Tag Archives: Cathays

Is the Cardiff House Share an Endangered Species?

Posted on by
Reply

The Cardiff house share is in great danger due to a number to changes to taxation and legislation to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) across the UK in 2016 with Wales leading the way with the roll out of Rent Smart Wales www.rentsmart.gov.wales a national landlord and letting agent register which came into force on 23rd November 2016.

As well as the introduction of Rent Smart Wales the Welsh Assembly Government have also introduced further legislation around the creation of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) or more commonly known as house shares. Prior to 25th February 2016 in Wales the C3 planning use classification applied to all dwelling houses up to and including six tenants but on the 25th February 2016 Wales introduced a C4 planning use classification of HMO: “tenanted living occupation by 3 to 6 people, who are not related and who share one or more basic amenities, as their only or main residence.”

Why is C4 HMO Use Class Such a Problem?

In England, it’s not.  It has long been accepted that permitted development rights ensured a property owner would automatically have planning permission granted by the General Development Order where an existing single family dwelling (C3) is used as a small HMO (within class C4) or vice versa.  However, all properties in Wales with 3 to 6 (unrelated) tenants now require a change of use application to be made, at the recently increased planning fee of £380 and there is NO GUARANTEE OF APPROVAL for your house share in Cardiff or else where is Wales.

Cardiff Council’s Approach to House of Multiple Occupation (HMO)

From a landlord and property investor perspective it looks as if Cardiff Council is going all out to stop the creation of additional house shares within the city.  Cardiff Council is to try to control the total concentration of house shares in each area by denying landlords in those areas planning permission to move between HMO classes if the concentration for that area has already been met, and the property falls within 50m radius of the designated area.  The threshold for the ward’s of Cathays and Plasnewyedd is 20 percent and in all other wards 10 percent.

Here is a link to Cardiff Council’s HMO Supplementary Planning Guidance: https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Planning/Planning-Policy/Supplementary-Planning-Guidance/Documents/HMO%20SPG%20Consultation%20Draft%20April.pdf

So as can been seen from housing legislation that has been introduced by the UK Government , Welsh Assembly Government and Cardiff Council there is going to be a decrease in the overall number of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) being created in Cardiff even though the number of people looking to house share in Cardiff is ever increasing as they search for high quality affordable accommodation.

Cardiff House Share, North Road, CF14 Bills & WiFi Included

Posted on by
Reply
100_0080
Rooms to Rent in Cardiff Bills Included

Rooms in Cardiff has a double room available in a Cardiff house share on North Road, CF14 3BJ.  This House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) was refurbished in June 2012 and has a large kitchen including 2 fridge freezers, dish washer and washer/dryer, 2 shower rooms and 2 separate WC’s.

Rooms consists of a king-size bed, triple wardrobe, chest of draws and arm chair. If you are looking for space this property will not disappoint!

Property Reference: 168NRCF141407

  • SORRY ALL ROOMS HAVE BEEN TAKEN
  • DSS, LHA  & Housing Benefit Accepted
  • Monthly Rent includes all bills & WiFi
  • Tenants only pay electric usage for individual rooms
  • Bond or Bond Certificate
  • Rooms Available: 1
  • Room Type: Double
  • Shower/Bathrooms: 2
  • WCs: 2
  • Parking: Yes
  • Garden: Yes

What’s Local?

  • Sainsbury’s Local
  • COOP
  • Tesco Local
  • Tesco Extra
  • North Star Pub
  • The Heath Pub
  • Roath park
  • Numerous restaurants & takeaways

 Transport Links

  • Close to A48, A470 & M4
  • 15-20 minute walk to Cardiff City Centre
  • Numerous buses in to Cardiff City Centre via Whitchurch Road & North Road

 Local Employers

  • University Hospital Wales (UHW)
  • Companies House
  • BBC Llandaff
  • Cardiff Metropolitan University (LLandaff)
  • Welsh College of Music & Drama
  • Cardiff University
  • Welsh Government

To arrange a viewing please complete the Tenant Registration from below.

100_0075
North Road, Cardiff, outside view

HMO Cardiff For Sale

Posted on by
Reply

Earlier this month we wrote a blog post titled “Cardiff Student Housing or Professional House Share?” which discussed the fall in student numbers for the current academic year and the number of empty HMO and Multi Let properties available for rent and for sale across the Cathays, Gabalfa and Heath areas of Cardiff and whether landlords should be diversifying and looking at the professional house share market.

Well today I am writing about the current valuation of HMO and Multi Let properties in Cardiff after being contacted by a Cardiff estate agent with an all too familiar story.

Here is the situation the landlord has always provided Cardiff Student Housing in Cathays and Heath areas of Cardiff and I am sure they have done very well over the years but now the Cardiff student housing market is changing as large corporates are providing housing, such as Student Castle, student numbers have dropped and the student accommodation is not filled.

What Are The Landlords Options?

Well there are four main options:

  1. The landlord can rent the whole house to a family
  2. The landlord can look to continue down the multi let route and provide a professional house share
  3. Contact a specialist HMO Rent Guarantee provider
  4. Sell the property

Sounds straight forward, but many of the properties for sale and to let geared towards the Cardiff Student Housing market need a large amount of investment to bring them to a standard required for options 1,2 and 3, so the only option is to sell!

Option 4: For Sale

This sounds a logical option for the landlord who may not wish to spend £20-30k on their property so a “For Sale” board is put in the front of the house.  A few viewings later and an offer is accepted the landlord has the price he wants, but it’s not that simple.

These HMO and Multi Let properties which are geared for the Cardiff Student Housing market are often set up with locks on doors so straight away you can no longer arrange a standard BTL mortgage the buyer will have to look at a specialist HMO mortgage or commercial finance which is considerably more expensive to arrange than you high street BTL.

Secondly even if locks aren’t on internal doors and there is no whiff that the property is set out as a HMO or Multi Let the rental income versus interest only mortgage payments will no stack up unless a hefty deposit is put down which is also required for HMO and commercial finance as often the property is overvalued in today’s market.

So that’s why I am hearing the same story over and over from Cardiff estate agents, the vendor agreed a sale price but the deal has fallen through as the purchaser cannot raise the required finance.

So as we pass Fresher’s Week and all students are settled for the 2012-13 academic year how many HMO and multi lets will be left untenanted and let standing for sale? Quite a few as many need £10-30K being spent on them.

What’s The Outlook?

If you are looking to sell your Cardiff student housing and it requires substantial work you are probably going to have to be prepared to lower your expectations when looking for a sale as often a deposit of £50K is needed and hefty fees are incurred when raising HMO or commercial finance.

Rooms in Cardiff is the place to go for those looking to house share in Cardiff and further afield in South Wales. Whether you are looking for Cardiff student housing or a professional house share, Rooms in Cardiff is your number one resource for private landlord lettings, house of multiple occupation (HMO), multi let property and to find your next housemate.

You can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@webletz.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000