Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

All the predictions and rumours in the papers are pointing out that Chancellor will predominantly be concentrating on Infrastructure, Helping families who are just about managing, Fibre Internet Connection (£1 Billion set aside for that) but there is no rumour or leakage that Chancellor will reverse Mortgage Interest Relief or abolish 3% Stamp Duty Surcharge unless he is playing cards close to his chest.

There is however seems to be good news for LTD company BTL Landlords, as Theresa May stated that, we may slash Corporate rate less than 15% despite Chancellor has already announced that he won’t slash it less than 17%. The rationale she has behind her thinking is that, she sees Donald Trump as a threat to our trade deals as Trump has already announced corporate rates less than 15%!

Reply to the comment left by “Simon Hall” at “21/11/2016 – 10:52“:

well I suppose Cherie may have some influence!

Letting agent fees to be banned in the Autumn Statement, according to Conservative MP Heidi Allen interviewed on BBC Newsnight. Guess who will be expected to pick up the slack? – yes, you guessed it, landlords!

Reply to the comment left by “Lee Humby” at “22/11/2016 – 22:54“:

I know what my agents will do – whom I only employ for a tenant-find service. They will increase the rents across the board to cover the extra cost and then we landlords will simply receive this extra payment and pay it back to the letting agent in the shape of higher commission, just as we will pick up the extra rent with Section 24 and pass it to HMRC. In my area I know that this will be possible and the rents will be increased for this reason as well as because of s24. The Government calls this ‘helping tenants’. I call it ‘introducing policies which lead to higher rents.’ If the amount of the extra rent is equivalent to the fees the agents would have charged, then I think we have status quo? It’s just a conversion of fees into rent.

We manage the properties ourselves, so never actually paid the agents.
If the letting fee the agents charge the tenants are in region of £380, that will be passed on LLs to cover. Divided by 12 months – about £30 extra per month on rent. I am sure at least some LLs will have to raise the rent by a similar amount. Or they will stop using the agents (I guess easier said than done in some circumstances).
Does it mean we will have to cover the Credit Reference fees as well? it is a pass-through cost.

Does this mean as LLs we cannot charge the Tenants 1off/upfront fees albeit using the letting agent collect the money (as they do rents) on the LLs behalf?

There will be some ad-hoc charges anyway.

Reply to the comment left by “Barry Fitzpatrick” at “23/11/2016 – 08:05“:

Actually, in a skewed way, the banning of agent fees may actually help landlords if they need, because of the insanity of S24, to put up rents as agents will (as Rosalind has mentioned), now decide rents need to rise. The letting agents I use and some others I have spoken to have been spectacularly blase about the effects of the coming legislation on landlords’ livelihoods and the knock-on effects to their own businesses. They also appear to believe they are insulated from any of the effects of the government’s meddling. Well, no longer….

I get loads of business by not using letting agents as I do it all myself I actually advertise saying no extra fees. If Letting agents think they are insulated from the assault they are Niaive as they will be the first people to go due to s24 and I believe once landlords realise how easy it is to source good quality tenants yourself I put an online advert on for £30 for a house on Monday vire open rent and it generated 18 viewings why use an agent ????

Reply to the comment left by “NW Landlord” at “23/11/2016 – 09:01“:

I couldn’t agree more. They just don’t see it coming. Landlords will need to cut costs to the bone and agents are a luxury we can learn, quite easily now, to do without.

I think it will hit letting agents to a significant degree, however, if landlords make a bigger effort to let their own properties and bypass the letting agent. This was bound to be a consequence of s24 – which is one reason I was surprised that letting agents were very slow to realise the importance of the fiscal attacks on landlords – and this new move will just make it more likely that landlords will try and let houses themselves if they haven’t already. I only use them for tenant-find and in areas where they are very good at this and are able to achieve higher rents than I might have done. There’s a new thread on this, in case anyone wants to move the debate over to there;

https://www.property118.com/letting-agents-will-no-longer-be-able-to-charge-fees-to-tenants/92497/