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Em Morley

Landlord Investigated After Charging £500 for Tenant to Sleep on Floor

Published On: August 13, 2015 at 11:54 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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A landlord has allegedly been charging a tenant £500 per month to rent a room with space for just a mat on the floor and is now facing an investigation.

Newham Council officers visited the unidentified property in East Ham on Monday morning, after receiving information.

The council has a mandatory landlord licensing scheme in place, which means landlords must register who is living at the property and provide details of tenancy agreements and gas and electrical safety certificates when requested.

Police and inspectors investigated the house when the landlord did not provide the required information when requested.

Inside the property, which was supposed to be a three-bedroom home, they discovered five rooms were being used for sleeping, including a poorly converted loft space.

Officers found evidence of sleeping areas for ten people, despite the landlord informing Newham Council that there was just one family living in the house.

Police reported that a man claimed he was paying £500 a month to sleep on a mat on the floor in one room of the property, although a council spokesperson says that tenants told them they paid between £200-£250.

Mayoral Advisor for Housing at Newham Council, Andrew Baikie, states: “Our pioneering private rented sector licensing scheme is using council data to hone in on landlords who are exploiting tenants by cramming them into houses to make a quick profit.

“During a joint operate with the police on Monday, we found this three-bedroom property in East Ham with evidence of ten sleeping areas, including this mat.

“We are still investigating but this landlord can expect to hear from us in the near future about potential breaches of housing regulations and licensing laws.”1

Police Inspector Phil Stinger, adds: “Multiple occupancy houses can generate increases in demand on both the police and local services as they often house a hidden population, many of whom are in the UK illegally.

“We carry out weekly joint visits to addresses and deal with properties that generate high levels of anti-social behaviour and crime, whilst targeting landlords who are taking advantage of their tenants.”1

1 http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/landlord-faces-investigation-for-allegedly-charging-500-per-month-to-rent-this-tiny-bedroom-a2478801.html

Property sales in England and Wales up 13% in July

Published On: August 13, 2015 at 11:10 am

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Categories: Property News

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Latest Landbay Rental Index Reveals Best and Worst Areas for Growth in England

Sales of property in England and Wales grew by 13% during July, according to new figures.

The latest LSL price index shows that house prices also increased by 0.3% in comparison to June, which took the average price of a property to £279,515.[1]

Rises

Annually, the index shows that prices have risen by 3.7%, rising to 4% if data including London and the South is excluded. In addition, the report indicates that house prices rose in six regions over the year. East Anglia led the way, recording a yearly rise of 6.3%.[1]

By specific town and city, Reading came in top of the list, with prices rising by 15.2% over the last 12 months. LSL believe that this is due to it being on the route of the fresh London Cross Rail project.[1]

Additionally, 27% of local authority areas in England have seen property prices surge to record high levels. These areas include Warrington, the West Midlands, Milton Keynes, Bristol and Devon. This means that England and Wales have seen the strongest July for home sales since 2007.[1]

Property sales in England and Wales up 13% in July

Property sales in England and Wales up 13% in July

Capital falls

In terms in yearly rises, London has slipped to eighth in the top ten regions that recorded a growth in property prices. The capital ranks only above the North and Wales in the list and Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors believes that the downturn in lowering the average growth figures across England and Wales as a whole.

‘London has been stalled by more aggressive graduated Stamp Duty and taxation levied at the highest rungs of the property market, plus the rising value of Sterling compared to the Euro,’ Sexton explained.[1]

Data from the index also shows that in the most expensive boroughs in London, Kensington and Chelse and Westminster, sales during the second quarter of the year were down 33% and 31% respectively year-on-year. However, signs of an upturn are apparent, with monthly rises of 2.3% in Kensington and Chelsea and 2.1% in Westminster.[1]

Mr Sexton said, ‘overall homes sales reached 90,000 in July, a boost of 13% from the previous month. This marks the first time this year that sales levels have overtaken the equivalent month in 2014 and is actually the strongest July since 2007, when the market was building up to its pre-crisis peak.’ He went on to say that, ‘sales were 35% higher then, standing at 120,845 in July 2007.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/england-wales-house-prices-2015081310859.html

 

 

Letting Agents Must Get Better at Repairs

Published On: August 13, 2015 at 10:52 am

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Letting agents are generally getting better at dealing with repairs in rental properties, but some could be at risk of losing clients.

Some landlords could leave their letting agent for a competitor firm if the agent has poor repair management processes.

Letting Agents Must Get Better at Repairs

Letting Agents Must Get Better at Repairs

Repair reporting software company, Fixflo, has compiled a report with the support of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). The firm surveyed 250 letting agents, who manage 750 branches between them.

The report also includes data from over 70,000 repairs that Fixflo has dealt with.

The results are both positive and negative regarding agents:

  • 85% of repairs are completed within a week.
  • 46% of property managers are aware of a landlord that has changed agency due to a repair related issue.
  • On average, each property requires three repairs per year.
  • Each repair takes an average of 90 minutes of staff time to resolve.
  • One third of repairs are reported out of hours.
  • The amount of repair requests in Polish outnumbers those from the next four languages combined.

Managing Director of Fixflo, Rajeev Nayyar, warns of forthcoming changes to the law, which will make it compulsory for landlords and agents to respond quickly to tenants who complain about repair issues, or risk losing the right to reclaim the property.

He explains: “With fundamental changes to the repairs process taking effect for new tenancies in England from October 1st, time is running out for agencies and landlords to get robust repairs processes in place.

“Agencies that fail to comply with the requirements could face both financial and reputational damage.”1

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/letting-agents-urged-to-get-to-grips-with-repairs-before-october-deadline/

Summer Mortgage Lending Picks Up

Published On: August 13, 2015 at 9:51 am

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Categories: Finance News

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Summer Mortgage Lending Picks Up

Summer Mortgage Lending Picks Up

House purchase loans rose substantially in June, up 22% on the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

However, the overall figure of 61,000 house purchase loans was down 1% on June last year.

Mortgage lending to home movers increased by 21.1% on the month, but just 0.3% on the year.

Loans to first time buyers also rose by 22% on a monthly basis, but were down 2.4% annually.

Contrastingly, remortgaging figures were up 31% in June and rose 34% over the year. Buy-to-let loans also rose 40% on the year and 17% monthly.

In total, in the second quarter (Q2) of this year, there were 160,100 house purchase loans, up 21.6% on Q1, but 7.7% down on Q2 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

£26m fund to assist new home building

Published On: August 13, 2015 at 9:15 am

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House builders in the UK have been buoyed with the news that a £26m fund has been set aside, with the intention of introducing the first batch of starter homes for first-time buyers.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark promised that high-quality homes would be made available as a result of the fund and that first-time buyers will have a range of different property types to choose from.

Support

The windfall will be used to support architects, developers, housing associations, councils and small builders to supply properties that will increase quality of design, with the government planning to deliver 200,000 starter homes by 2020. Money from the fund will be used to obtain brownfield sites, with money from the sales of these sites going back to the government, ensuring top value for the taxpayer.

In addition, the government has offered more support to aspiring home owners by making £10m available for authorities to prepare additional brownfield land for the eventual development of future starter homes.

Mr Clark said, ‘we are committed to delivering 200,000 starter homes by the end of this Parliament, providing a real boost to aspiring young first time buyers. The competitive fund will build homes that will clearly show the wide range of new properties that will be available for first-time buyers as they take their first step on the housing ladder.[1]

‘We are also helping bring back into use more brownfield land for development, keeping the country building and delivering the homes our communities need,’ he added.[1]

£26m fund to assist new home building

£26m fund to assist new home building

Dreams

A priority for the government is to assist young people to achieve their dream of buying their own home, according to housing minister Brandon Lewis. He pointed out that in excess of 100,000 households have been assisted in buying a property through the Help to Buy Scheme.

‘This fund will help kick start that change and show young people across the country the quality they can expect when the buy a starter home,’ said Lewis, who went on to say that, ‘it’s further proof that this government’s long term economic plan is on track.’[1]

Meanwhile, the Homes and Communities Agency said that it will support the starter home initiative by offering land and expertise, helping more first time buyers into home ownership.

Chief Executive Andy Rose said, ‘we look forward to working with our key delivery partners including councils, developers, housing associations, small builders and architects in taking this forward, through the identification and purchase of land suitable for exemplar starter home sites.’[1] 

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-starter-home-fund-2015081210857.html

 

 

Letting Agents Could be Affected by Landlord Tax Changes

Published On: August 13, 2015 at 8:56 am

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Letting agents could be put out of business by Chancellor George Osborne’s plans to reduce landlords’ tax relief, according to a website.

saynotogeorge.co.uk is sponsored by a letting agent and states that with less income, landlords may stop using agents in a bid to make savings.

Letting Agents Could be Affected by Landlord Tax Changes

Letting Agents Could be Affected by Landlord Tax Changes

The website has launched a petition that opposes the plans to cut mortgage interest relief for private landlords.

The petition already has the 10,000 signatures it needs to require a Government response.

The website is the product of Peterborough landlord John McKay and is sponsored by Bee Lettings.

Yesterday afternoon, the petition had 10,892 signatures, meaning that the Government must issue a response. However, a petition needs 100,000 signatures for the Government to consider a Parliamentary debate.

The website states that the proposed changes could hugely affect letting agents: “Initially, letting agents may see the change in tax as a good thing because it will force rents up. In most cases, they earn a fixed percentage of the rents collected so they’ll see an increase in their profit.

“Unfortunately, they may also have to deal with a higher amount of tenant complaints about maintenance. As landlords are going to be hit badly by this tax increase they will have less money to spend on looking after their properties.

“The longer term consequences are likely to put many agents out of business. In the first instance, landlords will perhaps question whether they can afford to continue paying the agent’s fees and may consider taking their properties under their own management.”1 

Managing Director of buy-to-let mortgage provider, Mortgages for Business, David Whittaker, is slightly more optimistic.

He says: “Since the summer Budget, our experience is that both mortgage lenders and landlords are still extremely optimistic about the private rented sector in the UK.

“Changes to the tax system will not change the fundamental drivers of growth in the buy-to-let industry. Demand from tenants remains strong and healthy rental yields are providing a powerful incentive for further investment in homes to let.”

Find the petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/petition-opposing-chancellors-summer-budget-plans-hits-10000-signature-mark/