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Reside Review: May 2021

Posted on by prateek

General Manager Toby Martin rounds up the month of May, with news of new notice periods for landlords, the Queen’s Speech and more.

Reduced Landlord Notice Periods

As of the 1st of June 2021, notice periods for landlords have decreased from six to four months. The government temporarily increased notice periods to six months in August 2020, to provide tenants with greater security in their homes at the height of the pandemic. If the ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown restrictions goes according to plan, notice periods are expected to return to their pre-pandemic levels, i.e. 2 months, in October 2021.

Notice periods for tenants remain unaffected; a tenant can serve 1 month’s notice to bring their tenancy to an end.

You can read our detailed blog about this legislation here.

‘Breathing Space’ for Tenants

At the start of May, the Debt Respite Scheme came into force; a new initiative designed to give people in problem debt ‘breathing space’ to consider their options. The scheme, which will apply to tenants in rent arrears, permits any person who is in debt to seek a moratorium from an approved debt advice provider.

We will be posting a full blog on this subject in the coming weeks.

The Queen’s Speech

The Queen’s Speech at the start of May outlined the government’s priorities over the coming year, and contained a promise to ‘enhance the rights of those who rent‘. A White Paper has been promised in the autumn, which will address the government’s long-term promises to overhaul Section 21 evictions and introduce lifetime tenancy deposits for tenants.

You can read our detailed blog about the Queen’s Speech here.

Demand Continues to Outstrip Supply

In line with previous months, tenant demand significantly exceeded property supply during May 2021. At one point, the sheer weight of tenant demand saw our available properties drop to zero for the first time in many years; happily, this did not last for long as new properties swiftly became available. But for every property we place on the market, we are seeing multiple interested parties competing for it, which is in turn driving up rents across the board.

New applicant registrations increased by 22.3% compared to May 2020 which, despite being affected by lockdown restrictions, was a record-breaking month for Reside.

Our message to landlords is simple – it is a very good time to be bringing a rental property to the market.

New Recruit

We are delighted to bring you news of a new addition to the Reside team. Chris Gray has joined us in the role of Lettings Negotiator, and will be first point of contact for many of our clients. Chris brings a wealth of experience in sales and property, and knows Bath inside out.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

How To Tell If Your Letting Agent Is An Expert

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General Manager Toby Martin breaks down exactly how to tell if your letting agent knows their onions.

If your boiler broke down, what would you do? The chances are you would find a Gas Safe plumber to fix it for you – someone suitably qualified, who you can trust to carry out a quality job.

You would be highly unlikely to approach someone with no background in plumbing or boilers – the local greengrocer, perhaps. Why? Because if they get it wrong, it could cause a lot of damage.

With over 150 different pieces of legislation to comply with over the course of a tenancy, being a landlord is no different. If you get it wrong, it can cost you dearly.

Why is it then that so many landlords place their valuable investments in the hands of unqualified and unregulated letting agents?

Consider this – on any given day, anyone can wake up, get out of bed and decide to open a lettings agency. Within hours, they can have a Rightmove page and a glossy website boasting unsubstantiated claims about their service levels. In an unregulated sector, anyone can become a self-appointed expert overnight, even if they have no real knowledge of the industry.

So to all of the landlords reading this, my question is: how do you know you’re hiring the expert, and not the greengrocer?

This is where ARLA Propertymark come in. Whenever you see this logo (right), you know you’re dealing with an agency that has chosen to be regulated, chosen to undertake industry qualifications, and has made a commitment to stay up to date with new legislation through ongoing CPD and training. In other words, you’re dealing with an expert.

With landlord regulation at an all-time high, and strict punitive measures awaiting those who do not comply, the risks of using an unregulated agency are too great.

You’re in safe hands with a regulated and qualified agency.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Landlord Notice Periods To Be Shortened

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The government has announced that landlord notice periods will be reduced to four months, starting from the 1st of June 2021.

Under temporary legislation introduced in August 2020, notice periods were initially increased to three months, and more recently to six months, to provide tenants with greater security in their homes at the height of the pandemic.

Whilst the deadline to end these temporary measures has been pushed back several times, MHCLG has now confirmed that it will begin to taper notice periods, starting with a reduction to four months from the 1st of June. If the government’s Roadmap is successful, notice periods should return to their pre-pandemic levels by the 1st of October 2021.

Notice periods have presumably been tapered in this fashion for two reasons; firstly, so as not to dramatically remove this safety blanket from tenants, and secondly to discourage landlords who have already served their tenant with six months’ notice from re-serving a dramatically shorter notice.

“Subject to the public health advice and progress with the Roadmap, notice periods will return to pre-pandemic levels from 1 October. The measures will ensure renters continue to be protected with longer notice periods for the coming months, while allowing landlords to access justice – 45% of private landlords own just one property and are highly vulnerable to rent arrears.”
Housing Minister Chris Pincher

Notice periods for the most serious cases will remain lower, for example substantial rent arrears. If a tenant has accumulated more than four months’ arrears, they can be served four weeks’ notice to end the tenancy.

It was also announced that evictions will recommence on the 1st of June, meaning that bailiff action can again be enacted. However, there still remains a lengthy backlog of possession claims caused by the court closures in 2020, so landlords will have to show patience as their claims progress towards the eviction stage.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

The Queen’s Speech: what it means for landlords & tenants

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Those who tuned into the Queen’s Speech on the 11th of May can be forgiven for missing the very brief promise to ‘enhance the rights of those who rent’ – seemingly a very general pledge to review standards across the sector. A delve into the detailed briefing notes, however, reveals three details that will be of particular interest to landlords and tenants.

Abolish Section 21 Evictions

Long before the pandemic interrupted their plans, the government promised to abolish Section 21, or ‘no-fault’, evictions. This is the most straightforward and common way for a landlord to end a tenancy at their property, but its future is now back up for review. The government plans to publish a White Paper in the autumn which will detail plans to reform the evictions process.

Lifetime Deposits

Another long-running government scheme is the introduction of lifetime tenancy deposits, which would see dilapidation deposits move from property to property with the tenant. Under the current system, a tenant must pay a brand new deposit when moving to a new property, which can often cause cashflow issues for the tenant if they are still waiting for their deposit to be returned by their previous landlord.

It remains to be seen how the government’s scheme will offer simultaneous protection to two landlords where there is an overlap in tenancies. Again, more information has been promised in the autumn.

Redress Schemes for Private Landlords

One of the more unexpected announcements was the plan to require all private landlords to belong to a redress scheme, ‘to ensure that all tenants have a right to redress’.

Currently agents, rather than landlords, are required to belong to a redress scheme, such as the Property Redress Scheme, with which Reside are affiliated. If a tenant rents directly from a private landlord, with no agency involvement, their only current source of redress is through the courts. It is therefore likely that this new initiative is aimed at landlords who do not use a professional agency to manage their tenancy.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Reside Review: April 2021

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Tenant Demand Reaches A New High

Despite rarely having more than four properties on the market at any one time, we let more properties during April 2021 than in Aprils 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Tenant demand is outstripping supply to such an extent that we are receiving multiple offers on most properties within days, or in some cases hours, of the property being listed on the market.

New applicant registrations were up by 1.3% on March 2021, and by 137% compared to April 2020.

New electrical regulations apply to all landlords

Last year, new electrical safety regulations were introduced that required safety testing to be carried out for all new tenancies. On the 1st of April, this was extended to cover all existing tenancies as well – so if you are with a landlord with an occupied property, you must now have an electrical safety certificate in place. This must be renewed every five years. Where category C1 or C2 issues are diagnosed by the electrician, remedial works must be carried out within 28 days and the local authority informed.

Tenants must be given ‘Breathing Space’

The government’s new Debt Respite Scheme, or ‘Breathing Space’, came into force on the 4th of May and entitles people in problem debt (e.g. a tenant) to a temporary period of respite from a creditor (e.g. a landlord or letting agent).

A Breathing Space will pause most enforcement action, creditor contact, and interest and charges on a person’s qualifying debts, so that they can consider their options and engage with professional debt advice.

We will bring you a more detailed blog about this scheme in the coming weeks.

Important Dates in May

The Queen’s Speech on the 11th of May promises to be an important one for landlords and letting agents. It is widely expected that the Prime Minister will return to the Renters’ Reform Bill, bringing the future of Section 21 back into sharp focus, alongside lifetime deposits for tenants.

Temporary legislation permitting landlords and agents to carry out Right to Rent checks virtually will come to an end on the 17th of May. From that date, all Right to Rent checks must once again take place in person.  However, after successful lobbying by ARLA Propertymark, a recent revision to the regulations now means that landlords will now not have to redo the virtual checks that have been carried out during the pandemic.

Update: since publishing this blog, the government has announced a one month extension to virtual Right to Rent checks. In-person checks will now be mandatory again from the 20th of June.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Reside Review: March 2021

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AWARDS RECOGNITION FOR RESIDE

We are delighted to have been recognised as the leading Bath lettings agency in the recent Bath Property Awards, an annual event hosted by Mediaclash (the terrific people behind Bath Life, Bath Boules) to celebrate the city’s property sector.

In an enterprising online ceremony, the panel of local judges commended Reside on our growth in 2020 and the way in which we responded to the challenges of the pandemic.

A great big thank you to our wonderful team and clients for helping us to achieve this award!

MARKET UPDATE

The rental market in March 2021 continued to follow the recent trend of high tenant demand, low property supply. Regardless of this, total lets agreed over the course of the month were still higher than March of last year.

Despite going into the first ever national lockdown in March 2020, it was still a relatively strong month for new lets, so to more lets this March demonstrates that we are still in a strong climate for landlords looking to bring their property to the rental market.

IMPROVED VIDEO TOURS

Video marketing has become essential when putting a property on the rental market. We are one of the only agencies to advertise every property with a video tour, but have still been working hard to improve this aspect of our service because of just how important it is.

Having invested in a new state of the art camera, we now record a 4K video tour for every property that we list on the market. This allows perspective tenants, no matter where in the country they are, to look around the property in crystal clear definition. Here is an example:

PROPTECH INSIGHT

We are delighted that our General Manager, Toby Martin, has been asked to join the Propertymark / REACH UK insight panel.

Toby will be joining hand-picked representatives from other forward thinking agencies across the UK to meet with property technology companies, to review and provide feedback on their products. This allows us early access to a great deal of the exciting new technology and software that is being developed for our sector, and will in the long run help to make us more dynamic and efficient.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Toby Climbs Everest For Charity (Sort of)

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The Sofa to Summit challenge caught my eye as a way to become more active whilst fundraising for a cause that is close to everyone’s hearts right now. The NHS and the RUH have been spectacularly stretched since early 2020, and it will feel good to do something, no matter how small, in recognition of that.

A happy, healthy Brandon Bower

Over the course of any normal year, Reside usually organises several fundraisers to support local charities; in the past, we have worked with Off The Record Bath, Bath Area Play Project, VOICES and Bath Samaritans to name a few. However, given the recent lockdowns it has been difficult for us to arrange these kinds of events over the past 12 months – so I jumped at the opportunity to do something again that gives back to our local community.

The RUH, however, holds a special place in our hearts at Reside due to the experience of our Managing Director and the founder of Reside, Ben Bower. In 2018, Ben’s wife Natasha gave birth to their son Brandon at just 28 weeks – more than 12 weeks early. It was a tough time for Ben & Natasha, but the wonderful staff and state of the art facilities in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit meant that they could not have been better cared for. Brandon happily went home two months later – still in advance of his original due date!

I recall visiting Ben, Natasha and Brandon on the NICU ward. We’d had a baby boy ourselves just a few months before and were alarmed by what they were going through, but so reassured to see how well they were being looked after. Having heard so much about Brandon, Ben & Natasha’s experience, I’m very proud to be fundraising for the Forever Friends Appeal – no matter how small my contribution is, I am sure it will help to maintain the hospital’s incredible work.

Working with inspirational local people, our vision is to raise the funds needed to support the delivery of gold-standard healthcare in first-class surroundings.  We aim make a difference to every patient and every condition.
The Forever Friends Appeal 

My plan for scaling Everest is currently very basic: 48 flights of stairs for 61 days. But as lockdown restrictions ease, I am hoping that Bath’s hilly surrounds will help to mix up the scenery and preserve the stair carpet.

This is, would you believe it, my first time climbing Mount Everest, but I have thrown myself into similarly reckless commitments before. Despite being supremely unathletic, I ran the Bath Half in 2017 to raise funds for Sarcoma UK. I was joined by several members of the Reside team, and this has since led to similar unwise but worthy endeavours, including another Bath Half in 2019 in aid of Jamie’s Farm.

If you would like to track the progress of my climb, or even make a donation, you can find my Sofa to Summit page here.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Landlord Notice Periods Extended

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Evictions on hold

The government has announced a further extension to two pieces of temporary legislation, both brought in to provide tenants with greater security in their homes during the pandemic.

The ban on evictions, which had already been extended, will now run until the 31st of May. Until then, evictions can only be enacted under strict circumstances such as extreme rent arrears. Landlords can still file possession claims and should be encouraged not to delay their submissions as the court closures in 2020 have created a substantial backlog of hearings.

Increased Notice Periods For Landlords

Fortunately, at Reside we are not currently dealing with any evictions, so news of an extension to notice periods may be of more relevance to our landlords. Statutory notice periods to terminate a tenancy are 2 months from a landlord, and one month from a tenant, but in August 2020 the government introduced the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential Tenancies: Protection from Eviction), which increased notice periods for landlords to 6 months.

These temporary regulations were initially due to expire on the 31st March 2021, at which point notice periods would have reverted back to the statutory 2 months, but have now been extended until ‘at least’ the 31st May 2021. There is much speculation as to what the government’s long-term plan is for Section 21, and we are unlikely to know more about the future of this policy until mid-May.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Budget 2021: Key Points For Landlords & Tenants

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In this video, Reside’s Toby Martin summarises the main points of interest in the 2021 Budget for landlords and tenants.

These key points include the extension to the stamp duty holiday, the upcoming increase in corporation tax which may affect a very select few landlords, and a question mark over the future of capital gains tax.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.