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Off The Record: supporting young people in Bath

Posted on by prateek

Every year we ask our staff to research and discuss local charities, before deciding to which we should pledge our support and donations. In the second of two blogs, we introduce a charity that supports young people in Bath, helping with a wide range of issues affecting mental health and wellbeing.

During these tough times, we have found Off The Record to be a ray of positivity, to the extent that our entire team wanted to pledge our support to them for a second year running. The charity’s Head of Resources, Katherine Lingham, kindly took the time to tell us more about the vital work they do.
Tell us about Off The Record…

We are a mental health and wellbeing charity supporting the young people of Bath and North East Somerset and beyond, powered by 21 volunteers, 22 counsellors, and employing 37 people. Set up in 1994, we want every young person in our area to be emotionally healthy, confident and empowered in themselves. We help them to achieve this by providing counselling, listening support and a variety of other service, including LGBTQ-specific support, advocacy for young people in care and participation services encouraging young people to be active citizens in their community.

Many people may be unaware of the extent of the issues faced by young people in the Bath area. Can you tell us more about these issues?

In 2020-21, we saw the highest ever demand for our services and helped over 2,100 young people. All our services are free and open to any young person in need in our area.  Referrals for the most serious issues, particularly relating to self-harm, suicidal thoughts and family relationships, continue to rise, but we see young people presenting with an array of concerns such as anxiety, depression, abuse, anger, questions about gender, and bereavement.

Our work with them has led to consistent improvements in young people’s communication, confidence, resilience, aspirations, determination, and the prevention of future mental health problems.

What kind of support do you provide?

Counselling and Listening Support Services are there for young people at breaking point, who’ve been dealing with painful circumstances or serious mental health conditions.  We provide confidential sessions in a comfortable setting to turn around a young person’s outlook.

Advocacy helps those going through traumatic experiences such as family breakdown, helping to protect children thrown into situations that they will struggle to navigate alone, such as being removed from their families and placed into the care system.

Participation services support young people who want to change the world around them, involving them in meaningful projects that contribute to our community, to help give them purpose and the support bubble we all need.

Our LGBTQ services support LGBTQ young people, who research shows are disproportionately impacted by mental health difficulties, particularly related to loneliness or social pressures. We offer resources, advice, 1:1 sessions and a community for young LGBT+ people through our weekly group sessions.

What are your hopes for the future of Off The Record?

Of course we hope to go from strength to strength and continue supporting the young people of BaNES.  We’ve just launched our strategy for the next five years and a particular focus will be to work with more boys and young men, and also more young people from more challenging socio-economic backgrounds. We also hope to begin rolling out a training arm to our services, enabling other organisations to confidently address the areas that we are expert in, for example LGBTQ matters, exam stress and communications with young people.

How can people help to support the charity?

To support us you can:

  • donate to keep our vital services free of charge
  • subscribe to our newsletter so we can send happy news to your inbox once a month
  • follow our social media to keep an eye on future events and opportunities, and share them with parents, guardians and young people you know.
  • volunteer to become a Listening Support Worker or help at one of our youth groups – please email office@offtherecord-banes.co.uk.

You can find Off The Record on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The Off The Record website can be found here.

Our thanks goes out to the kind staff and volunteers at Off The Record not just for providing helpful information for this blog, but of course for the incredible work they do in our community.

The Future of the Bath Buy-To-Let Market in 2022

Posted on by prateek

The headlines…

  • Bath rents up by 6.5% in the last 12 months
  • Bath house prices up 15.3% in the last 12 months
  • Bath landlords helped by ultra-low mortgage rates and a stamp duty holiday
  • Yet, some landlords anxious about a possible end to no fault evictions
  • New EPC rules could cost landlords £10,000+ per property

In this article, I will look at what happened in 2021 in the Bath buy-to-let property market and give you my opinion as to what lies ahead for Bath landlords in 2022 and beyond.

On a positive note, Bath house prices have rocketed, rents have risen faster than inflation, at the start of the year we had the benefit of a stamp duty holiday and finally, ultra-low mortgage rates, meaning Bath landlords had lots to be happy about in 2021.

On a more cautious note, the laws regarding renting are currently being debated in Parliament which will see the end of no-fault tenant evictions, and changes in regulations will require landlords to make their buy-to-let rental properties more eco-friendly at a cost of up to £10,000+ each.

So, let’s have a look at these points …

Bath Rents will Continue to Rise in 2022

Bath buy-to-let landlords have seen the average rent of a Bath rental property rise by 6.5% in the last 12 months.

The number of Bath properties available to rent on the property portals (e.g. Rightmove, etc.) at any one time is roughly 35% to 40% below the last decade’s average, meaning there is greater competition for each rental property.

Demand has increased for several reasons.

Firstly, some homeowners cashed in on the high prices, sold up and moved into rented property.

Secondly, some Bath buy-to-let landlords have also cashed in on the buoyant property market and sold their rental property when their existing tenant handed in their notice.

Finally, the rental sector has an inverse relationship to the state of the general British economy, meaning with the uncertainty in the British economy in the early part of 2021, this meant more people decided to rent rather than tie themselves into a mortgage.

Looking at the supply side of the Bath rental market, in the short term, rents will continue to grow as some Bath landlords are abandoning the rental market – some because of the impending regulation changes which I will talk about later, and others with the natural flow of people cashing in their investments on retirement.

With increased demand and restricted supply, this will only lead to competition becoming more severe between renters, thus making Bath rents continue to rise.

Bath House Price Growth Will Slow

Bath house prices grew by 15.3% in 2021, but slower growth is anticipated during 2022

For those that own property, the way house prices grew in 2021 surprised most people.

Bath house prices, according to the Land Registry, grew by 15.3% in 2021, with the typical Bath home reaching £425,500.

Many local landlords have been helped by this increase in Bath house prices and will be in a place to cash in on those capital gains by either selling their buy-to-let property (as mentioned in the previous section) or releasing some equity by re-mortgaging.

Whether Bath house price rises carry on at such a rate in 2022 will mainly depend on whether the imbalance between the number of properties that come on to the market (supply) is by the number of buyers (demand).

Most commentators believe that nationally house prices will be between 3% and 5% higher by the end of 2022 and I can see no reason why Bath house prices won’t be in that range by the end of the year either.

Mortgage Rates Will Rise

The reduction in tax relief for Bath buy-to-let landlords with mortgages in the last five years hit some landlords hard, yet this has been tempered by the inexpensive ultra-low mortgages available to buy-to-let landlords.

Yet even with the Bank of England increase in base rates, landlords with big deposits of 40% or more can benefit from low rates. For example, at the time of writing, you can get a BTL mortgage at 1.49% fixed for 5 years with a 40% deposit (meaning borrowing £180,000 on a £300,000 purchase would only cost you £719 per month on a 25-year mortgage – or £224 per month on interest only).

However, those with only a 25% deposit must pay slightly more, but only at a mortgage rate of 1.64%… Who can remember mortgage rates of 14% to 15% in 1992?

With inflation rising, the Bank of England has already indicated further interest rate rises are on the cards. I suspect they will be around the 1% mark by Christmas 2022. Therefore, if you are one of the one in five landlords on a variable rate mortgage, your margins will be squeezed as your variable rate mortgage will rise in line with the Bank of England interest rate rise.

Maybe it’s time to consider fixing your mortgage?

The End of No-fault Evictions?

The Renters’ Reform Bill in England and The Renting Homes Act in Wales are both set to abolish Section 21 (no fault eviction). Section 21 laws allow landlords to take back possession of their rental properties without having to prove fault by the tenant.

Yet in 2022, Westminster will issue plans for a change of this law which will probably incorporate the eradication of Section 21, which would signify a major change in the balance of power between the landlord and tenant.

Some doom mongers are worried that with the abolition of Section 21, landlords may be unenthusiastic about renting and therefore sell up and leave the rental sector altogether. Yet these people said the same when tax relief for landlords was changed five years ago.

The Scottish equivalent of Section 21 was abolished at the end of 2017.

At the time, there was some anxiety about how this would affect the Scottish rental market, as anxious landlords and letting agents felt that they could lose control of their rental properties under this new law. Nonetheless, just over four years later, the rental sector has not collapsed in Scotland. The buy-to-let market remains upbeat, and there are signs that a Scottish landlord’s right to evict their tenant has been reinforced by these changes in the law.

The reason the Scottish changes worked was because the new grounds for repossessing rental properties was clear and wide-ranging. The Scots sped up the slow and unwieldy eviction process where the landlord had a legal and genuine reason to re-claim their property.

All I hope is the same changes to court procedures are made south of the border.

New EPC Rules Could Cost Bath Landlords £10,000+ per Property

The law currently stands that landlords need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) with at least a rating of E.

Westminster is anticipated to increase the EPC requirement for private rental properties in England and Wales to an EPC rating of C for all new rental tenancies by 2025/6, and for all existing tenancies by 2028, whilst Scottish landlords are also expected to see energy efficiency measures in their new proposed Housing Bill.

The problem is 1,959,045 of the 2,965,455 registered rental properties on the EPC database have an energy rating of D or below.

To take a property from an EPC D rating to a C rating might only cost a few hundred pounds, yet the average for all rental D and E rated properties has been calculated at just over £10,000 per property.

My advice to every Bath landlord is to look at the full EPC report of their rental property (and if you haven’t got it, contact me and I will send it to you – whether you are a client or not) as that will tell you whether this will be a big or small job.

Renovating the UK’s rental stock to meet the Government’s carbon neutral targets will be a big trial for landlords. There is talk of exemptions, which may apply to a great many Listed buildings, as there currently is for the existing minimum EPC E rating – yet only time will tell on that front.

Maybe those landlords currently buying properties to add to their rental portfolio should reconsider their buying strategy? In the past, it has been normal for Bath buy-to-let investors to be attracted to the inexpensive older properties that need an overhaul. However, with the potential energy efficiency laws coming into the game, it’s rational to suggest that buy-to-let landlords will be more predisposed to buying slightly newer properties rather than have the cost for the upgrades to meet the potential energy targets.

Conclusion

Roll the clock back 20 years and making money from buy-to-let in Bath was as easy as falling off a log. Yet with increased legislation and regulation, together with the changing dynamics of the British economy and the requirements tenants want in a rental property, making money won’t be as easy over the next 20 years.

It amazes me that 11 out of 20 landlords do not use a letting agent to help them with their rental portfolio, considering the cost can be offset against your tax.

Moving forward, savvy landlords will increasingly utilise their letting agent not only to collect the rent and manage the property, but also build up their portfolio to withstand the regulatory and demographic changes on the horizon, and to ensure that their investment is fit for purpose in the medium to long-term.

If your existing letting agent does not offer such advice, or you are a self-managing landlord, let’s have a chat about the future of the Bath rental market.

Whether you are a Reside client or not, if you would like me to look at your rental portfolio and see where you stand, then drop me a line and maybe we can meet for a coffee (or we can meet virtually over Zoom) to discuss the matter – all at no charge.

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.

My 11 Rules To Buying A Bath Property

Posted on by prateek

Finding your next Bath property, be that as a buy-to-let landlord or for yourself to live in, can sometimes be a scary task. You are possibly making one of the biggest purchases of your life, and you want to ensure you make the right choice.

Buying your next property is all about finding a Bath property with the features that match your requirements. However, what might be important to you as a homebuyer, might not be as important to other homebuyers.

Some features will be red line must haves, whilst other features might be more negotiable, yet understanding what your requirements need to be, will make it easier to find the home of your dreams.

Let’s look at my top 11 rules you need to consider when buying a property in Bath.

1. Location, Location, Location

You can change many things within a property, but location isn’t one. They say you should buy a property for the things you can change. From Lansdown to Combe Down, Newbridge to Larkhall, go and visit the different neighbourhoods of Bath. Don’t just drive through them, walk through them at different times of the day. Look at weekdays as well as weekends. Think about transport links with access to bus routes, arterial roads. If you have children (or your tenants may have), think about school catchment areas for primary / secondary schools.

2. Bath Bedrooms

Did you know there are 107,751 bedrooms in Bath?

Well, you do now! Anyway, the number of bedrooms is a very significant consideration when buying your new home. If you need bedrooms for your children, the location of the bedrooms could be an issue. Depending on the age of any children, you might not want them to be a long way from the master bedroom, or if the children are teenagers, the opposite could be true. Bedroom size is also important. Is there enough space for children to study or have wardrobes? Do you need bedrooms for an office? If office space is required, you might want to consider a property with one less bedroom and one more reception room – and it will probably be a little cheaper. All things to consider.

3. Potential Future House Price Growth

The type of house you buy will determine how it increases in value in the future. Now this shouldn’t be the main consideration, yet it’s important to consider.

Since 2001, the different types of property in Bath have risen by different percentages.

  • Bath detached properties have risen by 156.7%
  • Bath semi-detached properties have risen by 166.2%
  • Bath town houses / terraced properties have risen by 191.7%
  • Bath apartments / flats have risen by 148.4%

On a standalone point for Bath landlords, the level of rent and yield are important considerations for your Return on Investment (ROI). There tends to be an inverse relationship between capital growth and yield (i.e. Bath properties with higher capital growth tend to have lower rental yields).

I am regularly sent Rightmove links by Bath landlords, keen to know a prospective purchase’s rental worth so that they can calculate their yield. Please feel free to email me a link to the property you are thinking of purchasing; I will be able to give you a very quick estimate of its rental value, completely free of charge and obligation.

4. The Overall Interior Size of Your Future Property

On average a person only views five houses before they buy a house and only spends around 20 minutes in each on a viewing. Therefore, I would advise that you have a good idea about the size of home you require before you start your search. If you have a big family you are going to need a bigger house obviously, yet you still need the budget to afford to buy the bigger home.

One great idea is to calculate the square metreage of your potential home. Ask to view the full copy of the Energy Performance Certificate, as it has the size of the property in square metres.

Bigger houses tend to cost more money to run with utility bills and council tax.

A final thought on size is the question of whether your family is likely to grow in the next decade? Will you have more children or is a parent coming to live with you?

5. The Price You Will Have to Pay For Your Next Bath Home

In the last 12 months, the Bath property market has remained buoyant as Bathonians were forced to spend more time at home. Therefore, they looked for more space… but what did they have to pay for that privilege?

  • 303 Bath detached properties have sold for an average £692,100
  • 333 Bath semi-detached properties have sold for an average £420,400
  • 503 Bath town house / terraced properties have sold for an average £447,700
  • 211 Bath apartment / flats have sold for an average £343,300

Look at the property portals (e.g. Rightmove, Boomin, Zoopla and OnTheMarket) and search for Bath property that is both available and sold subject to contract. Get a feel for asking prices of the properties that are sold subject to contract as these will give you a good idea what they roughly sold for. Again, if you are not sure, pick up the phone or drop me a line.

6. Bathroom(s)

Check the bathroom for water leaks. Do the toilets flush OK, do the taps drip? Is there any mould? And do you need more than one?

7. The Lounge / Living Room

You will undoubtedly be spending a lot of time in the lounge / living room, so it needs to meet your requirements. Do you need a dining area? Does the design and arrangement of the room suit your lifestyle (or your tenant’s). Will you need new furniture? Are there enough electrical sockets? What are the carpets like? That goes for all rooms.

8. Central Heating for your Property

What type of central heating system is present, and does it meet the requirements of you and the home? The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will tell you how energy efficient the property is and how much it will cost to run. You would be amazed how few buyers ask to see the full copy of the EPC – yet you have the right to view it – always ask the estate agent for a copy or download it for free from the Government website.

9. The Outside

The outside space of your future Bath home is also something you need to reflect on before you start your search. What sort of back garden do you want? Do you want low maintenance? Do you want a bigger garden?  You also need to ensure the outside of your next home is in great condition. Yet, if it’s a ‘do’er-upper’, does the price allow for those works to be done?

10. The Loft & Vault

Another aspect to consider when buying a property is the loft (or even the vault / basement if it has one). In both, look for water damage that could mean problems in the future whilst in vaults / basements, a musty smell could be poor ventilation meaning dry damp could be an issue. Also check for insulation in the loft (the Energy Performance Certificate will tell you if it’s up to standard).

11. Garage / Off Road Parking Space

How many cars do you have in your family? Can you park them all on your drive? Visit the property during the day, the evening, and weekends to see how the parking provision changes. If the property has a garage, can it be used for something else?

These are my top 11 rules – please let me know if you have others I haven’t considered.

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.

Bath Welcomes Refugees: harnessing the goodwill of a community

Posted on by prateek

As part of our commitment to support the local community, both as a proud independent company and as members of the Bath Percent Club, every year we ask our to team to research and discuss local charities, before deciding to which we should pledge our support and donations. In the first of two blogs, we introduce one of the charities unanimously chosen by our team this year, whose work not only supports people in dire circumstances, but also enriches and diversifies our local community.

Bath Welcomes Refugees (BWR) was founded in 2015 to harness the goodwill of the community in welcoming and supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Their trustees, management team and countless helpers are all volunteers, and they rely upon donations and funds raised through events, sales, and community support. In total they have a membership of over 400 and support more than 100 individuals. BWR also works in partnership with Julian House as the council’s designated support for families arriving in Bath under the government funded scheme.

Bath Welcomes Refugees harness the goodwill of the community in welcoming and supporting refugees and asylum seekers

BWR works to find housing for refugees, furnish and equip it, and also to provide items such as toys, books and computers. The families arrive with almost nothing of their own, and although computers might seem to be a luxury, they are a vital tool of language acquisition which is at the heart of successful resettlement.

BWR organise a monthly social group (currently suspended due to COVID) and other social events for the refugee community to offer friendship and support and help alleviate cultural isolation. Fortunately, the charity has managed to attract a great deal of community support from local businesses, museums and art galleries, churches, schools and universities.

Before a family arrives, the BWR volunteers stock the kitchen with food and a meal is prepared by one of the settled refugee families to welcome them after what is usually a very long and tiring journey. Each family has a team of resettlement volunteers who help with a multitude of activities, such as orientation to the local area and facilities, and accompanying people to appointments (e.g. health, job centre), as well as being generally friendly and supportive. The charity has a large team of qualified and experienced volunteer language teachers and each family member is matched to an individual teacher. They also offer group lessons and run a Study Club to help the children with their academic needs. Volunteers help with gardening, DIY and benefits advice, as well as supporting the families with job training, employment and legal matters.

In 2019, there were 26 million refugees in the world and of these, 1.4 million were identified as being in need of resettlement. Just 63,000 refugees were resettled.

One section of the BWR organisation, Beyond Bath, monitors the larger refugee picture and organises donations and volunteers to Calais, amongst other projects (COVID permitting). Tragically, only 0.5% of refugees worldwide are offered resettlement. In 2019 for example, there were 26 million refugees in the world and of these, 1.4 million were identified as being in need of resettlement. In the same year, just 63,000 refugees were resettled. This is why it so important to consider the wider refugee picture and keep important campaigns that ameliorate this situation in the public eye.

The Bath Welcomes Refugees website can be found here.

They can be contacted at info@bathwelcomesrefugees.org.uk

Our thanks goes out to the kind volunteers at Bath Welcomes Refugees not just for providing helpful information for this blog, but of course for the tremendous work they do in the Bath community.

What Will Happen to Bath House Prices in 2022?

Posted on by prateek

Traditionally, if you had not sold your Bath home by the first week in November, you would normally have to wait for the house sellers to return in the famous Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla etc) to get potential buyers interested.

Yet matters have been different this year as the various lockdowns have caused a surge in house buying right up until when the Christmas edition of the Radio Times goes on sale.

So the question is… how will the Bath property market look in 2022?

The market over the last couple of years have been different in many ways. So much so, many Bath homeowners are presently deliberating over whether they should put their home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.

Speaking to many Bath buyers, sellers and Bath buy-to-let landlords over the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.

What is going to happen to Bath house prices in 2022?

Some people asking this question are buyers troubling themselves that they are about to buy their Bath home just before a potential property crash, yet others are homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of Bath landlords unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.

Therefore, let’s see what has happened in 2021 to make a better judgement of what should happen in 2022.

Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, however most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market.

Whilst the final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK will have changed hands, making it the busiest year in the last 14 years.

1,350 properties have changed hands in the last year in Bath

Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March / April 2022.

The pandemic made many Bath families re-evaluate what they wanted from their home, with many wanting bigger rooms (and more of them). Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.

The issue was, there weren’t enough Bath properties on the market to satisfy every Bath buyer, meaning Bath house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up.

The average price of a home in Bath is £425,530

Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.

There aren’t enough properties on the market in Bath. Simply supply and demands economics!

The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market.

In January 2007, there were 867 properties for sale in Bath, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 1,177 properties, whilst today, that stands at 316

And I can’t see that changing for 2022.

In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time round most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their home.

Of course, the stamp duty holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).

Nonetheless, demand for Bath homes will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Bath house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.

Bath house prices will be 3.3% higher by the end of 2022

Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working.

It might be that Bath buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work.

This increase in Bath house prices is expected to entice even more sellers onto the market, which will steady Bath house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.

What about the Bath rental market?

Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027. Even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy.

Is it the right time to buy your first property in Bath?

This rise in Bath house prices has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before Bath prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down?

As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal life and your motives for wanting to move.

If the Bath home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time… and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV… just like you will never buy your own home!

Buying property is a long-term game

Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.

The present low interest rates for first-time buyers means that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy or invest in a Bath property, especially if you fix the interest rate.

If your deposit is humbler, the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.

Looking at the bigger picture, these are only my opinions. If inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like Bath house prices will, for 2022 and a few years beyond, continue upwards albeit with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.

The bottom line is, ensure that any Bath house move or buy-to-let investment that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible. Do that, and you should be just fine.

These are my opinions – what are yours?

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.

Bath People’s Addiction to their Spare Bedrooms

Posted on by prateek

The Housing Minister, Chris Pincher, has suggested older homeowners are “rattling around” in their homes as they are too big for them. He implied they are selfish and should sell up and move to a retirement home when he spoke to a committee in the House of Lords. He stated that many British homes are “under-occupied” and could be better used by younger families with children.

He went on to say that the Government will aim to persuade UK housebuilders to build more developments suitable for OAPs, freeing up space in their existing homes, which in turn would open up more homes for first and second-time buyers.

So why is this an issue?

The fundamental problem of the Bath housing ‘crisis’, is the point that the supply of Bath homes has not historically met demand, thus increasing property values (and in turn rents), consequently ensuring home ownership becomes an unattainable ambition for the twenty something’s of Bath.

Call me a pragmatist, but it’s understandable that either demand needs to drop or supply needs to rise to stop this trend getting worse for the generations to come.

Don’t get me wrong, I admire Westminster’s plans to help first-time buyers with their ‘First Homes’ initiative to increase the supply of new homes being built just for first-time buyers. Yet it’s targeted to deliver only 1,500 homes in around 100 locations in the next two years.

To give you an idea of how this a drop in the ocean, the Government sponsored the independent Barker Review of Housing Supply Report in 2004 which was tasked at looking at what could be done to level the playing field regarding the housing needs for the UK. The report found that the UK needed 240,000 homes to be built each year just to meet the demand of a growing and aging population. Since 2000, the average number of properties built in the UK each year has only been 177,975 per year. This means we have been around 62,000 homes short per year. Therefore, after 20 years of this annual shortfall we, as a country, have 1,240,500 too few homes – hence the massive uplift in house prices over the last two decades.

Click/tap to enlarge

Therefore, one option that could resolve the housing crisis is if the Government literally looked closer to home, concentrating on matching households with the appropriately sized home… and this is what the government has shone a light on – people with too many spare bedrooms.

Is having a spare bedroom something that in this day and age is particularly wasteful? Well, let’s look at the numbers for Bath.

12,652 Bath homes have one spare bedroom.

Well, everyone in my opinion needs a spare bedroom, especially in the light of lockdown where many of us needed to work from home.

Ok, let’s see who has two or more spare bedrooms.

Of the 40,336 households in Bath 13,754 have two or more spare bedrooms!

Of all the homes in Bath, be they owned, privately rented or council house, 34.1% of Bath homes have two or more spare bedrooms, compared to the national average 45.2%.

Let’s break it down by ownership/tenure:

Of the 23,889 owned houses in Bath, 11,882 have two or more spare bedrooms or as expressed as a percentage,

49.7% of Bath owned homes have 2 or more spare bedrooms (national average: 53.9%).

Of the 6,848 council houses in Bath, 547 have two or more spare bedrooms, or as expressed as a percentage,

8.0% of Bath council homes have 2 or more spare bedrooms (national average: 11.6%).

Of the 9,599 private rented houses in Bath, 1,325 have two or more spare bedrooms or as expressed as a percentage,

13.8% of Bath private rented homes have 2 or more spare bedrooms (national average: 19.4%).

You can see there is the spare capacity in the Bath housing market.

The Government hit the social housing sector with their ‘Bedroom tax’ in 2012, (also known as under occupancy charge or spare room subsidy) which meant that in council homes you would receive less in Housing Benefit or Housing Costs Element in a Universal Credit claim if you lived in a housing association or council property and were deemed to have one or more spare bedrooms.

Now it seems the Government has concentrated on the group that makes up the bulk of homeowners with spare bedrooms, the older owner occupiers of large properties, in their 60s and 70s, where the kids have flown the nest.

However, there are many explanations why these mature homeowners do not downsize. These people have lived in the same house for 30, 40, even 50 years, and as one matures in life, many people do not want to depart from what they see as the family home. Much time has been invested in making friends in their neighbourhood and it’s nice to have all those rooms in case every grandchild decided to visit, at the same time, and they brought their friends!

But is that a selfish point of view? Are we addicted to our spare bedrooms?

Or should the Government keep its nose out of where people live?

I would ask if the ‘Minister of Superfluously Sizeable Houses’ should be kicking you out of the Bath home you worked for and have spent much of your life in? And why is it assumed that retired homeowners want to downsize to small little bungalows and apartments? Many love their spacious living rooms and kitchens (which are typically found in bigger houses).

This Government is in a muddle about housing policy.

On one side of the coin, the Government announced an increase in the tax burden on the British public with a rise to its highest level since the early 1950s to pay for care and the NHS, yet on the other side of the coin, recently cancelling vote losing policies, so that mature people going into care do not need to sell their homes (which if you think about it, they won’t live in anyway because they are going to long-term care). Whilst at the same time, to muddy the waters, they are suggesting to mature homeowners they have to move out of those same large homes to free it up for younger families?  If the Government doesn’t know what the answer is, who does?

The subject of downsizing is a delicate one to unravel.

We all know that mature homeowners, if they moved to a smaller Bath home, would lose all the space they take for granted and would be unable to have the grandchildren over. Remaining in your large Bath home is not greedy, it’s just the accepted human longing to enjoy a life after 50 plus years of working and paying your dues and taxes. You could say, “Move to a managed retirement home.” Yet many are very small and quite expensive.

And anyway, why should you have to relocate and wave goodbye to all your neighbours who have become friends and provide a support network?

There is a case made by some that mature downsizers could be given stamp duty tax breaks to get them to downsize, yet I am not sure how this could be policed, and it doesn’t solve the problem of increasing the overall supply of property in the UK.

The real issue isn’t spare bedrooms, it’s the need to change the planning rules to increase the number and type of new homes being built that will satisfy these mature homeowners with excess spare bedrooms to move into.

Big national builders have exploited ham-fisted planning rules since the 1980s, but no political party seems to have the answer. Housing Minister Chris Pincher might say he wants to persuade builders to build more suitable homes for mature people, yet his Government’s actions don’t seem to match his words.

In the Queen’s Speech this spring, the Government announced a proposed new planning system, which would create “simpler, faster procedures for producing local development plans, approving major schemes, assessing environmental impacts and negotiating affordable housing and infrastructure contributions”, or in layman’s terms, allowing more building to take place.

However, word coming out of Government is those plans could be cancelled following the Conservatives’ surprise defeat in the Chesham & Amersham by-election to the Liberal Democrats in the summer, which was blamed by some Conservative MPs on the new proposed planning laws.

So, whilst the Government decides what to do, what can mature Bath homeowners do if they feel they do want to downsize?

The biggest fear many mature Bath homeowners have is they will sell their large Bath home but be unable to find anything to buy – thus making themselves homeless.

If you are a Bath homeowner or landlord and think this may affect you – feel free to drop me a line.

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.

Should Bath Landlords Be Worried About These New Rental Regulations?

Posted on by prateek

Everyone should be doing their bit to help reduce the UK’s carbon footprint on the globe – yet the question is, is that burden being put too much on the shoulders of Bath landlords with potential bills of £7,600+ in the next four years?

The background – the UK has obligated itself to a legally binding target to be carbon neutral by 2050. One of the biggest producers of greenhouse gasses is residential homes.

To hit that carbon-neutral target (as one-fifth of the UK’s carbon output comes from residential property), every UK home will need to achieve a minimum grade of ‘C’ on their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) by 2035. Each EPC has a rating between ‘A’ and ‘G’ – ‘A’ being the best energy rating and ‘G’ the worst – like an energy rating on a fridge or washing machine.

All UK rental properties are required to have an EPC. From April 2020, the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations have required all private rental properties (including rental renewals) to have a minimum EPC rating of ‘E’ or above.

Yet new legislation being discussed by the Government’s Climate Change Committee has suggested that landlords should play their part and increase the energy efficiency of their private rented homes. Sounds fair, until you dive into the details.

The Government is mooting the idea that all new tenancies (i.e. when a new tenant moves in) in private rented properties should be at an EPC rating of ‘C’ or above by 2025 (and all existing tenancies by 2028). The issue is…

72.34% of all private rented properties in Bath and North East Somerset have an EPC rating of ‘D’ or below.

The problem is that some Bath landlords will find it very expensive, neigh impossible, to improve the energy efficiency of their Bath rented properties, especially those Bath landlords who hold older housing stock such as terraced properties built in the 1700s and 1800s. These Georgian and Victorian terraced houses never perform well on EPC ratings as they have solid walls and single glazing.

Now, of course, you can improve the EPC rating of a terraced house by improving roof insulation, boiler replacement, solar heating, and high-grade uPVC windows. Yet, with some terraced houses, there will come the point where you will be unable to get to the hallowed ‘C’ rating without installing external or internal wall insulation, sometimes even floor insulation.

With wall insulation costing between £5k and £15k and floor insulation around £5k…

the bill to improve all Bath and North East Somerset’s private rented properties will be a minimum of £75,704,760.

But before I talk about what the options are for Bath landlords, here’s the weird part about EPCs. An EPC rating is calculated on the cost of running a property and not the carbon output or energy efficiency, despite its name.

My advice to Bath landlords – although it’s correct to create a future strategy, all I can say at this point is ‘more haste, less speed’. These rule changes are only a discussion paper, and it remains open for consultation by any member of the British public until 30th December 2021. That means the Government’s strategies and tactics may change.

Given that 57% of private rented properties are below a ‘C’ EPC grade, it is hard to believe the Government could achieve this without making big cash grants available.

For example, there is presently a cap of £3,500 for energy improvements that Bath landlords have to spend to get it to the existing EPC ‘E’ target grade on private rented homes (i.e. if you have a privately rented home at an ‘F’ or ‘G’ EPC rating, you only need to spend a maximum of £3,500 as a landlord on improving your EPC rating). So, if the current rules allow an exemption to the EPC renting rules, if a Bath landlord can’t improve their Bath property enough, conceivably, could this be extended?

So, what are Bath landlords’ options?

One thing you could do is put your head in the sand and hope it all goes away!

Another thing some savvy Bath landlords do (be they my client, clients of other letting agents in Bath or even self-managing landlords) is to sit down and plan a strategy for their Bath rental portfolio. I print off all the EPCs of their rental portfolio, look at the recommendations, then discuss a plan to ensure they are covered, whatever the Government decides to make the new EPC rules. Like all things in life, plan for the worst and hope for the best.

If your agent isn’t offering that service, please drop me a line because I would hate for you to miss out on the advice and opinion that so many Bath landlords have already had from me. The choice is yours.

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.

New Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm Rules For Landlords

Posted on by prateek

The UK Government has extended the rules for domestic smoke and carbon monoxide alarms within all rented accommodation in England.

Following parliamentary approval, it will soon be mandatory for landlords to repair or replace smoke and carbon monoxide alarms once they have been informed that they are faulty, although testing throughout the duration of a tenancy will remain the resident’s responsibility.

Landlords will also have to ensure a carbon monoxide alarm is installed in any room containing there is a ‘fixed combustion appliance’ (including a gas boiler). Where a new appliance is installed a carbon monoxide alarm will be required to be installed by law. Gas cookers appliances are excluded from the new rules.

The most significant changes are:

  • carbon monoxide alarms will be mandatory in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers
  • carbon monoxide alarms will also be mandatory when a new heating appliance is installed, excluding gas cookers
  • landlords will have to repair or replace alarms when a tenant reports that they are faulty

“The revisions to the smoke and carbon monoxide detector regulations are both welcome and necessary to improve tenant safety.

“Private landlords have been required since 2015 to provide working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors where applicable in rented property, and the extension of the regulations to encompass gas boilers is a sensible amendment.”
Timothy Douglas, ARLA Propertymark

No fixed timescale has yet been set, but the government has confirmed it will amend the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 as soon as parliamentary time allows.

With landlords now needing to comply with nearly 170 pieces of law, it has never been more important for your tenancy to be managed by a knowledgeable, professional and regulated 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.

Reside Review: October 2021

Posted on by prateek

Everything you need to know about the property rental market in October 2021. This month: an in-depth look into Bath’s rental property shortage.

More Reside records fell by the wayside during October, with more properties let over the course of the month than any preceding October since the company’s inception. Our average letting time was just 3 days between placing the property on the market, and having an offer accepted by the landlord. During the month of October, we achieved an average of 101% of the advertised rent.

This month’s data once again bears out the recent pattern of property supply being vastly outweighed by tenant demand, but exactly how in-demand are Bath’s rental properties?

Bath Property In High Demand

At the time of recording the above video, a quick Rightmove search revealed just 50 properties currently on the market across the entire city, with only 15 placed on the market in the last seven days.

As Reside’s average letting time of 3 days suggests, if a property has been on the rental market for longer than 7 days in the current climate… something is wrong. It could that the property is overpriced or poorly marketed – either way, the landlord owes their letting agency a serious conversation.

So just how much competition is there for these 15 recently launched properties?

In the above video, General Manager Toby Martin looks closely at the Rightmove data of two apartments that we recently let for £1,200 per month. One property let after just one day; the second apartment was launched on a Friday and let agreed on the Monday. Between them, they amassed around 1,500 views on Rightmove between going on the market and an offer being accepted by the landlord.

Two apartments. 5 days on the market between them. 1500 views on Rightmove. It’s no wonder that properties are letting so quickly, and that rents have been pushed upwards.

Will The Winter Market Slow Down?

Traditionally, both supply and demand dwindle during November, before almost shutting up shop entirely during December. It is likely that supply to the market will reduce even further over the next couple of months, as tenants bed in for the winter and delay home moves until the New Year.

What is unlikely to change, however, is the discrepancy between supply and demand. For every property on the market during November and December, there are still bound to be multiple interested parties. The property shortages of the past few months will have left a large backlog of home hunters who have been unable to secure their next move.

In that respect, it will still be a buoyant climate for landlords bringing their homes and investments to the rental market.

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.