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Em Morley

Landlords may hold key to election in many areas

Published On: December 4, 2019 at 9:38 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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Landlords may hold key to election in many areas

In over 100 constituencies, private landlords could be pivotal in deciding the outcome of this month’s general election. In those areas, the number of landlords in 2017/18 was the same as or larger than the overall majorities of those candidates elected in 2017. 

The Times analysed data from HMRC and found that there are 124 constituencies in total that fit this bill. 55 of these were initially won by Conservatives, including South Swindon, Chingford and Woodford Green and Chipping Barnet.

Another 39 of the identified seats are currently held by Labour. These include Middlesborough, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and Kensington. 

Among the seven seats won by the Liberal Democrats in 2017 in which the landlord vote could be decisive are the seats of Westmorland and Lonsdale, held by the party’s former leader, Tim Farron, and Kingston and Surbiton, won at the last election by the party’s Deputy Leader, Ed Davey.

David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), said:

“Private landlords could be decisive in who ends up in Downing Street following the election. For those unable to afford a home of their own or unable to access social housing the rental market is their only hope of having somewhere to live. With that in mind, we call on all political parties to do more to support good landlords to provide the homes to rent we need. 

“That is why all parties need to do more to enforce the wide range of powers already available to root out criminal landlords rather than introduce new obligations which have no hope of being properly enforced by hard pressed councils.”

The statistics show that of those constituencies where landlords outnumber the majorities won in 2017, 14 are in London, 12 are in the South East, 11 are in the East Midlands, 11 are in the North West, 10 are in Yorkshire and The Humber, 9 are in the South West, 8 are in the East of England, 6 are in the West Midlands and 3 are in the North East.

In Scotland landlords have the potential to decide the winners of 25 seats . The same is true for 9 seats in Wales and 6 in Northern Ireland.

The election is scheduled for December 12th, and postal votes are already being accepted. 

How the housing market performs under Labour vs. Conservative governments

Published On: December 3, 2019 at 10:26 am

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Categories: Property News

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housing market

Online Mortgage Advisor has highlighted in its latest study the difference in house price growth between Labour and Conservative governments.

From 1974, house price growth under Labour has resulted in 119% increases in real terms versus just 5% under Conservative governments.

House price growth higher under Labour

The study takes into account inflation and looks at house price growth during all four Labour prime ministers’ terms in office. Added together, this totals 119%. Only Northern Ireland saw higher house price growth under Conservative governments.

Online Mortgage Advisor states that this challenges two commonly held beliefs: that house prices rise higher in real terms under Conservative governments and that the Conservatives are responsible for pricing people out of the housing market!

The highest annual house price growth (under a single prime minister) since 1974 was recorded in 1988 under Margaret Thatcher’s government, at 29%.

Gordon Brown suffered the lowest annual house price growth of all prime ministers, at -15%.

Tony Blair oversaw higher house price growth in his term in office than any other prime minister. It was at 140% with inflation and 211% without inflation.

The report also points out that David Cameron built the fewest homes of any PM since 1923.

The winners and losers

As you might expect, different regions received varying results under Labour and Conservative governments.

Highest growth under Labour governments:

  • The North West
  • London
  • Scotland

Lowest growth under Labour governments:

  • Northern Ireland
  • The East Midlands
  • East Anglia

Highest growth under Conservative governments:

  • London
  • Outer Met
  • South East

Lowest growth under Conservative governments:

  • The North
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland

Are Conservative or Labour PMs Better for the Housing Market?

Online Mortgage Advisor concludes: “The data seems to dispel the common belief that the Conservatives boost the property market with a focus on homeownership. That said, are house price increases always a good thing for the market?”

Help to Buy shows no signs of slowing down, particularly in London

Published On: December 3, 2019 at 9:57 am

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Help to Buy shows no signs of slowing down, particularly in London

The total value of properties bought using the Government’s Help to Buy scheme exceeded £60bn in the second quarter of 2019. The amount of Help to Buy properties purchased has increased year-on-year, since the scheme first began in 2013 and shows no sign of slowing down.

In 2013, 14,023 completed transactions were recorded, whilst in 2018, this number reached over 52,000. The latest figures for 2019 show that the year is on track to reach similar or higher figures, with 25,275 completed transactions just in the first half of the year. The majority of these sales were to first-time buyers, but the number of buyers already on the property ladder has gradually climbed too.

This increased growth is to be expected as Help to Buy becomes more well known, but the Government is planning to replace the scheme in March 2021 with something that is only available to first-time buyers.

Andrew Southern, chairman of property development company, Southern Grove says:

“Almost a quarter of a million homes have now been purchased since Help to Buy was launched six years ago. And the feeding frenzy at the Help to Buy table shows no signs of slowing down.

“However, looming large over the frenetic activity is the March 2021 cut-off, when the scheme is replaced with one which will only be available to first-time buyers and will set regional property price caps.

“This deadline is likely to inject even more urgency into the market. And first-time buyers, unperturbed by Brexit uncertainty, are already showing increased eagerness to make the most of these equity loans while they can, with the number of purchases using Help to Buy growing 8% year-on-year.”

In 2016, the maximum equity loan was increased from 20% to 40% in London, bringing with it a spike of first-time buyers using Help to Buy in the city. In 2019, of the 15,623 completed Help to Buy transactions in London, 95% were to first-time buyers.

Andrew Southern believes that this highlights the difficulty of getting onto the property ladder in the capital:

“Demand has been particularly strong in London with properties bought by first-time buyers using the scheme increasing by more than a quarter compared to last year.

“It is notable, however, that 75% of purchases are made using the full 40% equity loan, emphasising the challenge of buying a property in the capital with its high prices.”

Communication and relationships key for private rental sector

Published On: December 2, 2019 at 10:09 am

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Categories: Lettings News

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Communication and relationships key for improved private rental sector

An industry roundtable recently discussed the needs of tenants and landlords in the private rental sector (PRS). The main outcome was that organisations need to work more closely to bring about meaningful change.

The roundtable was attended by representatives across the PRS including Nationwide Building Society, Fair Housing Futures, Countrywide, ARLA PropertyMark, Connells Group, NLA, RLA, Generation Rent, and the Nationwide Foundation.

They discussed underlying issues in the PRS and how the landlord-tenant relationship could be improved. It was agreed that most importantly there needs to be a level of trust between landlords and their tenants.

The group felt tenants should be able to report issues without fear of eviction, and that landlords are confident their properties are being looked after. All agreed that the following steps could help achieve this:

  • Make tenancy documents easy to understand: Contracts should be easily readable, translatable and clearly and accessibly highlight the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.
  • Role of lettings agents: More should be done to ensure that lettings agents understand and facilitate the necessary regulation at play in the rental process. It was agreed that full mandatory government regulation of lettings agents is the quickest and most effective method to eliminate unprofessional, unqualified and unethical agents from the property sector.
  • Improved, simplified sources of information: There should be a single point of contact for landlords and tenants where they can seek qualified, straightforward advice regarding their respective rights and responsibilities. Giving local authorities the resources to employ more dedicated Tenancy Support Officers was discussed as was the perceived benefits of a single information portal, replacing the current system where information for both parties is scattered across different Government and sector websites, where there is no standard benchmark of quality.
  • A review of insurance products on offer in the sector: There is potentially scope for more use of insurance in the sector, particularly landlords’ insurance as a route to mitigating risk and building trust. Insurance products available to landlords should also be reviewed to ensure they do not contain restrictions such as “no DSS clauses”, and to ensure that they do not inadvertently trigger unnecessary evictions.

A number of issues were discussed which were not uniformly supported but were discussed in a rounded way. These included:

  • A change in language: The current language used to discuss the private rental sector is outdated and has the potential to encourage stigma. Some took the view that the use of new terms like ‘home provider’ and ‘resident’ could encourage respectful relationship-building between both parties.
  • More effective regulation: Some attendees felt strongly that respect and trust could not be developed between landlord and tenant without a robust regulatory framework offering tenants protection from unfair eviction, and potentially recriminatory rent increases.
  • Scrapping Section 21: Some present contested that Section 21 should not be scrapped and that doing so would not necessarily resolve any of the outstanding issues within the sector, including property standards and tenancy length issues. However, others present argued in favour of scrapping Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions in order to give tenants increased security in their homes. Nationwide Building Society, Crisis, and Generation Rent all support scrapping Section 21, with Nationwide requested it is abandoned in tandem with the creation of a specialised housing court.

Paul Wootton, Nationwide Building Society’s Director of Home Propositions, said: “It was great to convene such a positive and collaborative discussion with people representing different parts of the sector. 

“I feel very optimistic about how we can take this conversation forward, and work to ensure that the private rented sector works for everyone. Nationwide members are both renters and landlords, and we’re keen to ensure that both parties get a fair deal from the sector.”

How to tell if you might have an unsafe gas appliance

Published On: December 2, 2019 at 9:24 am

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Categories: Tenant News

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unsafe gas appliance

As temperatures are dropping and the winter weather is now setting in, boiler repair specialist Boiler Guide is warning landlords across the UK to check their gas appliances.

Carbon monoxide poisoning, gas fires, and even explosions are possible due to faults with heating systems. These are all potential risks that could have remained dormant over the summer.

Boiler Guide compiled data revealing that residents in Oxford are most likely to have an unsafe gas appliance in their home, with 1 in 43 having a faulty device.

Close behind was Reading (1 in 44 people), Dundee (1 in 47 people) and Cardiff (1 in 48).

At the other end of the spectrum, residents in Cambridge have been found to be the most on top of their gas safety checks. Only 1 in 213 people were recorded to have an unsafe appliance in their home.

David Holmes, Founder of Boiler Guide, comments: “With more and more residents switching on their gas boilers as we head towards winter, it’s imperative that homeowners aren’t unwillingly playing host to potentially life-threatening risks in their properties through faulty gas appliances. Putting off getting an appliance fixed or serviced can have devastating consequences.

“Faulty gas appliances pose huge life-threatening risks with gas leaks, carbon monoxide poisoning, and fire and explosions a real threat as natural gas is highly combustible. Once gas leaks from a faulty appliance, it spreads quickly and increases the risk of it accidentally igniting causing a fire or explosion.”

Boiler Guide provides the following tips on how to tell if you might have an unsafe gas appliance:

You can smell gas in the home 

Turn off the gas supply, open windows and doors, evacuate the property and call the Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. DO NOT switch plugs on or off, create sparks, naked flames, smoke cigarettes or use a mobile phone as you could cause an explosion.

The flame in the appliance in yellow or orange 

If the flame is not bright blue the appliance is not burning the fuel away completely and may produce potentially lethal carbon monoxide (CO). We can’t see or smell CO, but breathing it in can lead to permanent brain damage or even death.

You are experiencing symptoms of CO poisoning

Early symptoms of CO poisoning are very much like the flu, e.g. headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, confusion, tiredness, pain in the stomach and/or difficulty breathing. If you or someone else may be experiencing symptoms of CO poisoning, evacuate the property and call 999.

There are black stains around or on the boiler

Black stains could also indicate a gas leak. Damaged, rusty, discoloured or corroded pipework should also be inspected by a Gas Safe engineer ASAP.

Annual house price growth remains subdued in November

Published On: November 29, 2019 at 10:06 am

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annual house price growth

Nationwide’s House Price Index for November 2019 has been released, highlighting that house price growth has been marginally higher.

The report states:

  • Annual house price growth remained subdued at 0.8% 
  • 0.5% rise month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal factors

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, comments: “Indicators of UK economic activity have been fairly volatile in recent quarters, but the underlying pace of growth appears to have slowed as a result of weaker global growth and an intensification of Brexit uncertainty. 

“To date, the slowdown has largely centred on business investment, while household spending has been more resilient.”

Gardner also shares his thoughts on the impact the election might have on the housing market within the report: “With the UK general election due in a few week’s time, we have analysed house price movements in the months around previous elections, and also the 2016 EU referendum. 

“It appears that housing market trends have not traditionally been impacted around the time of general elections. Rightly or wrongly, for most home buyers, elections are not foremost in their minds while buying or selling their home.” 

David Westgate, Group Chief Executive at Andrews Property Group, has also commented: “On an annual basis, prices remain below 1% but growth of 0.5% in November shows the market still has some fight in it.

“Increasingly, it feels like the market is starting to find a bit of a rhythm, and a strong majority for the Conservatives could add even more momentum.

“A lot of people are fed up with the noise of politics and are getting on with their lives. Exceptionally low mortgage rates and more affordable prices are making that decision a bit easier. 

“Some sellers are still proving stubborn on price but overall there is a bit more realism than there was earlier in the year.

“The one thing that’s still thin on the ground, perhaps no surprise in the current climate, is the aspirational mover. 

“A decisive win for Boris Johnson could see the market rebound sharply, but if we end up with more political deadlock the market could continue to idle along for another year.”