If you were lucky enough to be present in today’s NRLA webinar from their first quarter findings, that’s great. However, if you missed it, I summarised their key points for landlords and letting agents who have rental properties in London.
Confidence is lowest in Landlords from Landlord
Landlords’ confidence has grown across the nation, but landlords in London remain the least confident over the prospects of the Private Rented Sector in England
Tenant Demand - City-workers are moving out of London
Over the last 3 months landlords in London have seen tenant demand remain net negative at -32.3%. On the other hand, landlords in the rural regions, such as the South West of England, have seen tenant demand increase by almost 41.4%.
Will London’s population really decline? NRLA estimated up to 700,000 have flowed out of London, will this switch remain permanent? Only time will tell.
Tenancy Churn - Tenants keeping on, but section 21 proves popular
Almost half of landlords have kept on their current tenants in comparison to last quarter
Less than 10% of landlords have issued notices to tenants (9.2%), Section 21 notice being the preferred route. Rent arrears make up the overwhelming majority
EICR Regulations - Landlords getting on with regulations, but misinformation in the market
Over 95% of landlords are aware of new the EICR regulations. If you are not, take a look here
Over 70% of landlords have conducted an EICR in the last twelve months, compared to the previous quarter where only 35% of landlords had conducted an EICR (2019)
Shockingly, Landlords are being misinformed about EICRs
Too many have been given incorrect information such as being told an EICR is needed for every new tenancy, and some have been told a new EICR is needed within the next 5 years
Energy Efficiency - The letter C could result in a flood of property sales
Energy efficiency continues to be an important topic, recent consultation has been done on potentially raising the EPC minimum standard to C
What will be the impact on the PRS? Over 50% of landlords responded by saying they would sell their properties that fall below a C rating, effectively passing the buck on to the private sector. Survey contained over 1000 responses
Universal Credit - More popular than before, but landlords still in the grey
Over 40% of landlords in London are renting to applicants who are in receipt of Universal Credit
There has been a steady rise in proportion of landlords willing to rent their properties to applicants on Universal Credit since 2018
What remains a blocker for most landlords is the confusing Benefits system and issues around payments
Around half of the landlords who rent to Universal Credit applicants are in some form of rental arrears - even split between arrears caused by system payment issues and being in rental arrears before applying for Universal Credit
Really interesting thanks.