Posts with tag: lettings

UK Lettings Market: March Regional Property Hotspots

Published On: April 23, 2019 at 9:31 am

Agency Express has released its latest Property Activity Index. The data from this index has revealed an increase in activity, following on from a slow month across the UK property market in February.

National month on month figures for new listings ‘To Let’ were at 12.6%
National month on month figures for properties ‘Let’ sat at 8.3%

Agency Express has highlighted that, looking back over the index’s historical record, the ‘To Let’ figures have remained largely on trend when compared to those from 12 months previous. However, ‘Let By’ figures have increased.

Sitting at the top of the leader board this month is Scotland. Figures for new listings were on trend at 37.2% and properties ‘Let’ sat at a robust 34.7%. The month on month increase in activity marked a record best March for the region.

A similar trend can be seen in the records for the West Midlands, with new listings at 20.1%. As was the case with Scotland, the increase marked a record best month for the region.

Other regional hotspots in this month’s index included:

Properties ‘To Let’

Wales 35.6%
South West 21%
West Midlands 20.1%
Central England 19.4%
North West 14.2%

Properties ‘Let By’

Central England 21.2%
West Midlands 19.4%
East Midlands 17.4%
North West 13.1%

Commenting on the latest index, Stephen Watson, Managing Director of Agency Express said: “This month’s Property Activity Index has remained by and large true to trend. A few regional pockets have reported record bests, but on a whole demand continues to be greater than supply.

“As we now move in to April and the Easter holidays we would expect a to see a seasonal dip.”

The largest month on month decline in February’s index was in the North East. It recorded figures for new listings ‘To Let’ falling to -7.1%. This has set another record for the index, this time for the greatest drop in these figures for the month since 2015.

The Front Door Colour that Could Help you Let your Property

Published On: March 22, 2017 at 9:20 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: decor,interiors,lettings,property maintenance,property viewings,tenants

Competition in the lettings market becomes particularly fierce at this time of year, as tenants often look to move home during the spring. If you’re thinking of ways to better your chances of letting your property, it could be as simple as your front door colour.

The Front Door Colour that Could Help you Let your Property

It turns out that property viewers can sometimes be just as picky about the exterior of the home as they are about the interior, so making a good first impression with the front door colour is essential.

If you’re struggling to let your property or need to make some updates, simply giving the front door a fresh lick of paint could do the trick.

With the front door often being the natural route into a property, it is one of the most important external features to a prospective tenant, and one that they are likely to notice.

So which front door colour is the most popular choice?

According to a study by Westbury Windows & Joinery, painting your front door white could boost your chances of letting your property quickly.

As expected, stained and varnished finishes came in as the second most popular choice, with classy black in third.

Other popular front door colours include Oxford blue, post-box red and racing green – all very tasteful and timeless.

However, if you want to go for something more fashionable and on trend, paler tones such as grey, duck-egg blue and celadon green were also highly rated.

So which colours should you avoid? Painting your front door yellow, pink or lilac may well put potential tenants off!

When deciding on a front door colour for your rental property, remember to stick to classic colours or neutral shades – if in doubt, go white.

The research arrives following news that many first time buyers believe that it’s only possible to buy a home with a partner, meaning that around half of young people are living in rental homes.

Spruce up your front door colour in time for new tenants now!

Airbnb 90 day limit should be introduced in other cities-AIIC

Published On: December 22, 2016 at 3:08 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: Airbnb,lettings,property,rents,tenants

The proposal from Airbnb to stop London hosts from short-letting their properties for any longer than 90 days per year without consent should be extended to four other cities, according to the head of the AIIC.

Patricia Barber feels that this limit, being introduced from April 2017, should also be in operation in Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

Limits

Airbnb has moved to introduce this system in London after criticism that many of its hosts last for longer than 90 days. This means that sometimes it takes hitherto long-term let property off the market, reserving it only for short-let tenants and allowing higher rental income.

The Residential Landlords Association has claimed that earlier this year, more than 60% of London properties listed on Airbnb were advertised as being available for longer than 90 per year. This is despite this contravening planning laws and Airbnb’s own policies.

The platform hit back with its own statement, claiming that the RLA’s research was misleading and had deliberately confused availability with nights booked. From April, it is to notify hosts of their statutory responsibilities as their lettings hit 90 days within the yearly period.

Airbnb 90 day limit should be introduced in other cities-AIIC

Extensions

The AIIC believe that this should be extended to other key English cities, stating that Airbnb tenants and landlords leave themselves susceptible to damage or financial implications as a result of the minimal checks and paperwork needed to let a property via short-let websites.

An absence of mandatory deposit protection and the unlikelihood of inventories are two of the biggest issues, the Association argues.

Barber states: ‘Short term lets are supposed to be short term for a reason and landlords who are not adhering to the rules could be putting the future of their investment at risk.’[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/12/call-for-airbnb-90-day-limit-should-exist-in-four-other-uk-cities

How Electronic Signatures can Make Things Easier for Landlords

Published On: November 28, 2016 at 11:18 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: inventories,landlord admin,lettings,tenancy agreements

Ignorance isn’t always bliss – electronic signatures make things easier for you and your clients…

How Electronic Signatures can Make Things Easier for Landlords

Property is an area of business which constantly needs contracts signed off. Tenancy agreements, guarantor forms, inventory reports… The list goes on. And if your business needs to send documents in any capacity, adopting an e-signature solution is incredibly beneficial.

Once upon a time, it wasn’t out of place to see rows of filing cabinets lining office walls and piles of paper on your desk waiting to be organised; that no longer makes sense today. Electronic signature solutions, like Signable, help increase productivity by sending documents to its signer instantly and by removing a time consuming, paper-based filing system. It doesn’t make sense for businesses to waste time on admin tasks when there are solutions available to speed things up, but more importantly; it also doesn’t make sense for your clients.

Physically signing documents can get problematic for signers sometimes. For lettings, it can involve tenants trying to find the time during work hours to visit an office, and often landlords aren’t in the same location. Of course, there’s the option of emailing the signing page, faxing, or even posting it – but waiting for it to be returned signed can take days or even weeks.

When considering the sales side of property, e-signatures help enormously during the offer stage after a viewing. With potential buyers completing an offer form, providing information around broker’s details, solicitors, if they have a mortgage in principle, etc… And as vendors may not live together once selling a property, or even live locally, electronic signatures remove the need for them to visit the office regularly.

Businesses always see costs associated with both email and e-signatures generally lower than more traditional methods. It’s easy for businesses to keep their spend down by using email services, as any postage costs are quickly eliminated. Money is also saved by the speed of email – and these savings add up significantly for your business over time.

Being able to manage documents on the go was once a dream for many of us. Now sending a tenancy agreement from from your laptop in the office then viewing its status at home from an iPad, signing it off on the train from your mobile, and viewing it again whilst you’re overseas on your laptop is now truly a reality, and apps like Signable are making this process slicker than ever.

When it comes to finalising contracts, ask yourself: Can your signer be relied on to have access to a printer and a scanner? Can their schedule accommodate visits to your office? Can admin time spent organising paperwork be reduced? The development of electronic signatures can be your solution.

Fall in rental market activity recorded in October

Published On: November 18, 2016 at 9:52 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: landlords,lettings,rental activity,rental market activity,To Let

Rental market activity slowed during October, according to new data released from Agency Express.

Taking Britain as a whole, the number of new listings rose by 2.6% year-on-year, which was down from the 11.5% rise in new properties coming onto the market at the same period last year.

Ups and downs

The volume of properties actually let last month slipped by 6.3% over the same timeframe, almost on a par with data from the same month in 2015.

Eight of the twelve regions assessed by the Property Activity Index recorded growth in new listings to let, with only four regions seeing growth in properties let.

The top three regions experiencing rises in new properties to let were:

East Midlands +20.4%
West Midlands +13.4%
Central England +12.4%

And in terms of properties actually let, the top three were:

South East +12.7%
Scotland +11.7%
North East +7.9%

Fall in rental market activity recorded in October

Scottish success

Overall, Scotland was the top performing region in October, seeing increases in new listings and properties let. While these increases are a record for the region, Agency Express warns that demand continues to outpace supply.

During the last three months, new listings north of the border fell by 1.7%. The largest declines however were in Yorkshire & Humberside, where new listings slipped by 3.6% and properties let fell by 14.1%.

Stephen Watson, managing director at Agency Express said: ‘As we look back at the historical data recorded by the Property Activity Index, we can see over the last three years October has been a buoyant month for new rentals across the UK lettings market. However, this year the figures paint a different picture, evident by the drop in supply.’[1]

‘Historical trends within the indices also indicate that we should not see a decline in figures until December, but with the current rate of change it will be interesting to see what November and December’s data brings,’ he added.[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/11/rental-supply-slows-in-october

The Property Ombudsman reveals annual information

Published On: October 4, 2016 at 9:55 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: buy-to-let landlords,deposit disputes,lettings,rental market,The Property Ombudsman

The Property Ombudsman scheme has today released its most recent annual figures, which show a rise in the number of consumers contacting the scheme for assistance.

In her first yearly report following her appointment early in 2015, Katrine Sporle revealed some interesting data concerning the scheme.

Advice

In 2015, The Property Ombudsman received 16,265 enquiries from consumers looking for advice. In addition, it resolved 3,304 formal complaints, a substantial increase of 32% from the previous year. What’s more, the Ombudsman instructed agents to pay awards worth £811,134.

With regards to lettings, some key figures were revealed to be:

1,965 formal complaints were resolved, 33% more than in 2014
83% of complaints were supported
50% of complaints were made by landlords
47% of complaints were made by tenants
The greatest award for a lettings dispute was £16,954
The average lettings award was £522
The highest volume of complaints were in the South East (24%), Greater London (24%) and the South West (9%).

The top three causes of lettings complaints were found to be:

Management (including repairs, maintenance)
Communication & record keeping
End of tenancy issues (deposits, damages etc)

The Property Ombudsman reveals annual information

Raises

Katrine Sporle noted: ‘The number of agents joining The Property Ombudsman has grown by 82% in the last 5 years. 35,374 offices are now signed up and following our approved Codes of Practice. Importantly, these figures show that more and more consumers are able to access The Property Ombudsman to have their disputes resolved.’[1]

‘Being the largest government-approved property redress scheme does mean that we receive a commensurately large number of enquiries every year. In the vast majority of cases, those enquiries are dealt with satisfactorily through TPO intervention to facilitate early resolution between agents and consumers.’[1]

Concluding, Sporle said: ‘Last year, out of 16,265 enquiries, 3,304 complex complaints required formal review and, a high percentage of those complaints were supported (83%). Overall, this is good news for consumers and redress, but not so great for the reputation of agents who collectively paid out over £800,000 in awards.’
‘My message for those agents is simple; pay more attention to TPO’s Codes of Practice and raise your standards.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/the-property-ombudsman-reveals-32-increase-in-complaints-resolved.html