The joy of being a landlord

Worthy said:
Folks, I’m considering starting buying property to become a landlord but it seems like a pretty turbulent time to be doing so, or at least that’s me impression. I’m guessing it would be wise to wait until the budget is announced next month, but apart from that, any advice for a potential landlord?
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It depends if you actually want to put any work into what should be a business, the days of it basically being free money hopefully are over, but who knows.

I know a couple of proper landlords that are still optimistic, but they are the evil big business types that you know, invest time in the properties they buy, renovate them to find value and largely manage them themselves almost like it's a full-time job.
 
Funny how folk in England lose their minds over this C rating from 2030 - in Wales it's from next year.

Interesting that it only applies to private landlords.

There is no way in hell Reeves will leave CGT alone. As far as Labour are concerned only "Rich People" pay CGT so why shouldn't they pay more?

I'm one down, one to go. Accepted an offer this morning for one rental. Tenant in other house has until Friday to mount a defence or it's up to a judge to determine her eviction date.
 
EddScott said:
Funny how folk in England lose their minds over this C rating from 2030 - in Wales it's from next year.

Interesting that it only applies to private landlords.

There is no way in hell Reeves will leave CGT alone. As far as Labour are concerned only "Rich People" pay CGT so why shouldn't they pay more?

I'm one down, one to go. Accepted an offer this morning for one rental. Tenant in other house has until Friday to mount a defence or it's up to a judge to determine her eviction date.
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I found out about it in an article saying they expanding it to social properties, although the average condition of a social property in the same article is listed as far better.
 
EddScott said:
Ah fair enough. There was some dude ranting about it on LBC in the week. I've been in two minds whether to bail on the landlording game or ride it out but
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We dont know what will happen yet, so I think its premature to bail out right now.

The housing sector needs to be protected in my view, its clear we need lots of social homes but I think policies in the mean time should apply stimulus to landlords to (a) keep tenants long term and (b) keep rents low, so I would support conditional tax breaks, conditional reversal of the osborne tax, and conditional grants. If rents are increased below inflation, rents are below average market rate, and longer term tenancies are awarded then the breaks are given, and grants considered to help with EPC obligations.
 
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Anyone dealt with a directorship of a building (that you happen to own a flat in) where the named director tor that holds all the purse strings is sat in a home with dementia? The son of the person isn't being helpful, and has failed to pay other bills for work done on the building, at great cost to tenants and landlords alike.

We need to get funds released to repair a leaky roof. Old Victorian buildings are nightmares!
 
chrcoluk said:
Kind of like stock holders, panicking on rumours?
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Exactly. Even the current CTG rate will make sure that the landlord loses money to inflation. If CGT further increases, then it's gonna be even more loss.

The money would have been better invested into ISA -> SIPP -> Junior ISA -> Junior SIPP, invested in world index trackers.
 
chrcoluk said:
I found out about it in an article saying they expanding it to social properties, although the average condition of a social property in the same article is listed as far better.
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IIRC "social" properties tend to get regular improvements and upgrades already as part of the process.

I know for example that around my way the social provider rewired all their properties about 10 years ago, replaced the ancient electric storage heaters with modern gas boilers about a year later, upgraded the insulation etc. From what I can tell they're basically on a rolling program of updates, so every X years it's a new kitchen or bathroom (not fancy, but basically new functional, without appliances and IIRC the tenant does get a limited choice on colour), all usually done using their own inhouse teams and I suspect much more efficiently than doing one kitchen at a time.

I suspect the requirement for a C rating is going to hit the worst landlords the hardest, as they're the ones who are most likely to have not actually invested in improving the efficiency of their properties already.
 
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Werewolf said:
Our EPC report when we had one done (we own our own house), was a low D, putting on some solar panels was the easiest way to raise it. 2.5kw of panels would have given us an 11 point rise* (to a high C) vs 2 points for underfloor insulation (or another 2 for solar water heating).
It's not just insulation that can make a difference to the EPC rating.


*We actually got 4.7k
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To be honest, not every house has a perfectly south facing uniform roof for solar panels.

Also, most tenants won't appreciate much about the money spent by landlords for EPC improvements. Two properties with exactly the same interior layout and conditions but different EPC ratings get very similar offerings from tennants - actually the one with higher EPC rating was rented out for less. The landlord doing the EPC improvement on solar and insulation has totally lost that money and won't be able to recover that from rental.
 
ANDREW GREEN said:
What about listed buildings who can't legally put in double glazing etc?
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With this being said there is often a misconception surrounding if a listed property requires an EPC or is exempt. Whilst we are sure that many rental owners would be relieved to not have to ensure that their property meets these legal requirements, listed properties still must comply with all EPC regulations, but there is a caveat.

Although some listed rentals may still require an EPC, in some cases they can be exempt from meeting the minimum energy efficiency standards. These exemptions from the EPC regulations will exclusively apply, “insofar as compliance with certain minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance.” Simply put, the landlord is exempt from making alterations to the rental that will increase the energy efficiency of the rental, if these changes will substantially change the aesthetics of the building.
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Renting a Listed Building: A Landlord’s Guide - PropertyLoop

can you let a listed proeprty? are there grants for listed buildings? Here we provide a guide to landlords wanting to let a listed property.
www.propertyloop.co.uk www.propertyloop.co.uk
 
Yea, agree with the guy on the right.

The numpty on the left though, what a prat. Love the fact he brings up the issue of Labour shortages in the construction industry to be able to get this done. Oh yea, who's fault is that then...
 
ANDREW GREEN said:
What about listed buildings who can't legally put in double glazing etc?
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It looks like there may be exemptions.

But I'd question what percentage of the rental stock is currently listed to the extent where they cannot fit double glazing or secondary at all*, as opposed to having to go for a style of double glazing that may fit into the existing look but be slightly more expensive that Safestyle, or Everest's default stuff.


*IIRC there is a level of listed where you can fit double glazing with little issue, another where you just have to get it in the correct style (so potentially wooden or wood look frame).
 
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I think the EPC mandate will mainly be a problem with Victorian & similar era terraces in non-affluent areas (of which there is probably 1million+ rented privately across the UK)
They are difficult and costly to improve, particularly if circumstances mean you can't just go for the easy wins, & the cost required to improve doesn't really vary much for geographic location.

So it's not so much of an issue to justify spending £20k where the terrace in question is in Balham or similar trendy area of London, is worth £1.2million+ & rents for £3000+ a month, which is the sort of property the average MP is familiar with.
But it's a real issue in ex industrial areas of Stoke on Trent, Greater Manchester etc where the same house is worth sub £100k & barely pulls £600/month.
 
Tom_ed1987 said:
I think the EPC mandate will mainly be a problem with Victorian & similar era terraces in non-affluent areas (of which there is probably 1million+ rented privately across the UK)
They are difficult and costly to improve, particularly if circumstances mean you can't just go for the easy wins, & the cost required to improve doesn't really vary much for geographic location.

So it's not so much of an issue to justify spending £20k where the terrace in question is in Balham or similar trendy area of London, is worth £1.2million+ & rents for £3000+ a month, which is the sort of property the average MP is familiar with.
But it's a real issue in ex industrial areas of Stoke on Trent, Greater Manchester etc where the same house is worth sub £100k & barely pulls £600/month.
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Pretty much, I think the government should be offering conditional grants, but they likely wont and then act all surprised when LL's either vanish or push up rents to pay for it.

Everything listed on my EPC has a estimated cost of at least £3000, and its going to be downgraded soon further I think due to upcoming changes in the property.

The property as I understand as will be the case for many Victorian era terraces wont be exempted, the cost cap will probably apply though if LL's make an effort.

Most of the home improvement schemes that are applicable to LL's and/or their tenants, have really weird restrictions in place to restrict what they will offer. I havent seen a single scheme that offers double glazing either.

Will probably see the risk averse casual LL's sell up, and the professionals to continue jacking up rents

I expect most tenants would rather have low rent and a poor condition property than higher rent and a better property, which would make Sunak's choice have some sense, of course the ideal situation is affordable rents alongside a reasonable condition property, but social housing is needed for that or some serious government subsidies in the private sector.
 
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chrcoluk said:
Pretty much, I think the government should be offering conditional grants, but they likely wont and then act all surprised when LL's either vanish or push up rents to pay for it.

Everything listed on my EPC has a estimated cost of at least £3000, and its going to be downgraded soon further I think due to upcoming changes in the property.

The property as I understand as will be the case for many Victorian era terraces wont be exempted, the cost cap will probably apply though if LL's make an effort.

Most of the home improvement schemes that are applicable to LL's and/or their tenants, have really weird restrictions in place to restrict what they will offer. I havent seen a single scheme that offers double glazing either.

Will probably see the risk averse casual LL's sell up, and the professionals to continue jacking up rents

I expect most tenants would rather have low rent and a poor condition property than higher rent and a better property, which would make Sunak's choice have some sense, of course the ideal situation is affordable rents alongside a reasonable condition property, but social housing is needed for that or some serious government subsidies in the private sector.
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Why should the government issue grants to landlords allowing them to transfer the cost of upgrading the property they make profit from onto everyone else?

It's bad enough that they effectively transfer the increased cost of living in a "low EPC" property onto the tenants in the first place since it's THEIR heating bills etc.. that suffer, not the LL.

So why should general taxation be used to prop up hobby landlords rather than them having to fix up the property themselves?
 
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Devilman said:
So why should general taxation be used to prop up hobby landlords rather than them having to fix up the property themselves?
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slight aside but what is it with the hate against landlords with a low numbers (or single) property?

I guess we should all be like the way more professional outfit that is the one offered by the Labour MP Jas Athwal.... given his position I am guessing he is the benchmark of landlords to aim for?

As for the quality of the property.... imo the expectation of a rental should be that it is of a similar quality to equivalent private properties in the area. it makes little sense to hammer down on a rental and get that up to a standard which is far higher than all the owned properties of similar type in the area.

I do know we currently charge far less than any other flat in the area. i dare say our flat will be one of the cheapest in cambridge...... the quality of it i think is pretty good, it was the property my wife was happy to live in, and its better now than it was when she was living in it 12 years ago, IF we end up having to spend 1000s on it adding for instance a heat pump or something, well then that price will be passed onto our tenant... just like it would be if we were a "proper" letting company.
 
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bigmike20vt said:
slight aside but what is it with the hate against landlords with a low numbers (or single) property?

I guess we should all be like the way more professional outfit that is the one offered by the Labour MP Jas Athwal.... given his position I am guessing he is the benchmark of landlords to aim for?

As for the quality of the property.... imo the expectation of a rental is that it should be of a similar quality to equivalent private properties in the area. it makes little sense to hammer down on a rental and get that up to a standard which is far higher than all the owned properties of similar type in the area.
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No hate, it's called Capitalism.

If they want to make money from their "product" (rental property) then they need to provide an adequate quality of "product".

It is not the responsibility of government (via general taxation) to ensure their continued profit by paying to upgrade their sub-standard product for them.
 
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