landlords
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Latest property news
Buy-to-let damaged by govt’s tax and mortgage changes, says leading lender
The Prudential Regulation Authority’s changes last year to the UK’s lending rules for the buy-to-let sector have led to reduced activity in the market, leading lender Paragon has reported in its full-year accounts. Following a review of the buy-to-let market in 2015/2016, the PRA this year raised the standards it expects underwriters to apply to landlords taking out mortgages. This includes greater scrutiny of a landlord’s overall business financials, in particular for portfolio landlords with four or more properties. Paragon also says the additional Stamp Duty that is now paid by landlords buying properties, and the reduction is tax perks for the sector, also contributed to a bad year. Stamp Duty These factors, the lender says, helped drive modest profits within its business over the past year, up from £143.2 to £144.8 million – a rise of just 1.1%. Paragon appears to suggest that the additional red tape has increased its costs, because its buy-to-lending increased by 20% to £1.39 billion last year. And depsite the “disruption” to the market in recent months, the lender says overall demand in Britain’s private rented sector is expected to continue for the “foreseeable future”. “Against this backdrop the Group’s performance has been strong,…
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Resources
154 reasons why your landlords need more help
There are at least 154 reasons why your landlords need more help than they think, says Adam Walker, so your first job is to tell them what they are!
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Agencies & People
Don’t let it go up in smoke
How do you stop a property becoming a drugs factory? Here’s some advice.
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Latest property news
‘Half of landlords in the UK expecting fees rise after ban’
Half of all landlords in the UK expect their agent to pass on the costs of running their property after the draft Tenants Fees Bill becomes law next year, it has been revealed. The research, which was completed by ‘deposit alternative’ start-up Reposit, also shows that letting agent fee increases are one of the most common unexpected costs among landlords, alongside repairs and renewal fees, and that a third of landlords have experienced paying costs they weren’t expecting. But the research also reveals that increased fees are not the main reason landlords leave their agent. Of the 41% of landlords who told Reposit they had left their agent in the past, only 11% said it was over raised fees. Instead, customers service (61%) and bad property care (26%) irked them more and prompted them to find a new agent. “With changes to buy-to-let legislation and a ban on tenant fees, landlord perspectives are more important to letting agent revenues than ever before and very little is known about UK landlords’ relationships with their letting agents,” the reports says. But Reposit says the increased costs of being a landlord including the recent hikes in Stamp Duty and reductions in tax breaks,…
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Features
Whisper it quietly, but landlords need all the help they can get!
It may just be a blip, but tough times are ahead and landlords need professional support.
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Latest property news
Leading solicitor warns of property fraud epidemic
One of London’s leading mid-tier law firms Mackrell Turner Garrett is warning property investors to step up their efforts to protect themselves against fraud.
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Latest property news
Where did that whisky A Go-Go?
When his tenant’s rent went unpaid, a Scottish landlord accepted nearly £40,000 worth of stolen whisky as payment.
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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
Heavy regulation has been good for Scottish rental market
Heavy regulation of the Scottish rental market in recent years has been a good thing for all concerned, says housing charity Crisis Scotland. After a clamp down on landlords and agents over the past ten years which has included four pieces of legislation, Crisis Scotland claims that all the potential downsides claimed by agents and landlords have failed to materialise. This has included increased responsibilities for and regulation of landlords and agents including an end to ‘no fault’ tenancy terminations, a Repairing Standard to enforce minimum property quality, strict HMO legislation, landlord registration and a ban on letting fees. Neil Guy (pictured), policy and practice manager at the charity, says the legislation has not restricted the growth of Scotland’s privatge rented sector (PRS) over the past ten years and that it has expanded faster than England’s, according to Scottish government housing data. Agents generally agree that the market is robust; for example Fiona Hindshaw of Clyde Property last month said that the “the general consensus across the board in Scotland is that the lettings market [during the final quarter of 2016] demonstrated continued strength and growth when compared to the same period in 2015 and we expect to see this growth…
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Features
Legal advice: How to recover rent arrears
Sheila Manchester spoke to Danielle Hughes, Solicitor in The Dispute Resolution Team at Kirwans law firm to find the best ways for letting agents and landlords to legally deal with non-paying tenants.
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