David Cox
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Latest property news
New money laundering watchdog launched
The government has announced that a new watchdog is to be launched early next year to oversee the UK’s Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations, which are due to become law this June. Called the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS), its job will be to tackle potential weaknesses in the supervision of estate agents that criminals may be exploiting. The new anti money laundering watchdog will be paid for by what the HM Treasury calls ‘supervisors’; the big accountancy, law and other trade and regulatory bodies. It will be based at the HQ of the Financial Conduct Authority in London. AML rules The latest version of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 is designed to bring the UK in line with international standards and include “robust new standards of supervision”. They introduce new responsibilities for agents covering when and how they must carry out enhanced due diligence on customers, and how they carry out risk assessments to work out if their business is vulnerable to money laundering attempts. The regulation in particular ask agents to look more carefully at transfer of funds, a problem highlighted in January when a criminal gang based in London…
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Latest property news
62% of letting agents say ban will reduce rental property quality
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has come out fighting on the fees ban, saying it opposes a total ban and that fess should instead be spread out over the first six months of the tenancy. It also says a ban is likely to have shocking consequences for the industry, tenants, landlords and the wider economy. ARLA has also completed research that it says shows 42% of letting agents think their headcount will reduce following a total ban, while 62% of the 1008 agents it canvassed think a ban will prompt a reduction in rental property quality, and 61% believe property management standards will drop. The research also reveals that letting agents “overwhelmingly” believe that rents will rise if a total ban is introduced, as they will “need to recoup the costs it takes to undertake the important jobs that fees currently cover [and] pass these on to landlords”, the research says. Agents spend eight hours on average completing the tasks needed to prepare a tenancy agreement including completing credit checks and collecting references, ARLA says. ARLA also claims that spreading the cost of fees to tenants over six months would make tenancies more affordable, enable agents to maintain…
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Latest property news
80% of agents say rents will rise after fees ban
Eight out of ten letting agents expect the tenant fees ban to be passed on as increased rents while reduced supply and increased demand will also contribute to upward pressure on rents, says the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). It canvassed 917 of its members over the past two weeks and found that 53% also expected to see increased competition for rental property during 2017 and 63% said there would be a drop in the number of privately rented properties available within the market. “I manage around a dozen properties for one of my clients and I spoke to her recently about the tenant fees ban,” says Brighton letting agent David Burt. “She made it clear to me that she wasn’t going to pay extra for the referencing or any of the other costs associated with acquiring tenants for her properties that tenants normally pay, so I’m going to have to consider putting up the rent so that my percentage management fee rises instead. Otherwise I’ll be working harder for less money.” ARLA says the recent increase in Stamp Duty for landlords and the reductions in personal tax and capital gains tax allowances are pushing up costs for landlords before…
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Latest property news
Tenant fees ban could cover just ‘upfront’ charges, says ARLA
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says it believes the government may be considering banning only ‘upfront’ fees rather than implementing a total tenant fees ban. ARLA managing director David Cox (pictured) says he has had several meetings with Department of Communities and Local Government officials and says that so far, they are talking only about upfront fees. This, he says, would enable letting agents to spread the fees for services such as referencing, contract negotiation and paperwork preparation over the first months of a tenancy instead of before or at the point that the tenant moves in. “It’s what we’ve been advocating within the Private Rented Affordability and Security (PRAS) working group since June,” says Cox. The PRAS was set up in June by Housing Minister Gavin Barwell to ‘explore options to reduce costs for tenants who access and move within the sector’. If ARLA gets its way then agents will be able to continue charging some elements of their current fees, although Cox says that even if it doesn’t and the government goes for a total ban, he believes ARLA can argue successfully for referencing fees to be excluded. “I’ve had several meetings with Shelter and they…
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Latest property news
Rent Smart Wales: 75% of letting agents not licensed yet
Three quarters of letting agents in Wales have not signed up to register with the country’s compulsory licensing scheme for agents and landlords, even though there is just two and a half weeks to go before it starts. The warning comes from a ‘concerned’ Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) as the deadline looms for agents and landlords alike. “If landlords and agents find themselves unlicensed when the deadline arrives on 23rd November they will be unable to practice, so it’s important to act soon,” says David Cox, ARLA’s managing director. After the deadline Rent Smart Wales will responsible for policing the country’s rental market through a licensing system for agents that requires them to complete training and then get approved by the scheme. Landlords must also undertake the training if they wish to self-manage their properties, or alternatively use a licensed agent if they do not want to do the training. Also, anyone renting out a property in Wales must comply with the new regulation regardless of whether they live there or not. ARLA, which runs one of the Rent Smart Wales-approved training courses via the NFoPP Residential Letting and Property Management qualification (Levels 2,3 and 4) says it reckons…
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Housing Market
Supply shortage leads to rise in rental prices
Private rents in the UK rose by the fastest rate in almost three years in September, as the severe housing shortage continued to place upward pressure on rental values across the UK. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveal that the cost of renting private accommodation increased by 2.7 per cent in the year to September, the biggest jump since November 2012. The biggest increases in rents were recorded in London, where prices rose by an average of 4.1 per cent year-on-year. “When people say the UK needs more homes, the true meaning is usually that London needs more homes,” said Andrew Bridges, Managing Director of Stirling Ackroyd. The increase in rental prices in the capital was almost half as much as the average rise of 2.8 per cent recorded across the rest of England, and significantly outstripped increases in Scotland of 1.6 per cent and Wales of 0.5 per cent. “For landlords and buy-to-let investors, the story has been one of consistent rental increases, with no notable dip in growth levels since 2014,” said John Goodall (left), CEO and Co-Founder of buy-to-let mortgage lender Landbay. “The big trends pushing up rents are the booming job…
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Products & Services
Letting Agents improve repair management service
There has been a marked improvement in repair management by letting agencies across the UK, a new survey has revealed. The research, which was undertaken by repair service Fixflo and the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), shows that 85 per cent of repairs are completed within one week. Key findings from the study of more than 250 letting agencies, covering over 750 branches, with data from more than 70,000 repairs in UK properties that have been handled through the Fixflo repairs system in 2015, also highlight that a typical rental property requires three repairs per year, with typically a repair requiring 90 minutes of staff time to resolve, while a third of repair requests are reported out of hours. However, despite the improvement, the report also found that many letting agents they are still losing clients due to poor repair management processes, with 46 per cent of agents and property managers claiming to know a landlord who has switched agency due to a repair related issue, although this figure is 8 per cent down on the previous survey in 2014. David Cox (left), Managing Director of ARLA, commented, “Robust maintenance plans and the provision of thorough processes for repairs…
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Housing Market
One in three letting agents report rent increases
A higher number of letting agents witnessed rents increase between May and June, newly released figures from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has shown. According to the data, 36 per cent of letting agents that are members of ARLA reported that rents rose month-on-month – the highest number since tracking began. Letting agents in the East Midlands saw the highest number of gains, with 48 per cent of ARLA agents reporting a rise. In contrast, just 17 per cent of agents in Wales saw a hike in the monthly rent. The report suggested that rents are being forced higher by an ongoing supply-demand imbalance, particularly in London where it states that “worryingly” there were only 118 rental properties managed in June, compared to 134 in May – a fall of 12 per cent. “It is worrying to see so many agents reporting an increase in the cost of rent over the last six months, especially considering so many people rent as a way to bridge the gap whilst they save to get onto the property ladder,” said David Cox (left), Managing Director, ARLA. He added, “Findings like this continue to prove that the housing crisis isn’t going to…
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Housing Market
Property demand continues to soar
With uncertainty regarding the outcome of the general election over, demand to buy and rent property rose sharply in May, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), but property supply is not keeping pace. The NAEA report that demand from buyers hit an eight-month high last month, with 383 house hunters registered on average per branch in May, up from 344 in April, and the highest number recorded since September 2014, when 406 house hunters were registered. The supply of properties coming onto the sales market also rose in May with 46 houses up for sale per NAEA member branch, compared to 43 in April, but remains well below the level needed to help meet rising demand levels. Nevertheless, this led to a marginal rise in the number of sales per member branch, with nine sales agreed in May, compared to eight in April. Mark Hayward (left), Managing Director at NAEA, said that the increase in the volume of house-hunters searching for homes was owed to a rise in confidence following the certainty that the outcome of the General Election delivered. He commented, “The housing shortage will not be solved…
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Associations & Bodies
Information, reputation, accreditation
Professional industry bodies support their members and act as a kitemark that gives the public peace of mind, as Marc Da Silva reports.
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