London Landlords To House Refugee Families For Less
Councils are having to ask private landlords to help find homes to house refugees as they do not have enough housing stock available.
The Refugees Welcome campaign highlights the major problem of housing shortages across the capital and social housing cannot cope, therefore landlords are being asked to help.
It has been widely reported that the councils will only take in refugee families when homes have been found for them and landlords have been asked to provide their properties to help the intake, at the same time they have to reduce their rent to be able to do so.
Lambeth Welcomes Refugees, Dr, Rachel Burke, is urging landlords to reduce their rents as council's housing benefits are less than the PRS.
Dr. Burke, said: “We need to find landlords that will take tenants at what is generally around 15 per cent less than the market rate.
"I don’t think people particularly know that this is what the hold-up is getting refugees over here from the camps.”
Over the last few months Lambeth has housed nine Jordanian families from refugee camps as part of their vulnerable person resettlement programme. It has also promised to welcome a further twenty three refugee families.
One generous landlord who took in a refugee family in her rental flat, Katie Barlow, said: “I will never forget the look of exhaustion and relief on the mother’s face as she carried her two-year-old sleeping son through the front door and lay him down on the little children’s bed, and the joy I felt that I was able to provide a place where his parents felt he was safe.
“Today, for the first time, I feel proud to be a landlady. Landlords have to be willing to take an approximately 15 per cent cut in rental income; but in return they can live with the knowledge that they are helping a vulnerable family."
The chairwoman of London Councils, Claire Kober, said: “Londoners have already been incredibly generous, but we now need more houses for Syrian refugees to call home.
“If you have an empty property in London that you’d be willing to rent out, I urge you to contact your council.
"You may not have let the property out before but — if it is filled — your generosity could make a huge difference to a refugee family.”
So one of the most maligned sectors in the press is stepping up and hopefully a 'fanfare' from the media will follow.
" Doesn't this beg the question why doesn't the Local Government Communities Department make up the rest of the rent from their coffers to those landlords who are willing to help?"
Longer Tenancies Wanted By Renters
40% of renters do not envisage having their own home for at least ten years which is extremely positive news for landlords, according to the survey commissioned by a construction and property consultants.
In times where it is the norm for the government to take an anti-landlord stance along with the media, the PRS (Private Renting Sector) is still looking to perform well for private investors.
The survey was conducted with over 2,000 people who rented their 'homes' and found that 25% respondents are having to spend 40% of their income to fund them.
Private tenants on the whole choose their accommodation from the usual factors of cost, room size and outdoor space, communal spaces and sporting facilities within easy reach are not a major concern.
Chief executive of the organisation, Michael Thirkettle, said: “Our survey shows that renting for the longer term is becoming more common. For some it might be because they are priced out of the housing market, for others, it may also reflect a more Continental attitude where people are content to rent rather than buy. Either way, the potential for PRS and build-to-rent is clear.
“The findings will be of particular interest to investors and developers in the PRS and build-to-rent sector. Interestingly, a high proportion of the older generation are now long-term renters. This might reflect the more ‘traditional’ characteristics in terms of the most important factors people look for when choosing rented accommodation – such as room size and a garden or outdoor space, as opposed to amenities like sports facilities or a cinema and internal communal spaces.”
Other research, undertaken by an estate and lettings agents chain, forecasts that over the next five years demand for rented properties will increase to over one million and the government's plans to ensure that renters will one day become 'home buyers' are inadequate.
During their present term the Tories have set themselves a target of having 400,000 new homes built and will be affordable, however the United Kingdom still has to provide an extra 220,000 private rented homes per year according to the firm.
It also predicts that despite the government's plans the PRS will rise by 1.1 million households even if the new builds target is reached.
Susan Emmett, director of the firm's residential research, said: “Demand for rented homes could still rise more sharply than we have forecast,”
The English Housing Survey claims that from 2004 up to 2014 private renting households rocketed by approximately 17,500 per month.
Emmett continued: “This analysis demonstrates that we still need to provide a substantial number of homes for rent.
“Government policy should focus on supporting the development of new homes to rent as well as to buy.”
Good Transport Links Are A Must Have For Renters
Good, close and reliable transport links to the capital is a 'must have' for the city's professional renters and there are unsurprisingly many favourite renting hotspots that provide this.
An online investment platform's research found that the most popular places to rent with good connections to the capital including, Colchester, Rochester(Kent) and Watford are able to increase rental prices because of demand. The one area outside of the South East that is regarded as an extremely worthwhile investment is in fact Northampton.
The platform's annual quarterly buy-to-let sector report 'awards' Romford as the best place to rent out 'homes' as it enjoyed an 8% rental price growth and toppled Luton off of top spot.
The company's index, ranks postcodes by four factors - capital value growth, transaction volumes, rental yield and rental price growth, reported that the historical top performers all enjoyed rental yield increases with third placed Dartford at 4.74 % and Southend at 7th with 4.5%. Romford scored 5.24% per cent and Luton 4.75%.
Whereas at the other end of the scale other regions were comparatively flat with Llandudno, Newcastle and Swansea all recording a 0% price growth, with many investors finding it hard to gain any worthwhile returns.
Co-founder and CEO of an online investment platform, Christian Faes, said: "Consistency is clear here: suburban parts of the South East of England continue to offer the best opportunities for investors, while Inner London continues to underperform. The absence of a large shake-up in the Top 10 buy-to-let postcodes this quarter shows some stability in the market following a year of market-moving uncertainty and geopolitical shocks. Landlords and investors must remember that considering rental yield isn’t enough; it’s critical to find a property that impresses across all metrics. In the quarter, ahead, we’ll be watching closely a number of areas that could edge towards the Top 10, like Bristol (ranked number 15), Milton Keynes (number 16) and Manchester (number 21)."