Tag Archives: guides
New campaign launched to help residential landlords in the UK
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has launched its latest campaign in the UK, Reinventing Renting, which identifies opportunities for landlords to enhance their lettings businesses. The campaign is designed to help landlords transform their businesses into more successful profitable enterprises and it contains useful resources, guides and presentations, including how to choose the right investment, improve financial planning and expand portfolios and maximise gains. It also looks at how to reduce exposure to a range of risks associated with letting property, such as impending interest rate rises, rent arrears and rogue tenants. The campaign focuses on supporting landlords who are struggling to turn a profit by exploring different business approaches and tenant markets, while providing assistance for landlords looking to make their business more profitable. It comes as changes announced earlier this year in the Summer Budget and the Autumn Statement a few weeks ago are set to seriously affect profitability within the sector. ‘As the leading landlord association we’re here to provide landlords with all the tools and information needed to make a success of letting,’ said Carolyn Uphill, chairman of the NLA. ‘Over the next few months, Reinventing Renting will look at some of the key issues for landlords and provide support and tips to improve the way they run their business,’ she explained. ‘The campaign has something for both new and experienced landlords and will be particularly useful for those who are struggling to make things work or worried about how the changes to mortgage interest taxation will affect them in the future,’ she added. Continue reading
North West of England named as most lucrative region for PRS landlords
The North West of England is the most lucrative region in the UK for private rented sector landlords with Manchester and Liverpool coming out top for rental yields. The latest quarterly report from online property marketplace LendInvest also shows that Cardiff, Coventry and Oldham come next, followed closely by Sunderland, Blackburn and Durham The report, which tracks changes in trends in rental yields, capital gains and landlords’ total return on investment, also shows that London and the South East lead house price growth. Indeed, all of the top 15 performing postcode areas for capital gains are located in London and the surrounding area. However, inner London takes only 18th place for rental yield, but is top for capital gains Overall, capital gains continue to track average house price and 80% of the 15 best postcode areas for capital gains also feature in the top 15 for average house prices. However, the report points out that rental yields are no indication of average house price. Only one of the top 15 postcode areas for rental yield also features in the top 15 for house prices. Christian Faes, chief executive officer of LendInvest, believes that tax changes could impact the market next year. ‘There could be some weakening in London’s dominance of capital gains tables if house price growth does soften slightly as forecast, and as new buy to let stamp duty hikes take effect,’ he said. ‘Inner London margins may narrow slightly, creating opportunities for house prices in other postcode areas, particularly those in the south of England, to better compete,’ he added. But he also explained that changes to mortgage interest tax relief and stamp duty for landlords will help to professionalise the buy to let market and this would benefit tenants and aspiring home owners. ‘Landlords whose tax payments under the new regime make letting their properties unsustainable, may make arrangements to leave the market. In turn, we will see fewer highly geared rental properties that push up prices and take stock out of the housing supply for aspiring owner occupiers and first time buyers drawn to densely populated urban area for work,’ explained Faes, He also said that across the country there is still no one place for market leading yields and capital gains and 2016 could be the year of the ‘cross country landlords’, professional landlords who live in one city and rent out houses in another. ‘We could expect to see more landlords letting property in the North and Midland’s major urban areas for more immediate upside, without moving from their family homes in which gains can be longer to materialise,’ he added. Continue reading
New funding model announced to bring hundreds of shared ownership homes to London
A pioneering funding model with input from major institutional investors means that 1,000 new homes for shared ownership will be built in London. London Mayor Boris Johnson said that it will make home ownership accessible to many more people and described it as a significant boost to his plans which have already seen 52,000 helped into shared ownership homes through his First Steps programme. He said that he aims to double the number of shared ownership units built in London by 2020 and has also directed the Greater London Authority to begin purchasing land in areas suitable for further shared ownership developments. The latest two investments with Chaco Ltd and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham working with institutional investors have been allocated £45 million from the Mayor's First Steps Challenge Fund. A further £120 million from long term private sector investment will add to the Mayor's loan funding. The fund is aimed at attracting investment from institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies to build part buy, part rent housing for low and middle income Londoners. It is expected to attract more than double its initial investment, providing strong value for the taxpayer. The Fund adds to successful efforts to encourage institutional investment for the purpose-built private rented sector, building a bigger pool of investors and new providers to support house building. The GLA will explore purchasing land in areas, such as Housing Zones, where the shared ownership model could be expanded. This would ensure vacant plots are put to productive use and preserve the developments for shared ownership properties. The GLA has successfully brought to market all of its surplus sites since the Mayor was elected, providing almost 50,000 new homes, and will now look to make acquisitions where it will accelerate or unlock new homes. ‘This scheme is a brilliant way to open up home ownership to Londoners on modest incomes, making the first step on the property ladder just that little bit easier. We've already helped 52,000 Londoners to buy their first home and realise their dream, and I'm very pleased that the first institutional investors have come on board through my First Steps Challenge Fund,’ said Johnson. ‘This is a great vote of confidence in a housing model which is incredibly popular with consumers, and we need to see more of it in London,’ he added. The first investment under the First Steps Challenge Fund scheme will be delivered in partnership with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and part-funded by institutional investors, and result in up to 500 new shared ownership homes by 2020. The Greater London Authority will contribute £22.5 million to the development, which will be more than matched by pension funds and other institutional investors, and repaid within 15 years with interest. The second investment will be delivered in partnership with Chaco Ltd, an organisation that provides institutional non-bank funding for housing associations and registered providers, to build 500… Continue reading
