Tag Archives: london
UK Property Ombudsman calls for new Act to reflect developments in the sector
The UK’s Property Ombudsman has called for the introduction of a Property Agents Act as the current situation is not open or consistent enough. The call from Christopher Hammer, who is coming to the end of his nine year term as Ombudsman, believe the latest data shows that provisions do not go far enough in terms of disclosure for agents, tenants and landlords. The figures show that more than half of the 9,141 enquiries received related to lettings disputes, nearly double that of sales. Hammer says this reinforces the importance of legislation introduced a year ago, making it a legal requirements for all letting agents in England to register with an approved redress scheme. ‘A Property Agents Act would update the Estate Agents Act 1979 to reflect developments in the sales market and most relevantly now, bring lettings into a precise framework where all agent activity is covered by one piece of legislation,’ said Hammer. He has suggested licensing of agents, standardised tenancy agreements and compulsory client money protection could all be areas included in such an Act. The figures, published in The Property Ombudsman's 2015 Interim Report, reveal that membership levels have grown by 16% in the first half of the year. A total of 1,587 complaints, up 34% on the previous year, were resolved covering sales, lettings and other jurisdictions between 01 January and 30 June 2015. Some 3,641 additional sales and letting agents registered with TPO and a total of 34,944 agents registered with TPO across all jurisdictions, a 16% increase on the same period last year. Overall some 9,141 consumers contacted TPO regarding a property dispute, an 8% increase on the same period last year. More than half, 58%, of all the enquiries received were regarding lettings disputes with 5,303 enquiries logged, nearly double that of sales enquiries which represented 30%. Complaints grew by 34% overall with 1,587 cases reviewed, of which 934 were against letting agents, up 30%, and 596 were against sales agents, up 39%. Continue reading
London residential rental market strong, new reports suggest
The London rental market has bounced back to see rental values rise by more than 4% across most of central and east London with healthy gains seen across most of the rest of the city. The research by analysts at Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings cite the crippling effect of the new stamp duty rates on the sales market for the strong rental market as tenants eschew home ownership in favour of long term tenancies. The prime central London market saw strong gains last quarter after several quarters of stagnation, and continued to see strong growth this quarter, the data also shows. Many of the tenants are overseas professionals who are opting to rent long term as the cost of renting often represents a saving compared to purchasing a home in high value areas thanks to the 12% top rate of stamp duty. The rental market in east London is also very strong but for different reasons. The tenant demographic is typically younger and more likely to be British. However, many of these tenants are deliberately choosing to rent rather than own a property as a lifestyle choice, the report suggests. It explains that many of the millennial generation do not view home ownership as a goal and recognise that they can often afford to rent a much better property than they can afford to buy. Millennials are also a more mobile workforce who change jobs more frequently than previous generations. North London was one of the few areas to see rental values fall. A number of new developments in north London have seen the property supply increase. Locations on the Northern Underground Line have also fallen as the Central Line interchange at Tottenham Court Road has been suspended for several months while the station is rebuilt for Crossrail. ‘From an investors' perspective, it is very interesting to observe demographic changes. One of the reasons the rental market tends to remain so strong in areas such as east London is because these areas attract Millennials who are content to rent long term,’ said Marc von Grundherr, lettings director at Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings. ‘They're simply not willing to scrimp and save for years to afford a deposit but prefer to live for the moment. This concept even extends to where they choose to rent as they'd much rather live somewhere central close to good bars and restaurants than commute in from more affordable areas. For as long as East London remains hip and trendy, it will continue to attract good quality tenants,’ he added. Separate research from JLL also suggests that the lettings market in London is strong. According to Tom Middleditch, associate director of the firm’s Kensington office said September was particularly strong and added that landlords should still see this as the ideal month for their properties to be coming available. ‘Taking the months of August and September, we seen a 49% increase in tenancies starting than in the… Continue reading
Residential rents in Scotland up at less than a third in England and Wales
Scottish rents are rising at less than a third of the rate seen in the rest of Britain, amidst the controversy of the new Private Housing Bill, according to a new buy to let index report. Average Scottish rents have risen just 1.7% in the past year, less than a third of the rate currently being witnessed in England and Wales, according to the data from lettings agent network Your Move. Year on year the index show that while rents across England and Wales have increased by 6.3% in the past 12 months, annual rent growth in Scotland has plateaued after a summer uplift. The data also shows that rents in Scotland fell 0.3% from August to September 2015, the second consecutive monthly drop in Scottish rents, meaning that the typical rent in Scotland is now 0.8% lower than at its summer peak in July. The average monthly rent in Scotland was £545 in September 2015, compared to £549 in July 2015. However this is 33.3% cheaper than in England and Wales during September. ‘All eyes are on the proposed reforms to the private rented sector in Scotland, but there is a crucial element missing to the debate. Rents are not going up quickly enough to warrant the staggering rise in tenant arrears we’re seeing. Rather, tenant finances have much more to do with deeper rooted societal problems of salaries and employment levels,’ said Brian Moran, lettings director at Your Move Scotland. ‘Over the summer we witnessed a short term surge in rent prices, but this has been superseded more recently with a slower rate of rent growth, which doesn’t even come close to what we’re witnessing south of the border. Scottish rents have been falling for the past few months, and realigning to calmer levels for the autumn. This is even more extraordinary when you consider we’ve just weathered peak lettings season. It’s certainly not a sector spiralling out of control,’ he explained. ‘This auto-correction, and natural flow of the lettings market will be disrupted by artificial interventions from the Government. Private sector landlords could soon face a regulatory minefield, and this may dissuade future investment into buy-to-let at a time when we need to be the sector to grow, not contract. Ultimately, where the supply of rental properties uncouples from demand, rent growth will be massively thrown out of kilter, and tenants will find themselves even more exposed,’ he added. A breakdown of the data shows that all but one region of Scotland has seen rents increase over the past year. The strongest annual rent growth has been recorded in the Highlands and Islands, with rents up 6.4% since September 2014 to reach a new high of £572 per month. This represents the fifth consecutive month that annual rent growth has accelerated in this region, and the fastest year on year increase on record… Continue reading
