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British landlords urged to check tenancy deposits ahead of June deadline
Landlords in the UK have until later in June to comply with new legislation on tenancy deposits which clears up confusion created by a loophole in the law. Tenancy Deposit Protection schemes have been in place since 06 April 2007 but a court ruling said that any tenancy which began before that date but was renewed or became a statutory periodic after that date was deemed to be a new tenancy and therefore the deposit had to be re-protected. This created confusion as legally deposits that had been correctly protected suddenly became unlawful. This has now been addressed by the Deregulation Act 2015 which came into force in March requiring all landlords to comply by 23 June so that all tenancies are protected under one of the government authorised schemes. For deposits taken before the 06 April 2007 and where the tenancy became periodic prior to this date, landlords and agents aren’t required to protect the deposit however, they won’t be able to serve a section 21 notice to regain possession of the property unless the deposit is protected with a tenancy deposit scheme. The Association of Residential Agents (ARLA) is urging all landlords to check that they comply with the regulations before the deadline. If landlords fail to comply they could be liable for sanctions which include a potential claim by the tenant for compensation of up to three times the amount of the deposit paid and find themselves unable to bring a tenancy to an end through a Section 21 notice. The protection of tenant deposits is always a hot topic in the private rented market and something that often causes the greatest amount of disagreement between tenants and landlords. Following a number of high profile court cases where landlords have been challenged by tenants for up to three times the deposit amount and on the enforcement of notices to quit, there is now greater clarity on what landlords should and should not do. ‘The new Act provides clarity on the tenancy deposit protection regulations in practice, especially with regard to whether the pre 06 April 2007 deposits fall under the protection rules. The onus is on landlords to adhere to the new rules and ensure they’re compliant,’ said Fran Mulhall, regional operations manager at property rental specialists GFW Letting. ‘I think the deposit protection ruling from the Act can only be seen as a positive change, however I think there is a danger of detrimental effects that the Act might unintentionally encourage, relating specifically to the Section 21 notice to quit. The Deregulation Act has altered the rules regarding serving notice to quit, namely the timing in which the notice can be served and the period of notice required to be given to the tenant,’ Mulhall pointed out. ‘Landlords who had been served with a local authority improvement notice for failing to carry out repairs requested by the tenant within a timeframe could fall foul to the… Continue reading
Canadian property sales up for fourth month in a row
Nationally home sales in Canada have increased for the fourth month in a row, up 3.1% from April to May and prices are up 8.1% year on year. Actual, not seasonally adjusted, activity is now 2.7% above May 2014 levels although the he number of newly listed homes was little changed from April to May, according to the latest index data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. CREA said that the Canadian housing market remains balanced overall put national figures are being skewed by exceptional prices in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto. If these are excluded than the year on year price increase is just 2.4%. The data shows that national sales activity is at its highest level in more than five years and transactions were up from the previous month in about 60% of all local markets, led by increases in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal. One factor that could be responsible for the sales growth, however, is that “mortgage default insurance premiums increased at the beginning of June and this may have encouraged buyers to complete in May top beat the rise. Year on year price growth accelerated in May in all home categories tracked by the index with the exception of one storey single family homes. Two storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year on year price gains with a rise of 7.18% while the price of one storey single family homes increased by 4.11%, townhouse/row units by 4.09% and apartments by 2.91%. Annual price growth varied among housing markets tracked by the index. Greater Vancouver saw the biggest rise at 9.41% followed by Greater Toronto at 8.9%. Fraser Valley, Victoria, and Vancouver Island all recorded year on year gains of about 4% in May. The data also shows that price gains in Calgary continued to slow, with a year on year increase of just 1.21% in May. This was the smallest gain in more than three years and the eleventh consecutive monthly slowdown in year on year price growth. Elsewhere, prices held steady in Saskatoon and Ottawa, rose slightly in Greater Montreal and fell by about 3% in Regina and Greater Moncton. CREA chief economist Gregory Klump pointed out that sales in and around the Greater Toronto area played a major role in the monthly increase in May sales. ‘At the same time, the rebound in sales over the past few months in Calgary and Edmonton suggests that heightened uncertainty among some home buyers in these housing markets may be easing,’ he said. The number of newly listed homes was virtually unchanged, down 0.2% in May compared to April. The CREA report says that this reflects an even split between housing markets where new listings rose and where they fell, with little monthly change for new listings in most of Canada’s largest and most active urban markets. The national sales to new listings ratio was 57.6% in May, up from a low… Continue reading
London sees steep fall in property price growth, latest ONS figures show
UK house prices increased by 5.5% in the year to April 2015, down from 9.6% in the year to March 2015, according to the latest official figures, but London saw an even steeper decline. The data from the Office of National Statistics shows the growth in prices in London fell from 11.2% in the year to March to 4.3% over the 12 months to April. This is the lowest rate of growth in the capital city since October 2012. A regional breakdown shows that house price annual inflation was 5.8% in England, 1.3% in Wales, 2.2% in Scotland and 8.8% in Northern Ireland. Overall the pace of annual house price growth has fallen across the majority of the UK but increases in England were driven by an annual increase in the East of 9.6% and the South East of 8.4%. Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 5% in the 12 months to April 2015 and on a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices fell by 1.3% between March and April 2015. The data also shows that in April 2015, prices paid by first time buyers were 5.8% higher on average than in April 2014. For existing owners prices increased by 5.4% for the same period. Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, commented that property values in the East and South East of England have seen the biggest boosts on a yearly basis, while annual growth in the capital has more than halved in the month since March. ‘But this was simply part of a wider slowdown submerging the country in April, when we were still wading through competing election promises, and when demand at the highest rungs of the market was being dampened by a possible mansion tax,’ he said. ‘Now the ink has dried on the ballot papers, we’re back onto firmer territory. More recent barometers of the property market indicate favourable conditions with low mortgage rates and cheaper stamp duty costs keeping demand for homes buoyant, and carrying along a tide of buyer confidence,’ he explained. ‘At the frontline of the property market, we’ve already seen a 5% jump in new buyer registrations since May, and we’ll soon see a new offensive in activity levels as a result, which will help the onward march of price growth,’ he added. According to Graham Davidson, managing director of Sequre Property Investment, pre-election jitters and uncertainty will have no doubt been a key factor in London’s slowdown, along with the shift in buying patterns of overseas buyers, who for many years over fuelled the market but are now favouring other areas that offer better and more stable long term returns. ‘Away from London and the south east, the majority of the country is experiencing more modest growth and in areas such as the North West where growth is at 3.1%, there are a wealth of opportunities for those looking to make their capital… Continue reading
