How to make sure your property stays tenanted - The Independent (blog)

How to make sure your property stays tenanted - The Independent (blog)
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AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota New research shows that the average length of time a rental property is unoccupied in the UK rental property is three weeks, the longest period since the beginning of 2011. The figures come from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) which is suggesting landlords take action to avoid these empty ‘void’ periods. “Void periods can cause uncertainty and affect overall rental yields,” said Ian Potter, Operations Manager at ARLA. “While they are a fact of life in the rented sector, there are simple steps that landlords can take to help reduce the chance of a property being untenanted for extended periods. These periods without occupancy can also give a landlord a useful window to carry out routine maintenance and any additional work designed to make a property more attractive for incoming tenants.” ARLA recommends five key points for landlords: 1. Set realistic rents While rental properties are in high demand in many parts of the UK, this is not a guarantee of back-to-back tenancies. As well as asking the advice of a letting agent, it is also worth doing your own research to find out if the level of rent you are charging is suitable for the area. Remember that the overall cost of an extended void period can outweigh the perceived loss associated with setting a sensible rent, which may also make the property quicker to let. 2. Foster good tenant-landlord relations A tenant’s right to reside, undisturbed, within a property during their tenancy period is enshrined in law. This means that, except in an emergency, a landlord must give tenants 24 hours notice before requesting entry to the property for viewings or maintenance work. By upholding basic obligations, landlords have a greater chance of establishing a good relationship with tenants, and they may be more likely to stay in the property longer. 3. Make the property desirable Ensuring the property is in good order could help make it more desirable, meaning it will be easier to let and may even mean tenants want to stay longer. While tenants have a duty to look after internal fixtures, landlords are generally responsible for the repairs, unless the damage is caused by the tenant, as well as the structure of the building, the exterior and the roof. In addition to this, a landlord must ensure heating and hot water installations, sinks, baths and other sanitary fixtures are maintained to a reasonable standard. But further decorating and furnishing the property appropriately, and to a good standard, may help it stand out to potential tenants. 4. See a ‘void’ as an opportunity While it is important for landlords to keep up to date with necessary repairs, a void period could provide a good time for non-essential, intrusive maintenance and improvement works to be carried out, with minimum disruption to tenants. This could, in turn, make the property more attractive. 5. Hire a letting agent A good letting agent can help guide you through the day-to-day complexities of being a landlord and also share the work in finding prospective tenants, meaning you will have less work to do when a tenancy comes to an end. You can get advice from a lettings agent affiliated to a professional organisation like ARLA whose members must adhere to a strict code of conduct, as well as offering client money protection and redress schemes, which protect all parties if things go wrong. Useful web sites for more information Tagged in: buying house, estate agents, mortgages, moving house, real estate, selling house View the original article here

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Research shows 'worrying' impact of housing benefit cap - The Guardian

Research shows 'worrying' impact of housing benefit cap - The Guardian
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London: 40% of the capital's landlords said they would stop renting to housing benefit tenants in the next year, compared with 33% nationally. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP Landlords in the capital are more likely to evict tenants or not renew tenancy agreements than in other parts of the country as a result of housing benefit changes, research shows. According to a government-commissioned study, 40% of London landlords said they would stop renting properties to housing benefit tenants in the next year – compared with 33% nationally. Another 26% said they would reduce their lettings in London to housing benefit tenants – compared with 24% nationally. London Councils, the body representing the capital's 33 local authorities, described the findings as "worrying". The research, Monitoring the impact of changes to the Local Housing Allowance system of housing benefit, was led by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University. Before the housing benefit reforms were put in place, there were warnings about how badly housing tenants in the capital would fare. London Councils last year calculated that between 82,000 and 133,000 London households would be unable to afford their homes after the reforms, with only 36% of London's housing affordable to those receiving benefit by 2016. Local authorities said there was a shortage of affordable housing and London had relatively high rents. The result, shown in the study, was that landlords in London were more than three times more likely to evict tenants or not renew tenancy agreements (37%) than they were to lower rents (11%). One in six – 17% – of London landlords said they would no longer let their property to housing benefit claimants as a direct result of the housing benefit reforms, compared with 9% nationally. The government had made much of the study's investigation of whether the reforms incentivised work. More than half (54%) of the London tenants affected were trying to improve their employment position. About a third of tenants in the capital said they had looked for a job (compared with 27% nationally) and 20% looked for a better paid job (compared with 11% nationally). Last week, Lord Freud, the welfare reform minister, said: "We have capped housing benefit so that people can no longer claim over £100,000 a year to live in large houses in expensive areas of London. This is the right and fair thing to do. "This research gives us an early insight into what is really happening and it shows the many scare stories about the effects of housing benefit reform are simply not materialising." The work was commissioned by the government and was carried out last autumn, several months after the measures had been introduced for new housing benefit claimants but before the impact was felt by existing claimants. The survey showed that London tenants were doing everything they could to hold on to their homes. Families were cutting back on some essentials. The Sheffield Hallam study showed 38% of London housing benefit claimants spent less on household essentials – the figure was 42% nationally – such as heating and food. Sir Steve Bullock, London Councils executive member for housing, said: "The report's findings are worrying, especially since it only covers the initial impact of the housing benefit cap. It provides independent analysis to support what London Councils and others have been saying for over the last year, concerning the impact of housing benefit changes on Londoners." "Rents are much higher in London than in other parts of the country, and landlords are rightly worried about tenants who claim housing benefit being able to pay their rent. However, it seems far too many are evicting tenants or simply not renewing tenancy agreements and not working with tenants and councils to find a way forward. "Landlords not reducing their rent will exacerbate the shortage of housing for those households who are working and on low incomes. We have already seen evictions in London and fear this will further escalate over the coming months." View the original article here

House prices could fall by 11pc, predicts Coutts - Telegraph.co.uk (blog)

House prices could fall by 11pc, predicts Coutts - Telegraph.co.uk (blog)
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House prices could fall, amid stormy econonomic conditions, forecasts Coutts House prices could fall by 11pc, predicts Coutts – Her Majesty the Queen’s bank – as it turns bearish about the property market. While there are only two types of ‘expert’ when it comes to predicting house prices – those who don’t know and those who don’t know they don’t know – Coutts’ analysis is more methodical than most. The bank considers five factors to assess the prospects for house prices – economic activity, valuation, liquidity, risk and momentum – and reckons that the negatives currently outweigh the positives for UK residential property. It would be foolish to worry about the slabs of vulgar abuse I receive from anonymous trolls whenever I report positive views on housing, but I must admit it is a bit of a relief to find a negative analysis; if only because I believe two views make a market. Henry Lancaster, senior investment analyst at Coutts told me: “Economic activity is negative. With the economy in recession, unemployment rising and wage growth sluggish, the domestic economic environment is unsupportive for house buyers. “Valuation appears expensive. House prices have broadly kept track with the growth of nominal – that is, not adjusted for inflation -gross domestic product (GDP) – a measure of economic output – over the past 60 years, reverting back to trend after both booms and busts. House prices are currently 11pc above their average value against nominal GDP. “Our conclusion is that UK residential property appears unattractive as an investment. Prices appear to have been bid up by investors seeking ‘safe havens’ to preserve their wealth given record low interest rates. However, the UK residential property market is far from risk-free.” Against all that, a house can deliver more than other investments –such as shares and bonds – because it is a home, with all the intangible benefits that can provide. Better still, homes in the most beautiful parts of the countryside can ‘do the double’ by providing quality of life and proving the best investments, according to research by Lloyds TSB – which owns Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage provider. It found that homeowners in England’s 32 areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) have not only enjoyed the intangible benefits of living in some of the finest countryside but have also enjoyed house price increases much greater than the average for the rest of Britain during the last decade. An AONB is defined as “a precious landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so outstanding that it is in the nation’s interest to safeguard them” and these are designated by the National Association for AONB. Land Registry house price data for these areas – including the SolwayCoast, Kent Downs and Forest of Bowland – show the average value of property increased by more than £900 a month over the last 10 years. That led to an average increase of 87pc – or nearly £110,000 – in the average AONB house price during the decade from £125,860 in 2002 to £235,215 in 2012. By contrast, the Halifax House Price Index for Britain as a whole increased by 60pc from £101,133 to £161,937 over the same period. I suspect that much of that outperformance has been driven by babyboomers retiring from metropolitan areas, aided with well-funded pensions younger folk are unlikely to enjoy, boosting house prices in these rural idylls. The downside, of course, is that this makes it difficult for local young people to buy; Halifax reckons the average AONB house price is seven times higher than average gross annual earnings, compared to a price/earnings ratio of 4.9 in 2002. That could create troubling social tensions – unless Coutts is right and house prices are due a correction. Here and now, with a better quality of life in Britain’s finest countryside and AONB’s above-average tax-free gains, it seems that beauty really is in the eye of the householder. View the original article here

Recommended housing prices reach a record-Belfast Telegraph

Recommended housing prices reach a record-Belfast Telegraph
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Recommended House prices have risen to a new record high, but remains well below their peak in 2007 when inflation is taken into account, a study says. The price of a home hits the market increased by 1% on the month in June to reach 246, 235 on average, but London is the only region where prices have gone to inflation over the last five years, the Rightmove house price index, found. Almost 30 000 new sellers a week came to market in the three weeks before Diamond Jubilee weekend, the highest proportion of new lists for almost two years, suggests the recommended price increases will slow down as the seller competition intensifies, the study said. Elections in Greece and concerns about the euro zone as well as the summer sporting events as Euro 2012 and the OLYMPICS is likely to dampen further domestic sales, with buyers interested in show sport than property, the study said. Recommended prices have risen to new record highs in the last three months in a row. But while the sellers price is up by 2% in August 2007, just before the economy facing a run on Northern Rock, they have fallen by 13% in real terms after the retail prices index (RPI) inflation is taken into account. London is the only region in the study, which covers England and Wales to record an inflation busting increase recommended prices, which is at a new high for the capital of 477, 440. Prices increased by 3% after inflation since August 2007. Prices in the South East also hit a new high of 318, 717, although prices in the region is 11% lower than in August 2007 in real terms. Asking prices have fallen at the bottom in real terms in Wales, where they are standing at 167, 875, fall a sharp 24% since August 2007. Rightmove Director Miles Shipside said: "better properties in areas that better remain in short supply, provide sellers of coveted stock, and their agents, trust to come to market at a higher price. "The property law within the commuting or holiday bolt-hole-spacing of the capital appears to be an attractive each way bet with the potential to be both lågkonjunktur-proof and offers great odds to keep pace with, or even outstrip inflation." View the original article here

East Anglia property SMEs expecting to invest despite wider market

East Anglia property SMEs expecting to invest despite wider market
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Home SMALL to medium sized property businesses across East Anglia are more positive about the future of the sector than in 2011, with almost a quarter (23 per cent) expecting an increase in market activity in the next six months, according to a report from Lloyds TSB Commercial. The latest quarterly ‘Property Matters’ report reveals a distinct contrast with last year’s results, with property business owners in London becoming less confident in the UK market and regions such as East Anglia showing a slight swing towards optimism. The report comes at a time when Lloyds TSB Commercial’s lending to UK property SMEs has risen by 11.5 per cent in the region. Despite the slight increase in positivity across East Anglia, respondents were split in their opinions on activity in the region, with 25 per cent expecting activity to slow and 52 per cent predicting that activity will stay at current levels. This gives the region a net confidence score of +1. The report looks at the confidence of SME property businesses throughout the UK based on their attitudes to investment and views of sources of funding. It reveals that even though expectations for the regions have improved, property business owners are more cautious about the recovery of the wider UK market. More than half (51 per cent) in East Anglia believe activity will remain static and the rest are split between improvement and decline (24 per cent each). Barry Coote, relationship director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in East Anglia, said: “While there is more overall positivity than 2011, the overwhelming message is that SME business owners are not expecting a massive swing towards a vibrant market. “This is not surprising with so many wider economic factors still in play. From a bank perspective, while it would be nice if this crucial sector of the property market were confidently expecting 2012 to be significantly better than the latter half of 2011, that isn’t going to happen without far more tangible evidence of movement in the market. “However, the slight swing towards a belief in an upturn in the market and the fact that less people predicting a decline is a positive sign. “We are working hard to help businesses prepare for and take advantage of any upturn. Our positive lending figures are a further indication that there are businesses doing deals and investing in their own portfolios.” However, the number of businesses expecting the value of their own portfolios to remain static is 63 per cent. Barry Coote added: “Predicting values is challenging for small businesses as they have seen the values of their assets erode in recent years. Whether the wider prediction of static values indicates that they believe prices have bottomed out remains to be seen. “What is clear is that whatever decisions property owners take over the next six months will need to be made with caution and guidance to ensure that their fragile optimism isn’t overturned.” View the original article here Our rent guarantee scheme provides you with between 1 to 5 years worth of guaranteed rental income. What’s more, there’s no catch and no fees involved. Contact Guaranteed Rental today on 020 8694 8098 to find out more.