Toby Wheatley, an auctioneer at Pearsons in Hedge End, near Southampton, has died aged 56.
Wheatley had 40 years’ experience as an estate agent in Hampshire and launched the auctioneering sector of Pearsons.
He has a wife and three children. His funeral was held at the church where he got married and where his father was vicar.
The firm is headed by Roger Parsons.
New TV Shows Seeking Agents
New television property programmes are looking for agents who have great deals on their books or unique properties coming onto the market.
Producers of the shows would like to hear from any agents who may have something special coming up.
If you think you could offer something, email expert Henry Pryor at hclp@me.com
A property adviser and development consultant firm, Hurford Salvi Carr, in London has appointed a new residential manager at its West End office.
Libby Watt has a wealth of experience after starting her career in residential lettings in West London in 1999 and launching Napier Watt Ltd in Mayfair in 2010, which specialises in sales and lettings across central London. She has worked with clients in the UK and abroad, providing a bespoke service.
Watt will manage Hurford Salvi Carr’s West End sales and lettings division, including The Bedford Estates residential letting agents in Bloomsbury, after selling her shares in Napier Watt to her former business partner, Jonathan Adams.
Landlord Action has called for more evictions to be transferred to the High Court, in a direct appeal to the Ministry of Justice.
The eviction specialist believe the length of time it is taking for a County Court bailiff appointment to be sorted once a possession order has been granted is having a detrimental financial effect on landlords.
Campaign
As a result , Landlord Action has started a campaign to try and allow more eviction cases to be moved up to the High Court by county court authorities. Under current regulations, once a possession order has been granted and if a tenant remains in occupation, the landlord’s only option is to apply for a county court bailiff to evict the tenant.
However, in many cases, bailiffs do not have room for an appointment for up to three months.
‘During this period, the tenant will most likely not be paying rent and the landlord will not be able to recover that lost rent from the tenant, nor will he/she be able to let the property out or even make future preparations to do so,’ noted Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action.[1]
He went on to say that there have even been instances of, ‘bailiffs not turning up at all, which results in the landlord having to wait a further eight to twelve weeks- a total of six months additional lost rent. Only recently a bailiff attended an eviction for one of our clients, she had 14 evictions that day.’[1]
More evictions should go to high court-claim
Proposals
Landlord Action has proposed that a clear directive be handed out to county court district judges, which will encourage them to allow leeway on possession hearings. This will in turn enable cases to be transferred up to the High Court in instances where there is a number of cases that have fallen behind evictions of more than four to six weeks.
‘We feel that the judges at hearings should have sight of the bailiff’s dairies and if dates go over four to six weeks, then cases should automatically be transferred up,’ explained Shamplina. ‘We always try and make sure that seven days’ notice of the eviction date is given to the tenant, allowing them time to remove their items and vacate, as well as take the Notice to the Council for rehousing.’[1]
At present, there is a reluctance to grant permission to transfer eviction cases to the High Court, as landlords do not legally need to give notice of the intended eviction, though this is advisable.
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/8/landlord-action-more-evictions-should-be-transferred-to-the-high-court
Battersea has been considered the hub of London’s property boom, but are the high-rise developments beginning to crash down?
The brokers and investors driving the redevelopment of the South London ex-power station and the surrounding Nine Elms area could be ready to abandon their property investment hopes and dreams.
One of the major stakeholders in the regeneration of the 42-acre Battersea site, Sime Darby, reported a “softening of interest” in buyers from Malaysia and other parts of south-east Asia, who have previously been responsible for the huge amounts of spending that saw the area named Singapore on Thames. The Malaysia-based firm insists that none of its existing sales agreements have been cancelled.
However, one estate agent has recorded a 10% decline in the value of luxury homes in Battersea and its nearby areas in the year to June.
Experts have blamed this on the strengthening of the pound in the last few months and the economic instability in the home markets of foreign investors.
Russian buyers are some of those that have been badly affected, as the rouble has dropped by 55% due to sanctions imposed after Moscow’s takeover of Crimea.
Knight Frank estate agents says that Russian purchases of prime London properties have decreased to 2.9% of the total in the first half of the year, compared to 6.7% in the previous six months.
Investors from Singapore more than halved to 1.4% and Chinese buyers fell to 9.4% from 10.9%.
Sime Darby – which owns 40% of the Battersea project – released a statement that reads: “We are witnessing softening of interest among buyers from Malaysia and south-east Asian regions, probably due to the prevailing volatile currencies and uncertainty in economic outlook. No exchanged contracts have been cancelled to date.”1
Nine Elms, home to the new American embassy as part of its £2 billion redevelopment, has been called the “greatest transformational story at the heart of the world’s greatest city”1. The project has helped fuel the luxury property boom, while less well-off Londoners struggle to get onto the property ladder and essential workers face a huge lack of affordable homes.
Last month, the area launched its latest development, the Aykon Tower. This is the capital’s first apartment building to be decorated by Versace, including a gold-mosaicked swimming pool.
Its Dubai-based developer insists there has been strong interest in the 50-storey block.
Last month, it was suggested that the Nine Elms area is experiencing “flat flipping”, where developers are pushing to sell 18,000 new homes over the next ten years, as investors who paid a 10-20% deposit on their un-built property sell the homes, due to fears that Asian investors purchased flats as currency speculation and prices will fall as they try to make huge returns.
A property expert says that London is no longer a haven for foreign investors seeking high yields and that investing in the capital is “risky”1.
Former professor of economic geography at the London School of Economics, Paul Cheshire, states: “Conditions in financial markets and such low interest rates have converted property and especially top-end housing into an investment asset – yields are so low on such a wide range of assets.
“Given the very inelastic supply of housing in Britain in general and in London in particular, there is a lot of risk in housing in England and the top end in London in particular.”1
As economists forecast a fall in the price of prime central London homes of 10-15%, some argue that reality is starting to hit the capital.
Online estate agent eMoov reports a 3% decrease in demand for housing worth £2m or more in May. Since May, demand has fallen in 60% of prime London boroughs, such as the City of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
Founder of eMoov, Russell Quirk, comments: “I don’t think that there are many who will shed a tear for the well-heeled, sharp-suited Mayfair type property predators. They have long crawled along the golden streets of prime central London, yet it seems that the tide has turned.
“London has been a Monaco in the middle of Britain. But what comes up must come down and we are now starting to see a rebalancing with other parts of the country.”1
It is also unknown whether the market will cool further due to the Government’s plans to crack down on the dirty money being laundered in London’s property market.
Last month, Transparency International reported that offshore companies own over 36,000 London homes in jurisdictions that hide the identity of their owners, including around 9.3% in the City of Westminster.
These figures caused Prime Minister David Cameron to make a statement saying that properties in London “are being bought by people overseas through anonymous shell companies, some with plundered or laundered cash.”1
He vows to publish a new Land Registry report that lists foreign companies and the land they own in the UK.
It seems unbelievable that a prospective tenant could walk into a letting agent to enquire about rental properties, to be told that they must register now, but wait between 10-20 years for a home.
Are there cities where most agents have no properties to offer? Places where property groups decide the rent price? Shockingly, this exists within Europe.
Stockholm is believed to be the world capital of rent controls. So it is as bad as it sounds?
One blogger seems to think so, with this post documenting the situation in Sweden: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/07/rent-control.html
Tenants Waiting 10-20 Years for a Flat, is this the Reality of Rent Controls?
Our recent article about tenant group Generation Rent being granted a fund to fight for rent controls now doesn’t seem so appealing. Read more here: /generation-rent-is-given-45000-to-fight-for-rent-controls/
Allegedly, waiting time in Stockholm for an inner city apartment is 10-20 years and around 7-8 years in the suburbs.
The official housing queue is managed by the city council, which awards hopeful tenants one point for every day they wait. To receive a home, they need the most points and money for the rent.
When a flat in inner Stockholm recently became available, 2,000 people applied for it. The person who got the apartment had been waiting since 1989.
The blog states: “Rent control creates many more problems than it solves.”
And an Australian man, who went to live and work in Sweden last year, has reiterated the issue.
Dr Peter Vella claims: “Sweden is well known for ABBA and IKEA, but it should be more widely known as the land of rent control.”
Every year, the Swedish Property Federation and the Swedish Tenants Association join to set the rents. The unnaturally low prices fuel high demand, but weaken financial incentives for developers to build.
Rent controls make it difficult to find a vacant property, as people do not want to leave their current home due to the worry of joining the queue yet again.
Vella explains: “Walking around Stockholm, one notices the complete lack of real estate agencies advertising vacant rental housing.
“Where do Stockholmers go to rent apartments? The answer is Stockholm City Council’s housing service. Incredibly, 430,000+ people are registered as waiting.”
To try and meet housing demand, it is legal in Sweden for tenants to sub-let, something that Chancellor George Osborne is trying to introduce in the UK.
Also, there is a separate queue for insecure, short-term lets.
Vella concludes: “With rent controls, be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.”1
Vella fears Sydney, Australia will introduce rent controls.
As London could be subject to the same fate, are they such a good idea?
