Nottingham Letting Agent Property Blog

The new measures introduced by the Chancellor in this week's budget are aimed at helping to boost homeownership, and include new homes and previously owned homes. It also included measures to help increase institutional investment in the private rental sector with an increase in the Build to Rent Fund. The increase in availability of 95% mortgages from next year onwards could affect the private rental sector, and quite understandably more tenants could be tempted to purchase their own homes. There are probably more than a few would-be first-time buyers who are unable to save up for a large deposit, but who...

Concerns are being raised over the viability of the development of the build to let sector that the government is keen to see develop. The Montague Report recommended encouraging institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers to pour money into the private rental sector, but experts feel the figures don’t add up, and that when properly costed up won’t provide sufficient yields to entice large investors into this sector.Instead they see encouraging private landlords to increase their portfolios, combined with raising standards of housing as being the way forward. They think it would be better for the industry if more...

Mortgage lending for last month declined by 1% compared to the previous month, and by 4% compared to a year ago. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed gross mortgage lending for August was £12.6 billion, compared to £13.1 billion in August 2011. Bob Pannell commented on these figures saying “House purchase activity continues to be a little above year-earlier levels, but the housing numbers are far from strong. We expect to see a stronger take-up of NewBuy over the coming months, helped by a concerted marketing effort by builders and the recently launched Funding for Lending Scheme, which has...

Those landlords who choose to rent the property out to students are being faced with increasing demand for better quality furnished properties. The typical student property used to be somewhere quite rundown with substandard furnishings, but this is no longer the case. This is forcing landlords to pay attention to the kind of property they have to offer in this sector. Experts think this is partially due to student expectations, as students typically rent property after leaving a comfortable family home, or have spent time in halls of residence that have undergone substantial updates during the last 10 years also. As...

New research by an online lettings agency has shown more than half of landlords within the private rental sector care whether or not they let to a man or woman, with gender typecasting being very much alive and well. Men are still perceived as being good at DIY and general maintenance, while women are seen as being tidy and clean. Not surprisingly the survey found landlords were more likely to be in favour of letting to couples, thereby getting the best of both worlds.According to some landlords, men are better tenants than women as they're more likely to know how to...

According to data from the English Housing Survey, the private rental sector is nearly the same size as the social housing sector, with both accounting for 17% of housing stock within England. The number of homes within the private rental sector has increased from 2.2 million to 3.7 million since 2001, while the number of properties owned by local authorities has decreased by 1 million to just 1.8 million homes. The number of properties owned by housing associations has risen from 1.4 million to 2 million. The total number of homes in the social housing sector is 3.8 million.These figures highlight...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) is hoping the forthcoming budget on March 21 will give a boost to the private rental sector. They are hoping the government will support growth of the private rental sector, and that landlords will be treated as entrepreneurial businesses. They point out supporting growth in this sector would encourage greater investment, which in turn would help boost the economy. There is still a healthy demand for good quality private rental homes, and there are 3.4 million tenants who rely on the private rental sector. This number has increased by 1 million since 2005.The association...

Latest figures show that just 66% of homes are owner occupied, down from a peak of 71% nine years ago. This means one third of homes are rented from the council or housing association, or are privately rented. This is the largest percentage seen since 1988 when the push towards home ownership was at its peak. It's no surprise to hear that the major obstacle facing young people is trying to afford a mortgage, and data from the Department for Communities and Local Government shows just 10% of homeowners are less than 35 years of age.Young people have been amongst the...

Latest research from an independent consultancy shows that in spite of newspaper reports about the burgeoning buy to let business, many professional landlords are feeling the pinch. Research by BDRC Continental, who is the largest independent market research consultancy in the UK, shows a substantial rise in the number of portfolio landlords making a loss. According to them the fourth quarter of last year showed that the number of portfolio landlords making a loss increased from 1% during the previous quarter to 8%. They classify portfolio landlords are those owning 20 properties or more. Their research also showed this group of...

Many homes in the UK suffer from being badly insulated, especially older terraced properties which are often ideal as rental homes, and this is once again drawing the attention of the Friends of the Earth and the Citizens Advice Bureau. They estimate some 680,000 tenants are living in poorly insulated homes and are being forced to either shiver through the winter, or to spend hundreds of pounds on heating. According to them, tenants living in homes which have an energy performance certificate of F or G are spending an average of £488 a year on extra fuel, with many unable to...

The government released its consultation on its Green Deal last week and announced an additional £200 million worth of funding including a special introductory offer which it is hoped will boost early uptake of the scheme. It's important for landlords because after 2018, rental properties must have a low EPC rating otherwise they will be banned from the market.Energy secretary Chris Huhne expects the initiative to decrease household fuel bills by up to 7% by 2020, but this will be partially offset by the £8 billion annual bill taxpayers which will fund new nuclear power stations, wind farms and a new...

The London Borough of Newham is looking at licensing all Private landlords, and recently started a 10 week consultation as to whether or not the scheme should go ahead. If it does, then Newham thinks it will be the first borough in England to implement such a scheme. The borough estimates that around a third of all households are in the private rented sector, which is around 35,000 homes, and is far higher than the national average. Newham has already tried out a pilot scheme, and has set up a team to stop the use of a substandard property as housing.The...