Commentary RF

Renters to get three-year tenancy agreements under Government plans

New UK regulations could be underway to give renters a more fair deal. The new deal could allow renters to get three-year minimum leases, allowing for a much greater sense of security for the renters. Landlords will still have the six month break clause, whereby they can break the lease. The clause serves the tenant in the same way. The proposal’s proponents note that encouraging renters to put down roots is good for communities. It also fits in with government stats that suggest residents tend to stay put for up to four years, despite the usual agreements being for much shorter stays. The proposal is under consideration through late August.

Key Takeaways:

Despite stats that show UK renters often stay in place for a minimum of four years, the present leases are not reflective of that.
New policies could allow renters longer leases, without getting rid of the break-away clause that allows both renters and landlords to opt out at six months.
The proposal should remain under consideration through July and most of August.

“Tenants could be given minimum three-year letting agreements to increase security for those who rent a home.”

The busy world of HM Land Registry

While Her Majesty’s Land Registry is no longer filled with old-fashioned paper-and-ink maps and charts, it still performs the crucial task of keeping track of the ownership of land and buildings. HM Land Registry keeps track of 25 million titles that constitute £4 trillion worth of property and £1 trillion of debt spread out over 48,000 square miles. The most valuable portion of this is housing, which is 69 percent of the value of all the property HM Land Register tracks. HM Land Register fills the vital role of recording housing transactions, of which there were roughly 1.1 million last year alone.

Key Takeaways:

Unbeknownst to most, England and Wales has only built on approximately 9% of their land.
During the year of 2017, HM Land Registry dealt with an estimated 115,000 transactions.
Commercial realty deals in the UK generated over £55 billion in sales last year.

“If you went back a few years, you would have had a much more immediate sense of our purpose at HM Land Registry.”

5 reasons you won’t want to sell your buy-to-let property

Purchasing any form of real estate is a large investment that shouldn’t be taken lightly. An exit plan should always be easily accessible in order to obtain capital gain from the property. However, before you decide to sell your property in the near future, consider a few key facts beforehand. One of the main points to consider is how well the property is currently doing. If it is maintaining its rental value, maybe now is not the correct time to sell.

Key Takeaways:

Be sure that you analyze how your property is doing. If it is still making capital gain, maybe hang onto it.
If a property is starting to become costly in repairs and other renovations, it may be time to let go.
When purchasing property you should always have a profitable exit plan to sell.

“Selling property too quickly can easily lose you money. I laugh at the supposed profits touted on some of the property programmes on UK television. People buy properties at auction, then refurbish them and sell them for a big profit. Yeah, right.”

Where Should You Invest in the Manchester Property Market?

Manchester is a dynamic, bustling city in Northwestern England which is projected to see strong growth in property values over the next decade. Manchester City Centre is seeing an influx of commercial activity and young professionals that makes it a good place to invest, but Manchester suburbs like Longsight, Little Hudson and Ardwick also have great potential. Manchester also boasts a strong and growing commercial real estate market that is attracting many international investors, as well as a large market for student housing for its four universities.

Key Takeaways:

Manchester is a dynamic city in Northwest England with a growing economy and an influx of young professionals.i
Manchester’s City Centre, as well as growing suburbs like Ardwick and Little Hudson, are a great investment opportunity.
Manchester also has a potentially lucrative commercial real estate market that offers strong mid- and long-term options.

“”Manchester has been named by many estate agents as one of the UK cities likely to see a rise in house prices over the next decade,””

Breaking down the “financial freedom” dream

Most of us dream of fiscal freedom, longingly. We jot down some numbers and are so appalled that we back off from every taking the steps to achieve it. But, some analyzing is required. Imagine the dream is real and doable. But, first you must know what you truly have already. You undoubtedly know your take-home pay number. But, take the time needed to really understand it, that is what do you have to live on after you take out taxes, groceries, rent, incidentals, like that morning coffee, the pack of cigarettes etc. When you have an actual figure, you can divide it by a number of days and have an actual per day figure of money you need to live on. It may sound like a lot of rigmarole. But, consider it in this light. That figure is the amount you must have put aside to stay home and not work for an entire day. Once you have that magic number you can figure out how to cut down your work hours by saving allotments of your special number. You may not be able to leave your job. But, you can certainly improve your life.

Key Takeaways:

To loosen the shackles of fiscal dependence, it’s important to retool one’s understanding of the money one has.
Unfortunately, take-home pay is not a true reflection of what we live on, as that number can only be arrived at by deducting an array of normal expenditures.
Once we have that number, we can actually deduce what we need to go a specific number of days without working.

“”That’s never going to work. The only way to achieve something is to get very clear on what you want, work out what you need to do to get it, then break it down into manageable chunks.””

Government issues new HMO and licensing guidelines

From this point on, landlords will have to be authorized by their local housing authority before renting out homes that are not within the bedroom limit provided by the MHCLG. The MHCLG is now releasing new standards that landlords must abide by both legally and from an overall coverage standpoint. The standards are specifically geared to HMO companies, and coverage may be halted if a landlord does not meet these new restrictions when renting out to potential tenants.

Key Takeaways:

Landlords will now not be able to rent units out with a small number of bedrooms to large groups of tenants.
The MHCLG has put this in place for both the protection of tenants, as well as the importance of honest coverage.
The plan also sets disposal guidelines when it comes to landlords ridding the premises of any garbage within their property’s perimeter.

“”The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) yesterday published a new set of guidelines for landlords on the legislative changes for HMOs and also for selective licensing.””

Investing In Property: 9 Need to Know Strategies For Finding Deals

If you’re new when it comes to investing in property, there are various techniques you should become familiar with in order to make the journey as accommodating and successful as possible.

Be sure to remain proactive when it comes to performing property searches, and always follow-up with the real estate agents or current homeowners, even if it means being a bit persistent in nature. Posting frequent updates on your investment journey on social media is also a great way to get the word out with regards to what you are looking for and where you are in the process.

Key Takeaways:

Routinely posting about your property search on social media platforms has shown to increase your chances at acquiring a good deal.
Be sure to remain proactive in your search by always being on the lookout for new prospective properties.
Stay on agents with continual contact so that you do not end up falling through the cracks.

“By not following these strategies you could find yourself getting lost, for example searching for the wrong deals or not finding any deals at all!”

Shock results as 30 lettings agencies probed by undercover teams

Future home-buyers may be facing dangerous exposure to moldy properties without even being informed of the environment surrounding them.

Researchers followed 30 real estate tours and tested the surroundings to see if there was a risk of mold exposure present within the premises. They found that a staggering 20 out of 30 homes came back positive when testing for levels of mold that could potentially be damaging to a tenant’s health.

None of the individuals on the tour were informed of the potential dangers of the moldy areas, putting them at risk for purchasing them without knowing.

Key Takeaways:

Real estate agents are currently showing open houses in buildings that test positive for the presence of dangerous mold.
20 out of 30 homes that were tested showed damp and moldy conditions that pose health risks to future residents.
Many potential home-buyers will end up purchasing these homes completely unaware of the risk it poses to their immediate health.

“Eight out of 30 viewings were rated ‘poor’ in response to questions on property maintenance and repairs. On several occasions letting agents brushed off questions about maintenance, with many stating that work would be carried out before the tenant moved in, or would need to be dealt with by the landlord.”