Symbiosis

And so the negotiation is back on – it’s a tough act to balance the rights of Renters with Landlords. Too much one way or another and the market will quickly go out of whack. Make it not worth the risk/return for Landlords – or worse attack fundamental property rights, and you’ll end up with Landlords leaving the market, rental property availability reducing and rents going up. But too little risk (for Landlords OR Tenants) and some Landlords/Tenants may be tempted to abuse the system. There will always be those at a stage in their life where they don’t want to / can’t buy – or want to rent because of the flexibility it offers their careers etc. I’ve been there myself, and probably will be again soon. One other thing will always be true – Landlords and Tenants are symbiotic. They both need each other. Hurt one, and you hurt the other. Here’s hoping a more cooperative environment will prevail moving forward.

Private renters are more satisfied with their accommodation than those in the social rented sector, per the 2022/23 English Housing Survey. 82% of private renters were satisfied with their accommodation versus 74% of social renters. Additionally, 76% of private renters were satisfied with landlord services, compared to 64% of social tenants.

ATTENTION: Housing Cooperatives, Associations, Charities and Councils: We want to help you increase your housing stock and save up to 2 thirds per person housed in the process! Currently, we have units available NOW at 90 day’s notice for lease in central Glasgow for up to 6.5years for use as-is, or lightly modified to suit a C3(b) Supported Living purpose – and other areas may be coming soon. On an ongoing basis, we can offer 1 to 10 properties per year, per organisation we work with – depending on your needs. Get in touch here.

More details are emerging for the Renters’ Rights Bill as Labour continues to resolve what it will mean. Broadly-speaking, they look tentatively encouraging – with a part of the briefing notes stating “clear and expended possession grounds will be introduced so landlords can reclaim their properties when they need to”. This, along with the creation of the new PRS Ombudsman (meaning that disputes can be ideally resolved before hitting court), provide a glimmer of hope for those worried about losing control of their property (source).

The Mortgage Works is reducing selected Buy to Let rates for new and existing customers by up to 0.25 percentage points, with rates starting from 3.54%. New rates include a two-year fixed at 3.54% and five-year fixed at 3.94%, among others. This makes them highly competitive in the market. It’s nice to see rates starting with a ‘3’ again!

(Psst… we also post various things on Social Media daily, including completed projects. Follow us on Facebook here.)

In Scotland, rental prices for new lets (which are not subject to the current temporary modification to rent adjudication) continue to rise significantly, although at a lower rate than in Q4 2023. Citylets data shows a 11.5% increase in Q1 2024, compared to an increase of 12.9% in Q4 2023, while Rightmove recorded an increase of 9.8% compared to 10.6%.

UTILITY OF THE WEEK. Task Rabbit. No it isn’t a robotic rabbit that does your bidding, but it’s not far off – a booking tool to assign various different home-related jobs. Got something on a property project or even just around the house that is just NEVER getting done? Maybe this is the answer…

There were 856 regulated mortgage possessions in the UK in Q1 2024 – an annual increase of 7.7%, but still 31% below pre-pandemic quarterly average for 2019-2020.

Buy-to-let remains attractive as demand exceeds supply, with rental properties up 14% from last year but still 20% below 2019 levels. Tenant demand is 16% lower than last year, yet 22% higher than 2019. Rightmove calls for government support to boost landlord investment and improve rental market stability.

Who are M2P? Married2Property are a family-run property company that aims to build social good through property.

How you can Support: If you know anyone who may be interested in receiving these newsletters, please forward on this email to them. YOUR SUPPORT MEANS ALOT. They can subscribe here:

The previous week’s Posts in case you missed them, or just FOLLOW US on Facebook: Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday

Song of the Week: 🎶 London – The Smiths 🎸

And Finally… if you’re getting into property, beware of “shiny penny syndrome”. There will always be the “hot new strategy” – but there are many ways to make property work. By all means do as much free learning and training as you can – but there needs to be a cut off. And that will be set by your goal (how much and when by), current knowledge and network. Return on time invested, return on cash employed and risk – these should be your watchwords. Every strategy works (or it wouldn’t be a strategy), it’s just whether it works for you…

What do M2P do? Married2Property aim to help various Property Operators increase their housing stock – helping to home the homeless as well as other vulnerable groups.