Tag Archives: landlords

Are UK House Prices set for a 15% fall?

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At Rooms in Cardiff we aim to provide landlords, home owners and property investor’s detailed analysis of the property market in Cardiff, Wales and across the UK.

There has been a wealth of housing data released all hinting at which direction UK house prices are going over the next 12 months, but at Rooms in Cardiff we have been doing our own online research and wanted to share this with our readers.

 Net Mortgage Lending Growth

The Bank of England (BoE) provides monthly data on UK net mortgage lending growth (NMLG). Historically this has proved a handy guide to house prices.

September 2012 saw UK NMLG remain at 1.1%. That compares with annual growth of 1.9% two years ago, 5.7% in December 2008 and 11.1% in February 2007. Meanwhile, the October Nationwide UK house price index was down by 0.9% year-on-year.

What does this mean for UK house prices?

As you can see from the above graph, this long-term collapse in NMLG suggests UK house prices are standing at the cliff face. If they follow net lending trends, residential property values could slump by over 15%.

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

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

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

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The Court Process of Possessing a Property

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We thought the following flow chart and information relating to the process of gaining legal possession of a property may be of use to all the landlords out there.  The flow chart and information is taken from the Ministry of Justice.

To obtain a court order granting the entitlement to take possession of a  property, a claimant – a mortgage lender or a landlord – must first make a claim which is then issued by a county court. Generally, the issuing process involves the arrangement of an initial hearing before a judge. At such a hearing, a judge may:

  • · grant an order for outright possession of the property at a date decided by the judge;
  • · grant a suspended order for possession of the property; or,
  • · grant no order for possession (e.g. after deciding the claimant has no legal right to take possession of the property).

The suspended order for possession of the property usually requires the defendant to pay the latest mortgage or rent instalment, plus some of the arrears that have built up, within a certain defined period. As long as the defendant complies with the terms of the suspension, the possession order cannot be enforced.

More than one order may be granted during the course of an individual case. For example, it is possible that after an initial possession order is granted, the defendant may make an application to the court for the order to be varied or set aside, which could then result in another order being made.

A granted order entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted by bailiffs, so taking possession of the property. Only then does repossession occur. Actual repossession figures (including voluntary repossessions such as where the mortgagee or tenant hands back the keys) are only available for mortgages and are compiled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Throughout the court process, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the claimant and defendant can still negotiate a compromise arrangement to prevent eviction.

A flow chart showing the court process of possessing a property for landlords and mortgage lenders

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

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

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

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Swansea HMO a battleground for Students & Council

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Swansea HMO have become the latest battleground for Students and the City’s council

Swansea Student representatives and Swansea council are involved a row over houses of multiple occupation (HMO) a house of multiple occupancy is a dwelling which is occupied by three or more unrelated individuals.

Swansea Councillors like some many councils across England and Wales want powers to control planning over HMOs in the city saying some areas have too many and that residents want their streets back but Swansea University students’ union say Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) provide affordable student accommodation which is vital in times of economic uncertainty and rising university fees and they fear that new powers could result in fewer affordable housing options.

Welfare officer Charlotte Britton said: “A lot of HMOs are student houses, and are some of the most affordable housing in the private rented sector.

“This makes them very popular for a lot of young people and those on low incomes in cities across the UK.

“These caps on HMOs have already been introduced in some university cities in England, due to certain lobby groups who think that stopping HMOs will solve problems such as incorrect waste disposal, poor housing standards and anti-social behaviour.

“So far, there is no proof that these caps have made any significant improvement in any of these areas.

“Swansea students’ union also shares the same view as NUS Wales, that encouraging people within their community to engage with each other and work together to solve community tensions is much more effective than using badly thought-through planning laws.”

Swansea’s Labour-led council said in its election manifesto that tackling what it called an “overconcentration” of HMOs which “blights” many parts of the city would be a major priority.

Brynmill and Uplands are areas where many students live in shared homes.

And earlier this month first minister Carwyn Jones said capping would be “the last thing” the Welsh government would do.

But John Bayliss, councillor for Uplands says the issue is not about placing a cap on the number of HMOs.

“We want to control them, we don’t necessarily want to cap them,” he said.

“The densification in my ward is the main issue. We have a problem where 80% of a certain street is HMO and the remaining 20% don’t feel there’s a community.”

Mr Bayliss said having planning control would allow the council to make sure HMOs could be placed in suitable locations.

He added that it would give them the power to force landlords to improve property standards or take their licence away.

The councillor also pointed out that there were about 1,400 HMOs in his ward and the neighbouring Castle ward.

As many of them were rented by students, he said no council tax was paid but money still needed to be found to provide services in those areas like rubbish collections.

“I think the student body have their own interest and they exclude the needs of the local community,” Mr Bayliss added.

“The statement from the welfare officer of the Swansea students’ union is unfortunate. I see their argument but it’s only one part of an argument.”

Councillors are due to meet housing minister Huw Lewis at a later date.

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

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

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Swansea HMO Landlord: License Properties or Face Fines

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Two Swansea HMO Landlords have received heavy fines by magistrates after failing to license their respective House of Multiple Occupation (HMO)

Fines of more than £9,000 were handed out to Huw Rees Davies of Llangennech, Llanelli and Mark Gethin Harris of Mildenhall, Suffolk.  Both defendants failed to obtain licenses for their House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) after several reminders from the council.

Mr Davies, appeared before Cardiff Magistrates and was fined a total of £1,450 in relation to two properties at William Street and Clarence Street. He pleaded guilty to a total of 15 offences including failure to license an HMO at one property and breaching licensing conditions at another.

Mr Harris appeared before Swansea Magistrates and pleaded guilty to 12 offences linked to a house at Chaddesley Terrace. They included failure to license an HMO and failure to comply with Management Regulations. He was fined a total of £8,000.

Swansea Council is now urging landlords who rent out Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in the city to check if they need a licence.

The Council was awarded a total of £2,193 costs for both cases.

Mark Child, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, said: “Tenants in private rented accommodation in Swansea need to be reassured that the property they are living in is safe and is maintained to an acceptable standard.

“The licensing scheme we have in place helps to verify that landlords are carrying out their responsibilities to provide good quality accommodation.

“We will continue to prosecute anyone who fails to license their property when they are required to. If landlords are unsure whether they need a licence they can contact the Council for advice.”

Swansea HMO landlords must acquire an HMO Licence and manage their property in accordance with the HMO Management Regulations.

There are around 2000 HMOs in Swansea, many of which are located in the two central wards of Castle and Uplands.

All HMOs in Castle and Uplands need to be licensed. HMOs in other areas require a licence if there are three or more floors and five or more occupants.

Landlords in Swansea can visit Swansea Council’s website for help and advice about licensing an HMO. Visit www.swansea.gov.uk/hmos  or phone 01792 635600.

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

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

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Welsh House Prices Set to fall in 2013

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At Rooms in Cardiff we aim to provide landlords, home owners and property investor’s detailed analysis of the property market in Cardiff, Wales and across the UK.

The latest House Price report from Knight Frank bears grim reading for UK home owners and property investors in Wales and across the UK as Knight Frank predict house prices to fall across the UK with Welsh house prices predicted to fall a further 3.8%.

Key headlines of the Knight Frank report include:

  • UK house prices will not reach their 2007 peak until 2019: the longest housing market recovery on record, according to Knight Frank’s new forecast
  • UK housing transactions to rise 2% in 2013, but to remain well below peak levels for the rest of the decade
  • Tax changes forecast to weigh on prime central London prices, with no price movement expected in 2013.
  • 5 years since start financial crisis and UK housing market is not fully functional
  • Transaction levels 50% lower than in 2007 and 35% below 20 year average
  • House prices being supported by unusual economic conditions, ultra-low interest rates
  • Further correction in house prices is needed as relationship between average earnings and average house prices is well above long term average.

 

UK Regional Market House Price Growth

  20 Year Average to 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
East Anglia 5.8% 5.7% -16.6% 4.5% 3.4% 1.4% -2.4% -0.7%
East Midlands 5.5% 2.8% -14.2% -2.5% 1.7% 0.7% -1.6% -1.0%
London 7.4% 12.8% -15.1% 7.0% 2.5% 5.4% -0.2% -0.6%
North East 4.9% 3.7% -11.0% -2.0% 0.6% -1.0% 0.5% -2.3%
North West 4.9% 3.5% -14.4% 2.7% -1.9% -1.1% -1.8% -2.6%
Scotland 5.3% 10.1% -8.1% 1.0% -2.1% -0.8% -3.6% -3.2%
South East 6.4% 7.9% -15.7% 6.0% 2.4% 1.6% -0.9% -1.1%
South West 6.3% 6.4% -14.9% 3.8% 2.1% 0.8% -1.0% -2.2%
Wales 5.6% 4.2% -12.1% -0.3% -1.9% 1.6% -3.6% -3.8%
West Midlands 5.2% 4.4% -14.0% 2.1% 0.6% 0.4% -1.3% -2.1%

Read the full Knight Frank report here

The figures above suggest home owners, landlords and property investors across Wales should expect further house price drops so what can you do to weather the storm and shelter yourself from falling house prices.

At Rooms in Cardiff we are able to provide financial security to those of you with negative equity or landlords with empty homes by providing a guaranteed rental income for period of 12 months or more.  Rooms in Cardiff guaranteed rental income scheme is a great solution to landlords and homeowners across Cardiff and South Wales as we can help lighten the financial burden by providing a rent guarantee ensuring a monthly payment with no void periods, no set up fees and often with no maintenance costs.

Rooms in Cardiff are a specialist multi let and House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) landlord service provider and can provide a HMO Rent Guarantee as well as providing a guaranteed rental income for apartments, bungalows, flats and homes across Cardiff and South Wales.

To discuss how Rooms in Cardiff can help relieve the financial burden of a house in negative equity or a rental property that is left empty and provide a guaranteed rental income, why not email info@webletz.co.uk or call 0845 496 0000.

Landlords lure Students with iPads & More

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Yesterday a post appeared on Property Tribes “London landlords lure students with iPads as university fees bite”.  The article was first published by Reuters news agency highlighting the incentives London landlords are offering to attract student tenants as student numbers are dropping in the capital due to introduction of university fees and tighter restrictions being imposed on the number of non-EU being able to obtain a Student Visa.

Student accommodation as always be looked upon as a safe property investment with excellent annual returns but is student housing reputation looking a lot more shaky?

The problem isn’t just affecting small landlords it’s proving problematic for corporate organisations too.  Irish owned O’Flynn Group, Carlyle Group’s Pure Student Living and Quintain Estates are among developers who have struggled to fill student rooms in London this year after the British government tripled maximum university fees to 9,000 pounds ($14,400), triggering a 12 per cent fall in numbers from Britain and the EU.

Investment in student housing has risen from 350 million pounds in 2009 to some two billion pounds in the first nine months of 2012, data from CBRE Group showed. Investors are attracted by high occupancy rates and stable income streams.

Read the full article from Reuters >>> here.

Back in September Rooms in Cardiff published a post titled “Cardiff Student Housing or Professional House Share?” which highlighted the fall in student numbers across the UK, Wales and Cardiff with the aim of providing an alternative use for large family houses, Multi Let property and House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) in the Welsh capital.

The aim of the post was to draw landlord’s attention to professional house share a real alternative to Cardiff Student housing.  There is huge demand for professional house share in Cardiff as well as fantastic annual returns as professional tenants require your House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) 12 months of the year.

As a landlord and owner of a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) in Cardiff you are ideally placed to utilise your property more efficiently and take advantage of the growing professional house share market.  So if you are interested in moving away from Cardiff Student housing have Rooms to Rent in Cardiff why not contact Rooms in Cardiff to discuss how we can help you find professional tenants for your professional house share with our low cost, fixed price £120 tenant finder service.

We can also provide landlords with a complete HMO Rent Guarantee scheme taking the complete hassle out of HMO and Multi Let management, with no void periods, no set up fees and no maintenance costs; we can provide a guaranteed rental income for a 12 month plus period.

Contact Rooms in Cardiff on 0845 496 0000 or email info@webletz.coc.uk to discuss how you can diversify into the professional house share market in Cardiff and across South Wales.

Multi Let and Help the Millions Who Live with Parents

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At Rooms in Cardiff we are always keen to promote the benefits of multi letting and creating a professional house share as an alternative use for your House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) and Student Housing, and now there is even more evidence that should help you switch the use of your House of Multiple Occupation (HMO).

The potential for landlords to diversify, capitalise and cash in on the multi let market is huge.   In the United Kingdom, more than 1.6 million people aged between 20-40 are still living with parents because they cannot afford home ownership and in May this year the Office of National Statics reported that 2.9 million people aged 20-34 were still living at home.

Rooms in Cardiff has seen a huge demand from professional tenants aged between 20 and 35 looking for Rooms to Rent in Cardiff and across South Wales, those people who are in gainful employment, earning a good salary who just cannot afford to get on the property ladder, but do not want to live with their parents for a multitude of different reasons.

If you are a landlord with property in Cardiff or South Wales and interested in finding out how you can capitalise on the growing demand from professional tenants who are looking to Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  why not email info@webletz.co.uk or call us on 0845 496 0000 or visit www.roomsincardiff.com

Rooms in Cardiff are a specialist provider of landlord services for landlords with House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO), Student Property, Professional House Share and Multi Lets.  Our services include:

Tenant Finder No Tenant No fee

Property Listing across multiple property portals

HMO & Multi Let Property Management & Property Services

HMO Rent Guarantee

Buy to Let Evictions Soar by 33%

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Ministry of Justice figures analysed and presented by homeless charity, Crisis suggest the number of Court orders to evict tenants from the Private Rented Sector have dramatically increased by over one third in the last two years.

Ministry of Justice figures suggest Courts in England and Wales have granted 36,211 eviction orders against tenants renting from buy to let landlords and House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) an increase of 12% in the last year and a massive 33% increase over the last two years.

The research by the homeless charity Crisis has added weight by a survey conducted by the National landlord Association (NLA) whose figures suggest an equally bleak picture with 49% of landlords polled saying that their tenants had paid late or are in rental arrears over the last 12 months.

If you are a landlord with a buy to let property in Cardiff or across South wales our Rent Guarantee Scheme can protect your property investment for rental arrears, void periods and costly tenant eviction process.

Our Rent Guarantee Scheme provides landlords in Cardiff and across South Wales complete piece of mind as they are safe in the knowledge that their property is tenanted by  professional tenants and their rent will be paid into an nominated bank account on the same day of the month every month.

Our Rent Guarantee Scheme is suitable for buy to let property investments in Cardiff and throughout South Wales whether it be an apartment, bungalow, family home or flat and for property investors with a Student property, House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) or Multi Let we provide a specialist HMO Rent Guarantee.

For a no obligation Rent Guarantee appraisal you can email info@webletz.co.cuk to arrange a call from one of our team or telephone 0845 496 0000.

Guaranteed Rental Income Cardiff

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The buzz around the property world at present seems to be “Rent to Rent” or as we like to call it Rent Guarantee.  Do not confuse this with Rent Guarantee Insurance as with our Rent Guarantee Scheme there is no set up costs and no excess charges and no small print which stops claims being made for the 90 days of the policy.

Our Guaranteed Rental Income Cardiff scheme is simple to understand and guarantees landlords in Cardiff and across South Wales piece of mind that they will receive a guaranteed rental income each month with no void periods and no hassle.

How Does Rent Guarantee Work

The flow chart on the left explains it best.  For “Rent to Rent” or Rent Guarantee to work three separate parties are needed:

The landlord this is the party who is looking for a guaranteed rental income for their property investment.

 Rooms in Cardiff: We provide The Landlord with a true rental market appraisal of their property investment as well as providing a Rent Guarantee figure we can provide each month of the contract term whether your property is tenanted or not.

 Tenant(s): If The Landlord agrees to Rooms in Cardiff Rent Guarantee figure and enters into a Rent Guarantee agreement then it is Rooms in Cardiff job to proactively search for professional and referenced tenants, set up tenancies and manage the property investment at no expense to The Landlord.

The contract between The Landlord and Rooms in Cardiff is a commercial Agreement or Management Agreement which outlines when the Rent Guarantee Scheme will commence, its duration and the Rent Guarantee figure The Landlord will receive.

Once a professional Tenant or Tenant(s) have been found and they have successfully completed Landlord Referencing, Employment Referencing and Credit profiling Rooms in Cardiff will enter into an Assured Shorthold Teancy (AST) for a 6 month period with the tenant(s) as well as conducting a thorough inventory and lodging tenant deposits with The Deposit protection Service as required by the Housing Act 2004.

If you are looking for a Guaranteed Rental Income Cardiff our no fuss and easy to understand Rent Guarantee Scheme is the perfect solution whether your property investment is an apartment, flat, bungalow, family home or house of multiple occupancy (HMO).

For a no obligation Rent Guarantee appraisal please email info@roomsincardiff.co.uk or call us on 0845 496 0000 to speak with one of our team.

HMO Cardiff For Sale

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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