Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

Hi Ros,

I agree that this policy if implemented will make the homeless problem much worse.I can see it back firing on them.

It will make existing landlords like me switch to holiday lets or B&B.

Does anyone know anyone on the 'paragon panel?'

Here is its Q3 report which, at a headline level, is very upbeat.

http://www.paragon-group.co.uk/file_source/Files/MAIN/pdf/PRS%20Reports/PRS%20Trends%20Q3%202015.pdf

The summary concludes

"So, in all, this quarter’s results present a picture of a PRS sector that is neither booming nor contracting, but rather growing steadily. There is room for improvement and it will be interesting to see, in future reports, if macroeconomic concerns about the stock market and the Eurozone, and changes in tax and regulation such as those recently announced by the Chancellor, have an impact on sentiment. For the time being however, landlords are seeing steady growth and they expect to see this continue as demand for quality PRS accommodation
remains buoyant."

https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/10/is-generation-rent-being-overlooked

Reply to the comment left by "Bill Morgan" at "12/10/2015 - 01:04":

Hi Bill.
We did touch on the idea of switching to B&B a few days ago here. I'm wondering though if that would have to be an incorporated business, rather than an individual running it.
Kathy gave us a link on 'how to' set up and run a B&B, but that was about a traditional B&B for tourists - about having fluffy towels etc. What we would be looking at would be more like homeless hostels I expect! I wonder what rules and regulations there are about running those - maybe similar to HMO stuff, so that bit could be easy, but tax-wise I have no idea.
As for holiday lets, I already have a couple abroad with no mortgages on them, so I am thinking of getting mortgages on them to pay off a couple of houses over here. It all helps.

Reply to the comment left by "KATHY MILLER" at "12/10/2015 - 09:03":

That's an interesting one, Kathy. At last someone is saying something about the 'renters.' Of course private rentals are not to be encouraged though, only if they are built and run by large institutions, because all of a sudden, these are vastly superior to having homes built and/or run by ''individual' landlords.
There isn't any research to back this up; it is just true, because the Government now says it is.
On the other hand, everyone currently in the PRS is filled with anguish and sadness at having to rent off the 'individual' landlords (despite there actually being research on this; research which shows the vast majority of tenants are quite happy with their homes and landlords).

http://todayslandlord.co.uk/article-desc-4224_76-of-tenants-have-no-future-plans-to-buy-a-house-#.VhtyfuxViko

Right to Buy will cost councils £6bn

The extension of the Right to Buy scheme to housing association tenants will cost councils £6bn by 2020, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).

The analysis preceded David Cameron’s announcement at the Conservative Party Conference that the scheme will be extended to all housing associations.

Conducted by Savills for the LGA, it forecasts that 24,000 housing association tenants a year will buy their homes - with an average discount of £63,271 - under the Right to Buy extension.

This discount would total £1.5bn a year.

Councillor Peter Box, LGA housing spokesman, said: "Councils are ambitious to increase housebuilding across all tenures and support measures to help people into home ownership, but this offer must absolutely not be funded by forcing councils to sell-off their homes.

“This could result in additional costs for the government as more people move into the private rented sector and need housing benefit to afford higher rents.

"Rather than funding the sale of affordable homes by selling other affordable homes, councils can help the government raise money by building more new homes - we could raise £13 billion by developing surplus public sector land.”

The LGA said it is also disappointed that the National Housing Federation (NHF) has attempted to strike a deal to voluntarily deliver the Right to Buy extension by forcing the sale of council homes, and is pushing for an urgent meeting with ministers and the NHF to discuss the implementation of the scheme.

ARLA hits back at rent stabilisation measures

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has written back to the London Assembly Housing Committee’s investigation into the impact of rent stabilisation measures.

ARLA was responding to questions put to it by the Committee which included “Which rent stabilisation measures operate effectively in other countries?” and “What more can the mayor do to support the development of build-to-let and commercial landlords?”

David Cox, Managing Director of ARLA, said the association was not in favour of introducing rent stabilisation measures in the capital after a survey in March found that nearly three-quarters of its members said rent control would not benefit tenants.

“We’ve looked at Germany which is often viewed as one of the best examples of rent stabilisation in the world, but there are large costs involved for tenants as most properties are let bare without a kitchen or bathroom,” said David.

“In addition, in Belgium they have longer minimum tenancies lasting between three to five years which simply wouldn’t work in London where the fluidity of people coming and going for short periods is a common occurrence.”

David added that the challenge in London was to find new and imaginative ways of delivering good homes in safe and friendly neighbourhoods for a price that people can afford.

“We think that the stamp duty raised from London property sales should be kept in London to invest in more housing, and we would like to see the London Rental Standard become mandatory across the private rented sector,” added David.

6 in 10 tenants lack faith in housing crisis strategies
http://todayslandlord.co.uk/article-desc-3815_6-in-10-tenants-lack-faith-in-housing-crisis-strategies#.VhuB6-xViko
Author: Chanice Henry
Chanice Henry: Chanice graduated from Portsmouth University in June 2013 with her National Council of the Training of Journalists combined honours degree, which focused on both Journalism and English Language. She brings a spectrum of media experience to the table which covers The Times, the BBC and Portsmouth’s regional tabloid. Chanice joins the editorial team on the front line of sniffing out the newsworthy and aims to make her mark within the team with her innovative instincts.

Over 1 in 4 homeless due to revenge evictions

Jane Morris, Managing Director of Propertyletbyus.com comments: “This trend is on the increase and it looks set to continue as landlords face both difficult challenges and opportunities. Private landlords with housing benefit tenants have seen their rental income drop as a result of the bedroom tax. Tougher sanctions on jobseekers have not helped either. Also rising rent arrears during 2013 have given landlords no choice but to repossess their property. In fact, recent data shows that private landlords have made nearly 6,500 claims, up 11 per cent on 2013.

http://todayslandlord.co.uk/article-desc-3670_over-1-in-4-homeless-due-to-revenge-evictions#.VhuC8OxViko