Antony Antoniou MAPD, has been involved in property for over two decades, in developing, sales and rental. With an inherent love of property and a comprehensive knowledge of Northampton and the surrounding area, he is well placed to deal with all aspects of the sales process, from sourcing, valuing, marketing and sales progression.
There is an unscrupulous element within the Estate Agency business who cynically and calculatedly exploit people by misleading them about the value of their most valuable asset, their home. These people know EXACTLY what they are doing and they shame the word ‘professional’ because they knowingly over-value property to win the listing, justify a higher fee or upfront costs, knowing full well, that once your ‘cooling off’ period is over, you are tied to them for weeks or months, so they then set about manipulating their clients in every way possible, to pressure them to reduce the price of their home.
Always look at the evidence, how did they really value your home?
For further information, valuations, marketing, help finding your next home, or if you would like further information on BUYING, SELLING, INVESTING, OR RENOVATING, please feel free to contact me directly.
The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that Section 21 notices issued by landlords are valid provided a gas safety certificate is issued before the notice is given to the tenant, not before a tenant moves into a property.
The case of Trecarrell v Rouncefield focussed on the relationship between Section 21 notices and gas safety certificates.
The landlord, Trecarrell House Limited, was initially granted an order to repossess the property using Section 21 powers, but the tenant successfully appealed on the grounds that they were not provided with a gas safety certificate before moving into the property.
However, the Court of Appeal ruled that failure to give the gas safety certificate before the tenant begins to occupy can be remedied by giving it at any time before service of a Section 21 notice.
The case itself was heard earlier this year and landlords in England and Wales have been waiting for the outcome of this important decision.
The judgment hinged on whether a landlord’s failure to provide a gas safety certificate before the tenant’s occupation is a breach of the prescribed requirements to serve a valid Section 21 notice under the Housing Act 1988.
This was a particularly important case as a mistake by a landlord or its agent would have consequences far greater than other breaches of legislation, which can be remedied or resolved in order to serve a fresh notice.
Without the ability to serve a section notice at any point in a tenancy the rights of landlords would be seriously curtailed and could prevent the use of possession of a property in future where the landlord has no other grounds to secure possession.
The leading ruling from Lord Justice Pattern, which will be welcomed by so many landlords, states: “Although the point is not straightforward, I am not therefore persuaded that for the purposes of Section 21 the obligation to provide the gas safety record to a new tenant prior to the tenant taking up occupation cannot be complied with by late delivery of the gas safety record.
“Late delivery of the document does provide the tenant with the information he needs. If a breach has the consequence for which Cherry contends then that must apply in every case of late delivery even if the delay is only minimal. This seems to me an unlikely result for Parliament to have intended particularly in the light of the express rejection of the 28 day deadline under paragraph (6)(a).
“Many ASTs are granted for fixed periods of one year or less so that in practice the landlord’s inability to rely upon section 21 will provide a strong incentive for the timely compliance with paragraph (6)(b).
“As a matter of construction, I, therefore, prefer the view that as a result of regulation 2(2) the time when the landlord “is in breach” of paragraph (6)(b) ends for the purposes of Section 21 once the gas safety record is provided.”
But landlords should ensure that all other requirements such as deposit protection, for instance, are fully compliant as they can affect the validity of a Section 21 notice.
Tony Kent, head of the property litigation team at Mackrell Solicitors, said:“For landlords, this decision comes as an enormous relief since the consequences of the ruling of the lower courts have seemed disproportionately severe for them, especially when there is a gas safety record in existence and the landlord or their agent had either forgotten to serve it or the tenant has denied receipt at the beginning of the tenancy.”
Estate agents are likely to get through the next five to six months even if the market falls away – but November is most likely the critical month.
That’s the forecast from the chief executive of property recruitment firm Rayner Personnel who says the immediate future should be easy for agents to get through.
This is because portal fees are on offer and the furlough scheme is still at its most generous.
However, Josh Rayner is forecasting problems later in the year.
“[There’s] a problem coming down the tracks as the government support starts to dilute because it’s as this happens that cashflow will potentially be most vulnerable – a combination of landlords insisting on backdated rent payments, Rightmove and Zoopla support waning and an absence of deal completions from a barren lockdown period – all make for a collision of circumstances that some agencies may not easily cope with come November” he forecasts.
From the end of the summer estate agency employers like every other will be required to support the cost of furlough in respect of funding employer national insurance and pension contributions.
From September an additional 10 per cent will have to be paid by agency owners as government insists employers pay the difference between the current 80 per cent furlough threshold and a revised 70 per cent government contribution – and then 60 per cent from October.
Using government data, Rayner calculates that there are 51,000 estate agents working in the UK; on top of that there are countless support and head office staff not identified in official figures.
Typically an estate agent in the UK earns £28,800 annually according to the average from the Office for National Statistics and other sources; on that basis, the total salary burden for the whole agency industry would be up to £122m per month once furloughing is scrapped entirely.
Data released this morning by Rightmove suggests that agents in England have agreed no fewer than 40,000 sales since the market reopened little more than four weeks ago.
The data, from Rightmove, shows that over the past month in total sales are still down some 36 per cent on the comparable period last year; however, a snapshot from early June alone shows that sales are running at just three per cent lower than a year ago.
The portal – in another statement showing how influential it believes itself to be in the sales process – says 10 of its busiest-ever traffic have been recorded in the past month.
The busiest single day for time spent on the site was Saturday June 6 with people collectively spending over 955,000 hours.
This rush of demand has had an effect on prices too.
The portal says asking prices in England are now some 1.9 per cent more than they were in the beginning of March, the last time there was sufficient data to make a meaningful comparison. This data applies to England only, as the market is still restricted in Scotland and Wales thanks to Coronavirus lockdowns.
New supply in England is also starting to recover, though there are over 175,000 missing sellers that would have come to market between March 24 and May 12 when compared to the same period in 2019.
“Whilst it’s still early days, Rightmove’s statistics covering 95 per cent of the market indicate far more resilience than had been expected, with a strong initial bounce-back in all metrics” reports the portal.
Rightmove has made a specific analysis of over 7,000 newly agreed sales provided by major corporates and property groups, and this study indicates that buyers are agreeing to pay closer to the asking price than they were at the beginning of the year.
In recent weeks, buyers were having offers accepted at 97.7 per cent of the last advertised asking price on Rightmove; although these sales have not yet completed, they are the most up-to-date view of sales agreed prices until completion data is available in a few months’ time.
Analysis of completion data from Land Registry for February shows an average of 96.6 per cent achieved of the last advertised price on Rightmove.
“This indicates that sales agreed after the market reopened have not only shown price stability but a likelihood of modest upwards price pressure” says the portal.
The new YOUhome Property Gurus agency has announced another key hire to strengthen its central London activities.
The agency, set up by Adrian Black, offers its so-called ‘Property Gurus’ a salary, commission, administration support, marketing support and access to PlatformYOU, which provides up to the minute aggregated market data and supports vendor management.
Now it’s revealed that it has appointed Chris Shaw to cover the Notting Hill and Bayswater area – Shaw has spent seven years at boutique agency Domus Nova and was previously head of sales for Hamptons International at its Hyde Park office.
YOUhome chief operating officer Laurence Lai says Shaw’s move to the new agency “reflects a seismic shift in the industry where good estate agents can enjoy the freedom to express themselves, provide a better service to their clients, take higher commissions and work flexibly whilst having the platform and resources.”
YOUhome Property Gurus became fully operational in London in 2017 and claims to have the most experienced sales team in London, with their least experienced guru having 12 years in the business and their most 30 years.
Collectively the agency’s sales team has sold almost 5,000 Prime and outer Prime London properties.
The housing market in Northern Ireland is resuming on Monday after its lockdown because of the Coronavirus crisis.
Arlene Foster, first minister of Northern Ireland, says: “The real estate industry has the highest multiplier effect in the economy and I’m therefore pleased to announce that our Coronavirus Regulations will be amended to permit house moves for the sale of homes from Monday 15 June.
“This will incorporate the full end-to-end process from viewing to securing a mortgage and the house move itself. Guidance has been provided on all aspects of the house moving process and the Department for Communities plan to engage further with stakeholders.”
Propertymark says it’s been working with the Northern Ireland Executive to guide on the restoration of the market.
“We have been developing best practice guidelines which will overlay Executive Guidance. These will be shared exclusively with members in Northern Ireland in the coming days. Up-to-date resources including a Propertymark Covid-19 Checklist for agents and Consumer Guides are already available” says Propertymark.
Today is one month since the government lifted restrictions on agents and the housing market – and since that time the largest increase in business has been for mortgages.
In the past month the total mortgage search volumes using FinTech service Twenty7Tec has doubled from 479,000 searches to 955,000.
“We’ve also seen the volumes of first time buyers’ searches quadruple since that announcement. First Time Buyers accounted for 39.4 per cent of all purchase searches in the past month – up from a lockdown low of 31.82 per cent just days before the [market opening] announcement” explains James Tucker, Twenty7Tec’s chief executive.
He adds: “There are still some major challenges ahead. Payment holidays are now in place for one in seven UK mortgages and we need to see how those are going to transition back to normal payments in challenging employment conditions.
“Lenders are also withdrawing from the 90 per cent Loan To Value market which is going to make it harder for first time buyers to play their role in the market. So, it’s also quite possible that this will constrain the government’s housing-led economic recovery.
“We hope that there’s a new price point that emerges quickly between first time buyers and lenders that will continue to reinvigorate the market. Currently, demand well outstrips supply with only 50 per cent of the volumes of mortgage products available pre-Covid now available.”
Rupert and Annabel Wakley – both long-time stalwarts of Knight Frank’s country department – have moved over to the rival Jackson-Stops agency.
Rupert is to head up the Chipping Campden branch of Jackson-Stops, following 15 years at Knight Frank where he was most recently partner and office head of the Stow-on-the-Wold office in Gloucestershire.
Prior to that he spent eight years at the Knight Frank Stratford-upon-Avon office.
Meanwhile Annabel will be heading the Chipping Campden lettings operation for Jackson-Stops, having left her role as head of lettings for Knight Frank’s Stratford-upon-Avon office.
“We’re delighted to welcome Rupert Wakley to Jackson-Stops. His commitment and expertise in growing and developing offices within this region is impressive and we are looking forward to seeing Rupert, Annabel and the team continue to build on Jackson-Stops’ high-quality service in the area” says Jackson-Stops chairman Nick Leeming.
“Although a lot has changed in the last few months since Covid-19, I am looking forward to embracing our ‘new normal’ with Annabel and the team, building on our strong links with the local community, and continuing to share our knowledge and love of the Cotswolds with our clients and buyers alike” says Rupert Wakley.
“Our sales team has already hit the ground running, securing a deal on a home, which was valued at just under £2m and sold within a week.”
Before establishing his career in the estate agency industry, Rupert Wakley was a professional jump jockey for 10 years, riding some 250 winners including Wandering Light, which he took to victory at the Cheltenham Festival.
Rightmove has contacted all member agents saying it has enhanced its automated online viewing feature first introduced in April.
As part of the government recommendations when re-opening the housing market, it urged the industry to maximise the use of virtual viewings.
Rightmove is now telling agents they can give vendors the opportunity to request an online viewing when they send a lead.
This option can in turn be used by the agent to send a link to a video hosted on their own website, or to have a video walkthrough using a video calling app.
A message to agents from Dave Anderson, agency and new homes director at the portal, says:
“We’ll be releasing this new feature over the next week. We’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready to use and we’ll give you a step by step guide on how to do it.
“We’re telling you in advance that this improved feature, included as part of your Rightmove membership, is coming soon so you can arrange to get new video content in whatever way you think will work best for you, your customers and the current government coronavirus guidance in your area.”
He says the initiative is part of Rightmove’s 10 point plan, released a fortnight ago.
Anderson adds in his note to agents: “We know that you have a lot on your plate at the moment – we hope that you’re able to make use of the improved Online Viewing features to cut down on the number of physical viewings you need to carry out and better prioritise your hottest leads.”
There was no reference to the long-term fees issue which has been a focus of agency anger in recent months, prompting the creating of the Say No To Rightmove campaign.
A taxation institute is urging the government to delay Capital Gains Tax changes relating to housing transactions until the virus crisis ends.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation says the controversial measure about which it is concerned is in the current Finance Bill, which begins its committee stage in the House of Commons tomorrow.
Private Residence Relief enables most owner occupiers to sell their properties without being liable for CGT on any rise in their property’s value since they bought it.
Final period exemption means that – under the law currently in place – people do not pay CGT on gains made in the final 18 months of ownership, even if it was not their main residence during that period.
However, the Finance Bill aims to reduce that period (backdated to take effect from April 6 this year) to the final nine months of ownership for most people, with the exception of disabled persons or those in care homes.
The institute says it’s concerned that the evidence used by the Treasury for this reduction in the final period exemption arose before the Coronavirus crisis brought the housing market to a near standstill.
The Treasury has suggested an average selling time of approximately four and a half months – but the institute says this may no longer be realistic for properties in the process of being transacted, having been delayed by the virus crisis.
“We applaud the government’s desire to better target a tax exemption – we think all reliefs should be regularly and consultatively reviewed – but is now really the right time to be making this change to this relief?” asks Marc Selby, who chair’s the institute’s Property Taxes Committee.
“We’re concerned that the original assumption of an average time of four and a half months for selling a property is out of touch with the reality of the property market today because of the impact of COVID-19. We strongly suggest that the original evidence base needs review and that consideration should be given to delaying the squeeze in the final period exemption until the impact of COVID-19 on the property market is better understood” he adds.
The institute says it is a significant possibility that the market will remain slow for some time, with houses taking much longer to sell than expected at the time of the consultation, leaving some sellers with an unexpected tax liability because it takes longer than nine months to sell.
“Many homeowners who are trying to sell a former home may not be aware of the reduction to nine months. If this change goes ahead now, the new rules must be better communicated” adds Selby.
“Their introduction coincides with the new 30-day time limit running from the date of completion to report and pay CGT.
“The reduction in the final period of ownership exemption from 18 months to nine months combined with a 30 day time limit for reporting and paying tax on residential property gains means that the realisation of a chargeable gain is much more likely, particularly as the property market revives, and there is now much less time to establish CGT liability and pay the tax due.”
