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UK govt announces millions to tackle rogue landlords
Councils in the UK are to get a £5 million cash boost to tackle rogue landlords in their area, including raiding premises, it has been announced. Some 48 councils will share the funding so they can take on the irresponsible landlords that force tenants to live in squalid and dangerous properties, making their lives a misery. The cash will also allow councils to root out more ‘beds in sheds’. Since 2011 nearly 40,000 inspections have taken place in properties with over 3,000 landlords facing further enforcement action or prosecution. The funding will allow local authorities to carry out more raids, increase inspections of property, issue more statutory notices, survey more streets and to demolish sheds and prohibited buildings. Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said that the funding is part of a package of measures that will ensure millions tenants get a better deal when they rent a home. ‘Significant progress has already been made, now with £11.7 million distributed to councils to crack down on rogue landlords and d we have introduced protection for tenants against retaliatory eviction where they have a legitimate complaint and stopped landlords from serving an open-ended eviction notice at the start of a tenancy,’ he explained. ‘The measures will not hamper the vast majority of landlords who are diligent and responsible. Many private rental tenants are happy with their home and the service they receive, but there are still rogue landlords that exploit vulnerable people and force their tenants to live in overcrowded and squalid accommodation,’ he pointed out. Lewis said that the aim is not just to get rid of cowboy landlords but also to raise the quality and choice of rental accommodation across the sector. ‘The funding will ensure tenants know what level of service they can expect and have confidence to get help and take action if things go wrong,’ he pointed out. The funding to tackle rogue landlords is part of a package of proposals in the Housing and Planning Bill that includes the creation of database of rogue landlords and property agents convicted of certain offences and banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders. Civil penalties of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution will be introduced along with an extension of Rent Repayment Orders to cover illegal eviction, breach of a banning order or failure to comply with a statutory notice. There will also be a more stringent fit and proper person test for landlords of licensable properties such as Houses in Multiple Occupation and from 01 February 2016 landlords in England will have to carry out Right to Rent checks to ensure potential tenants have the right to rent property in the country. Continue reading
New home building in Australia reaches new high
New home building starts reached a new high in Australia in the third quarter of last year which is being hailed as good news for the country’s economy. The data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that they hit a quarterly record of 55,432. The high if 215,329 for the 12 months to September 2015 is some 15% up on the previous peak in 1994. ‘It is a stellar result not only for the residential construction industry, but for the wider economy. New home construction has posted one of its longest upcycles in history, providing substantial support to Australia’s economic output and levels of employment,’ said Harley Dale, chief economist of the Housing Industry Association (HIA). ‘We need a visionary outlook regarding the homes Australia has to build over the coming decades to house its growing and ageing population, while not forgetting to celebrate the fact that new home construction and its massive spinoff benefits has propped up the Australian economy at a time when no other sector has come to the party,’ he added. But there are considerable regional variations. A breakdown of the figures shows that new starts increased by 17.4% in the Northern Territory but only 2.4% in New South Wales, 1.7% in Western Australia, 1.2% in South Australia and 0.4% in ACT. At the other end of the scale new building starts fell by 20.7% in Tasmania, by 3.8% in Victoria and by 1% in Queensland, the ABS data also shows. Meanwhile, the latest housing finance figures for November 2015 show that total lending activity increased during the month, but still remains below the high point reached in August of last year. The value of investor lending increased by 0.7% in November, but was 7.7% lower than a year earlier. The value of owner occupier lending, net of refinancing was up by 1.7% and is some 22.8% higher than a year earlier. ‘This is a positive update for Australia’s housing sector, showing that lending activity remained healthy toward the end of last year. Lending activity among investors is still below what appears to be the cyclical peak back in April last year. More strength is evident in the owner occupier segment of the market, with the latest level of lending activity on par with recent highs,’ said HIA economist, Diwa Hopkins. She pointed out that the ABS figures also highlight that owner occupiers remain active in the new housing market, with the value of lending to those purchasing or constructing a new dwelling up by 0.7% during the month to 8.8% higher than a year previously. ‘These signals from housing finance are consistent with other indicators pointing to very healthy levels of activity in the residential construction sector in early 2016,’ added Hopkins. A breakdown of the figures show that new home lending to owner occupiers varied widely. It was up 96.6% in the Northern Territory, up 9.7% in… Continue reading
UK home owners confident about prices rises in 2016, latest sentiment index shoes
Households across the UK expect house prices to rise in 2016 believe that the value of their home rose in December, according to the latest research. People in London perceived the strongest rate of price growth over the course of the month, while households in the North West reported the most modest rate of growth, the data from the House Price Sentiment Index from Knight Frank and Markit Economics. The strongest growth expectation was in the East of England but the rate of growth expected over the next year eased in six of the 11 regions in January. The figures shows that 20.9% of the 1,500 households surveyed across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 3.6% said that prices had fallen. This resulted in a HPSI reading of 58.7. This is the thirty fourth consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. Any figure over 50 indicates that prices are rising, and the higher the figure, the stronger the increase. Any figure below 50 indicates that prices are falling. January’s reading was a slight decrease from the 59.4 recorded in December, but returns the index to the same level as seen in November. It is just slightly higher the average reading of 58.5 recorded throughout 2015, but remains below the peak of 63.2 in May 2014, reflecting the easing in average UK house price growth seen since then. Households in all of the 11 regions covered by the index reported that prices rose in January, led by households in London at 68.1 and the South East at 64.3, although in both cases these sentiment index readings were slightly lower than in December. The current sentiment index was lowest for the North West at 51.3 and the East Midlands at 52.3, indicating that households in these regions perceived the most modest rise in prices across the UK in January. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, rose slightly in January to 70.5 from December’s 70.3. This is the highest reading since June 2015, but remains below the peak of 75.1 reached in May 2014. Households in the East of England chalked up a record high reading for future house prices expectations at 81.1, indicating they anticipate the largest increase in the value of their home over the next 12 months. Londoners at 79.1 continue to expect strong growth in prices over the next year, with the highest reading for the region since May 2014. Meanwhile, there was a notable drop in the future reading for the North West, down from 67.5 to 62.3 in January, as well as Scotland, which fell to 61.8, down from 65.8 in December, and an average reading of 65.1 throughout 2015. Mortgage borrowers are the most confident that prices will rise over the next year at 76, followed by those who own their… Continue reading
