LETTINGSnews
INVESTMENT No time for a punt!
Property investors should be very selective about the areas they choose to buy in during 2012, warns buy to let specialist Assetz. Low returns on savings versus strong demand for rental property will continue to drive investment in the UK buy to let market, but with unemployment rising and the Eurozone crisis yet to play out, taking a punt on secondary locations could prove risky. In popular residential areas
where there is good infrastructure and a strong employment market, such as most of London and upmarket commuter hotspots around all major cities, buyer and tenant demand will continue to outstrip supply, supporting price growth. In contrast, areas that are reliant on manufacturing or the public sector, for example, which may be struggling with high levels of unemployment, will see relatively low transaction levels next year and a fall in values of 5 per cent or even greater.
RESEARCH “No Housing Benefit” say
Nine out of ten UK landlords report problems with late- payments from
housing benefit tenants and 59 per cent state “No Housing Benefit tenants”in adverts for rental property. 87 per cent have had
59 per cent of landlords surveyed were against the benefit payment changes, with half (51 per cent) of those polled revealing they had mainly experienced rent issues with housing benefit tenants since the 2008 changes. Landlords said non-benefit
Stuart Law
Stuart Law, Chief Executive of
buy to let group Assetz, said, “Now is not the time to take a punt on potentially ‘up and coming’ locations, or those that are dependent on sectors which are at risk from high levels of unemployment. Buying in a strong location will help deliver a reliable rental income and a good supply of quality tenants, albeit alongside only modest capital growth for the time being.”
problems with housing benefit tenants not paying the rent on time, with one-in-ten (11 per cent) admitting they have had tenants who stopped paying rent altogether, according to a new survey by SpareRoom.
co.uk of more than 1,000 UK landlords.
The landlords said that the
problems caused by benefit tenants also included issues arising from the suspension of benefit payments and damage to the property.
The majority of buy-to-let landlords (86 per cent)
tenants were more reliable, and 47 per cent said they did not want the hassle of dealing with payment problems. These problems included late payments, not paying at all, issues arising from the suspension of benefit payments and damage to the property. More than half (58 per cent) of respondents had experienced more than one of these problems. Three-quarters (74 per cent) said they would not take a tenant on Housing Benefit even if the tenant had a guarantor.
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50 FEBRUARY 2012 PROPERTYdrum aiic ARTWORK
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