As an addition to my own blog this year, I will be posting any newsworthy items that I believe offer useful information to landlords and homeowners from the lettings industry.
The first of these is an article I spotted regarding the level of buy to let mortgages..
Over one million landlords have buy to let mortgages and last year repaid £21.9 billion - a sign of their commitment to the sector, claims the National Landlords Association.
It says the average cost of landlords’ mortgage repayments in the last year has been £20,950, which excludes up-front deposits of typically 25 per cent of property value.
The NLA’s findings show that landlords with one-to-four properties spent an average of £10,335 on repayments last year, compared to £55,285 spent by those with larger portfolios of 11 or more properties.
“These figures really hammer home just how much money private landlords put into providing homes for the UK’s estimated nine million renters, especially if we consider that such a large proportion are single-property or smaller portfolio landlords” says NLA chairman Carolyn Uphill.
“The majority of private individual investors are keeping a supply of well-maintained homes on the market when previous governments have failed to incentivise or stimulate more housing and social housing has been in long term decline. There’s no sign of either of these issues letting up anytime soon so is it any wonder that buy to let lending is at an all-time high?”
Another article that caught my eye was on the subject of rent arrears. An article based on data from Your Move and Reed Rains - not specialist letting agents I hasten to add! - says...
Arrears by tenants in the private rental sector have increased for the first time since 2012 according to data from lettings agencies Your Move and Reeds Rains.
In the final quarter of 2014 there were 68,100 tenants in severe rent arrears of more than two months. This represents an increase of 4,600 such tenancies compared to the same quarter one year earlier - the equivalent of a 7.2 per cent annual increase.
On a quarterly basis the setback is less sharp, with 1,700 more cases of severe arrears in quarter four 2014 than in quarter three, representing a quarterly increase of 2.6 per cent.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, comments: “Escaping the worst deprivations of the financial crisis has taken half a decade. And even now, for many households every month is still a difficult month.
“Stretching to include even a little festivity often makes December particularly hard. But just as the occasional setback is inevitable, the long-term trend is increasingly clear. Since the sharpest pinnacle of tenant difficulties in 2010 the number in serious rent arrears has practically halved.”
The statistics on the properties that we manage do not reflect these figures, however, we do have a great selection of Rent Guarantee products, including Rent on Time which guarantees that rent is paid every month. However, the article still shows a worrying trend and reminds both landlords and agents to be very vigilant when it comes to making sure that your tenant pays the rent.
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