Category: Real Estate

Leasehold reforms making their way through parliament may subject the next government to a “colossal” £30bn black hole if passed, according to the Residential Freehold Association.  

The freeholders trade body has written the UK’s finances watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, to warn that the Bill’s plans to cap ground rent and regulate service charges could leave the government open to huge compensation claims.  

It says the moves “would fundamentally rewrite millions of long-term standard leasehold contracts relied upon by investors such as pensioners, charities and other major institutions”.    

This would “inevitably” lead to a legal challenge under Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the association says.  

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, introduced last November by housing secretary Michael Gove, plans to boost the rights of people who live in the 4.77 million leasehold homes in England, which accounts for 19% of the nation’s housing stock.    

The Renters Reform Bill and years of bureaucratic fiasco appear testament to the performance of failed government policy over decades resulting in too much demand for homes.

Changing millions of existing tenancy contracts is a dumb and unfair solution to an obvious problem. According to Shelter, around 1 in 1000 tenancies result in a bailiff eviction, this is low by any definition.

The six month AST gives landlords and tenants known rights, it’s introduction has allowed some 5 million homes to be made available to renters. A remarkable achievement.

When someone takes a tenancy, it would be sensible if they are given a probationary period and not a home for life. If they want a home for life, the banks should lend to them (which of course many won’t). The landlord should be able to decide if they want to continue the tenancy and issue Section 21 if they don’t.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner (pictured) said that the government has “caved in to vested interests” of its backbenchers around no-fault evictions.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions today, Rayner said: “The reality is he caved into vested interests on his backbenches and delayed justice… This week, the housing minister says there is no solid date for banning no-fault evictions, and the housing secretary now says it won’t happen before an election.”

Rayner said that millions of families were at risk of homelessness due to the government not banning this “cruel practice”.

She continued: “Instead of the obsessing over my house, when will he get a grip and show the same obsession with ending no-fault evictions?”

Rayner is referring to questions arising around whether she paid the right amount of capital gains tax on the council house she sold in 2015. The police have opened an investigation into the affair.

Mortgage brokers should recommend their landlord clients see a tax adviser to cope with the higher rate environment, it was said at the Mortgage Solutions Buy to Let Event.

During a panel session, Louisa Ritchie, key account manager at Fleet Mortgages, and James Forth, head of sales at Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages, said the buy-to-let (BTL) market was performing better than last year as lower rates, product choice and improved yields spurred landlords on.

However, one delegate said as a broker, they were still seeing landlords struggle to refinance onto a higher rate as it reduced their cash flow. 

Forth agreed and said some landlords would be faced with “serious cash flow restrictions” and possible “negative equity”. 

He said professional landlords could seek tax advice and consider borrowing through a limited company, as some were “slow to switch on with what was happening” and were seeing the downsides to borrowing in their personal name. 

New changes to planning rules mean rogue landlords who illegally convert HMOs could face an unlimited fine.

As part of the government’s Levelling-up and Regeneration Act, local councils will be better able to hold property developers who repeatedly fail to comply with planning permission to account, as well as those who refuse to deal with run-down properties.

Anyone failing to build in the right place will also face unlimited fines, while the rules make it harder for rulebreakers to seek future planning permission.

Enforcement limits will be increased from four to 10 years so councils have more time to stop developments without planning approval, and temporary stop notices will be doubled to 56 days to suspend all works if a council suspects building has gone ahead despite permission not being granted.

S lawmakers are clamping down on Wall Street landlords after they spent billions of dollars scooping up family homes during the pandemic.

Democrats in the Senate and House are sponsoring legislation which would force investment funds that own single-family homes to sell up. In Ohio, a Republican-led bill could drive out institutional owners through taxation. 

Companies backed by Wall Street have been on a home-buying frenzy in recent years. In 2022, more than one in every four single-family home sold was bought by an investment firm.

Two of the largest companies are Invitation Homes and AMH, both publicly-traded companies. Both count giant asset mangers like BlackRock and hedge funds as investors.

In a presentation last month, Invitation Homes labelled itself ‘the nation’s premier single-family home leasing and management company.’

‘m thinking about purchasing my first ever buy-to-let property. I know the city I want to buy it in and even have a couple of developments in mind.

The problem is, I’m unsure whether I should buy the flat with a repayment mortgage or an interest only mortgage.

The mortgage broker I spoke to said it was normal for landlords to buy with interest-only but that sounds rather reckless to me.

My question is, why do some buy-to-let investors prefer to buy with interest only mortgages? What are the advantages? Surely there is some sense in sticking with a repayment mortgage and paying down the debt.

Landlords are seeing more opportunities in houses in multiple occupation (HMO) and multi-unit block (MUB) properties, it was said at the Mortgage Solutions Buy to Let Event.

Speaking about the rebounding activity in the market and the changing borrower profile, Louisa Ritchie, key account manager at Fleet Mortgages, said: “Going forward, the type of landlord is evolving and will evolve even more.” 

She said there were more first-time landlords joining the sector and existing landlords were taking opportunities to build their portfolios. 

James Forth agreed, adding: “We’re seeing more people get involved with houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), multi-unit blocks (MUBs).” 

He said this used to be associated with students and low-quality housing, but with the challenges around homeownership, there was now more professionalisation in this part of the market. 

Court fees for getting rid of problems tenants are rising an inflation-busting 10pc in another blow for landlords.

Fees for recovering land will increase by £36 to £391 from today, whereas sealing a writ of control or possession in the High Court will now cost £78.

Issuing a warrant of possession, which allows bailiffs to evict occupiers from a property, will now cost £143, up £13. The fee for an urgent High Court Possession Order is set to rise to £626, whereas a general application fee will increase to £119. 

Court fees are typically reviewed by the Government every two years but this is the first time that costs have risen since September 2021.

It comes as the Government forges ahead with plans to ban so-called no-fault evictions, which allow landlords to bypass much of the bureaucracy of the legal system, despite backlogs in the courts.