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‘A focus on helping those not yet on the housing ladder’ – Conservative Party manifesto reaction

Published On: November 29, 2019 at 9:05 am

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Conservative Party manifesto

Milton Rodosthenous, Build to Rent expert and director of online auction service LetsBid Property, has shared his comments on the Conservative Party manifesto, ahead of the next General Election.

Rodosthenous says: “The Conservatives’ plans to levy a 3% Stamp Duty surcharge for non-UK tax residents will receive a mixed response from the property industry. 

“However, most people will agree that it is a surprise to see the additional Stamp Duty increased to 3% from the initial 1% proposed over a year ago.

“Additional Stamp Duty for overseas investors will represent a positive change for domestic buyers as there may be less competition for homes and price growth for certain types of properties could plateau.

“That said, a policy like this could have implications for the high-end of the housing market, particularly in London.

“Any market problems caused by additional stamp duty for overseas buyers could be alleviated by wider stamp duty reform, details of which are currently lacking in depth.

“Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s plans to introduce lifetime fixed mortgages for first-time buyers could represent a more all-encompassing and effective strategy of helping people to take their first steps on the property ladder compared to existing policies such as Help to Buy and Shared Ownership.

“It seems the Conservatives have placed further focus on helping those not yet on the housing ladder with their Lifetime Rental Deposit policy, which could help tenants to save more cash towards buying a home thanks to lower upfront moving costs.”

“If Boris Johnson is elected, his focus will be on resolving the Brexit impasse which could help to re-energise the property market. A continued focus on reforming the homebuying and selling process with policies such as Reservation Agreements and regulating property agents could also help to speed up transactions and build long-term confidence in the market.”

Tory manifesto promises to abolish Section 21

Published On: November 28, 2019 at 10:00 am

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Tory manifesto promises to abolish Section 21

The NLA has slammed the Conservative Part manifesto after it was revealed that they will continue with plans to abolish Section 21 evictions. They believe that the conservatives are not doing enough to support landlords or the private rental sector (PRS) as a whole.

In a move that many see as a positive, Boris Johnson reaffirmed on Monday that his party will bring an end to ‘no-fault evictions’ in an effort to help ‘generation rent’ by empowering them.

However, the NLA has hit back at these proposals, with CEO Richard Lambert saying: “The Conservatives claim that the changes announced in the manifesto will ‘create a fairer rental market’, but fairer for whom? 

“To say that we are disappointed that the Conservatives have pledged to continue with their plan to abolish Section 21 is an understatement. Despite a robust lobbying campaign on behalf of the two million landlords in the UK, the Conservatives seem hell-bent on continuing to punish hardworking and law-abiding landlords.”

The conservatives are also planning to further help renters by introducing the Lifetime Deposit Scheme, which will allow deposits to be transferred from one property to another without leaving them out of pocket whilst waiting to be reimbursed from landlords.

Again, Lambert is sceptical: “We will reserve judgment on the so-called ‘lifetime deposit’. The Conservatives have yet to confirm what this will look like or how this will work in practice.

“The NLA cannot get behind a manifesto that so badly cripples landlords’ ability to run a functioning letting business.”

Many landlords owe their tenants Hundreds of Pounds

Published On: November 27, 2019 at 9:30 pm

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Many landlords owe their tenants Hundreds of Pounds

Since the introduction of the tenant fees ban in June this year, a number of unintended consequences have emerged. The most prominent of which is that many landlords may now owe their tenants money for unintentionally (or otherwise) breaching the rules of the ban.

As we know, the fees ban means that landlords and letting agents can no longer charge for anything outside of deposits. Key handovers, ‘admin fees’, inventory reports and other miscellaneous charges must now be covered by landlords. In addition to this, a cap on deposit amounts was also set at no more than five week’s rent (six, for rents of more than £50,000 per year).

It has recently emerged that tenants numbering into the hundreds are due refunds after being wrongly charged for services, or by paying too much in their deposit. Some tenants have paid as much as eight weeks rent upfront at the request of their landlords, and are now attempting to get this back.

One tenancy deposit scheme has revealed that since the introduction of the Tenant Fees Act, they have received 2550 refund requests, totalling in excess of £817,000.

Danny Zane, the chair for The AIIC and MD at My Property Group stated “This is just the tip of the iceberg as for many years deposit requests had been on the rise in the highly competitive Private Rented Sector. I am certain there will be many more requests as many tenants will not even know about this and their rights. 

He went on to say “This is exactly as our Government intended with deposit caps coming into force and renters being given back some of their hard-earned monies. Great news for tenants all round”.

Many landlords owe their tenants £100s. If you feel you may be owed money then get in touch with your deposit scheme for more information and assistance.

70% of home movers say they wouldn’t do it again due to high stress

Published On: November 27, 2019 at 10:45 am

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70% of home movers say they wouldn’t do it again due to high stress

Online Mortgage Advisor has surveyed more than 1,300 home movers in Britain, and found that 64% say that moving house was their most stressful experience of the past five years. Many say that they are put off moving again due to their negative experiences.

Ten categories of stress triggers were created by asking respondents to indicate what they found most stressful about moving home in their own words. The following were the top five most commonly cited sources of stress:

  1. Finding and securing a property – 46%
  2. Selling their own property – 36%
  3. Waiting for the chain to complete – 34%
  4. Completing and removals – 21%
  5. Solicitors/conveyancing – 14%

69% of those surveyed said that they would be put off moving home again, although it is not clear how long they would continue to feel that way.

Just 8% of home movers said that they didn’t find the experience significantly stressful.

Online Mortgage Advisor has partnered with clarity coach Jamie Smart to launch a wellbeing portal, which it hopes will help its customers during the particularly stressful time of moving home.

Pete Mugleston, Managing Director at Online Mortgage Advisor, explained: “This has made us stop and think. We’re regularly thinking about how we can make the process of obtaining a mortgage smoother for our customers. But that’s only one small part of the whole experience for home movers and first-time buyers.

“We should be giving more consideration to how we can add value outside of helping customers find the right financial advice. My personal struggles with anxiety in the past, and the things that helped resolve them, made teaming up with Jamie Smart a natural starting point. We will endeavour to build on this inside and outside our wellbeing portal as time goes on.”

Five emerging residential hotspots to watch in 2020

Published On: November 27, 2019 at 9:50 am

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residential hotspots

Andy Foote, director at SevenCapital, has highlighted five emerging residential hotspots in London to watch in 2020.

He highlights that significant regeneration programmes underway or in the pipeline, good travel connections to key towns and good property price growth have led to the following areas transforming into thriving residential areas:

Bracknell

  • Bracknell offers a thriving business community (home to the likes of HP, Dell and Hitachi)
  • Direct connection to London and other key destinations
  • A lower price tag than other areas, with an average property price of £370,000
  • Recently named in The Times as one of Britain’s most thriving communities
  • Property price growth since 2014 is 20.77%

Slough

  • Average house prices currently around £345,000 (£200,000 less than neighbouring Windsor and circa half the price of London)
  • Home to the largest concentration of global headquarters outside of London, including O2 and Mars
  • Around 46% of homes rented in Slough are to London leavers
  • An eagerly awaited Crossrail station will be built, connecting Slough to the Elizabeth line
  • Property price growth since 2014 is 18.14%

Stevenage

  • Average sold prices at around £293,000
  • A 25 minute train commute to London’s Kings Cross Station (where Google is set to move into its new £1 billion headquarters in coming years)
  • Undergoing a £1 billion regeneration project, including a £350 million town centre regeneration project, set to begin in 2020
  • Property price growth since 2014 is 20.77%

Northampton

  • Sat almost equidistant between Birmingham and London
  • Fast house price growth, with prices increasing by 5.3% over the past 12 months
  • If its designs on receiving the ‘Future High Streets’ fund and Towns Fund go as planned, it could be in for a £50 million regeneration boost from the government, which is certain to attract more businesses, visitors and residents alike
  • Property price growth since 2014 is 23.8%

Milton Keynes

  • Only 33 minutes by train from London
  • Hometrack lists it as one of the top ten locations for house price growth
  • A key member of the Fast Growth Cities group that has resulted in nearly 20% of its workforce joining the knowledge sector
  • Expected to double its population by 2050
  • Property price growth since 2014 is 21.12%

Andy Foote concludes: “Whilst these areas may not have been traditionally thought of as premium property investment locations, they are fast becoming recognised as up-and-coming hotspots with strong growth potential, which, in an increasingly diverse property market, could hold the key to future success.”

General Election manifestos: Comments on Conservative and Labour plans

Published On: November 26, 2019 at 9:40 am

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General Election manifestos

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has commented on the Conservative and Labour manifesto plans announced last week:

Labour plans would devastate the rented housing market 

Plans by the Labour Party would threaten to close down the private rental sector, according to the leading landlords’ organisation.

The development of annual ‘Property MOT’s’, a Charter of Renters’ rights, open-ended tenancies and rent controls all combined would drive thousands of landlords out of the sector. This would lead to a massive shortage of properties driving rents up and increasing homelessness.

David Smith, Policy Director for the RLA, said: “These proposals have not been thought through. We have been at the forefront of wanting to drive criminal landlords out of the market, but to place such ill-thought-out burdens on the majority of good landlords would lead to a serious rental housing crisis, which would only hurt tenants as they struggle to find a place to live. 

“The sector does not need new obligations, but better enforcement of those that already exist. We hope that should Labour come to power they will work with us to bring in proposals that would better protect tenants against criminal landlords whilst still encouraging good landlords to invest in the supply that is needed to meet demand.”

Landlords give cautious welcome to Tory plans 

Landlords have welcomed the proposals in the Conservative manifesto to strengthen the possession rights of good landlords whilst accepting there is a need to protect tenants from unfair evictions.

David Smith said: “We agree that the system for repossessing properties is in need of reform and support the Conservatives’ proposals to strength the possession rights of good landlords.

“It is vital that the reforms are got right. At present, it can take over five months for a landlord to repossess a property through the courts in legitimate circumstances. We will be keen to work with Ministers to establish a new system of repossession rights and the establishment of a dedicated housing court to ensure good landlords and tenants can secure justice swiftly in the minority of cases where something goes wrong.

“It is disappointing that there is no mention of reversing some of the tax changes hitting landlords which have resulted in a drop in investment in the market making it more difficult for tenants to find the housing they want. Longer tenancies for tenants will be meaningless without landlords entering and staying in the market long term.”