Tag Archives: finance
Research reveals lack of formal tenancy agreements in UK for residential property
One in 10 private landlords in the UK has no formal tenancy agreement in place with their tenants, new research has found. And where contracts are in place, landlords may unwittingly be asking tenants to sign documents that are not legally compliant, according to the survey by landlord insurance provider Direct Line for Business. Of the landlords who don’t use a letting agent some 58% used adapted tenancy agreements from either old agent contracts or other landlords or an updated template they found online at 38% and 20% respectively. It appears landlords employ letting agents when they first rent out the property, then use the old contract template when agreeing a direct rental with new tenants or upon renewal with their existing tenants. The study suggests that a lack of professionally reviewed tenancy agreements may explain why 13% of landlords have experienced disputes specifically arising from tenants’ rental contracts in the last two years. Also concerning, it says, is that 9% of landlords have not informed their tenants that their deposit is held in a government backed tenancy deposit protection scheme (TDP). This is despite the fact it’s a legal requirement that landlords provide the name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection scheme (TDP) and its dispute resolution service within 30 days of taking a deposit. The research also revealed that 4% of landlords have not taken any deposit from their tenants. ‘Tenants and landlords need a contract in place to protect both their interests. Contracts, deposits and deposit protection all help to make clear what is expected from each party when renting a property, and which can help minimise disputes where possible,’ said Nick Breton, head of Direct Line for Business. ‘If an old contract is adapted it may not comply with new legislation or be relevant for the current market. Given the volume of disputes arising from tenancy agreements it’s important to get the contract seen by a legal professional before it’s signed,’ he explained. ‘We understand that getting legal documents in place can be complicated which is why we’ve launched our new Legal Documents Service for landlords. Not only can this save landlords time and money, but creating the documents is both quick and easy, and most importantly, they can be reviewed by a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulated law firm to ensure they are legally compliant. Based on our research of solicitor prices, it is estimated each landlord using the service would save over £250,’ he added. When it comes to rights and protection, 38% of landlords in England have never heard of the government’s How to rent: the checklist for renting in England, which explains the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants while less than a third of landlords have supplied or directed tenants to this guide. Direct Line for Business has launched a… Continue reading
New home approvals recover in Australia after slow start to the year
New home approvals in Australia recovered in February after a decline in the first month of 2016, according to the latest data to be released. Home building approvals increased by 3.1% during February after beginning the year on a much slower note, says the new report from the Housing Industry Association (HIA). But there was a 1% fall in detached house approvals while the more volatile multi-unit segment achieved growth of 7.7% and over the year to February, new dwelling approvals totalled 232,194. According to HIA senior economist Shane Garrett the flow of data over recent months indicates that approvals may have hit their high point in the year to October 2015, with a record 239,250 approvals registered over that 12 month period. ‘The monthly lift in approvals activity during February is welcome but it seems increasingly likely that approvals peaked late last year and that the volume of new home building activity is set to ease as 2016 progresses,’ he said. ‘Our latest forecasts indicate that the about 200,000 new dwelling starts will take place during 2016, a reduction of 9.2%from last year. This would still represent a very high level of output by historic standards,’ he explained. ‘However, the risk remains that new home building output will fall below the levels required to meet long term demand. The onus remains on policy makers to tackle this problem, and confront issues like planning delays, land supply shortfalls and heavily inefficient taxes like conveyance stamp duty,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures shows that total seasonally adjusted new home building approvals saw the largest increase in Tasmania with growth of 24.5%, up 14.3% in New South Wales and up 9.5% in Queensland. Approvals declined in Victoria by 12.8%, in South Australia by 10.9% and in Western Australia by 7.6%. In trend terms, approvals saw a 9.2% fall in the Northern Territory but rose by 5% in the Australian Capital Territory. Continue reading
Housing market cooling in Sydney and Melbourne, latest index data shows
House price growth in Australian capital cities moderated in March with market conditions slowing in Sydney and Melbourne, according to the latest index. The remaining capital cities recorded a range of outcomes from small value increases to moderate declines, the data from the CoreLogic RP index shows. Overall prices increased by 0.2% to take capital city home values 1.6% higher over the first quarter of 2016. The quarterly increase in home values was broad based across the nation’s capitals, with Perth seeing a fall of 0.9% and Brisbane a fall of 0.1%. They were the only two cities to record negative movements in dwelling values over the past three months. ‘The March quarter rise in capital city dwelling values is in stark contrast to the first quarter of 2015, when values increased by 3% which is almost double the current pace of quarterly growth,’ said CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless. ‘However, compared with the final quarter of 2015 when capital city dwelling values were down 1.4% the housing market has shown a modest rebound in growth which is well below the strong capital gains recorded over the first half of 2015,’ he explained. But he added that the annual pace of home value appreciation across Australia’s capital cities highlights the slowing growth trend and year on year growth across the capital cities has now reached its lowest point in 31 months, with values up by 6.4% over the past 12 months. Furthermore, no Australian capital city has recorded an annual growth rate in the double digits over the past year. Melbourne has seen the strongest annual growth, with values up by 9.8% over the past 12 months. ‘The housing market has been losing momentum since July last year, when capital city dwelling values were increasing at the annual rate of 11.1%,’ Lawless pointed out. Overall the median price across the capital cities is now $550,000, a rise of 0.2% month on month, up 1.6% quarter on quarter and 6.4% year on year. A breakdown of the data shows that the median price in Sydney is $730,000, up 1% month on month, 2% quarter on quarter and 7.4% year on year while in Melbourne it is $560,000, down 0.6% month on month, up 2.2% quarter on quarter and 9.8% year on year. In Brisbane the median price is $470,000, down 1.2% on a monthly basis, down 0.1% quarter on quarter but up 4.5% year on year while in Adelaide the median is $415,000 with a 0.5% monthly rise, 2.4% growth quarter on quarter and up 3.2% year on year. In Perth the market is actually recovering with a median price of $495,000 which is up 1.2% month on month but down 0.9% quarter on quarter and own 2% year on year with Darwin seeing a similar picture with a median price of $505,000 which is up 2.1% month on month and 2.4% quarter on quarter but down 1.8% year on year. In Hobart the… Continue reading
