Like every month, Rentila offers you an overview of the main real estate news of interest to landlords and tenants. This month, we focus on: Tax breaks for landlords to reignite buy-to-let market; It ‘feels almost inevitable’ that property prices will fall; 4 In 10 Will Struggle To Pay Mortgage; Bank of England warns UK households may face 2008 financial crisis mortgage strain; UK rents continue to rise; All The Reasons Why Private Renting Right Now Really Is Chaos… Happy reading and… renting!
The 80s has been the best decade for homebuyers
Back in Jan 2010, the average UK house price was £167,469, climbing to £231,792 by the end of the decade – a 38.4% increase. However, after adjusting for inflation, the rate of house price growth seen between Jan 2010 and December 2019 actually sits at just 14.8%.
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Tax breaks for landlords to reignite buy-to-let market
The tax cuts have been welcomed by landlords who have shouldered years of punishing tax and regulatory changes which forced tens of thousands of investors to leave the buy-to-let market.
Some landlords have now suggested the changes could slow the exodus by cushioning falling yields.
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UK housing market may face perfect storm as mortgage rates rise, house prices drop
A surge in borrowing costs and a likely slowdown in economic growth threaten to trigger a selloff in Britain’s housing market with consequences for personal wealth and the broader economy that could resonate for decades.
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The housing market is becoming a buyers’ market
The UK’s housing market is slowly transitioning into a buyers’ market as higher mortgage rates hit household buying power by up to 28% – and asking price reductions return to pre-pandemic levels.
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England’s BTL void periods decline across the board
Voids are one of a buy to let landlords’ biggest pain points since an empty property means no rental income.
And, according to research from Total Landlord Insurance, voids also offer a useful data point for measuring the overall health of the rental market.
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Property market ‘cooling’, but experts predict no major price falls in Scotland
Mortgage specialists have said Scotland’s property market is already starting to “cool down”, but forecast they do not expect a major fall in prices in the wake of the economic turmoil sparked by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s controversial mini-budget.
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It ‘feels almost inevitable’ that property prices will fall
There are mounting fears that a wave of mortgage defaults could adversely affect house prices and leave banks and building societies with rapidly rising bad debts on their balance sheets.
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Home owners at risk of house price crash with London properties facing record value drop of £93k
Should the market decline at the same rate as the 2008 financial crisis, as predicted by some analysts last week, it could wipe almost £54,000 from the value of the average property in Britain, according to new data…
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Average UK house price falls to £293,835 as market cools
House prices decreased slightly in September but homebuyers still needed an average of £293,835 to afford a property in the UK.
The 0.1% drop is the second marginal decrease of the past three months as the pace of annual growth also slowed down, returning to single digits for the first time since January.
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UK housing market shows strains from “mini-budget”
Britain’s housing market lost momentum this month after Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic plans upset financial markets and triggered a repricing of the mortgage market…
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4 In 10 Will Struggle To Pay Mortgage
Analysis shows that between 35% and 40% of UK mortgages will reach the end of their initial terms over the next 12 months, leaving mortgage holders to negotiate new deals at much higher rates.
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Mortgage rates set for another big rise today as lenders revise deals
The UK’s largest mortgage lenders will raise rates this morning as the cost of new fixed rate deals continue to rise.
Brokers say lenders are “playing safe” with rates amid current economic uncertainty, but analysts are hopeful that costs will eventually start to fall In the near-term.
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Ministers ‘blame Bank of England for rising mortgage rates’
Cabinet ministers have blamed the Bank of England for rising mortgage rates as relations between the two continue to slump, reports have stated.
Senior Government figures have privately accused the Bank of failing to tackle inflation quickly enough which currently stands at 9.9 per cent.
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UK house prices expected to fall as mortgage rates soar
About 1,000 deals have been pulled from the market in recent weeks after Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget triggered a sell-off in financial markets and raised expectations for even higher interest rates.
A typical UK property now costs £293,835 as the pace of annual growth slowed for the third month in row, from 11.4% in August to 9.9% in September…
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Mortgage rates for two and five-year deals continue to climb above 6%
Average two and five-year fixed mortgage rates are continuing to climb above 6%, according to analysis. Across all deposit sizes, the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage on the market on Monday had a rate of 6.31%…
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Bank of England warns UK households may face 2008 financial crisis mortgage strain
In its quarterly Financial Policy Summary report on Wednesday, it said that households are in a stronger position overall compared to before 2008. However, if mortgage financing costs continue to rise, some people may face mortgage pressure, as well as other costs.
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UK rents continue to rise as Brits turn to leasing over homeownership
UK rental prices have continued to rise over the past year, according to official figures, following a spike at the beginning of 2022.
The costs paid by tenants rose by 3.4 per cent in the 12-months to August, up from 3.3 per cent in the year to July.
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Rent freeze and eviction ban fail to tackle Scotland’s underlying property problem
ON the face of it, few could object to a ban on evictions and a rent freeze in a bid to support those in need during a cost of living crisis. However, the best of intentions are often undone by the hard facts of reality – such is the case with the Scottish Government’s latest interventions in the rental property market.
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Rental market warning as landlords sell off properties due to ‘anti-landlord rhetoric’
The Scottish Association of Landlords chief executive John Blackwood claimed a growing housing crisis is not being taken “seriously enough”.
He said landlords are choosing to sell their properties and “get out of the sector completely” leaving fewer properties to rent on an already stressed market.
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Sadiq Khan calls for immediate rent freeze as half of London renters paying a premium for draughty homes
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called for an immediate private rent freeze for Londoners, following new City Hall analysis which shows that renters in poorly insulated housing are paying a premium on their energy bills this winter.
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Strong demand pushes rents to record £1,250 in September
Average rents this month lifted by 1.8% compared to August, and is 13.2% higher than a year ago.
Prices continue to rise rapidly as September’s record beat the previous all-time high of £1,238 set in July.
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UK rents continue to rise
The average rental price for a new tenancy was £1,159 per calendar month in September – a rise of 1.4% from August.
The rent price is also 9.2% higher than it was in September 2021.
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A rent freeze won’t solve Scotland’s housing crisis but it is a start
The problem can be traced back to Margaret Thatcher’s right to buy scheme, where social housing stock was sold off on the cheap. Subsequent governments have failed to replace those homes, and now we are all paying the price.
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What you need to know about the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm
The rules for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in England’s rental properties have changed – and landlords and agents need to understand the new rules.
The move is part of the Government’s plan to create a ‘safer, better and bigger’ PRS.
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The cost of landlord property repairs has been revealed
It is found that, on average, landlords spend £1,088 on maintenance.
However, these maintenance costs vary with landlords in Brighton spending 36% more than average – around £1,400 – making this the most expensive city to be a landlord.
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7 top tips to consider before you purchase an existing HMO
If you’re looking to invest in HMOs or want to expand your existing portfolio, then buying an existing HMO with tenants in situ can be an attractive option offering landlords a guaranteed income with no additional tenancy-find fees.
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How to understand what’s going on with UK mortgage rates
The UK mortgage market has tightened as confidence in the economy has faltered in recent weeks. Lenders withdrew more than 1,600 homeloan products after the (then) chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s September mini-budget sent the UK economy into a tailspin.
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What are the options for home-owners worried about higher mortgage rates?
October marked the weakest start to the month for mortgage product choice in more than 12 years, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk. Encouragingly, the choice of products has since started to creep back up again – but with the added sting in the tail that lenders’ rates have also increased.
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Landlords will be forced to pass on £400 cost-of-living support payments to tenants
Renters whose landlords pay for their energy bills will still benefit from a £400 discount being brought in by the government.
Earlier this year, the then chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that households would receive the payment in the autumn to help them cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
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200,000 more people a year ‘will be lifted out of paying stamp duty’
Housing market activity could be boosted after the “nil rate” stamp duty band was doubled from £125,000 to £250,000.
But more demand could also mean higher house prices, unless there is a significant increase in the supply of homes, experts said.
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Landlords urge Chancellor to adopt private rented sector cost of living plan
Landlords have called on the Chancellor to use up to £1.5 billion from the levelling up budget to stop tenants being forced out by soaring rents.
At the same time, tenants are struggling to pay rent as their savings are chipped away by inflation, allied to soaring food and energy bills.
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Landlord fined £31,000 for letting out property with serious health and safety risk
A Leamington landlord has been fined £31,300 after he was found guilty of three housing offences last month. He was fined after a property he was renting out was found to pose a serious health and safety risk to his tenants.
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All The Reasons Why Private Renting Right Now Really Is Chaos
The rental market in England is, to use a technical term, totally and utterly bonkers right now.
This is the sort of thing you might expect in the home buying market: queues of people and homes going to the highest bidder.
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Welcome to London’s rental crisis: For every 1 room, 7 people are fighting over it
It’s the perfect storm. Renters are returning to London in droves as offices and universities return in person.
Interest rates are rising, which in turn, pushes mortgage rates up for landlords. And everyone is poorer because of a cost-of-living and energy crisis.
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Two-thirds of landlords will sell up to avoid the burden of improving EPCs
Nearly two-thirds of landlords say they would sell their properties in the next five years because of the burden of meeting stricter EPC requirements.
The rising cost of living is driving tenants towards energy-efficient homes in the UK’s private rented sector.
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