Landlords - who are we?

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

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

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

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

Oh yes I'm a landlord.

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BTL Mortgages - most popular

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

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Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

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

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New EPC guidance stalled

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

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

Check out the proposed changes to the EPC

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We need landlords!

The country needs landlords!

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

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

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

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

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Record search activity for rentals

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

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

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


Mortgage Search - No Broker Fee

Electrical safety "shock"

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

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

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

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

Landlord Insurance - protect my property