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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.

The Bath Landlord Compliance Health Check: are you compliant?

Posted on by prateek

You may have seen recent reports detailing how one of the most prominent estate agents in the UK had left its landlords open to fines of between £9million and £30million in the last few days.

This is because they allegedly failed to send some paperwork to their tenants when their tenancy started.

This has had many Bath landlords picking up the phone to me to ensure they are compliant with their Bath rental property. So, what should every Bath landlord consider to ensure they are compliant and won’t be fined?

To start, there are nearly 170 pieces of legislation to comply with; these are some important ones that Bath landlords should consider.

Registering your Bath tenant’s deposit

Every Bath landlord (or their agent) needs to register the tenant’s deposit. It is believed that one in six tenants’ deposits are not registered, leaving the landlord (not the agent) liable to a fine three times the amount of the deposit, plus making it very difficult to evict them.

When your Bath tenant pays their deposit, it has to be protected in one of the government-approved schemes within 30 days.

Yet even if you do register the deposit, you must also give your tenant proof of being in the scheme. That must include information on which of the three schemes (The Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme) protects their deposit and how your tenant can get their deposit back at the end of the tenancy.

Gas Safety Certificates

Every Bath landlord must offer a safe rental home for their tenants. Every Bath rental property must have an annual Gas Safety Certificate. The certificate, issued by a qualified and registered Gas Safe engineer, is only valid for 12 months. All certificates must be retained for 24 months, and give your tenant a copy of the existing certificate.

EPC for your Bath rental property

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is just like the colour-coded energy rating diagrams you see on fridges and washing machines, albeit it’s for your rental property. If you don’t have an EPC, you can’t rent your property. Also, since this summer, rental properties have had to achieve a minimum energy efficiency rating of ‘E’. If your property doesn’t meet this requirement, you’ll be unable to rent it out (although there are a handful of exemptions). Again, you also must give your tenant a copy of the up-to-date EPC certificate.

Right to rent checks

Every Bath landlord can only let their property to a tenant who has the legal right to rent in the UK. You have the legal responsibility of checking the prospective tenant’s identification and confirming that the tenant is legally in the British Isles. If you let your property to someone in the UK illegally, you might face a substantial fine.

Anything else Bath landlords should be aware of?

How about…

  • Smoke alarms
  • Licensing
  • Health and Safety
  • Client Money Protection
  • Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
  • Fire safety risk assessment
  • Legionella risk appraisal
  • Electrical Safety checks

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The list goes on…

As you can see, there are many things a Bath landlord must consider when it comes to being legal. Yet, apart from a logistical nuisance there are actual financial penalties involved if you do not observe with all your landlord obligations.

Final Thought for all Bath Landlords

Bath landlords can make sure they are fully compliant by having a free Bath Landlord Compliance Health Check with us at Reside. We can, within a couple of days, give you peace of mind that you are compliant, be you a landlord that manages your own Bath property or even with another agent (because being with one of the most prominent estate agents in the UK was not a guarantee the landlords would be safe from prosecution).

Call me, Toby Martin, on 01225 445777, and let’s have a no-obligation chat. What have you got to lose, versus you potentially losing thousands of pounds… 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.

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.

The Autumn Budget: what landlords need to know

Posted on by prateek

Rishi Sunak’s budget holds little of interest for landlords, but a support scheme is announced for vulnerable tenants

For landlords, the most salient parts of the Autumn Budget were the omissions, rather than Rishi Sunak’s raft of announcements.

There was no mention of Capital Gains Tax, nor was there any review of stamp duty. This may come as a relief to landlords, many of whom had been expecting the Chancellor to announce increased property taxation and red tape.

Prior to the Budget, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities released details of a support package aimed at low-income earners in rent arrears to help prevent homelessness.

This comes after months of lobbying by ARLA Propertymark and other organisations, who have long called for more financial support to be made available to tenants at risk of eviction as a result of the Covid pandemic.

“The £65m funding for those in rental debt provides some support but the devil is in the detail. Almost four million low-income households are in arrears with their household bills, yet this money will be targeted at those who are most at risk of homelessness, excluding a significant number of others from help.”
ARLA Propertymark

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.

We Are Hiring: Property Coordinator

Posted on by prateek

Property Coordinator

Hours: This role can be adapted to suit part-time and full-time applicants
Salary: £18-20k per annum

Reside is an independent, award-winning letting agent whose innovative, ethical and successful service is highly praised by its tenants and landlords.

We are looking for a motivated, approachable and conscientious candidate to support our busy property management team, helping to oversee the upkeep of our managed property portfolio. This is a varied and rewarding role, which we can adapt to suit part-time and full-time applicants.

In this role, you will:

  • Instruct property maintenance when required and manage repairs through to completion
  • Liaise with tenants and landlords, providing updates of maintenance jobs
  • Monitor our CRM system to ensure records are kept up to date
  • Carry out property visits, recording condition and meter readings
  • Assist with key management, collecting and delivering keys to local contractors and providing access to properties when required
  • Record property floor plans
  • Provide support to a busy team
  • Perform general office duties including filing, scanning, and typing

Requirements:

  • A compassionate and approachable manner, with the ability to form a good rapport with our clients
  • You can command a busy workload, offering and accepting support from your colleagues
  • Confident computer user, especially MS Office
  • A clean full UK driving licence
  • Industry experience is not required

Benefits:

  • Salary from £18,000 to £20,000 per annum, based on your experience
  • The opportunity to obtain an industry qualification
  • Headspace account to encourage a healthy and mindful approach to you work

This role can be adapted to suit part-time and full-time applicants.

If you are interested in applying for this role, please send your CV and a covering letter to ben@localhost.

Reside Review: September 2021

Posted on by prateek

The latest in lettings, from Bath and beyond. This month: pets, notice periods and the Renters’ Reform Bill

Over the course of this year, we have firmly established that demand from tenants is comfortably exceeding property supply, with many tenants struggling to secure their property of choice. Reside’s vital statistics over the last month bear this out – average letting time of 3.5 days, achieving an average of 102% of the advertised rent, and agreeing more lets over the course of September than in any other month since the company’s inception.

At this time of year, we usually urge landlords to bring their property to the market as quickly as possible, to avoid the quiet winter market. Whilst that is still advisable, it is difficult to image demand dwindling during November and December, as there are still a great many home-hunters who have been unable to secure a property.

Supply is bound to reduce further between now and the end of the year, meaning that there will still be fierce competition for those properties that do come to the market.

Pet Deposit Peeve

The government has clarified that it will not revisit the deposit caps that were mandated by the Tenant Fees Act. Conservative MP and pets campaigner Andrew Rosindell has led calls for reforms that would make it easier for tenants with pets to secure properties, and the reintroduction of additional pet deposits was widely considered to be most practical way to achieve this.

Deposits are currently capped at 5 weeks’ rent, or 6 weeks’ for high rent properties. This has seen the majority of landlords adopt a more cautious approach to tenants with pets, due to concerns about additional damage being incurred and not adequately covered by the deposit.

Notice Periods Return to Normal

Notice periods finally returned to their pre-pandemic levels on the 1st of October, for the first time since March 2020. Landlords, who had previously been required to serve three, then six, then four months’ notice on their tenants under Section 21, are again able to serve two months’ notice to bring their tenancy to an end. Tenants, whose notice period remained unaffected throughout the pandemic, can serve one month’s notice to end a tenancy.

Reform In The Pipeline

This year’s Queen’s Speech put us on notice that a significant White Paper would be delivered by the government this Autumn, which will propose significant changes to the private rented sector. Whilst recent comments by Housing Minister Eddie Hughes from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities have suggested that these are still some weeks away, the minister did clarify that lifetime deposits and Section 21 are very much on the agenda.

We want to get this right. For example if we start from a position of ‘Landlords Bad/Tenants Good’ then the approach might be too stringent for landlords and they’ll be forced out of the market. We don’t want that.
Eddie Hughes MP

Lifetime deposits will allow a tenant to port a single deposit between tenancies, avoiding the need to pay a new deposit at the start of each new tenancy.

Section 21, also known as ‘no-fault evictions’ has long been in the crosshairs of the government, but it remains to be seen how the evictions system will be reformed.

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 Named in Top 5% Of UK Agents

Posted on by prateek

Reside has been named as one of the country’s leading letting agents in the largest and most rigorous analysis of the nation’s property sector.

The Best Estate Agent Guide, which is produced by The Property Academy in conjunction with Rightmove, is the only industry award which does not require agents to nominate themselves or pay to enter. Every estate and lettings agency on Rightmove, which amounts to over 90% of agents in the country, is automatically entered into the awards.

The Best Estate Agent Guide covers over 90% of UK estate agents, is independently assessed and transparent

Gold Award Winners: The Reside Team

Initially, every agent’s Rightmove data is analysed over a six-month period against criteria such as average letting time, and how frequently properties returned to the market after a let fell through. The best performing 2,500 agencies are then mystery shopped to put their customer service and efficiency to the test.

Everyone at Reside is absolutely honoured to have been awarded the Gold Award in the 2021/22 Best Estate Agent Guide, the highest rating that can be achieved which places us in the top 5% of agents nationwide.

Ben Bower, Reside’s Managing Director, commented, “This award is a wonderful testament to the hard work of our staff, whose expertise in lettings provides complete peace of mind to our landlords. Being placed in the top 5% of agents in the country reassures us that we have been getting it right to date, but rest assured we won’t rest on our laurels – we are always trying to improve our services and our own expertise.”

Reside is an 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.