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London high street tenants are paying above average rent prices, says Spotahome

Published On: September 4, 2020 at 8:28 am

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London high street

Tenants are paying above the average rent price for London to live closer to a high street, research from Spotahome reveals.

Spotahome looked at each London borough based on the high street population as a percentage of total population. 

The research shows that in all nine boroughs where more than 50% of the population is located on or near the high street, people pay above the London average rent of £1,644. 

As an example, 82% of renters in the City of London are living on or near a high street, paying an average monthly rent of £2,274.

Spotahome has pointed out that a shift in priorities could occur due to COVID-19, leading to higher demand and higher rents in areas with more green spaces instead.

However, all London boroughs with less than 34% of its population living on the high street have an average rent price less than London’s overall average of £1,644.

UK and Ireland Country Manager of Spotahome, Nadia Butt, commented: “While it’s understandable that people pay more to be near amenities like tube stations, bars and restaurants, this trend may be shifting.

“After spending months inside, many tenants are prioritising green spaces over the busy high street, especially as they look to avoid being exposed to the virus in the event of a potential second wave.

“Therefore, we may see a rebalancing of the cost of renting, as demand shifts from the high street to parks and greenery, with these currently more affordable boroughs climbing in cost as a result.”

BoroughHigh street population as a share of total local authority population (%)Average rent pm
City of London81.8£2,274
Kensington and Chelsea71.4£3,023
Westminster67.3£3,046
Hammersmith and Fulham64.9£2,117
Camden63.1£2,302
Islington56.9£2,003
Haringey53.2£1,669
Hackney51.5£1,842
Wandsworth50.0£1,958
Waltham Forest49.7£1,352
Newham49.5£1,453
Southwark47.2£1,718
Tower Hamlets39.5£1,835
Brent37.8£1,502
Richmond upon Thames34.2£1,835
Ealing33.5£1,569
Merton32.9£1,640
Redbridge32.4£1,311
Lewisham32.2£1,316
Barking and Dagenham31.9£1,208
Barnet30.4£1,499
Lambeth30.4£1,908
Enfield29.9£1,292
Harrow29.1£1,387
Kingston upon Thames28.3£1,306
Croydon28.1£1,140
Hounslow25.4£1,352
Greenwich24.8£1,476
Sutton24.3£1,151
Bromley23.3£1,307
Havering22.9£1,169
Bexley20.2£1,092
Hillingdon19.0£1,200
London£1,644

Interest-free hardship loan announced for Scottish tenants affected by COVID-19

Published On: September 3, 2020 at 8:17 am

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Edinburgh’s first Green Home Festival to demonstrate how Scotland can build a more sustainable future

The Scottish Government has developed an interest-free hardship loan scheme to support tenants needing to pay off rent arrears caused by COVID-19.

The Tenant Hardship Loan Fund is due to open later in the autumn, according to the Scottish Government website.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart has commented as part of the announcement made on 1st September: “Tackling inequality and supporting people is a central theme of this year’s Programme for Government and this package of support for tenants is part of that.

“We already know that the pandemic has hit the lowest earners hardest and the Scottish Government has already put in place a range of actions in place to support tenants.

“This new £10 million fund, along with a further increase in our Discretionary Housing Payment funds, will mean that no one should be left in a position where they cannot access support to pay their rent. The intention is that this fund will open in November for those unable to access other forms of support to help meet their housing costs.

“We have been clear that no landlord should evict a tenant because they have suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic. I fully expect landlords to be flexible with anyone facing such challenges, signposting them to the sources of financial support available, and tenants in difficulty should engage with their landlord and seek advice on the options open to them.

“I can confirm today that emergency legislation will be extended to ensure no evictions can take place until March 2021. However, since the initial legislation was introduced, we have listened carefully to tenants and housing authorities concerned that a three-month notice period is too long where tenants have behaved in an anti-social or criminal way. 

“We are therefore reverting back to a one-month period for repossession for such cases to ensure we can protect other tenants, neighbours and landlords who should not have to tolerate such behaviour.”

Chris Norris, Policy Director for the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), comments: “We welcome today’s (1st September) announcement which follows similar steps taken in Wales and we call on the UK Government to introduce similar help for tenants in England. The best way to prevent repossessions is to tackle the root cause by ensuring tenants are able to pay their rent.

“Although landlords have been doing all they can to support tenants struggling to pay their rent because of the pandemic, it is not sustainable to expect rent arrears to build indefinitely with no hope of paying them off.

“Once again the UK Government finds itself trailing behind the rest of the UK. It is time to deliver a similar scheme to support tenants and landlords in England.”

Government provides welcome clarity on possession cases but NRLA says courts must open

Published On: September 2, 2020 at 8:44 am

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Most councils are not issuing penalties against rogue landlords, NRLA finds

New regulations have been introduced that enforce new rules regarding repossession cases.

Landlords will now only need to give tenants who have committed anti-social behaviour four weeks’ notice of their intention to repossess a property. Those who have committed acts of domestic violence will only need to be given two weeks’ notice.

Landlords with tenants that have built up six months of rent arrears will be required to provide them with four weeks’ notice. This has been decided in response to tenants whose arrears have been built up before the COVID-19 lockdown.

The National Landlords Association (NRLA) welcomes this announcement. However, they are warning that it will mean nothing without a guarantee that the courts will begin to hear cases on 20th September. They say that it is a further disappointment that the six-month notice period will remain in cases where landlords need to regain possession of a property in order to live in it. There will continue to be the risk of penalising individuals, such as service men and women in the military, who rent their homes out whilst working away.

The NRLA also points out that this announcement from the Government also fails to provide the financial package of hardship loans needed to cover COVID-related rent that are vital to sustaining tenancies.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, said: “Today’s (28th August) announcement provides welcome clarity about how possession cases will be handled. However, it will mean nothing without a complete guarantee that the courts will hear cases from 20th September. 

“It is disappointing that the Government has so far failed to heed the warnings of the NRLA and others that a financial package is needed to pay-off rent arrears built due to COVID. In the end, this is the best way to sustain tenancies. We will continue to campaign hard for this important measure.”

You can read more about these new regulations on the government website.

NRLA sends letter to PM following ‘Government’s failure to provide any direct financial support for the sector’

Published On: September 1, 2020 at 7:41 am

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NRLA sends letter to PM

Now that the ban on evictions has been extended until 20th September, the Government could be leaving private landlords without any rent for up to two years, says the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).

The NRLA has written a letter to the Prime Minister stating that the Government is asking landlords to subsidise struggling renters and rewarding those who are wilfully refusing to pay their rent. 

On top of this, the association points out that it is also causing continuing hardship to communities and families suffering anti-social behaviour and domestic violence perpetrated by tenants.

It has now been announced by the Government that repossession cases on the grounds of rent arrears will not be treated as a priority until tenants have built over a year’s worth of rent debts. Added to this is the six months’ notice that landlords now have to give. Where the case is disputed, even before the pandemic, courts were taking an average of nearly six months to deal with cases, with the backlog this is now likely to be longer.

The English Housing Survey 2018/19 records an average weekly rent in the private sector of £200. With the potential for a landlord to lose up to two years of income, this would amount to £20,800.

The NRLA’s letter to the Prime Minister highlights that 94% of private landlords are individuals, renting out only one or two properties. These landlords are ordinary people who rely on this income to pay their living expenses.

The NRLA is warning that the Government’s failure to provide any direct financial support for the sector during the pandemic means that many landlords will be forced to seek money claims against renters building arrears. Doing this could have a huge impact on tenants’ credit scores.

They argue that the only solution to the mess the Government has created is for interest-free, government-guaranteed hardship loans to be made available to tenants to pay off arrears caused by COVID-19. These have already been introduced in Wales and will sustain tenancies, removing any risk of eviction as furlough is removed.

These measures should be accompanied by an absolute guarantee that there will not be a further extension of the ban on repossessions. 

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, comments: “The overwhelming majority of landlords have been working constructively with their tenants to sustain tenancies where rent arrears have built as a direct result of the pandemic. The Government’s actions are a kick in the teeth for all these landlords who have done the right thing.

“Ministers must use the next four weeks to come up with a credible plan that pays off rent arrears built due to the pandemic and gets the courts hearing cases again. 

“Stopping landlords from legally ending failed and disruptive tenancies is not a solution. The Government must act to cover the costs of providing homes, they cannot expect landlords to foot the bill for their failure to support households.”

You can download a copy of the letter sent to the Prime Minister by the NRLA here: https://www.nrla.org.uk/nrla-letter-to-pm.

Rent arrears resolution service launched by SafeDeposits Scotland

Published On: August 28, 2020 at 8:39 am

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Rent arrears resolution service

A new service designed to help tenants and landlords experiencing rent arrears as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been launched.

SafeDeposits Scotland, the Glasgow-based tenancy deposit scheme, has created this service that will seek to negotiate rent repayment agreements between landlords and tenants. The aim is to help reduce the likelihood of tenants being evicted and ensure landlords can recover some, if not all, of the arrears over an agreed period.

Once a satisfactory resolution has been reached by all parties, SafeDeposits Scotland will draft up a settlement agreement that sets out what has been agreed between the tenants and landlord. 

The system is free to use and is available to all landlords and tenants, regardless of whether their deposit is protected by SafeDeposits Scotland or not.

Mike Smith, operations manager at SafeDeposits Scotland, comments: “COVID-19 has put the private rented sector under huge pressure. For example, many tenants renting in this sector have experienced redundancy, wage cuts, or being put on furlough, leaving them unable to keep up with rental payments. 

“Citizens Advice Scotland recently reported that it had seen a 300% increase in the proportion of advice given on private rent arrears between February and July.

“The Scottish Government introduced emergency legislation in April to extend the eviction notice period for tenants having trouble paying rent to six months. But despite measures like this, Universal Credit and other various government schemes, people in both private and public housing accommodation are still struggling to pay rent.

“This is why we’ve introduced our resolution service to help alleviate the financial pressures caused by the pandemic, and ultimately help tenants avoid eviction and help landlords secure income. 

“From our conversations with our private rented sector landlords, we know many have made significant steps to ease the financial burden tenants have experienced, but there’s still a long way to go. 

“Any landlords that are trying to agree manageable rent payment plans with their tenants should get in touch with our team now. We will do all we can to find the most suitable approach to suit all parties involved.”

To access the service, landlords or tenants need to complete an online resolution referral form. The system will then provide written documentation outlining the attempts to resolve the rent arrears. If both parties agree to engage, a telephone appointment will be arranged where a mutually acceptable rent repayment plan will be discussed.

Efficient electrical checks required as rental bounce continues

Published On: August 27, 2020 at 8:24 am

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electrical checks

Landlords must be prepared to deal with a high number of mandatory electrical checks, says national provider of property certificates PropCert. 

This is in response to the surge in demand for rental properties since the lettings market reopened in May, which is set to continue. Electrical checks for new tenancies became mandatory as of 1st July 2020, as part of The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020.

PropCert says efficiency in processing electrical checks, can help to ensure contracts are granted quickly while remaining compliant with the new regulations.

Lettings boom looks set to stay

Tom Harrington, Managing Director of PropCert, says: “The surge in lettings demand appears to have extended beyond just a release of pent-up lockdown demand, becoming a sustained trend throughout the summer months.

“As we move towards autumn, which is traditionally a busy period for the market, there is nothing to suggest that high levels of market activity won’t continue as movers look to find homes which meet their new criteria and priorities.”

New tenancies mean more electrical checks

It is now a requirement for an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) to be carried out before the start of all new tenancies, with all fixed electrical installations inspected at least every five years by a qualified professional.

There are a range of other steps for landlords – or letting agents working on their behalf – to follow, including providing copies of EICRs to new tenants.

Harrington explains: “The new regulations mean that there is now a greater demand for professionals carrying out electrical checks than ever before. High tenant demand means that agents and landlords will be under pressure to get these checks completed quickly so moves aren’t delayed.

“Since the new rules were introduced in July, property professionals may have realised that they need to assess the electricians they work with and the processes they have in place to keep up with demand and remain compliant.”

Why agents need an efficient system in place

Harrington concludes: “Having access to a large pool of electricians is crucial as high tenant demand has a direct impact on the number of electrical checks which need processing.

“An efficient online system can help agents and landlords to manage their ever-growing workloads while knowing they are compliant with the new regulations.

“Ultimately, mandatory electrical checks have been introduced to protect tenants and landlords’ investments. Therefore, managing the process through trusted suppliers and using the services of the best-qualified electricians is in the interest of all stakeholders.”