The Future for Buy to Let Landlords

David Lawrenson of LettingFocus sees some positives from what appears to be a gloomy year for landlords. The Future for Buy to Let Landlords It’s been a funny year for so called “buy to let” landlords. They have been clobbered by George Osborne’s hikes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) – a special tax designed just for pesky “Mom and Pop” landlords. Interestingly, […]

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London Assembly Calls for Longer Term Tenancies

At LettingFocus we are pleased to see our evidence to the London Assembly on the private rented sector was accepted and made it through as a key recommendation. The London Assembly has issued another report on the private rented sector – this time calling for the mayor to intervene in the capital’s private rented sector to “stabilise rents” and encourage […]

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About Turn on Universal Credit Payments is Coming

David Lawrenson of www.LettingFocus.com says that among the mandarins at the DWP, the penny may be finally dropping about Universal Credit Housing Benefit payments. Here, he proposes a more sensible alternative. It’s Groundhog Day all over again. You may remember the famous film starring Bill Murray about a TV weatherman who was forced to relive a single day until he […]

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Nationwide Mortgage Works Housing Benefit U Turn

David Lawrenson of Private Rented Sector Consultants LettingFocus.com looks at why some mortgage lenders don’t want to allow landlords to let to tenants who are dependent on housing benefit to pay their rent. Last week, at this blog, I looked at Nationwide’s new policy (for the Mortgage Works) to not allow landlords taking out mortgages or remortgages with them to […]

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Scottish Landlords Registration Scheme Fails and Implications for the Rest of the UK

David Lawrenson of PRS consultancy www.LettingFocus.com shows how government seems to be failing to learn from past experiments to control the private rented sector – and calls for more robust analysis. Landlords have paid £11.2m in fees since the introduction of the Landlord Registration Scheme in Scotland. But the scheme has resulted in only 11 people being reported to the […]

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Local Housing Allowance and More Changes to Policy

David Lawrenson of www.LettingFocus.com explains the “work arounds” and the sleights of hand involved in the latest changes in Local Housing Allowance funding. The government has just voted to cap rises in several benefits, including local housing allowance (LHA) base rates, at the lower of 1% or the 30th percentile of local rents – which means that in practice, in […]

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Why Town Hall “Not for Profit” Letting Agencies Fail

Local authority schemes to attract private landlords to let to people with few housing options often fail. Here at LettingFocus, we explain why. I was invited to speak at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Homelessness conference in Nottingham last week. This is a big national event to which around 140 local authority and housing association staff from all around […]

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Buy to Let Mortgages and Tenants on Benefits

Some mortgage lenders still don’t let landlords who have mortgage loans with them to let their properties to tenants who are on benefits. Many private landlords are reluctant to let to tenants who are dependent on housing benefits, preferring tenants who do not have to rely on the state for any assistance. There are a number of reasons why: 1. […]

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Council Schemes for Landlords and the Private Rented Sector are not making an Impact

Councils’ failure to engage with private landlords means families could be needlessly placed in emergency temporary accommodation or out of their local borough. Back in July, the Guardian newspaper published a piece of research I had just completed which showed how councils and housing associations are failing to engage private landlords with their various schemes. I thought it worthwhile to […]

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Institutional Investment in the Private Rented Sector Draws Closer

More Build to Let and institutional investment in the private rented sector now looks almost a “nailed on” certainty says David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com. But it could be the biggest threat yet to the profitability of the traditional “buy to let” model. Many months ago the government appointed Sir Adrian Montague to look at the barriers to institutional investment in […]

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