PRSupdate

Landlords warned to take threat of fines over immigration seriously

May 17, 2013 by Kelly Smith Leave a Comment

Government

Included in the Queen’s Speech were new rules that will make it mandatory for landlords, or their agents, to check the immigration status of every tenant that they rent to. If they fail to do this and let to tenants who are living illegally in this country then they could face heavy fines.

Property law specialists are advising landlords that the threat of fines should not be taken lightly. A similar set of rules were introduced four years ago to attempt to curb the number of illegal workers employed in the UK. These rules resulted in the UK Border Agency issuing nearly 7,000 notifications of liability and collecting in the region of £65m in fines.

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Filed under Regulation

Looking at the return on residential property in the UK

May 16, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Alan Patterson

Every now and then, the subject of institutions investing in UK residential property becomes a talking point. Mainly, that is where it ends, with little resultant investment activity in the sector. There are exceptions, the most notable of which is Wellcome Trust, successfully investing in the sector over a number of years but, in general, institutions have some difficulty in persuading themselves that the investment rationale is strong enough.

The facile and well-worn excuse that ‘we would not want to be involved, with the ensuing bad publicity in putting an elderly grandmother on the street’ is sometimes used, although if that was a real concern to the financial industry, the availability of bank mortgages would presumably be restricted to young people. Clearly, by virtue of the fact that they are not, banks do not appear too concerned about the corresponding risk to their reputation in the event of a foreclosure.

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Filed under Guest Posts, PRSupdate Tagged with blog, business, finance, housing, investment, Private Rented Sector, real estate

Private Rented Sector inquiry oral evidence session

May 13, 2013 by Christopher Hann Leave a Comment

Image: Department for Communities and Local Government

On Wednesday 15 May 2013 The Wilson Room, Portcullis House will host the eighth evidence session of the Communities and Local Government Committee inquiry examining the Private Rented Sector.

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Christopher Hann on Google+

Filed under Government Tagged with blog, DCLG, government, law, Private Rented Sector, property, regulation

Landlords told to vet immigrant tenants

May 9, 2013 by Kelly Smith Leave a Comment

Queens Speech

Under new Immigration laws, that were announced in the Queens Speech, private landlords will now be held legally responsible for vetting tenants and checking their immigration status. Landlords will need to seek copies of passports and appropriate visas before they should let their property to a prospective tenant.

Those that are found to have broken the law will find themselves facing fines that could run into thousands of pounds.

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Filed under Government, Legal Tagged with blog, england, government, landlord, law, Private Rented Sector, prs, regulation, UK, young group, young london

The Mayor’s London Rental Standard puts landlords and tenants in the driving seat

May 7, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Richard Blakeway – Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property

There has been considerable comment on the phenomenal growth in private renting. Yet this isn’t news to Londoners. Ten years ago, when the housing market was more buoyant and banks were falling over each other to issue 100% mortgages, private renting doubled. Today a quarter of all Londoners are private renters.

It is not just the overall number that has changed. London’s private renters now include over 200,000 families with children, the average age of renters is rising, and the level of mobility in to, out of and within the sector is declining rapidly. What we are witnessing is a fundamental shift in demographics in a tenure that was once dominated by young, single, mobile people.

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Filed under Guest Posts Tagged with blog, business, england, government, home, housing, investment, landlord, law, lettings, life, local, london, Private Rented Sector, property, prs, regulation, rent, research

Meeting housing need through the Private Rented Sector

May 2, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Jack Dromey – Shadow Housing Minister

Labour believes that the Private Rented Sector (PRS) has an important role to play in meeting housing need. There are now 8.5 million people, including more than 1 million families with children, renting privately.

As a result of the biggest housing crisis in a generation it has been predicted that more and more people will be locked out of home ownership and, either through circumstance or choice, live in the PRS; potentially up to 1 in 5 households by 2016.

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Filed under Guest Posts Tagged with blog, england, government, home, housing, investment, Labour, Private Rented Sector, property, prs, real estate

The government is unlocking growth in the Private Rented Sector

April 30, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Mark Prisk – Housing Minister

For at least fifteen years this country has been building roughly half the homes it needs – whether for sale or rent. The situation got so bad under the previous administration that we saw the rate of housebuilding drop to its lowest peacetime level since the 1920’s. It’s why this Government is prioritising reform of the planning system and channelling new investment into housebuilding.

That means £19.5bn of public and private investment to deliver 170,000 new affordable homes by 2015, and spending over £1.5bn to unlock housing delivery on sites across the country. Read more of this post

Filed under Guest Posts Tagged with blog, business, england, government, home, housing, investment, Private Rented Sector, property, prs, regeneration

The Requirement for Redress

April 30, 2013 by Neil Young Leave a Comment

Neil Young

The government is making moves to protect renters from the minority of lettings agencies who practice unscrupulous tactics. The current government is looking to amend the Regulatory Reform Bill to make it compulsory for all lettings and management agencies to sign up to an approved redress scheme, such as The Property Ombudsman Service. This would give renters the right to challenge their agent if the need arose.

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Filed under Regulation

HomeLet release their March 2013 Rental Index

April 29, 2013 by Michael Oakes Leave a Comment

Homelet

Please find a link to the March 2013 HomeLet Rental Index.

The HomeLet Rental Index is based on agreed rental prices rather than the prices that are advertised on property portals. The Rental Index provides a wide range of information and a unique insight into the performance of the Private Rented Sector.

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Filed under Research Tagged with Homelet, Private Rented Sector, prs, research, statistics

In Conversation With… Jonathan Seager

April 28, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Jonathan Seager

There’s a plethora of leading figures in the property, investment, finance and charity sectors who we’re regularly in conversation with, many of whom are guest authors for PRSupdate – and here we share more about them, their roles, priorities and backgrounds. If you would like to feature in this series, or to suggest someone who might, please get in touch through our contact us page or let us know on twitter.

Why not take a lucky dip into our In Conversation archives and discover:

Today we speak with Jonathan Seager, Head of Housing & Olympic Legacy Policy, London First.
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