The latest Propertymark Housing Insight Report suggests that tenant demand is on the rise again, with supply of property unable to keep up.
Reside General Manager Toby Martin summarises rental activity over the last month, with the latest facts and figures from the local market.
Reside General Manager Toby Martin summarises rental activity over the last month, with the latest facts and figures from the local market.
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:
“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.
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?
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.
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.
Since the beginning of 2021, the rental market has been overwhelmed by demand from tenants looking for new homes. At the same time, supply of available properties has dwindled, thereby creating a very difficult environment in which to secure your next move.
Here are our top 5 tips to beat the competition and secure that perfect property:
If we have a registered tenant on our books who we think would suit a newly available property, we will share it with them before the property comes onto the open market; our last few properties have all been let in this way, without the need to list them on Rightmove. If you are scanning Rightmove or On The Market on a daily basis, or waiting for their property alerts to arrive in your inbox, you will miss out on a great many properties.
Speak with the local agencies and make sure you are registered and known to them; you might just be given the opportunity to rent a property that never comes to the market.
Video technology has really come to the fore during the pandemic, and our video tours have enabled a great many people to view and rent properties without needing to leave their homes. As we are now emerging from lockdown restrictions, these video tours have taken on a new use – enabling tenants to be the first to view a property, and get ahead of the rush. We are still agreeing many lets without carrying out physical viewings, thanks to our high quality and comprehensive video tours.
If you think you have found the right property, don’t waste time in expressing your interest and submitting an offer. If you take too much time to consider your options and view other properties, you may well miss out.
In a normal market, we are quite accustomed to receiving an ‘initial’ offer from a prospective tenant, who is anticipating a negotiation with the landlord before agreeing terms. In the current climate, we are frequently seeing tenants submit their best and final offer from the outset, in the knowledge that they may face competition to secure the property.
Don’t be afraid to let your personality come across to the landlord. Landlords are not purely swayed by the terms of your offer, they are also looking for tenants who come across as friendly, reliable people – someone who will care for the property in which they live.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
New regulations enforcing the provision of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in privately rented properties are now just one week away. After several months of speculation and debate, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Act 2015 was finally passed by Parliament on the 14th of September – leaving landlords just two and a half weeks to ensure their properties meet the new requirements.
From the 1st of October 2015, landlords will be required to supply and fit at least one smoke alarm on every storey of their property which is used as living accommodation, even if that storey only includes a bathroom or lavatory. Carbon monoxide alarms must also be present in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance, such as a coal or wood burning fire. These alarms must be tested by the landlord at the start of each new tenancy to ensure they are still in working order.
As the legislation currently stands, Landlords are not obliged to fit carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with gas or oil appliances. We at Reside, however, have advised our landlords to supply CO alarms where gas appliances are present; whilst the legislation does not make this mandatory, it does state that ‘reputable landlords’ are expected to supply carbon monoxide alarms in these circumstances.
The Department for Communities’ guidelines make it very clear that no grace period will be permitted for landlords who have not acted to ensure their property is compliant, and hefty fines of up to £5,000 will be levied against those who do not take the necessary steps.
An explanatory handbook written by the Department for Communities explains exactly what landlords must do to ensure compliance, and can be found here.
