Search Results for: Tenant Fees Act
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Latest property news
Will three-year tenancies soon become standard?
A second built-to-rent developer in London is now offering tenants three-year tenancies as standard, this time at a development in West London. Be Living, which also trades as Be:here, is the build-to-rent arm of developer Wilmott Dixon and says a “new era is dawning for renters”. The company also operates as a letting agent under its Be:here brand and advertises properties at its build-to-rent developments on Rightmove and Zoopla. It also says that, following extensive consultation with tenants about how they wanted to live their lives and what they wanted, it decided to introduce the new, longer tenancies. Three-year tenancies A survey of its tenants also revealed that 80% said they wanted to stay at the development “for as long as possible”, while separate research by Knight Frank discovered that 68% of tenants in the UK expect to be renting in three years’ time and beyond. The Gatefold development is in Hayes and includes 119 apartments within a former EMI Records vinyl records factory. As well as longer tenancies, some homes within the site are pet friendly and rent increases are fixed in line with inflation. “While renting is a deliberate choice for a growing number of people because of…
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Features
UKALA. Not for cowboys: The magnificent seven of membership benefits
If you are a professional agent, rather than a gun-slinging bandit, you can demonstrate to landlords and tenants that you are one of the good guys.
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Latest property news
TPO report reveals one agent’s £21,972 referencing mistake
The value of awards that The Property Ombudsman (TPO) told agents to pay disgruntled customers tripped over £1 million for the first time last year, its annual report reveals, along with details of one case that cost a letting agent over £20,000. Property Ombudsman Katrine Sporle (pictured, right) is to launch the report at an event later today at the House of Lords that will show total awards reaching £1.2 million in 2016 while the number of difficult cases increased by 7.5% to 3,553. Common complaints Lettings attracted the largest number of resolved cases at 1,997 with those complaining being fairly evening split between landlords and tenants. The average letting award was £531 but the highest was £21,972 (see case details below). The most common complaint was about property management. In sales, two thirds of complaints came from sellers and the remainder from buyers and the average award was £397, while the most common complaint was about communication and record keeping. “TPO works with the industry and consumers to get things right, put things right and set things right,” says Katrine. “This year, TPO’s Codes of Practice, approved by Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), have been revised to clarify many…
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Latest property news
Rents drop across the UK as government measures hit landlords
Rents are tumbling across many parts of the UK according to the latest rental index from referencing firm HomeLet, whose Chief Executive has questioned the wisdom of recent government measures to reduce landlord appetite for investment. HomeLet says rents fell in the UK by 0.3% last month, the first time this has happened since late 2009 and that rents in London have dropped by 3% over the past year from £1,572 a month last July to £1,502 a month in May. “May 2017 saw average rents nationally fall for the first time in eight years when the economy had suffered the shock of the financial crisis,” says Martin Totty, Chief Executive of HomeLet (pictured, left). “[Our] rental data suggests landlords are now facing a difficult balancing act between ensuring rents are affordable for tenants in a low real wage growth environment whilst covering their own rising costs. “Tenants will still need a vibrant and growing rented sector to provide them with property options at the time of their choosing. “Any constraint to the supply of rental properties, because landlords are unable to achieve the reasonable returns they require, cannot be in the long term best interests of tenants, especially if,…
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Conflicting business models
Horses for courses? Adam Walker has a tricky ‘seat’ as a Council asks him to help them establish a letting agency, wanting him to be jockey and trainer!
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Latest property news
Agents don’t get proptech
Just five per cent of property businesses consider themselves technologically advanced, according to research by Qube Global Software.
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Features
Why the government wants to introduce a lettings fee ban
The Government has launched a consultation paper on its proposal to ban letting agent fees, but, says Sheila Manchester, it’s more a ‘done deal’ than a proposal.
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Latest property news
Rents rise and stock shrinks as landlords sell up
ARLA Propertymark (Association of Residential Letting Agents) has just published its March Private Rented Sector (PRS) Report and with rising rents and increasing sales, it’s not all good news. In March, agents reported a rise in the number of landlords selling their buy-to-let (BTL) properties, with an average of four selling up per branch, compared to three in February. The last time the number of landlords selling their BTL rose above three per branch was in November last year, when the letting agent fees ban was announced. Rising rents are also a concern. The number of tenants negotiating rent reductions rose month on month in March – in February, 2.2 per cent of agents witnessed successful rent reductions, whereas in March, 3.6 per cent reported this happening. On the other hand, a quarter (25 per cent) of letting agents saw landlords increasing rents in March – a figure which has not changed since January. Year on year, this is down by seven percentage points. In March 2016 almost a third (32 per cent) of agents were seeing rent increases. Rental stock levels steady but demand rises The number of properties managed per member branch remained the same as the previous month, with…
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Rent inflation dilemma for landlords
Rents are rising at a slower pace than general inflation, the new HomeLet Rental Index reveals, leaving landlords who are facing higher costs with a dilemma.
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Features
Is Buy to Rent really the future of the rental sector?
Home ownership is stagnant, as more people now rent their homes. Paul Staley, Director, Private Rental Sector at SDL Group, looks at future housing options.
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