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What’s Next for the Crediton Property Market?

There is no doubt that Coronavirus will affect the Crediton Property Market, but just how?

The ensuing economic challenges are going to impact the Crediton (and UK) property market, yet no one knows the real answer. The newspapers eulogise different opinions, but that’s all they are – opinions and everybody’s got a different opinion. The truth of the matter is we don’t know and won’t know for another few months at least, if not more?

There have been some outstanding Government supportive measures both for tenants, landlords, home buyers and sellers (including a pause on evictions for tenants, and for landlords and homeowners, mortgage payment deferments and stamp duty reductions to make buying a home cheaper), and whilst these are only temporary, they have done their job, meaning there is an astonishingly good level of activity in the Crediton property market.

A lot of that is pent-up demand from a couple of years of uncertainty because of Brexit. Also, we had the General Election in late 2019, so there have been so many reasons for people to sit on their hands. At beginning of 2020, it was like a water hose ready to burst with the Boris Bounce in January and February. Then, just as things were beginning to get going in the Crediton property market, we had everything freeze up for months during lockdown. Since lockdown has been lifted…

the Crediton property market is open once again for business  and there is unquestionably some impressive activity both in the sales and rental market.

So, back to the original question and where are we going? I think what we will see is a subtle change to where people want to live because of the pandemic. People working from home has shown that the need to be in the big cities has reduced and as employees have realised, they can work very efficiently from home, plus they are happier and have a better work/life balance. Their employers are also happy as they get more work out of their staff and can reduce their costly office footprint in the cities. The same goes for Crediton tenants as they are wanting more from their rental homes. Three trends we have noticed is there is greater demand for properties with gardens, greater demand for Crediton landlords who will accept pets (as they now can have them as they work from home) and finally, tenants willingness to pay top dollar for ‘top of the range’ properties, whilst more basic and uncared for properties without all the ‘bells and whistles’ need to go for a discount. There certainly has been a flight to quality.

Yet, what worries me is the fundamental future uncertainty in 2021 and beyond. What will things look like say in Spring 2021 when the Stamp Duty reductions are phased out? Any property sold needs to have completed by the end of March 2021 to take advantage of the tax holiday, meaning you need to have sold your property by November 2020 at the very latest to ensure your property purchase and sale deal goes through in time (as it is taking on average up to 17 weeks between sale agreed and completion). This is where the difference between a great solicitor, brilliant estate agent and awesome mortgage broker compared to average ones will show. Good ones, when all three are working together for you, can get the sale through in 6 to 8 weeks, not the national average of 17 weeks, meaning if you are cutting it fine, you might not be able to take advantage of the tax savings in the spring. Give me a call if you want to know who the best of the best in Crediton are to ensure you don’t lose out on those tax savings. 

The value of the average Crediton home currently stands at £284,400

So, what is going to happen to the Crediton property market? It really depends on the economy as a whole and of course the property market is a large part of that. I know one thing that buy to let landlords and home buyers don’t like is ambiguity and the British housing market has always lived and breathed on emotion and sentiment. People will only buy and sell property (and borrow the money to make those transactions happen) when they feel good. Are all these things like Stamp Duty holidays just putting off the inevitable? Are we heading for the mother of all property crashes?

Well, let me put sentiment and opinion aside for a second and look at the simple facts.

We have an increasing population, yet we don’t build enough houses

Since 1995, we have built on average 150,200 properties per year. The Barker Report said 2004 the country needed 240,000 per year to satisfy annual demand for new homes and whilst the number of new homes built in the UK last year rose 1% to a 13-year high, only 161,000 homes were built. That means over the last 25 years, with the difference between actual homes built and the targets set out in the Barker Report, we have an inbuilt shortage of 2,245,000 homes, meaning…

Since the Millennium, property values in Crediton have increased by 165.9%

Other factors have contributed to that. The average age of a person leaving their parents’ home in the UK is 24.4 years and that has been dropping for a few years meaning more homes are required. People are also living longer (in 2000 the average person lived until 77.7 years and now it’s 81.1 years – doesn’t sound a lot until one considers for each additional year the average person lives in the UK, we need an additional 356,500 homes). Finally, we have got immigration. In the year ending March 2019, 612,000 people moved to the UK (immigration) and 385,000 people left the UK (emigration) – meaning a net increase of 227,000 people (or a requirement of c.100,000 homes to house them in one year alone). All those factors in themselves mean…

we have more demand for Crediton property than we have supply and that’s not going to change any time soon

Property markets are driven (like all markets) by supply and demand so I believe Crediton property values can only rise in the long term. The question is whether Crediton people will have the sentiment and confidence to borrow money on a mortgage and invest in property, yet at the moment with ultra-low interest rates, borrowing money to buy a home has never been so cheap and if you are in it for the long-term (which you should be with property) then I think it’s good news.

One piece of good news is that mortgage lenders are willing to lend up to 90 per cent loan to value mortgages for first time buyers (and in some rare cases 95 per cent), albeit with a lot of strings attached … yet this is a good sign as the banks and building societies wouldn’t be lending at these levels if they were too scared.

Investing in property, be it for yourself to live in or buy to let is a long-term game. We might see an uplift in prices in the short term because of the demand mentioned above, then again, we might see a dip in 2021 yet again for the reasons mentioned above – until we start to build new homes to the scale of 300,000+ a year (something that has never been achieved since 1969), the long-term picture appears to good. Be you a Crediton landlord, Crediton house seller or Crediton buyer, you do have to be a lot more strategic and thoughtful about what you are going to do. If you would like to pick my brains, drop me a message on social media or pick up the phone.

So those are my thoughts, tell me your thoughts for the future of the Crediton property market?

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The clock is ticking for buyers and sellers in Crediton who want to get moving

In this two-minute read, we look at why the opportunity clocks are ticking for people wanting to make the most of the Stamp Duty holiday.

“Life is a Game” is a quote attributed to Mother Teresa, but it could be easily applied to property. As with all games, there are winners and losers when it comes to selling a home. Timing always plays a part in how successful you are, as does having a talented estate agency working on your behalf to get you a winning result.

The announcement earlier this month that Stamp Duty for properties under £500,000 is eliminated until March 31, 2021, means there’s now plenty of opportunity knocking on the doors of homeowners in Devon.

Buyers can save up to £15,000 during this window.

Opportunity Clocks

Depending on what source you look at, it takes on average (from a cold start) between 176 to 200 days to sell a home. This means the opportunity clock is now ticking before that March 31 2021 deadline.

The Stamp Duty holiday means:

  • Deals that were dead in the water over a difference in the value buyers and sellers were prepared to accept (especially between £15-30,000) are now potentially resurrected.
  • Having more to put down as a deposit is opening more of the mortgage market to buyers.
  • As is the decision by several lenders to reintroduce 90% Loan to Value mortgages.
  • If you’re thinking of selling, you’ll also benefit from the Stamp Duty removal if the place you’re buying is under the £500,000 bracket.

But it’s not enough to put your most valuable tax-free asset up for sale and hope the rising tide of a buoyant market mid Devon helps you achieve the premium price for your property.

You also need to remember the following five things, which we’ve related to classic game shows to help you remember:

Blankety Blank – Watch out for cheap and not so cheerful agents or agencies that promise the earth but can’t back it up with evidence and case studies.

The Price is Right – Overvaluing a property will mean it sticks, no matter what the market is doing or if stamp duty has been put on hold. Pricing it correctly to sell at a premium price is a skill experienced agents like us have.

Through the Keyhole – When you are on the market, your property gets put under the microscope so prepare it thoroughly so that viewers will feel like it’s a place they’d love to call home.

Countdown – Remember that date – March 31, 2021 – The sooner you start marketing your property, the better. The clock is ticking.

Bullseye – When you choose an agent with an excellent track record and fair fees who values your property correctly and can guide you on every aspect of the selling process, you’ve hit the bullseye. And you won’t be left thinking about what you could’ve ‘won.’

At Helmores we see working with a client to sell their home as a team effort. So, if you like the sound of our approach and are interested to know how we’d help you make the most of the Stamp Duty window of opportunity, let’s talk.

Thanks for reading!

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Every Crediton Homeowner & Landlord to Receive up to £5,000 Grant for Roof Insulation & Double Glazing from September

future green energy

The Chancellor announced on Wednesday 8th July in his mini Budget some interesting news for homeowners and landlords across the UK. Rishi Sunak is going to give ‘The Green Homes Grant’ of up to £5,000 to cover two-thirds of the costs of environmentally friendly upgrades to your property, with the homeowner covering the other third. There are also enhanced grants of £10,000 for the poorest households where 100% of the cost will be met by the Government.

This is nothing new mind you. The coalition Government in 2013 announced The Green Deal. That deal was in theory to have been a help for the builders, energy saving and home improvement industry, as the Government hoped many would take up environmentally friendly improvements to save energy (and ultimately greenhouse gases). Yet by the time it was brought to an end two years later only 14,000 households had applied, costing the taxpayer £238m (or £17,000 per household). That doesn’t sound good value to me – yet who am I to comment?!

Anyway, let’s not be negative, as improving our homes makes sense – after all, research shows Brits have the draughtiest homes in Europe. A recent survey suggests UK homes “leak” heat up to three times more quickly than more energy-efficient homes on the continent.

Data from 80,000 smart thermostats across the EU were reviewed to measure how quickly a home at 20°C inside cooled once the heating was turned off (when the outside temperature was 0°C). Within 5 hours, the average British home dropped by 3°C, the French came in second at 2.5°C yet the Germans came in at just 1°C, meaning British homes clearly need more heating (i.e. greenhouse gases) to keep them warmer.

The chancellor has allotted £2bn to the scheme, which pays for two thirds of the cost of the upgrade and stated that more than 650,000 homes would be upgraded. This could save those households a total of £195m a year in heating bills (or the equivalent of £300 a year per household), cutting greenhouse gases and saving jobs in the construction industry. The grant can be applied for from September and is open to Crediton homeowners and private sector Crediton landlords. Applications must be made before March 2021 and the Treasury have stated about half of the fund would go to households with the lowest incomes (how low is still to be announced), with an enhanced grant of up to £10,000, saving them up to £600 per annum each on their heating bills.

The average Crediton home annually produces 5.011 tonnes of CO2, compared to the national average of 4.101 tonnes

Due to the particular individual nature of the properties in Crediton and their construction type, with suitable improvements in insulation, double glazing and draught proofing, Government statistics state that this could be reduced to 2.748 tonnes for Crediton homes if suitable work (as per the Green Homes Grant) was carried out.

Why is this important? Well UK householders spend £34.735bn a year on their electric and gas bills – this is a lot of money. In fact, looking specifically at Crediton properties …

Crediton householders spend £814.40 per year on  heating their homes (compared to the national average of £669.34 per year)

Yet, if Crediton householders carried out the energy improvements that ‘The Green Homes Grant’ suggests their energy bills for heating alone would reduce to £570.26 per year … quite a saving over a decade and beyond (enough to buy a decent holiday – whatever one of those is!).

So, with Crediton homeowners and Crediton landlords being able to spend the grant on loft, floor and wall insulation, low carbon gas boilers, heat pumps, double or even triple-glazed windows, energy-efficient doors and low energy lighting … everyone should win – the environment, the economy and household budgets. More details on the scheme should be released by the Government in August. We’ll keep you posted on any updates!

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Crediton Home Buyers & Landlords Set to Save £580,970 in Stamp Duty Over Next Nine Months

The British are infatuated with owning their own property and politicians know that. Margaret Thatcher used it as a vote winner in 1979 when she allowed council house tenants to buy their own home. Coming to the present day, Boris Johnson’s Conservative government have anxieties that the Brits have not been buying nearly enough homes lately and, as with all countries in the world, the British property market was put ‘on ice’ for several months to help contain the Coronavirus, exacerbating the problem.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced on Wednesday plans to boost the property market by momentarily scrapping Stamp Duty Tax (a tax paid by homebuyers) when they buy a property that costs less than £500,000.

Interestingly, Stamp Duty was originally introduced in 1694 as a way to raise funds for The Nine Years’ War (1688–1697) against Louis XIV of France and applied to property and some legal documents.

Why is this important? Well the Government recognise that when the property market is working well, the economy also tends to work well, yet one of the barriers to people moving home is Stamp Duty. Even before Coronavirus, Brits were moving 40.21% less than they were at the start of the millennium, and now with this dreadful situation, the natural reaction is for people to stay put in their own homes, meaning another potential nail in the coffin for the economy.

Stamp Duty has raised not an insignificant £166.53bn since 1998, impressive when you consider the NHS costs £129bn per annum. Looking at more recent figures, the Government currently raise £1.045bn per month from Stamp Duty Tax and this statement will remove a good chunk of that from the Chancellors coffers each month, yet the Government knows a healthy property market will help the wider economy.

As Stamp Duty is a transaction tax, it restricts labour market mobility, making people who are thinking of switching jobs think twice before moving. Stamp Duty also holds back elderly homeowners from downsizing to smaller homes, which is an issue for the UK, as we don’t have enough homes to meet supply and also curtails first time buyers as it forces them to use some of the savings on the tax, as opposed to using for a deposit.

Before the changes, the Stamp Duty thresholds were as follows: 

  • Zero percent up to £125,000
  • Two percent of the next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000)
  • Five percent of the next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000)
  • Ten percent of the next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million)
  • 12% of the remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million)

and between the 8th July 2020 and 31st March 2021 the thresholds are:

  • Zero percent up to £500,000
  • Five percent of the next £425,000 (the portion from £500,001 to £925,000)
  • Ten percent of the next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million)
  • 12% of the remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million)

Landlords and buy to let landlords will also benefit from these reduced rates yet will still have to pay their additional premium for second homes (as they have since April 2016).

To give you an idea how significant this is, if these rules had been in place exactly a year ago for Crediton properties purchased under £500,000 (i.e. between the 8th July 2019 and 31st March 2020).

Stamp Duty would not have been paid on 210 Crediton properties, worth in total £53,620,300

Anyone buying any home in Crediton over £500,000 are also winners in this, as they will save having to pay the first £15,000 in stamp duty (under the old scheme). This is because during these 9 months, stamp duty is only paid on the difference over £500,000 (so if you buy a property for say £620,000 – one only pays the stamp duty on the difference between £620,000 and £500,000 i.e. £120,000).

I’m all for reducing Stamp Duty, which is imposed progressively at higher rates the higher a property costs (as you can see from the tables above). Yet, short-lived changes to property taxation risk warping the property market and generating a ‘property market hangover’ in Spring 2021. I am part of a group of 2,500 estate and letting agents from the UK, and most of us were running at 150% speed before this announcement, coping with the post Coronavirus explosion in demand.

Now it seems that the ‘feast’ will continue until the end of March 2021 as many more people will move to take advantage of the cut in tax. However, some are suggesting this could lead to ‘famine’ down the line as it will stop people moving into the late spring and summer of 2021.

History tells us different stories on the influence on transaction volumes from changing Stamp Duty rates. In 1991 the Tory’s raised the Stamp Duty threshold at which house buyers started paying and Gordon Brown did so in 2008 when we went into the Credit Crunch. More recently, both George Osborne and Philip Hammond fine-tuned Stamp Duty so that landlords had to pay an additional Stamp Duty Premium after March 2016 whilst first-time buyers pay less Stamp Duty and the purchasers of more expensive homes (over £1.5m) pay more.

The Stamp Duty changes for landlords in 2016 affected the property market only for a short while and by the autumn, transactions levels had returned to normal. However, in 1991, John Major’s Stamp Duty change encouraged home buyers to bring forward home purchases but nevertheless the property market ground to a standstill again once the benefit ended (although the steps up the 1990’s Stamp Duty levels were much harsher as the tax applied to the whole purchase price, not the margin steps as it had in the 1990’s).

So how much money will Crediton people save when buying a home under £500k?

The average Stamp Duty paid by those Crediton home buyers in the 9 months between the 8th July 2019 and 31st March 2020 was £2,767.

Being objective, I can see why the Chancellor could see this as a suitable way to motivate spending because when people move home, they are more inclined to spend comprehensively on property renovations and the services of solicitors, home removal people, tradesmen and estate agents. So, drastically reducing Stamp Duty will undoubtedly help the UK economy, or at least contain some of the damage from the Coronavirus.  

Also, the experience of being in lockdown will have confirmed to many Crediton people that they need a bigger home or one with a bigger garden. I also suspect other people may be able to work from home on a more long-lasting basis, meaning there could be a shift from the larger cities to outlying towns and even a move to the countryside.

So, these are my thoughts, what are yours? I’d love you to post them in the comments below! 🙂

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We’re All Going On A Stamp Duty Holiday!

Confused about the new Stamp Duty holiday announcement? Check out our simplified 2 minute guide!

What is Stamp Duty?

Stamp duty is simply a tax paid by people buying properties. The amount of tax is based upon the purchase price of the property. In England and Northern Ireland buyers pay Stamp Duty, and there there are different schemes for Scotland and Wales.

The amount of tax you pay depends on the purchase price of the property and whether you are buying it as your main home, or an additional property, buy-to-let etc.

What’s Changed?

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced changes to Stamp Duty on 8th July meaning any buyer purchasing a primary residential property will pay no stamp duty on the first £500,000. This means the most property buyers will benefit from some whopping savings!

So, getting down to the nitty gritty of it: on a property purchase over the £500,000 threshold, buyers will pay a 5% Stamp Duty but only on the portion from £500,001 to £925,000. Then it’s 10% on the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million and 12% on any portion over £1.5 million.

Some Examples

If you are buying your main home for £500,000 you would have paid £15,000 in Stamp Duty. Now you pay nothing.

If you are buying your main home for £750,000 you would have paid £27,500. Now you pay £12,500.

Second homes

There’s been a lot of confusion about purchasing a second home but we can confirm that there are large savings to be made here too. The higher additional rates remain, with a 3% higher rate on top of the new revised rates.

So, if you are purchasing a holiday home up to the threshold value of £500,000, you will pay 3% Stamp Duty.  If it’s over the threshold of £500,000 you’ll pay 8% on the portion from £500,001 to £925,000, 13% on the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million, and 15% on the remaining portion over £1.5 million.

Visit gov.uk for more information

Why have the Government made these changes?

This move by the Government will keep the post lock-down property market momentum going strong and help the broader economy.

This is because when people move, they often spend thousands of pounds doing up their new home to suit their lifestyle and tastes. Think about it: when you move home, you often spend money on new carpets, curtains, kitchen units, and even new furnishings etc.

So when does all this end?

From 1 April 2021, the Stamp Duty holiday ends and the old regulations will revert to what they were before these temporary changes were announced, unless the Government decide otherwise, of course. We can live in hope!

Our thoughts on it all

The change means now is a great time to put your property on the market as we’re expecting a surge of buyers looking to make their move while they can save a large chunk of hard earned cash.

We’re primed and ready to take your calls and answer any questions you have around the new Stamp Duty changes. So, if you are thinking of buying or selling in 2020 the time’s never been better thanks to this news!

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Crediton Property Market – the Last 10 Years

One of my Crediton landlords contacted me last week after he had spoken to a landlord friend of his from Copplestone. He told me they were deliberating the Crediton property market and neither of them could make their mind up if it was time to either sell or buy property following Covid-19. His friend said he would wait to see what would happen to property prices following Covid-19, yet my landlord wanted to pick my brain in order to help him decide what to do.

I said the press are aware that bad news sells newspapers and the doom mongers are plying their trade on uncertainty in the world economic situation. Roll the clock back to the Credit Crunch of 2008/9, and there were quite a few landlords in Crediton who had overexposed themselves with high percentage loan to value buy to let mortgages, backing the hope they would make their money on the capital growth, yet fell foul of a drop in rents and thus got bankrupted (but who could blame them when the property market was rising at 15% to 20% a year in the early 2000’s and banks like Northern Rock were giving mortgages out to anyone with a pulse and note from their Mum).

Thankfully the Bank of England changed the rules on all mortgages in 2014 banning self-certification mortgages, tightening the rules around interest-only mortgages and the requirement around affordability to be checked plus a tough stress test if interest rates rose. It’s obvious we are going to enter into a recession because of Covid-19, yet this time the Crediton property market is better placed to weather the storm.

However, gone are the days when you could buy any old house in Crediton and it would make money. Yes, in the past, anything that had four walls and a roof would make you money because since World War 2, property prices doubled every seven years … it was like having a free cash machine.

If a landlord bought a Crediton terraced/town house in the summer of 2000, he or she would have seen a profit of £119,800 to its current value of £184,700, a rise of 184.7%

Nonetheless, if that landlord had bought the same property in 2010, that landlord would have only made £30,200 profit (a 19.6% increase). Yet since 2010, the country has experienced 31.5% inflation, meaning our Crediton landlord has seen the ‘real’ value of their Crediton property decrease by 11.9% (i.e. 19.6% less 31.5% inflation).

And this is my point. Nobody has been complaining about the property market in the last ten years, yet landlords are still worse off in real terms. If we do see a slow down in property prices because of Covid-19 (looking at the market at the moment I haven’t seen any indication of its slowing down from its post lockdown takeoff), but if we do, Crediton landlords need to realise property values aren’t the only indicator of whether the property market is good or not.

The reality is, since around the early 2000’s we haven’t seen anything like the capital growth in property we have seen in the past and it’s not predicted to grow at the rates it has previously done either. So, I believe it is high time for any landlord pondering investing in property to stop believing the hype and do some serious research using independent investment expertise. You can still make money by buying the right Crediton property at the right price and finding the right tenant.

Think about it, properties in real terms are 11.9% lower than a decade ago, so investing in Crediton property is not only about capital growth, but also about the yield (the return from the rent). It’s also about having a balanced property portfolio that will match what you want from your investment – and what is a ‘balanced property portfolio’? Well we discuss such matters in our Facebook group – it’s worth a few minutes of your time to join the group and have a look through the articles HERE

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Six things landlords in can do about rent arrears

Unpaid debts

In this two-minute read, we look at helpful new advice for landlords dealing with cases of rent arrears.

At the beginning of the pandemic, many predicted Covid-19 would have a disastrous impact on the private rental sector.

But new figures show that 90% of tenants have paid their rent in full during the pandemic—a better result than many had anticipated.

Unfortunately, we’re not out of the woods yet. Covid-19 will have a significant impact for some time to come, so the issue of rent arrears is still a very real one.

With this in mind, several property industry organisations have pooled resources and published some useful guidance for landlords and tenants on rent arrears. Here’s a rundown of the main points for landlords.*

Communication is key

No news isn’t always good news. If you haven’t spoken to your tenant for a while, get in touch and see how they are getting on. If their circumstances have changed, it’s better to know about it as soon as possible. Remember some people’s lives have been turned upside down by Covid-19, so be professional and compassionate.

Keep the conversation going

If there is a problem, there are several options you could consider, such as rent reductions or deferred payments. The action you take will depend on the circumstances. It could be that offering a rent reduction will cost you less than finding a new tenant. Market values in your area may have changed, meaning that if you did re-let the property, it might be at a reduced price.

Keep written records

Document all conversations with your tenants. Often exchanges take place on the phone or via text and can be misconstrued. Clarity is key. Always follow up with an email reiterating what has been said and agreed. This means everyone knows where they stand. And if the situation does wind up in mediation, or in court (we hope it doesn’t, but you never know) you have clear records to refer to.

If you have multiple tenants in a property

Make sure you are having conversations with all the tenants in a property. Never rely on one tenant to speak for another or to pass the information on. This could be a recipe for confusion and dispute.

Don’t forget the legal implications

If you do come to a new agreement, think about how it squares up to your legal responsibilities. For example, if you reduce the rent, does this change the amount of deposit you are legally allowed to hold (with a registered deposit scheme, of course)? If the rent drops, you may have to return a small proportion of the deposit to keep within legal guidelines.

The Easier, More Effective Alternative

Given the complexity of some of the issues involved, consider getting an experienced letting agent to deal with it for you. Many landlords will never have managed a case of rent arrears before and be in new territory. Having capable professionals like us, to lighten the load will save you time, money, and stress.

*Arrears Management and Coronavirus is published by the NRLA, the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Property Redress Scheme, ARLA Propertymark, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and My Deposits.

We’re here to help during these testing times. If you’d like advice on any of the matters discussed in this piece, get in touch – I’d love to hear from you 🙂

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I’m a landlord drowning in red tape, get me out of here!

Man got lost in the forest

In this three-minute read, we look at the legal responsibilities of landlords in Devon and how they can escape the jungle and let the experts handle the red tape.

Some people say being a landlord is easy. These people are wrong.

Glance through the list of the 175 plus laws that apply to landlords in the UK and you quickly realise there is a lot more to the lettings game than most people think. 

They cover everything from tenancies and evictions, to energy ratings, pollution, and electrical safety. It’s a regulatory jungle out there folks.

To stay on the right side of the law, landlords must get their heads around a mountain of red tape. Failure to do so can result in fines, bans or even jail.

We’re not exaggerating

These days tenants know their rights and authorities are not afraid to act. In the past month alone, several landlords have made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

In Coventry, a landlord was ordered to repay £11,000 after renting out a property for eight months without the appropriate licence. While in Poole a landlord was banned from letting or managing property for five years for 12 offences relating to the management (perhaps that should be mismanagement) of a HMO (House in Multiple Occupation). 

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. As lockdown measures continue to lift across the UK, the wheels of justice will start to turn again at an even faster pace.

So, expect more cases like this to make the news.

Finding your way through the maze

It’s important to note that the 175 plus laws that we refer to don’t apply to every single landlord in the UK. 

Some tax-related laws apply across the UK. Others relate only to landlords in England and Wales. Then there are laws just for landlords in Wales, laws just for landlords in England and, you guessed it, laws just for landlords in Scotland.

Confused? Don’t worry because you’re not alone.

Increase in regulations

The regulatory landscape has changed significantly in the past decade. Many of the changes were introduced with the right intention – to root out the small number of rogue landlords who make tenants’ lives hell. 

Unfortunately, the push to clean up the sector has placed a significant burden on all landlords, the vast majority of whom were doing the right thing all along.  

In England and Wales, for example, there has been a 32% increase in rules and regulations relating to the private rental sector since 2010. 

Nowadays, much more detail about the standard of the property itself is required. Failure to provide accurate information can result in a fine of £1,000. (And don’t even think about not registering, this can attract a £50,000 fine).

The Covid-19 effect

As if things weren’t complicated enough, the pandemic has added a higher level of complexity, particularly around evictions and rental arrears. 

Help I’m freaking out about all these rules!

Don’t panic. If you don’t have the time or inclination to become an expert in lettings legislation, help is at hand.

We can take the weight off your shoulders. We deal with these kinds of issues day in and day out and can save you time and, in the long run, money. 

Many people feel property is a safer investment than stocks and shares right now (and we agree with them). With a good lettings’ agent, you can grow your property investment, enjoy peace of mind, and escape the rental red tape jungle.

Here at Helmores my experienced team are happy to help landlords meet all their legal obligations. If you have any questions, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you 🙂

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The Crediton Post Lockdown Property Market

So, what have we learned in the first month?

From talking to a lot of other estate agents and our from own findings, it might surprise you to learn that new enquiries from homebuyers, tenants, landlords and home sellers have been at record levels since lockdown was lifted from the property market in mid-May.

There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, we had the pent-up demand for Crediton property from the Boris Bounce in January and February. Next, many Crediton people were planning to move this spring yet were prevented doing so because of lockdown, and finally, surprisingly, an advance wave of home movers seeking to bring their Crediton moving plans forward because of a fear of a second Covid-19 wave later in the year.

So, what does all that look like and how does it compare to the last 12/18 months?

Data from Yomdel, the live chat and telephone answering service for a quarter of UK estate and letting agents, is able to track objective and more current information from across the UK on what is really happening. Each week, they are dealing with thousands of enquiries including:

  • Seller enquiries (i.e. house sellers looking to put their property on the market)
  • Buyer enquiries (i.e. people looking to view a property on the market with the intention of buying it)
  • Landlords enquiries (i.e. landlords looking for tenants for their rental property)
  • Tenant enquiries (i.e. people looking to view a property on the market with the intention of renting it)

They have created a rolling weekly average of those enquiries for the whole of the UK for the 62 weeks before the country went into lockdown. Then they compared that 62 week average with specific time frames, namely the 10 weeks of the run up to the General Election, the 8 weeks of Post Boris Bounce in January and February 2020, the weeks of lockdown in March, April and early May and then finally, from mid-May, the post lockdown.

You might ask why tracking estate and letting agency enquiries is so important?

Enquiries in letting and estate agencies are the beating heart of the property market – they are the ECG machine of the estate and letting agency. Of course, house price data has its place and is lauded by the national press as the bellwether of the property market, yet it takes 6 to 9 months for the effects of what is happening today to show in those house price indexes, whilst these enquiries are what is happening now.

Have a look at the data in the graph and table, it can be seen in the 8 weeks up to the General Election, every metric was down. Next, the post Boris Bounce saw house seller and house buyer leads increase yet note how low tenant enquiries were (hardly any change from the run up to the election), everything dipped during lockdown as expected, yet look at all the metrics post lockdown … amazing! (e.g. if a number in the graph/table below is say -25%, that means its 25% below the rolling 62 week average, yet if it were +20%, then that would mean it would be 20% more than the rolling 62 week average)

The numbers speak for themselves!

So, what is happening in the Crediton and mid Devon property market? Well, there is plenty of activity, yet that doesn’t mean everything is back to normal. Enquiries are an important metric, yet another way to judge the health of the property market is to look at the number of property transactions (i.e. people moving).

Now the Land Registry data isn’t quite as exhilarating, yet it is less volatile. Nationally, it shows that property transactions were at their lowest level since its records began in April 2005. The seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential property transactions in April and May 2020 was 90,210, 53.4% lower than the 193,500 transactions of April and May 2019. Again though, this was because of the restrictions on moving during Covid-19. The stats for Crediton are still to be released, yet rest assured I will share them in due course. But of course, Land Registry figures are somewhat out of date as they are based on completions not agreed sales, so don’t reflect what’s actually happening on the ground right here right now.

So looking again at what is happening now:

24 Crediton and mid Devon village properties have come onto the property market in the last 14 days alone, and some 29 properties in the same area were sold subject to contract. From our Helmores office we’ve agreed 42 property sales in the whole of June which is above where we would normally be by about 20%.

So, what of the future of the post-lockdown Crediton housing market? While a stern recession seems fairly likely, a housing market crash most definitely not. Many newspapers are predicting property values to fall in 2020, then rise reticently from the ashes in 2021, but so far there are no signs of any falls – quite the opposite. The fact is, nobody knows!

The property market is driven a lot by sentiment. Buying a home is not like buying stocks and shares – it’s a home to live in … and those Crediton landlords who are looking for an investment opportunity, often let their heart rule the head (again sentiment) when investing in property.

Property always has, and always will be, a long-term investment. Many of you Crediton people reading this, especially potential first time buyers, have been putting off buying your first home because of Brexit, now its Covid-19, and in a few years, it will be something else. There will always be ‘something else’… and you could get to your 50’s and 60’s, still renting, waiting for the ‘next thing’ to pass before you buy … and end up buying nothing.

Nobody knows what the months or years ahead will bring … yet what I do know is, people will always need a place to live. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Tell us what your experiences are as a Crediton landlord or homeowner, tenant or buyer so we can all learn from each other.

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Is This the Beginning of the End for Buy to Let in Crediton?

are buy to let landlords to blame

…. and should Crediton landlords & Crediton homeowners be worried?

In 2019, the private rented sector accounted for just over four and a half million households or 19.9% of UK households, no change from the year before. Interesting, when compared to the proportion of private rented households in the 1980’s and 1990’s, when the proportion of private rented households was stable at around 9.5% to 10.8%.

Most of that growth in the private rented sector came in three main spurts. The first growth spurt was between 1999 and 2003 and that was caused when property values were increasing at 20% per annum, the second came from the migration of 1.69m people from the EU8 countries after 2004 and the final growth spurt came about because of the property crash of 2008/9. When I look at the local stats …

12.4% of Crediton properties in 1991 were privately rented, whilst the most recent stats, stand at 17.4%

Apart from social housing, the other pillar of home tenure is owner occupation. Owner occupation is made up of two separate groups: outright owners and those who own their home yet are buying the property with a mortgage.

In 1991, 29.6% of Crediton households owned their property outright and 39.8% of Crediton households were buying with a mortgage, whilst current stats show 34.7% of Crediton households are outright owners and only 31.6% are buying their Crediton home with a mortgage

Looking at these numbers, two things are clear

  1. The increase in the proportion and number of Crediton outright owners is at least somewhat caused by Crediton’s baby-boomer population retiring, being able to pay off their mortgages and thus going into outright homeownership.
  2. Overall homeownership is down. These figures will be of no surprise to many readers with heightened barriers to home ownership, as saving for the deposit became the prevailing hurdle to getting on the housing ladder together with a substantial increase in the amount of private rented accommodation, provided by an ostensibly ever-growing cohort of buy-to-let investors.

So, on the face of it, everything looks rosy for Crediton buy to let landlords with the private rented sector growing ever upwards.

This is not the case though because these stats on private rented and homeownership on Crediton are from the last census. However, the Government have a number of in-depth annual surveys on the property market and since 2016, the proportion of privately rented properties has remained stagnant at between 19% and 20%. Also, over the same time frame, the proportion of homebuyers with a mortgage has increased quite considerably from 30.7% of all households nationally to 35.5% last year. This increase is mainly attributed to an increase in first time buyers.

So, why have we seen an increase in the number of first time buyers?

Firstly, the government introduced their Help to Buy Scheme in 2013 helping first time buyers get on the property ladder with interest free loans and mortgage guarantees. Secondly, the wide availability of 95% mortgages since the mid 2010’s (meaning first time buyers only need to find a 5% deposit), and finally the continued increasing reliance of deposits from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ have helped to support this growth.

Interestingly, age is an important factor in these stats, as it’s the 25 to 35-year olds that have seen the biggest increase in home ownership, yet it’s decreased for those in the 35 to 45-year old bracket.

So, what does all this mean for Crediton landlords and Crediton homeowners?

In the next six months, I believe the growth in first time buyer numbers will ease slightly. The pent-up demand of the Boris Bounce in January and February has now been released, and whilst the early signs are very good, we are still to see the effects of the curtailing of the furlough scheme on the people’s ability to move home. 

Many doom-mongers were predicting the banks would remove 95% mortgages after Covid-19, yet looking on a well-known comparison website, at the time of writing, there were 183 ‘95% mortgages’ available to first time buyers, with eye watering low rates of 1.53% with the Halifax on a 2 year fixed rate and 5 year fixed rate with the Skipton at 1.83%. The Bank of Mum and Dad might be a tougher nut to crack for first time buyers’ deposits – the fall in the FTSE and the repercussions this will have on older households’ pensions income may restrict its availability.

This means even though the Crediton property market is doing reasonably well, Crediton homeowners wanting to sell shouldn’t get carried away and ‘over-egg’ their asking prices. The information available today at all buyers’ fingertips means your property can so easily be overlooked as being overpriced and thus become ignored.

My advice to Crediton landlords is, even though the proportion of private rented properties isn’t growing, in real numbers it is, as we created 230,000 residential homes in the country last year alone, so we aren’t seeing a mass exodus out of private renting.

Yet, now might be the time to consider spending money on upgrading what you already own instead of buying another property. Depending on the type and location of your Crediton rental property, the return on investment of certain upgrades can be in the order of 20% to 30% per annum. Don’t fall for the trap many Crediton landlords fall into and upgrade without speaking to a property professional. Whether you are a client or not, I am always here at the end of the phone to give you my advice and opinion.

Please do let me have your thoughts on the matter!