data from Savills

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RICS predicts 3% price rise in 2017

UK property will increase by 3% on average in 2017 predict RICS.

Surveyor's crystal balls believe 2017 will see -
  • Transactions will stabilise, but fall short of 2016 
  • Restrictive supply will pushing prices up by 3%
  • Rents up by 2-3%
RICS guesstimate that transaction activity in 2017 will be between 1.15m and 1.2 m properties ( below the 1.25 m expected for 2016).

With UK house price growth of 3% predicted in 2017,  surveyors picked out  East Anglia, North West and West Midlands as their favourites to out perform the national average.

They believe Central London will stabilise after a poor 2016.
RICS Simon Robinson comments:

'Although recent announcements by the government on housing are very welcome, the ongoing shortfall of stock across much of the sales and lettings markets is set to continue to underpin prices and rents. As a result, the affordability challenge will remain very much to the fore for many. Meanwhile the lack of existing inventory in the market is impacting the ability of households to move and will contribute toward transaction activity over the whole of 2017 being a little lower that in the year just ending.'


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ARLA warns on extending HMO licensing

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Agents see rents increasing in 2017

80% of letting agents expect rental growth to increase in 2017 following the Autumn Statement's announcement on a ban of letting agency fees for tenants.

ARLA agents also report seeing a fall in rental demand in November, as the rental market slows towards Christmas. The average number of prospective tenants per ARLA branch fell to 32, down from 34 in October.
The average number of rental properties managed per ARLA branch was up, at 185, compared with 182 in October's data.

63 % of agents believe 2017 will see a fall in rental property supply as a result of additional taxes for landlords: stamp duty, capital gains tax. 

ARLA's David Cox says: 

“The number of rent hikes reported by letting agents continued to decrease in November, and it’s a shame the ban on letting agent fees will have the opposite impact on rent prices when the measure comes into force. The BTL market is becoming less attractive for investors as the ban on fees, combined with the scrapping of mortgage interest relief and the stamp duty increase on second homes push costs up for landlords. So unfortunately, regardless of the uplift we saw in supply this month, we expect to see the number of properties available to rent fall next year.”

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

A gassy tale for landlords

Tis the season to be jolly. It's also that time of year when gas engineers are impossible to get hold of. ( unless you've got a service contract )

I thought this story might act as a seasonal warning to any desperate landlords tempted to get that spanner out for any gas emergencies this holiday.

'Don't ever be tempted to fiddle with gas repairs' ; underlined, and with bells on.


A Gassy Tale

Landlord, Paul Perry has just been found guilty at Plymouth Crown Court of making repairs to a gas pipe leading to a cooker at one of his rental properties without having any training or safety certificate.

The court heard how this misguided landlord's botched repairs caused a gas leak which was thankfully identified before any harm was done.

A qualified engineer identified the fault and reported the landlord's handiwork to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Following an investigation it was discovered that Paul Perry had not had an annual gas safety certificates carried out on the property for seven years.

Perry was handed a sentence of 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay £4,000 in costs.



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Monday, December 19, 2016

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Interest rate unchanged

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EON launches landlord service

E.ON has launched a new service for private landlords which helps them manage the energy accounts and costs of multiple properties through one easy to use online tool.

The launch follows direct feedback from landlord customers that they wanted to be able to manage the set up and switchover of energy accounts more easily, including ensuring meter readings are kept up to date so customers are billed accurately and appropriately.

Although it’s anticipated the ‘E.ON Landlord’ service will be particularly helpful for landlords with numerous properties in their portfolio, those with just one property should also find the service useful.
  • Once they’ve registered, E.ON Landlord can help customers who are private landlords:
  • access information about their property portfolio anytime, day or night;
  • view at a glance the current status of each property;
  • advise E.ON of changes in tenancy, update contact details, and submit opening and closing meter readings;
  • input information about if and when gas safety checks are required at a property;
  • register interest for self-reading smart meters at their properties to help tenants better manage their energy use.
As part of the new service, private landlords can also sign up to the E.ON Landlord tariff which is exclusively available through the online service. The tariff ensures landlords pay no standing charge for up to 30 days if a property is unoccupied between tenants1.

David Bird, Managing Director of E.ON’s Residential business, said: 

“Anyone who runs a household’s finances knows that there can be a lot of admin involved. We know this can be a huge challenge for landlords with multiple properties, so we’ve launched our E.ON Landlord online service and tariff to help make the whole process easier and to allow landlords to better control their property portfolios.

As well as being able to access the service whenever it suits them, landlords can now easily view and update the status of numerous properties through one easy to use tool.”



To find out more about E.ON Landlord or to sign up, visit landlords.eonenergy.co.uk


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HMO challenges in seaside towns

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Who are landlords?

Who are we? 

Well, its a good question, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, with help from the London School of Economics have attempted to answer it from the responses of 2,500 landlords. 

Here's what they found out on

Mortgages
  • Surprisingly, 49% of us own all our property outright. 
  • 47% of us have a BTL mortgage.
  • Of those with BTL mortgages, over half had portfolio LTV's below 60%.
  • Only 1% had overall portfolio LTVs over 90%, ( they also sweat profusely at night. )
Portfolio size
  • 62% of us own just one rented property, 
  • The average size of  a BTL portfolio is 2.7 properties ( less than in 2004 )
Age
  • We are getting older ( 24% were over 55 in 2004, now 61% of us are over 55 )
Profile
  • Typically, we live close to our rental properties, over a third of us always self-manage, the a similar amount use an agent, the rest pick and mix.
  • We have typically invested for both capital growth and income, as a way of supporting our retirement and current income.
  • Two thirds of us earn less than 25% of our income from rent, with only1 in 20 of us making a full-time living from being a landlord.
  • Nearly a quarter of us were accidental landlords who fell into renting out property.
Income
  • The median average rental income was £7,500 per year.
  • The mean average figure jumped to £17,300, (pushed up by some very high rental incomes). 
The future
  • Most of us see rental property as long term hold. There is a slight sentiment amongst us to sell up or reduce portfolio size as a response to tax changes.
  • Most of us expect net income to remain the same, or increase slightly over the next five years. 16% of BTL landlords expect incomes to fall.

landlord gross income graph





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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Only 4 regions above pre-crash peak

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Gov. consult on landlord banning orders

The Government are consulting on their planned 'banning orders for landlords and letting agents'.

As part of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, banning orders could be placed on rogues landlords or agents who commit an offence against their tenant, eg, breaches of health and safety regulations, an illegal eviction, failing to act on improvement notices, intimidation, renting to illegal immigrants, fraudulent HB claims, cannabis cultivation. 

Once placed, a banning order could be stop an agent or landlord from letting or managing property for a minimum period of 12 months, up to a maximum unlimited period. Alongside the ban, the name of the agent/landlord would be placed on a newly formed  national database of rogue landlords.

The government wants feedback on the specific offences that should result in a banning order.

This consultation period ends - February 10th 2017

Housing Minister Gavin Barwell explained: 

‘Banning orders will allow us to drive out the worst offenders and help make sure millions of hard-working private tenants across the country are protected from exploitation. While the vast majority of landlords are responsible we are determined to tackle the minority who abuse and exploit vulnerable people. As part of the government’s commitment to improving standards within the private rented sector, banning orders will protect tenants and target the small minority of poor landlords and property agents. They will also help local authorities to take robust and effective action against rogues who knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation.’

Homelet record slowing of rental growth

Homelet's Rental Index for November 2016 reports slowing rental growth.
  • Average UK rental value now £898pcm, 3.1% higher than last year (£872pcm) 
  • Lowest annual growth in Greater London (1.6%) and the East Midlands (1.6%) 
  • Rents are 27.7% of average income. 

Read in full - Homelet's Rental Index for November 2016  


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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Check for sub-letting during the Xmas holidays

With many tenants, particularly students heading back to parental homes for Christmas, they might see their empty digs as a financial resource, left untapped.

'Let's Airbnb it?' a more resourceful tenant might suggest.

So for those landlords who haven't already underlined the terms of their lease, it might be worth doing so now, to prevent any unwanted sub-letting going on over the holiday period.

It may also be worth doing a fly-by of your rental properties over the Christmas holidays, to check your instructions are not ignored.

For in the right location, a decent holiday let might just well pay for the tenant's Christmas; a tempting prospect, what with all that present buying.

Baaaah humbug!

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BTL investor says Gov. is ruining his life

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Finding the right asking price

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High property taxes crippling economy

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House prices up by 0.1% - Land Registry

Land Registry October HPI data puts annual property price growth at 6.9%, following a rise of 0.1% in October.  The average UK property now costs £216,674.

October saw average property prices in: England rise 0.1%, Wales rise 1%, London fall 1.2%.



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Monday, December 12, 2016

Is shared ownership cheaper than renting?

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Housing policies driving up prices

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House price growth slows again - LSL


Novembers 2016 House Price Index from LSL Property Services for England and Wales has -

  • Prices up 0.1% in November
  • London has the lowest annual house price growth in the country 
  • Value areas experience strongest growth 
  • Annual growth now at 3.1%
  • Average house prices up £380 over the month to £295,276
Transaction levels show a slight improvement on established low levels, with an estimated 77,500 sales in November.

Your Move and Reeds Rains director, Adrian Gill  says,

“House price growth has slowed again, but in London, as elsewhere, there’s still appetite to continue driving up prices where buyers see value.

For all the talk of Brexit uncertainty, the main factor driving up prices in the housing market is still supply and demand. That imbalance remains even after the Government announcements in the Autumn statement.”




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House prices forecast to rise 2% in 2017

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Why house prices haven't fallen

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London rents fall

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Friday, December 09, 2016

Thursday, December 08, 2016

Sluggish housing market starved of supply

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Paragons stricter BTL affordability tests

BTL lender Paragon have updated their affordability calculations to accommodate the increased financial burden of the coming changes to mortgage interest rate tax relief for landlords paying the higher tax rate.

Paragon's Interest Cover Ratio (ICR) for any higher rate tax payers is to rise from 125% to 140% when assessing an applicants affordability.

Those landlords not in the higher tax rate, or those using limited companies will see no change, with ICR staying at 125%.

The Reference Interest Rate used for their affordability calculation is also set to change; rising from 4% to either 2% above product rate or 5.5%, whichever of the two figures is higher. ( this will not effect some long term fixed rates )

John Heron, Director of Mortgages, said, 

“Government policy towards the Private Rented Sector will increase costs for landlords and it is clear that this will need to be reflected in lender affordability assessments.

The PRA’s supervisory statement released in September this year is helpful in ensuring that lenders approach this in a consistent fashion.

The changes that we’re announcing today are designed to tailor affordability to each landlord’s individual circumstances, whilst keeping the application process straightforward for brokers and their customers.”



PH - Leeds BS have just followed suit; expect more lenders to do the same.

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.

RICS predict slow start to 2017

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Tenant evictions graph - 37,000 in 15/16

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BTL lending through Ltd companies hits 100,000

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What is Local Housing Allowance (LHA)?

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RICS call for a database of renters

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Where can you get the biggest BTL mortgages?

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.

Annual house price growth 6% - HalifaxHPI


Halifax's House Price Index from November 2016 data has been published.

UK House November 2016 prices (seasonally adjusted)
  • Annual change +6.0% 
  • Quarterly change +0.8% 
  • Monthly change +0.2% 
  • Average Price £218,002 
Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said:

“House prices in the three months to November were 0.8% higher than in the previous quarter. This increase followed little movement in prices on this quarterly measure in both September and October. The annual rate of growth also increased, rising for the first time for eight months, from 5.2% in October to 6.0%.

Despite November’s pick-up, the annual rate has been on a steady downward trend in recent months since reaching a peak of 10.0% in March. Heightened affordability pressures, resulting from a sustained period of house price growth in excess of earnings rises, appear to have dampened housing demand, contributing to the slowdown in house price inflation. Very low mortgage rates and an ongoing, and acute, shortage of properties available for sale should help support price levels although annual house price growth may slow over the coming months.” 


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Tuesday, December 06, 2016

PRICE BEATING INSURANCE - Property Hawks Early Christmas Present

To help landlords get into the Christmas spirit, our trusted insurance partner, Alan Boswell Group has a great offer for you: they’re guaranteeing to BEAT the price of your landlord insurance renewal.

Don’t worry if your renewal isn’t due yet. Even though this is a festive email, if you register your interest now they can hold the deal for you.

Ho Ho Humbug I hear you cry.... it's not just about the price.  You are right, what about the service? So I can say not only will you get a great deal on your insurance, but you’ll also benefit from their outstanding customer service and 30 years’ experience in the buy-to-let market.

Their expert advisers are able to quickly and easily find the right cover from a wide range of insurers, so you can be sure that your investment is protected. They can also provide additional rent guarantee, landlord legal expenses, home emergency, unoccupancy insurance and more – so you have complete peace of mind at an unbeatable price.

Of course there are some conditions: you must be a new customer insuring a residential property; you need to have been claim free for three years, and have no history of flood or subsidence. You can read the full conditions here.

To take advantage of the offer, give them a call on 01603 216399 and quote HAWK16. 

Alternatively fill in the short form online and the Alan Boswell team will call you back.

Merry Christmas,

Chris Horne
Property Hawk

To find out more about landlord insurance:

5 Star Landlord insurance 
How to find out the best rates 
Landlord insurance options
Landlord insurance risks assessed
Water damage who pays?

Blairs Mansion

Just in case you wondered how our illustrious former leader was doing after the global meltdown and his failure to get to grips with regulating the banks properly.

Nice man Tony...you know the regular guy who's persona was "I'm the kinda guy you could have a drink with down the local"

Well he's doing just fine. Look at his latest mansion.

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Investing in purpose built student accommodation

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Best BTL mortgages for a company


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.

Monday, December 05, 2016

London property hotspots for 2017

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5yr property forecast for Aberdeen

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New 5 year fixed BTL mortgages at 3.79%

Property Hawk Mortgages, the buy-to-let mortgage specialist has launched two new buy-to-let exclusives with Dudley Building Society. Both products are fixed at 3.79% for five years up to 70% loan-to-value and have a 130% at pay-rate rental calculation. The remortgage only version also has a free valuation and assistance with legal fees.

Jane Simpson, at Property Hawk Mortgages, says:

 “We are delighted to launch these new buy-to-let exclusives with Dudley Building Society and expect them to be popular with landlord clients. We have seen a growing interest in five year fixed rates over the last few months and the recent PRA regulations relating to income coverage ratios (ICRs) means that they are likely to be in increasing demand.

The PRA regulations effectively exclude five year fixed rates which means that lenders can set their own ICRs for these products. These buy-to-let exclusives with Dudley have a very achievable ICR of 130% at 3.79% and the Early Repayment Charges only apply for two years, which will make them very attractive to landlords especially as the market is so uncertain at the moment.”




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.

Nottingham's city wide PRS licensing


Nottingham Council are proposing the introduction of a city wide selective licensing scheme for landlords of PRS property.


If the plans are passed the scheme will be the biggest in the country, encompassing approximately 43,000 rental properties.


The proposed licences will cost £600 per rental property and last for five years.


The council proposes that accredited landlords would benefit from a £140 discount on the fee.

A consultation on the plans is due to start this month and finish in March 2017.

If the council then decides to go forward with its proposals they will be passed on to the Secretary of State to approve.


If passed, the council is proposing the scheme could be introduced by Spring 2018.

A north/south property divide map

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Thursday, December 01, 2016

Why do ground rents make such good investments?

Investing in ground rents

So landlords know that owning property makes sense.  Long-term return from residential property has outpaced all other investments over the last decades.  Freeholders are at the top of the tree when it comes to property ownership and investing in ground rents can offer attractive returns.  However, for many landlords who own their residential leasehold investment they can also suffer at the hand of unscrupulous ground rent businesses seeking to exploit their position at the top of the land ownership tree.

How to understand ground rents?

The essential thing for landlords and property investors is that they full understand the implications of ground rents and what it means in terms as a potential investment but also how it impacts on their rental yields and investment returns.

Landlord insurance - professional rates - online rates

Is 20 too young to invest in BTL?

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Airbnb puts 90 day limit on London landlords

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West Brom's profits hit by landlord action

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5 year regional price forecast from KF

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Immigration Act -offence comes into force today

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Slowing annual house price growth - 4.4%

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ONS latest immigration data

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JAMs struggle to pay for housing

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