TSB has introduced a new range of buy-to-let mortgages.
Available at up to 60% loan-to-value (LTV) there is a two-year fixed rate deal at 1.69%, along with a 75% LTV product at 1.94%.
In addition, there are two buy-to-let five-year fixed rates, starting from 1.99% up to 60% LTV and a 2.24% up to 75% LTV.
All of the products come with a £995 arrangement fee.
The government’s decision to invest an additional £4m in funding for local councils to tackle criminal landlords and letting agents has been warmly welcomed by The Guild of Property Professionals.
The housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced on Friday that he has pledged new funding to be used to clamp down on rogue landlords, with the money set to be shared between more than 100 councils across England
He commented: “Councils already have strong powers to force landlords to make necessary improvements to a property through the use of a range of measures, including civil penalties and banning orders for the worst offenders.
“The grants will support a range of projects to enable councils to make the best use of these powers. This will include trialling innovative ideas, sharing best practice and targeted enforcement where we know landlords shirk their responsibilities.”
There are more than 4.5 million households in the private rented sector in England, with recent statistics showing that 82% of private renters are satisfied with their accommodation, which although impressive, does suggest that there is room for improvement
The Guild’s inhouse Compliance Officer, Paul Offley, said: “We fully support this initiative as it will ensure that rogue landlords and letting agents are punished for breaking the law and it will also ensure that more tenants are treated fairly.
“With the funding providing councils with a means to crack down on illegal activity in the lettings market, tenants will have more protection and the standards of the rental sector will be raised.”
“An environment where exploitative landlords are stamped out will enable good landlords and letting agents to thrive,” he added.
But the government funding to root out criminal landlords has been described by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) as inadequate to tackle the scale of the problem.
David Smith, policy director for the RLA, said: “We welcome the government’s focus on rooting out criminal landlords. For too long the debate has been driven by ideological calls for more regulation of the sector. What is needed is better enforcement of the powers already available to tackle the minority who bring the sector into disrepute.
“The funding though is nowhere near enough. Instead of offering inadequate and sporadic pots of money, it is critical that the government provides proper, multi-year funding to enable councils to plan and prepare workable strategies to find the criminal landlords. This should be supported by councils having the political will to prioritise enforcement against the crooks rather than tying good landlords up in licensing schemes which do nothing to protect tenants.”
Greater confidence and more certainty in the housing market following last month’s Tory election victory looks set to boost the housing market and unleash pent-up buyer demand from property buyers, including buy-to-let investors, in the early part of 2020, analysts predict.
But Anton Frost, a partner at Carter Jonas letting agents, believes that continued political uncertainties, in particular, the deadline for Brexit rade talks at the end of the year, will keep a lid on activity levels in the housing market, including the buy-to-let sector.
He said: “2020 may begin with a new government but the familiar uncertainty over our departure from the EU will remain, and there is no doubt that this year will see the lettings market continuing to navigate through what has been a turbulent period.”
Frost, like many letting specialist, is concerned that tax and regulatory changes will dampen landlords’ appetites to invest and expand their property portfolios, with many consolidating their assets, or opting to flee the sector altogether.
Frost commented: “Policy changes and financial pressures on landlords has left many concerned that their investments are no longer viable. We’ve already seen the tenant fee ban and continuation of tax relief changes deter investors from the market in 2019, and this may well continue into 2020.
“With less stock comes increased competition and higher rents, and without legislative changes that can stabilise the landlord market, the tenant struggle for the right home at an affordable price may go unchanged.
“That said, no matter what picture the political landscape paints, people need to move and there has and always be a healthy level of activity in the rental market. Yield potential and tenant affordability are problems that remain paramount, but the market will always be transactional.
“Landlords are dubious about what 2020 holds, but clarity over if, how and when Britain leaves the EU should see an overall sense of stability return to the market, which can only be a positive thing.”
There are tentative signs that landlords are beginning to return to the buy-to-let market, particularly in London where house price falls and steady rental growth are gradually enticing investors back, according to Knight Frank.
The company reports that during the first 11 months of 2019, landlords acquired 11% of homes sold in Great Britain, the same level as 2018. But in November alone, the proportion of homes bought by investors increased to 12%.
London recorded a bigger rise in landlord purchases. Landlords purchased 13% of homes sold in the capital during the first 11 months of 2019, up from 11% during the same period of 2018. This was the first rise since 2015 but is in part due to fewer owner-occupiers transacting in the market. But will this trend continue?
The latest UK Finance mortgage data published this week suggests that property purchase and remortgage approvals in November held up relatively well given that the country was in full general election mode.
Andrew Montlake, managing director of the UK-wide mortgage broker, Coreco, said: “For a lot of British households, November was a classic case of better the devil you know.
“They chose to get their houses in order and secure a mortgage before a potentially disruptive election result.
“In the week following the general election result we saw a slight uplift in enquiries but the buyer spirit was largely trumped by the Christmas spirit.
“January will be the real test of consumer sentiment as we approach our departure from the EU.
“There is still much uncertainty as to the intricacies of how we leave the EU, but people at least now know it’s coming and that creates confidence.”
The figures also reveal that there were 16,200 remortgages in the buy-to-let sector in October, 2.4% fewer than the same month in 2018.
Montlake added: “While we are expecting an uplift in transactions and remortgages, it would be premature to assume that 2020 will be a boom year for the property and mortgage markets.
“As negotiations with Brussels unfold there is still the potential for volatility.”
Under-resourced county courts are struggling to cope with the number of possession claims being put forward, ‘causing misery for landlords’ not to mention costly delays, according to Landlord Action.
The vast majority of residential possession claims are dealt with in the county courts and enforced by county court bailiffs. But government spending cuts, an increasing number of possession cases, court delays and administrative errors mean evictions are taking longer than ever, pushing many landlords into debt.
In a recent Section 21 case handled by Landlord Action, a tenant claimed she did not receive the ‘How to Rent Guide’ so the court set a hearing date of 27th June 2019. But the court postponed the hearing with just 24 hours notice because the Judge was no longer available.
Several hearing dates have since been set and cancelled, leaving Landlord Action with little choice but to chase for a new date some 12 months after the original Section 21 notice was served back in January 2019, and the landlord no closer to gaining possession.
“We are experiencing cases like this time and time again” said Paul Shamplina. “It’s not only causing extra work for us at Landlord Action, meaning we now have a full-time member of staff whose main responsibility is chasing courts for updates on possession orders, Notice of Issues and bailiff appointments, it is also causing extreme stress for the landlords who are already facing financial hardship as a result of rent arrears.”
Landlord Action is now calling on the government to increase investment in the court system before pressing ahead with plans to scrap Section 21 of the Housing Act, as part of the new Renters’ Reform Bill.
Shamplina continued: “The situation is the worst I have experienced in my 28 years in this industry. Cases are being overlooked, delayed or thrown out due to administrative errors and there is little we can do to improve matters for landlords when we are at the mercy of the courts.
“Remember, many courts were closed due to cost saving by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).”
An unscrupulous landlord has been fined £27,000 over an unlicensed HMO in Luton with multiple fire and safety breaches.
Luton Magistrates Court heard that the unlicensed property at 14 Kenneth Road, Luton, LU2, had poor fire alarm systems and blocked fire exits, missing and broken tiles on the roof, and evidence of rat infestation.
Marco Caruso of Verulam Court, Hendon, pleaded guilty to illegally managing a HMO and seven breaches of HMO regulation.
He was fined £27,000, which included a £170 victim surcharge and costs of £848.70.
Cllr Tom Shaw, portfolio holder for housing, commented: “This is a great result for the rogue landlord project [being operated by the council] and an excellent example of how we are working together to ensure that private housing in Luton is of a good standard.
“If an HMO is poorly managed, the tenant’s safety could be at risk.
“We are committed to identifying rogue landlords and making sure the properties they manage are in a good condition and adhere to safety regulations, or face prosecution.”
The tax return deadline when filing your online Self Assessment for the tax year ending 5 April 2019 is less than a month away.
Filing an annual tax return is a necessary task for every self-employed person, including buy-to-let landlords, with the 31 January deadline for the 2018/19 Self Assessment tax return at midnight on 31 January 2020.
Whether you have just started out as a buy-to-let landlord or you are an established property investor, there is much to consider from a financial point of view.
Around 10 million people must complete a self-assessment tax form every year, typically because they are self-employed, run their own business or have untaxed income or capital gains, such as from a buy-to-let property, a trust or investment portfolio.
There is no need to fret over filing your tax returns, as it does not even require an accountant.
However, if you are concerned about going it alone and doing your own tax return, you may wish to check out HMRC’s ‘help and support for landlords’.
For more information, click here.
HMRC also offers online tax return help for landlords to their online series of help and support webinars.
View all HMRC webinars.
A new landlord organisation, which is the largest ever trade body in the letting sector, has been officially launched.
The National Residential Landlords Association, which came into force yesterday, has a membership of more than 80,000 landlords.
The new organisation has come about after the National Landlords Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) agreed to merge in autumn, with a view to delivering a stronger voice for landlords in the private rented sector.
Ben Beadle is the NRLA’s new chief executive, having joined from Touchstone, part of the Places for People housing group. He was previously managing director of TDS Northern Ireland and director of customer service with the TDS.
The two previous chairs, Alan Ward of the RLA and Adrian Jeakings of the NLA, said in a joint statement: “After more than 20 years of friendly competition the time is right to create a single organisation to represent and campaign for landlords.
“With so much of our work done in parallel there are major benefits to be gained for our landlord members.
“We will be stronger together when presenting a unified voice to government both nationally and locally about the importance of supporting the majority of landlords who do a good job providing the homes to rent the country needs.”
The average asking price of property in Bristol is £316,410, which is around £283,000 cheaper than in the capital, while homes for sale in Bristol spent an average of 50 days on the market before finding a buyer this year – selling quicker than anywhere else in the South West.
Manchester and Liverpool completed the top three most searched for locations for renters this year, while York and Glasgow were the second and third most popular places for prospective buyers.
In the capital, the most searched for place for buyers was Wimbledon and for renters was Canary Wharf.
When it comes to sales growth, Pontefract in Yorkshire has seen the biggest year-on-year increase in average asking prices, rising 12.3 per cent to £175,412 in 2019.
This compares to a national average of just 0.8 per cent.
In the capital, Hoxton in the London borough of Hackney takes this crown, with average asking prices rising by 11.4 per cent to £1,019,510 this year.
Meanwhile, it’s Ashton-Under-Lyne in the North West which has seen the biggest rental hikes outside of London. Tenants, on average, are forking out £546 a month – a 5.4 per cent upturn from 2018.
And in London, Battersea in Wandsworth has seen the biggest increase in average asking rents, with prices rising by 14.1 per cent over the past year to £2,544 per month.
Time on the market measures show the top 10 ‘fastest’ locations are all in Scotland, with Falkirk leading the way, taking just 28 days from the time a property is added to Rightmove until it is marked as sold subject to contract.
Letting agents are being urged to do more to protect buy-to-let landlords by preparing now for the government’s plans to scrap Section 21 of the Housing Act, as part of a new Renters’ Reform Bill.
PayProp is advising agents to adapt to upcoming changes to the eviction system by updating key documentation and automating arrears management to cut the chances of having to evict tenants and leave landlords with an unnecessary rental void period.
The lettings payment automation provider wants to see letting agents take the following steps.
Neil Cobbold, chief operating officer of the lettings payment automation provider, said: “For some time, the political will – regardless of party – has been to remove Section 21 from the Housing Act 1988 and reform the eviction system.
“Following the Queen’s Speech, letting agents and landlords need to start preparing for change and updating their processes accordingly as it has been confirmed that the evictions process will be reformed through the same Bill.”
Cobbold points out that amendments to the eviction process will see agents needing to update their contract templates and eviction notices to fall in line with a new system – highly likely to revolve around a strengthened Section 8.
He explained: “One of the most important aspects of eviction reform for agents will be educating and informing landlords and tenants about how the new system will work.
“However, on top of this, they will also need to make sure their documents are up-to-date and watertight to evidence their adherence to current and proposed legislation. This will give landlords and tenants the best chance of a smooth eviction process.”
“Agents who adopt thorough record-keeping and arrears management can prove their worth to landlords and increase their chances of new business and client retention.
“Having the right technology and systems in place can be a huge help in making these changes seamless and efficient.”
He says that the removal of Section 21 has the potential to impact the methods landlords use to regain possession of their properties, although he feels that the government’s acknowledgment that it needs to improve the court process was a welcome addition to the Queen’s Speech.
But reforming the grounds for possession has the potential for teething problems and agents could mitigate this by improving their own internal procedures.
Cobbold continued: “With this in mind, agents need to think about the ways they can help to reduce the frequency of evictions. Encouraging good relationships between landlords and tenants is all-important, as is staying on top of repairs and facilitating good communication between both parties.
“Rent arrears are one of the most common reasons for evictions, so agents can help landlords to keep them to a minimum by sending automated emails and text messages – which are proven to be more effective when it comes to chasing rent payments.”
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