Written By Em

Em Morley

Landlord Action Founder Attacks New Legislation

Published On: October 6, 2015 at 12:53 pm

Tags: Deregulation Act 2015 landlords,landlord law,landlord regulations,section 21 notices

The founder of eviction firm Landlord Action has revealed that he fears new legislation that came into force last week will allow tenants that complain about false repairs to stay in a property for long periods without paying rent.

Landlord Action Founder Attacks New Legislation

Changes under the Deregulation Act 2015 affect whether or not a landlord can serve a section 21 notice on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) in England.

The new legislation states that if a property is considered in disrepair, landlords cannot issue a section 21 notice for six months from the date an improvement notice is served by the council.

Paul Shamplina argued against the new law last year before the All Party Parliamentary Group. He said the rules could cause tenants complaining of false repair issues to avoid paying rent for longer while investigations are conducted.

He argued: “I think this could lead to a huge spike in complaints from tenants.

“I am a bit fed up of all the frequent landlord bashing. It is about time there were more positive statements for landlords in the private rented sector, which now stands at approximately 19% of the housing market.”

He also believes that the Government has not spent enough time or money on ensuring landlords and letting agents are aware of the changes under the legislation.

He continues: “There have been a lot of significant changes in a short amount of time and I would like to have seen the Government proportion a greater budget to educating landlords, particularly those that don’t use agents to manage their properties, to ensure they are up to speed with new legislation.

“We still receive calls to our advice line on a weekly basis from landlords who don’t know about the deposit scheme, which came into effect eight years ago.”¹

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/landlord-action-hits-out-at-new-legislation/

Highest Number of Private Tenants for 30 Years

Published On: October 6, 2015 at 11:51 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: homeownership levels,private tenant levels,renting from a public body,renting privately

Highest Number of Private Tenants for 30 Years

The highest number of people are renting their homes from private landlords than at any point in the last 30 years, reveals a new report.

The study, compiled by independent think tank ResPublica and trade body Co-operatives UK, indicates that three decades ago, 61% of people in the UK owned their home.

This proportion gradually rose throughout the 1990s, but started falling from the year 2000 as renting became more popular.

Currently, the homeownership figure is back up to 61%.

The report also suggests that the amount of people renting privately has surpassed the number renting publicly. In 1985, 30% of people rented from public landlords and just 9% from private landlords. Today, 9% rent from a public body and 22% rent privately.

Director of ResPublica, Phillip Blond, says: “Lady Thatcher’s vision of an economy with widespread ownership has not yet been realised. This is a major fault line in our society because where there is ownership there are stakeholders creating decent civilised communities. If we want people and places to flourish, we must have mass ownership.

“It is only where there is ownership that people want to protect and care for what they own, creating a legacy for themselves, their children and their communities.”

He continues: “At the moment, we are failing to extend economic ownership to everyone, ownership is an unrealisable dream for too many.

“Welfare has failed to save the poor from their lot, only the possibility of mass ownership offers the possibility of ending poverty, this is our dream and this should be the aim of all our policy.”¹

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/largest-number-of-private-renters-for-30-years/

Darlington Letting Agents Facing Action for Not Belonging to Redress Scheme

Published On: October 6, 2015 at 10:50 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: complaints against letting agents,letting agent membership,letting agent redress scheme,rogue letting agents

Darlington Letting Agents Facing Action for Not Belonging to Redress Scheme

Several letting agents in Darlington are facing legal action after it was discovered that they do not belong to a redress scheme.

Darlington Borough Council has served notices on a number of letting and property management agents, and states it will be taking action against them.

It is now a year since letting agents were required to become members of at least one of three approved redress schemes.

However, the firms, which are not being named, were continuing to operate without belonging to a scheme. This can result in a fine of up to £5,000.

It is thought that two of the companies are appealing against the decision to prosecute them.

The council began proceedings after a tenant wrote to the local Trading Standards department. She informed it that her rental property was in a bad condition and after an investigation, discovered that the agent was not registered with a redress scheme.

Councillor Chris McEwan, Darlington Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy, Regeneration and Licensing, comments: “Access to a redress service is very important for private tenants and landlords if problems arise.

“We take the rights of tenants very seriously and will crack down if we find agents breaking the law.”¹

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/letting-agents-facing-action-over-failure-to-sign-up-to-redress-scheme/

Over Half of People Expect Interest Rates to Rise

Published On: October 6, 2015 at 9:58 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: house price growth,house price inflation,interest rate expectations,interest rate increase,interest rate rise

Despite an increase in the amount of people expecting interest rates to rise, confidence has remained strong for house price growth, reveals the latest Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker.

The Halifax found that 58% of people now think that mortgage interest rates will be higher in 12 months’ time, up from 48% in the second quarter (Q2) of the year. Furthermore, 35% predict that savings interest rates will rise, compared to 26% in the previous quarter.

Over Half of People Expect Interest Rates to Rise

House price inflation is currently standing at 9% and 68% of respondents expect the average property price to be higher this time next year, with just one in 20 thinking prices will be lower.

Craig McKinlay, Mortgage Director at Halifax, comments: “While economic optimism appears to have tailed off in the last quarter, house prices have continued to increase and the underlying pace of house price growth is strong.

“This has helped to maintain the expectation that house prices will continue to rise, despite more people expecting interest rate rises in the next 12 months.

“The factors behind the upward pressure on house prices include the continued lack of second-hand properties for sale on the market and the availability of low mortgage rates.

“Without an increase in supply, it’s likely to mean that house price growth continues to be robust in the short-term, even if interest rates eventually begin to increase.”¹

Despite the clear stability in property price expectations, there has been a decline in selling confidence, with the amount of people thinking the next 12 months will be a good time to sell dropping from 59% to 52%.

There has also been a decrease in the proportion of Britons that believe it will be a good time to buy in 12 months’ time, from 56% to 53%.

Only 40% of Londoners think the next year will be a good time to buy, compared with 77% in Scotland and 58% in the north of England.

Additionally, 64% of people in London said the next 12 months will be a good time to sell, with 48% of those in Scotland agreeing, 47% in the north of England and 43% in the Midlands.

The main barrier to buying a home is raising a deposit, at 57%, despite the availability of higher loan-to-value mortgages and the Help to Buy scheme.

The amount of people naming job security as an obstacle has dropped to its lowest ever level, at 42%, but it is still the second highest factor, ahead of household finances, at 36%.

Although house prices continue to increase, the proportion of people mentioning rising prices or prices being too high has fallen from 35% to 31% over the past quarter.

And despite an increase in the number of people expecting to see an interest rate rise in the next year, the amount of people who claim interest rates are a barrier to homeownership is fairly unchanged from Q2, from 16% to 14%.

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/more-than-half-expecting-interest-rates-to-rise/

EweMove targets hungry staff

Published On: October 6, 2015 at 9:15 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: estate agents,EweMove,property market

Estate agency EweMove has today announced four new branches, with the promise of more to come.

Looking to target staff working for other agencies, the estate agent has opened branches in Ilford, Bracknell, Reigate and Redhill, bringing its national total to 66. There are a number of new franchises earmarked to launch before the end of 2015.

Disgruntled

Previously, the firm has only taken on recruits from outside of the industry, but it has now changed its focus to disgruntled former agency staff who wish to set-up on their own.

‘The tight market means that many valuers have seen their income and career prospects curtailed,’ observed Glenn Ackroyd. ‘We’re offering those with the right attitude and values a change to run their own estate and letting agency with EweMove.’[1]

‘We know that many of these individuals have got what it takes to become a successful franchisee but are trapped in their current situation with limited opportunities to progress or reap the financial rewards of their hard work,’ he continued.[1]

EweMove targets hungry staff

Opportunity

Ackroyd is now offering 20 agents the opportunity to begin a EweMove franchise, for a cost of £1,995 plus VAT. However, he said that this may not be given on a first-come first-served basis This is due to the fact that the firm wants the most adequate agents who can adhere to their unusual part-traditional, part-online business model.

‘We’re also exploring opportunities with independent estate agents,’ Mr Ackroyd added, before observing that, ‘the industry is going through rapid structural change with the growth of the online agent.’ He went on to say that, ‘there will always be space for traditional full service agents but in the technological arms race and with on-going consolidation, independents are being squeezed from all directions.’[3]

[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/10/ewemove-targets-disgruntled-agents-with-ultra-cheap-franchise-offer