Posts with tag: information for landlords

Upad Launches New Find a Tenant Guide for Landlords

Published On: July 28, 2017 at 9:15 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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Upad Launches New Find a Tenant Guide for Landlords

Upad Launches New Find a Tenant Guide for Landlords

Online letting agent Upad has launched a new Find a Tenant Guide for new and experienced landlords.

The guide, published and accessible publicly via the Upad website, is designed to help landlords with 12 steps of the rental process.

The new Find a Tenant Guide was inspired by Upad’s experience in speaking with both new and long-term landlords, and realising that many of them would appreciate a resource that allows them to dip in and out of to focus on what they need to know.

REMEMBER: We offer free and comprehensive guides for landlords on all aspects of lettings law. Access them by signing up for free here: /guides/

Upad’s Find a Tenant Guide covers everything from advertising on property portals to understanding the legalities of tenancy agreements. The guide contains 12 steps, each designed as an introduction to the specific topic it covers.

In addition, it contains interactive calculators and sliding images, with further interactive elements planned to be built in over the coming months.

The Founder and CEO of Upad, James Davis, comments on the launch: “As someone who launched Upad to provide an alternative way for private landlords to find great tenants, I’m proud of our record for providing informative content and webinars to tell landlords everything they need to know about lettings.

“For us, this is a new means of providing key information to landlords in an accessible manner and has been produced based on the feedback of landlords. It again highlights our commitment to providing the best insight and customer service in our industry.”

Landlords, you can access Upad’s new Find a Tenant Guide and explore all of the information that it offers through the Upad website: https://www.upad.co.uk/find-a-tenant-guide

We hope that it helps you understand the lettings process more clearly and answers any questions you may have.

ICA-JL-VOTE-FOR-US

Diversity of landlords make communicating rules difficult

Published On: July 9, 2016 at 9:20 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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A new report has suggested that the diverse nature of landlords makes it almost impossible to fully communicate new rules and legislation.

The study, entitled ‘Who are individual landlords providing private rented accommodation?’ was penned by industry expert Kate Faulkner, with assistance from the TDS Charitable Foundation. This organisation works to further education on housing rights and legal obligations.

Changing obligations

Results from the survey found that many landlords have varying professions alongside their work as an investor. Teachers, doctors, librarians and army officers were just a few roles of landlords completing the survey.

40% of respondents to the investigation said that they were ‘accidental landlords.’ Whilst trying their upmost to do right by their tenants, many of these landlords are left confused by changing legislation. Worryingly, one in five respondents were found to do no research before letting out a property.

Kate Faulkner believes that the private rental sector should work more closely to inform landlords on legislation and in turn create a safer sector.

She noted, ‘there are currently 145 lettings rules and regulations on letting. Not only do they seem to be changing all the time but they can vary from one local authority to another. It’s no wonder landlords are confused and struggle to keep up with the law, particularly if they are letting out property in another part of the country to where they live.’[1]

Diversity of landlords make communicating rules difficult

Diversity of landlords make communicating rules difficult

Collaboration

Faulkner has called for those in the private rental sector, such as lenders, letting agents and local authorities, to collaborate, in order to provide landlords with the tools needed to let a property legally.

‘We would like to see the private rented sector working together to promote trusted and consistent sources of information about preparing a property to let legally, about changes in the law, property maintenance and of course, where to turn for independent, qualified advice, Faulkner stated.[1]

‘However, because landlords are such a diverse group of people and with many self-managing their properties, it makes it extremely difficult to communicate with them, unless they actively seek out information for themselves . Even if they do their own research about rules and regulations, it can be still be confusing and the report suggests experienced landlords struggle too. This is why they need a clear source of information they can turn to,’ she continued.[1]

Concluding, Faulkner said, ‘in addition, to encourage best practice, we would also like to see the Government introduce incentives for landlords to stay within the law, such as tax breaks or special deals which reward those that are renting legally and safely.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlord-diversity-makes-communicating-new-rules-virtually-impossible.html

Will new regulations slow buy-to-let market?

Published On: April 11, 2016 at 11:51 am

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Categories: Finance News

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Over the past year, residential landlords have been subjected to a whole host of new regulations. Alterations to mortgage interest tax relief, an increase in stamp duty surcharges on buy-to-let purchases and changes to the wear and tear allowance are just some of the initiatives aimed at cooling the market.

Should the Bank of England press ahead with its plans for tighter mortgage lending criteria, this will be a further blow to buy-to-let landlords.

Intentions

The Bank of England believes the stricter lending criteria will cut the amount of buy-to-let borrowing by between 10%-20% in the next three years. Until presently, landlords have needed between around a 25% deposit to secure a buy-to-let mortgage.

Changes proposed by the Prudential Regulation Authority-the Bank of England’s regulatory sector-has called for lenders to make more stringent checks on landlords. This is to ensure that they can afford the mortgage repayments on their property. In addition, it has called for banks to test if landlords would still be able to afford monthly payments should interest rates rise.

Will new regulations slow buy-to-let market?

Will new regulations slow buy-to-let market?

Slowing Tactics

Jane Morris, Managing Director of PropertyLetByUs, observed, ‘this new lending criteria is a move at slowing down the booming buy-to-let market, which has seen a rush of landlords purchasing property to beat the stamp duty rise, which comes into effect this month. We have seen a sharp increase in the number of landlords placing properties with us over the last six months and since January, landlords sign ups have increased by 50-60%.’[1]

‘However, the market is very likely to slow down over the next few months, with Britain’s 1.8million landlords now facing the brunt of the increased taxes and new mortgage restrictions. The buy-to-let market provides the UK with essential housing for over 2.5million tenants and has been unjustly targeted by the government,’ Morris continued.[1]

Concluding, Morris noted, ‘landlords will need to find ways to protect their profits and income.’ She feels it is inevitable, ‘we will see rent rises and many landlords will be reviewing their fixed costs.’[1]

Finally, she said, ‘it is certainly a good time to review lettings costs, as some landlords could make significant savings on their letting agent finder and fully managed fees.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/is-btl-lending-getting-tougher.html

Where will increases in Stamp Duty be felt most?

Published On: March 30, 2016 at 1:00 pm

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Categories: Finance News

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An interesting new study on the potential financial impact of the additional 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax on landlords has been conducted.

With the changes coming into force on Friday, the research from LendInvest provides interesting information for landlords.

Charges

The study shows that 13% of landlords in England will pay stamp duty for the first time after Friday. Property prices in 14 out of 105 postcode areas average at £125,000 or less. This means that future buy-to-let purchases will be subject to up to £3,750 in Stamp Duty Land Tax.

LendInvest’s research revealed that Darlington, Halifax and Doncaster will be among the most badly affected regions for first-time stamp duty payments. This is due to the fact that they contain the most properties that will be subjected to stamp duty charges for initial payers, but also as they contain lowest average rents.

86% of those subjected to stamp duty payments for the first time will be in the Northeast or the Northwest. 12 out of the 14 postcode regions where house prices are under £125,000 are in these regions.

Where will increases in Stamp Duty Land Tax be felt most?

Where will increases in Stamp Duty Land Tax be felt most?

Capital pains

Outer London landlords will be bracing themselves, with the research showing that they will see the greatest increase in stamp duty payments due. Locations such as Tunbridge Wells, Dartford and Romford will see Stamp Duty Land Tax rise more than 300%, in comparison to 200% in Inner London.

If the estimates in the study are correct, landlords in the capital and in the Southeast will need the longest to repay greater stamp duty charges.

Bad news

Christian Faes, CEO of LendInvest, noted, ‘the stamp duty hike spells bad news for landlords-and their tenants. Put simply: when taxes rise, someone has to pay. Our latest BTL Index shows that the likely payer is ultimately going to be the tenant, with higher rents. The Stamp Duty Land Tax hike will cause rental yields to fall for landlords, putting pressure on them to raise the rents they charge.’[1]

Faes went on to say that, ‘it’s not just in Inner London where landlords’ taxes will soar, that we can expect to see landlords and tenants squeezed financially. The Index shows that all across England and Wales, we will see many landlords factoring several thousands of pounds of stamp duty tax into their budgets for the first time. Towns like Sunderland, Blackburn, Wigan and Oldham could be particularly badly impacted: here, rental yields are comparatively good but average house prices are below £125,000 meaning SDLT will be imposed for the first time.’[1]

Concluding, Mr Faes said, ‘the Treasury’s decision to inflict this tax hike is part of their longer term plan to professionalise the buy-to-let market and make Britain a country of homeowners. While the mission has its merits, there are no quick fixes to the nationwide housing crisis. Until there are more houses on the streets that people can buy at reasonable prices, landlords have their place and their tenants must be protected.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/hero/stamp-duty-blackspot-areas-revealed.html