Posts with tag: Buy-to-Let

Leeds Building Society launches buy-to-let fixed rate

Published On: June 14, 2016 at 11:10 am

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Leeds Building Society has today announced the launch of a new 2 year buy-to-let fixed rate at 70% LTV.

This new product will be exclusively available to the LSL group, which includes the TMA Mortgage Club.

Buy-to-let fixed rate

The product is to be fixed at 2.49% to August 31st 2018 and comes with no booking fee. In addition, there is a free valuation for properties worth up to a value of £2m. The scheme also provides fees assisted legal services for remortgages as standard.

David Copland, Director of Mortgage Services at LSL Financial Services, observed, ‘once again we see Leeds Building Society being supportive of Directly Authorised firms and in particular TMA. We are delighted to be offering this product as an exclusive with a reasonable fee, a great rate and a practical rental yield calculation.’[1]

Jaedon Green, Director of Product and Distribution at Leeds Building Society, also noted, ‘the buy-to-let market is going through a lot of change at present and landlords are in a period of adjustments as the new regulations and phased tax changes take effect.

‘We’re mindful of this as we work closely with our intermediary partners to develop products which will assist and appeal to landlords,’ Green added.[1]

Leeds Building Society launches buy-to-let fixed rate

Leeds Building Society launches buy-to-let fixed rate

Lows

The news comes after recent research revealed that average fixed rates for two, three and five year mortgage deals in the UK are their lowest levels since 2012.

Underlining the value offered by the new deal from Leeds Building Society, the average two-year fixed rate is currently 2.9%.

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/leeds-launches-new-btl-2-year-fix.html

Property supply falls in 50% in UK towns and cities

Published On: June 14, 2016 at 10:07 am

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Categories: Property News

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Concerning data has revealed that more than half of towns and cities in the UK saw a fall in property supply during May.

The report from HouseSimple does show however that overall supply has risen by 4.8%.

Property supply falls

According to the investigation, the largest falls were seen in Southport and Loughborough, where supply was down by 28% and 24.1% respectively.

Of the areas that saw a fall in supply, 47% were in the North of England.

In terms of increases, Litchfield in the West Midlands recorded the largest rise of 55.8% in May, in comparison to April. Chesterfield (35.7%) and Rugby (32.5%) were other regions that saw marked increases over the same period.

One-third of areas showing the largest increases in supply were in the Midlands.

Despite a fall in supply in property in the capital, 53% of the 32 boroughs of London saw a rise in new housing listings. Of these, the largest rise was seen in Waltham Forest with 31% month-on-month. Merton saw supply rise by 30%.

Property supply falls in 50% in UK towns and cities

Property supply falls in 50% in UK towns and cities

Listings

Alex Gosling, CEO of House Simple, said, ‘although property supply was up in May, in large swathes of the country, the number of new properties listed fell. Could this be due to the Brexit effect? The scare tactics on both sides of the EU referendum debate are likely to be chipping away at the confidence of buyers and sellers. And with the Brexit vote less than three weeks away, we could well see a significant drop off in activity at a time when historically there is a lot of activity in the property market.’[1]

‘On the flip side, this could actually provide an opportunity for prospective buyers, who have their finance in place and can move fast, as they may be able to negotiate a good deal with motivated sellers keen to tie up a sale before 23rd June,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/over-50-of-uk-towns-saw-property-supply-fall-in-may.html

Letting agency prosecuted for ‘ghost-letting’

Published On: June 13, 2016 at 1:59 pm

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Categories: Property News

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A letting agency has been prosecuted following so-called ‘ghost listing’ on Zoopla flats that were actually not able to be let.

Down2Town Ltd of Islington and director Ilshad Ali Sumum, were fined £6,600 after being found guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court.

Trading standards

Islington council’s trading standards team was notified last year, after a resident saw that their home was listed for rent on the Zoopla website. This was despite the property not actually been available to be let.

Further investigations revealed that the letting agent had an unwritten agreement with a landlord to let a separate property in the same block, near to Holloway Road.

However, the letting agent proceeded to wrong list other flats in the block as being available to let-including the property that the concerned resident was living in.

As a result of the fraudulent listings, the block of flats was kept near the top of the search results on the Zoopla website.

Letting agency prosecuted for 'ghost-letting'

Letting agency prosecuted for ‘ghost-letting’

Guilty

At Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, Mr Sumum pleaded guilty to a brace of offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Both Sumum and Down2Town Ltd were each fined £2,000, ordered to pay costs of £1,250 and a victim surcharge of £100.

A council spokesman noted, ‘flats were falsely being advertised for sale, a practice sometimes also known as ghost-listing. This not only misled those looking for homes to rent, but also caused understandable distress among the residents who discovered their homes were being marketed without their knowledge or consent.’[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/6/agency-fined-by-council-for-ghost-listing-flats-to-let-on-zoopla

 

 

Rise in landlords incorporating their business

Published On: June 13, 2016 at 1:16 pm

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Categories: Landlord News

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A specialist buy-to-let mortgage firm has observed that lending to landlords that have set up limited companies has risen substantially in the first quarter of the year.

Data from Kent Reliance’s Buy To Let Britain report, shows that 38,000 landlords set up as private limited companies were lent to in Q1 of 2016. This was more than the total lending figure in the whole of 2015.

Rise in lending to limited companies

Further data from the report indicates that the number of loans to private limited companies will increase to around 100,000 by the end of 2016.

Many landlords have chosen to incorporate following the 3% additional Stamp Duty land tax that came into force on April 1st. Borrowing through a limited company sees investors taxed at lower corporation rates. What’s more, they are able to offset financial costs against rental income.

Kent Reliance also said that rents are increasing, as landlords look to offset their increased bills. According to the lender, 40% of landlords believe rents will increase during the next 6 months, by an average of 5.6%.

Rise in landlords incorporating their business

Rise in landlords incorporating their business

Blame game

Almost three-quarters of landlords who are looking to increase their rents blame the reduction in mortgage interest tax relief, which will come into force next year.

Separate research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that the total value of rent collected by buy-to-let landlords in Britain over the last year was £53bn. This was a rise of around 10% from one year previously.

Tenants’ satisfaction is high as demand grows

Published On: June 10, 2016 at 9:03 am

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A new investigation has uncovered that the demand for rental accommodation in Britain is increasing, but there is a high degree of satisfaction amongst tenants.

The survey of more than 1,800 Private Rented Sector landlords and tenants uncovered positive sentiment towards the current and future states of the market.

Positive tenants

Undertaken by BDRC Continental on behalf of Paragon Mortgages, the survey shows that despite new measures introduced by the Government to cool the market, rents actually rose in Q1 of 2016.

The total number of buy-to-let landlords reporting demand as increased, either slightly or significantly, stood at 39%. 36% of landlords described tenant demand as stable.

As a whole, the sector is seeing high levels of satisfaction. 79% of tenants questioned said that they are satisfied with their current landlord. 85% of tenants said that they consider their current rental property to be their home, with 69% believing the rate of rent they pay to be good or very good value for money.

Lengths

Interestingly, the average length of time tenants are spending in their current properties presently stands at 7 years. In addition, the average length of time that tenants are spending in the PRS in total is reported to be almost 13 years.

Buy-to-let landlords also agree that the Private Rental Sector plays a vital role within housing in the UK. The social housing sector has lost around one million homes since 1991 and 78% of landlords agree that the PRS has compensated for the decline of this sector.

89% of landlords also noted that the PRS has an important role to play in accommodating people priced out of owning their own home. 74% agree that the sector is vital in housing those excluded from social housing accommodation

Tenants' satisfaction is high as demand grows

Tenants’ satisfaction is high as demand grows

Changing trends

John Heron, Director of Mortgages at Paragon, observed, ‘the rise of the PRS and the decline of the social housing sector have been the predominant trends in the UK’s changing housing tenure over the last 20 years. This data gives an interesting insight into how both tenants and landlords perceive these trends.’[1]

‘It’s good to see tenant satisfaction at such high levels. The sector often suffers from negative PR and the good work done by the vast majority of landlords to provide homes for those who cannot or do not want to buy goes unremarked. This survey clearly demonstrates that the PRS is increasingly providing longer term solutions in housing and that responsible and professional landlords are supporting the provision of housing to those that rely on the PRS for their home,’ Heron added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/tenant-demand-and-satisfaction-remains-high.html

Rents set to rise faster than house prices

Published On: June 9, 2016 at 10:39 am

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Tenants are set to see rents spiral quicker than their incomes and faster than property price growth, according to a concerning new report.

The study from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggests that while house prices are likely to rise, rents look set to outstrip them.

Rent rises, tenant concerns

People currently residing in privately rented accommodation are thought to bear the brunt of the tax increases for buy-to-let landlords. The fear is that this will lead to a reduction of properties on the rental market, that will in turn push rents higher.

RICS forecast that rents in Britain will rise by an average of 4.7% year-on-year for the next five years. This is in comparison to house prices, which are predicted to increase by 4.1%.

However, the RICS survey is not the only investigation pointing at bad news for renters. The most recent HomeLet Rental Index shows that cost of a new tenancy in the private markets in Britain, increased by 4.4% in the three months to May. This was with the exception of Greater London.

Rents set to rise faster than house prices

Rents set to rise faster than house prices

Increases

Rental price growth in Britain was led by Scotland, where rents increased by 10.6% year-on-year. This was followed by rises of 8.3% in the East Midlands. London saw a rise of 6.2%, with rent for new tenancies standing at £1,563.

Martin Totty, chief executive of Barbon Insurance Group, HomeLet’s parent company, observed, ‘the May HomeLet Rental Index continues to show a rental market characterised by steady growth in rents, as the number of tenants looking for property runs ahead of the supply in the market-that remains the picture in most regions of the country.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/6/rent-price-increases-set-to-outstrip-house-price-growth