Recent Articles in Renting Property Checklists

Could even ‘talk’ of interference in the current property market derail the current market?
Jun 18, 2019

 It’s a bit scary waking up each morning at the moment, finding out what politicians – whether in power or not – are planning to do to ‘fix’ the housing market! To date, some policies appear to be doing the job they were intended for. Read on to find out why I'm concerned.

Latest rental market update - June 2019
Jun 4, 2019

2019 will prove a decisive year for the direction of the private rented sector. The government has increased the costs to let for both landlords and agents and increased the number of hoops they have to jump through to let legally. On top of this, they have increased the chance and the level of fines with Local Authorities able to charge up to £30,000 for serious breaches. And, although the government may be 'patting itself on the back' for reducing the percentage of households in the PRS versus home ownership, the loss of homes to rent is likely to be one of the main causes of any increases in homelessness and evictions, especially as our population is still rising.  This continued 'attack' on those operating in the Private Rented Sector is set to continue. 

Kate's views on the latest news: New PM, Brexit battles, property market
May 28, 2019

It's a little tricky just now to know exactly where the property market is heading.  We know from past evidence that typically the level of uncertainty we currently have with a new PM pending, Brexit in 'no mans land' and a parliament and politicians seemingly at a 'loss' to know how to get us out of the mess Mr Cameron kindly got us into in the first place, that this would slow the property market.  Buyers and sellers don't like uncertainty.

Abolishing Section 21
Apr 16, 2019

Yesterday (15th April 2019), the government outlined plans to consult on new legislation to abolish Section 21 in a bid to end so called ‘no-fault’ evictions. Although this is not a surprise move, it is one that, if goes ahead as suggested (i.e. full abolition of Section 21), will be game-changing for the private rented sector.

Are volumes heading back to 2009 levels?
Mar 26, 2019

Normally in the property market, if volumes fall, then price falls will quickly follow. During the credit crunch we saw volumes slip back by 50%, on average, while property prices fell by around 20% - although some areas performed worse and others better. In some recent market presentations, I was surprised to see how far transactions had fallen back versus previous years and I even spotted that in some areas, based on Land Registry data comparing volumes from January to October 2009 versus 2018, some transactions had fallen back as far as levels experienced in 2009.