letting agents
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Latest property news
Lettings sector to face huge reforms designed to weed out rogue agents
A new compulsory code of conduct for agents backed by mandatory qualification for at least one member of staff and a new independent regulator have been announced for the lettings and property management sectors by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG). The details of the new code will now be thrashed out by a working group of lettings, tenant and regulatory representatives, with proposals nailed down by early 2019. The DHCLG announcement, which was released during the Easter break, revealed that it wanted to protect the UK’s nine million private renters from the unexpected costs, vague bills and poor quality repairs offered by rogue agents. “Most property agents take a thorough and professional approach when carrying out their business, but sadly some do not,” says Housing Minister Heather Wheeler (pictured, left). “By introducing new standards for the sector, we will clamp down on the small minority of agents who abuse the system so we can better protect tenants and leaseholders who find themselves at the end of a raw deal. Other measures outlined by the DHCLG include the promised reform of leasehold including a new system to help leaseholders challenge unfair fees, help to switch managing agents…
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Latest property news
Four Belvoir letting agents hoover up 1,350 properties in £2m deal
Many larger lettings agents have been buying up the portfolios of smaller localised rivals in recent months as the private rental sector has become tougher, and the latest to report such a move is Belvoir. Four of its franchisee have now completed portfolio acquisitions with collective revenues of £2 million a year, adding 1,335 properties to its property management tally in Hitchin/Welwyn Garden City/St Albans, Derby West, Hendon and Corby. But the largest of the portfolio purchases has been completed by its Hitchin/Welwyn Garden City franchisee. The deal includes 624 managed rental properties in Welwyn Garden City and St Albans with a total revenue of £1 million a year, adding fees revenues to Belvoir’s head office of £400,00 over the next six years. This deal was funded by the local Belvoir franchisees own sources of finance, and is both a portfolio and territorial expansion for it, helping the franchisee break into the lucrative St Albans rental market. The other three portfolio acquisitions add another £1 million a year the franchisees revenues, helped by a £193,000 cash injection by the Belvoir head office. Belvoir UK’s keenness to help franchisees hoover up portfolios with its ‘Assisted Acquisitions’ programme is clear from the financials.;…
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Latest property news
Government rejects agent’s petition calling for tenant fees cap
The Government has rejected a petition signed by nearly 10,400 agents that proposed a tenant fees cap instead of an outright ban. Started by 29-year-old letting agent Rob Farrelly (pictured, below) who began his own business Friend & Farrelly Property Services eight years ago, e-petition 206569 was signed by agents all over the UK. In its response to the e-petition, the Government has revealed its determination to plough on with its draft Tenant Fees Bill published on 1st November, saying it wants to see a rental market in which landlords and not tenants are the primary customer of agents. As well as reiterating its belief that a fees ban will improve transparency and affordability for renters, and that fees are still not clear or explained, it claims that “many letting agents and landlords acknowledge that fees charged to tenants are currently not at a level that is justifiable and agree that intervention is necessary”. “The Government does not believe that a cap would be effective and is likely to lead to a race to the top in terms of fees charged. A ban is easier to understand and enforce.” Agents are also able to see a glimpse of the future…
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Features
The return on let-only properties
"One of my larger clients has just dis-instructed themselves from 131 let-only properties that used to bring in fee income of £50,000 per annum. They’ve been planning this for three years and have finally done it. Are they mad, asks Adam Walker?"
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Latest property news
Letting agents “unfairly” taking deposits from millions of tenants, it is claimed
Letting agents and landlords have unfairly deducted money from the deposits of 2.34 million tenants or 16% of the UK’s renters, it has been claimed. Student lettings website SPCE, which started up last year and claims to have a 50,000 strong property inventory and deals with six universities in the UK, says its research among 2,000 tenants revealed that the problem was even worse among younger renters, who are less likely to know their rights. A quarter of younger tenants and 30% of students had seen their deposits returned with “unfair” deductions, it is claimed, while only 18% of all tenants have successfully challenged attempted deductions from their deposits by a letting agents or landlord. The research also reveals that many tenants lose a part of their deposits because of damage done by fellow housemates, or because of a problem created before they moved in but, presumably, not spotted when the move-in inventory was completed. The research follows figures published last year that revealed that landlords and agents took £1 billion from deposits, according to rental property interiors firm Hillarys. Leon Ifayemi, CEO and co-founder of SPCE (pictured, left), commented on the findings: “With rent prices at record highs, the financial…
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Latest property news
Commons committee measures up property industry for Brexit risk
The effect Brexit is likely to have on the property industry has been revealed by a House of Commons committee. Its research, published today, shows that 3% of the UK’s 43,000-strong sales, lettings and property management related workforce are EU nationals and 1.5% are non-EU nationals – or nearly five percent of the workforce in total. Based on ONS figures, the committee therefore concludes that if many of these people were to leave the UK and return to their home countries, it would not pose a threat. “The work of UK-based estate agents is primarily domestic and is generally not highly dependent on EU labour,” the report by the House of Commons Committee on Exiting the European Union says. Brexit: EU renters More problematical is the high number of ‘other nationalities’ who rent properties in the UK, the Brexit report suggests. It quotes the most recent English Housing Survey, which points to nearly a quarter of all privately rented accommodation being inhabited by EU nationals or those from outside Europe. The ‘other nationalities’ highlighted in the report also own 3.4% of all owner-occupied properties, although this is much higher in central London’s prime districts, and 8.4% of local authority –…
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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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Features
Rogue landlords and agents are not the norm
There are unscrupulous landlords who lock out their tenants and, says Frances Burkinshaw, there are rogue agents too, but they are not the norm!
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Latest property news
First system of star ratings for letting agents launched
A council in London is to introduce the UK’s first local star ratings for letting agents. The London Borough of Newham is to publish a ‘star rate’ for all agents advertising properties for rent or managing properties within the borough, giving them between one and five stars depending on their track record. The list will then be published on the council’s website and updated regularly. Newham has already rated local agents but until now has not published the detailed list of results. It says 71 per cent, or 109 businesses, are 3 stars or above, while 29%, or 43 agents, remain non compliant with the council’s Fair Lettings Projects and fall below 3 stars. As part of the initiative, the council has spent the past two years auditing all agents operating within the borough. Agent audit The audit looked at agent performance, compliance with the law, delivery of best practice, and customer feedback, as well as which agents have in the past “failed to refund deposits, pass on rental income, charged unjustified and astronomical fees or failed to address complaints”, the council says. After an agency has been awarded a star rating they have 21 days to appeal if they…
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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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