industry news


Groundbreaking training partnership launched


will help charities and other organisations offer free training on how to rent properties. Developed by the RLA and funded by the TDS


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Charitable Foundation, the train2rent scheme will see groups such as housing associations, trusts and residents’ groups given access to specially created training packs, including all the materials needed to deliver a course about renting a property. There will be separate packs for landlords and


tenants, which will include the course presentation and workbook, a timetable for the trainer and practical exercises. The landlord resource will include details of legal


responsibilities, Right to Rent checks, protecting deposits and starting and ending a tenancy. The tenant resource covers topics including the


legal rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants, how to find a property and different types of tenancies. Robert Maccabe, training and development


groundbreaking new partnership between the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) and the TDS Charitable Foundation


manager for the RLA said: “The Residential Landlords Association is delighted to be working in partnership with the TDS Charitable Foundation on this project. “This is a great opportunity for small


organisations and groups to raise standards and created better working relationships as the private rented sector grows.” Commenting on the launch, Chair of the TDS


Charitable Foundation Martin Partington said; “It has been a common theme in the bids we have received that small organisations have wanted funding to produce educational materials or host a workshop. The Trustees felt that our money was better spent commissioning a set of materials that these groups could use, free of charge, to deliver the same outcome. “We are very pleased that tenant and landlord


groups throughout England will now be able to benefit from the training packs, and approach their tenancies better informed.” The course applies to properties located in


England and the licence to use the resources will last for 30 days. Visit www.train2rent.co.uk


Prime central London property rises from the dead with stamp duty deadline boost


over the £1 million mark. eMoov’s Prime Central London Property Index


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records the change in supply and demand for property above £1 million across London’s most prestigious areas, by monitoring the total number of properties sold in comparison to those on sale. The latest index shows that the tattered corpse


of PCL property demand has risen from the dead during the start of 2016, increasing by +16 per cent, now at 13 per cent overall. This is the high- est level of property demand felt in prime central London since June of last year, with the market having cooled consistently since. Despite the slow decline of London’s high-end


market in 2015, demand property in prime central London has been resurrected in areas ahead of April’s Stamp Duty changes. For those looking for a property over the £1


million mark, that’s an additional charge of at least 13 per cent of the property’s value, with April’s impending deadline seeing many rush to secure a sale before the changes are implemented. As a result, some pockets of prime central Lon-


don have seen demand levels explode since the end of last year, with Maida Vale top of the pile in terms of change up +281 per cent, with demand now at 16 per cent. Primrose Hill has seen the


eading online estate agent, eMoov.co.uk, has released its latest insight into the demand for prime central London property


second highest change, up +169 per cent, closely followed by Chiswick where demand has increased +128 per cent. At 26 per cent, Chiswick is also the hottest spot in prime central London where property demand is concerned. St Johns Wood (+119 per cent), Marylebone


(+55 per cent), Knightsbridge (+48 per cent), Fulham (+28 per cent), Chelsea (+5 per cent) and Belsize Park (+5 per cent) have also enjoyed an uplift in demand since Q4 of 2015. But it isn’t just an increase in buyer activity


ahead of April’s changes. eMoov recorded that the level of stock across the major portals has more than doubled since the end of last year from 5,729 to 13,481, as savvy homeowners look to increase their property price potential, amidst the scramble to buy before April. But it’s not all good news for homeowners


across prime central London, with a number of areas continuing to remain six feet under in the coldest depths of the market. Notting Hill has fared worse so far in 2016, down -42 per cent after a slight revival at the end of last year. Mayfair has seen the second largest drop (-36 per cent) and, with demand at just 5 per cent, is also the coldest spot in prime central London. Belgravia (-16 per cent), Holland Park (-15 per


cent), Fitzrovia (-15 per cent), Islington (-3 per cent) and Kensington (-1 per cent) have also suffered a drop in property demand.


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM March 2016 | 21


HMOs remodelled to meet new demand


self-contained flats as it continues to remodel its housing stock to meet local need. DWP Housing Partnership invested


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£350,000 in the Westbourne property in Norwich Avenue West that now has 11 flats rather than multiple rooms with shared facilities. In the last two years, the company has


converted 75 bedsits and rooms housing over 100 tenants into self-contained units. There is a growing number of local workers


looking for homes and DWP is adapting its stock to supply that demand. The accommodation brings newly refurbished


self-contained rental properties into the reach of modest wage earners. No tenants have been left without a home


during this rolling programme of improvement which is set to continue. Steve Wells from DWP said: “We are


committed to updating our housing stock and turning HMOs into self-contained flats or back into houses. “We are looking at the long-term future


because it is better for ourselves and our clients if they stay longer in our properties, and we are encouraging this by providing the accommodation people want. “Although the number of tenants we can


accommodate in our remodelled HMOs will of course decrease, we are making up for that by building brand new purpose-built flats. “The demand for our properties has never


been greater and over the last five years we have invested more than £20 million in new developments and millions more converting our HMOs.”


orset’s biggest private landlord has turned another of its ‘houses of multiple occupancy’ (HMOs) into


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