November 2016
Inside this issue • • • • • • • •
Approved Property Buyers Landlord Property Portfolio Reviews Eight Tips For Rental Renovation More Rental Homes Needed We Are Hiring Conservative Party Conference Property Flood Risk Labelling Property v Pensions
Approved Property Buyers We have recently strengthened our relationship with Approved Property Buyers, a Grimsby based company that purchases houses directly from the seller without using an estate agent. This strengthened relationship should enable us to purchase properties at great prices making them ideal for investment. If you are looking to expand your portfolio then please talk to us first. We may have the ideal property ready for investment or will keep you in mind as new properties become available. ⁝
Landlord Property Portfolio Reviews Over the next few weeks we will be offering a free property portfolio review to our landlords. This could include • • • •
a rent review and advice about how to achieve higher rents an insurance review and research to potentially achieve a better deal discussion about purchasing further properties
and discussion about selling properties that are no longer wanted or needed
Jonathan Mills, Director at New Mills Properties said, “As
we head into 2017 it is an ideal time for landlords to review their property protfolio and plan how to make the most of it over the next 12 months. Crystal, Keith and I are landlords ourselves and know how important it is to ensure that the properties in a portfolio work for us and not the other way around. We each have lots of hands on experience and different areas of interest and are keen to share what we know with our landlords.” If you would like to take up the offer of a free property portfolio review please email info@newmillsproperties.com or call the office on 01472 360178. ⁝
CONTACT US: info@newmillsproperties.com
Eight Tips For Rental Renovation
Before deciding how to renovate or even just decorate an investment property it is important to decide what you want to achieve with it. If you want longterm tenants who are happy, safe and comfortable in the house you are providing you will need to renovate it differently to a property that is going to be used by more regular shorter-term tenants. Getting it right first time will ensure that you get a great rental return with no void periods, a good cash flow and a tenant wanting to make your house, their home. Tip 1: Take advice about what rent your property will achieve if you do any proposed work. Then work out a clear budget that considers how long it will take to recoup any money spent. Stick to your budget and don’t get carried away but do allow for contingencies.
Tip 2: Look at the structure of the building and spend money on the damp course and heating system. If you are going to put in
a new boiler, go for the best one that you can afford to avoid any early repair bills.
Tip 3: Look at areas that receive the most wear and tear and spend the most money there. Kitchens and bathrooms need to be hardwearing with good quality fixtures and fittings. Installing cheaper items here is a false economy and will lead to increased maintenance calls and could end up costing you more money.
Entrances and hallways also need to be robust and easy to clean. Tip 4: Avoid carpets and laminate in areas like kitchens, bathrooms and hallways where they can get wet and rot.
Tip 5: If you are providing upholstered furniture ensure that it is washable and complies with the Furniture & Furnishings (fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. Tip 6: It is likely that you will need to do some decoration between tenants. A lick of
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emulsion and repainting in some well used areas is not uncommon so always buy a little extra paint and store it somewhere safe so that you can do some quick touch ups and will know the exact shade of paint if you need to buy more. Tip 7: You may also find yourself having to regrout any tiled areas - using larger tiles will make this job easier, as will using a dark grout. Tip 8: And if the task is out of your skill set, call in a professional. We can always recommend one of our contractors who will do the work well, for a great price.
It’s all too easy to take short cuts and to ‘make do’ because it’s cheaper, or as the phrase goes “It’s only a rental.” How you treat your property will determine the outcome of your investment. Whilst your renovation does not need to be hotel standard, you need to ask yourself – Would I be happy to live there? ⁝
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More Rental Homes Needed RICS, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has said that the UK will need a further 1.8 million rental properties by 2025.
RICS has blamed the additional homes stamp duty for a sharp decline in the sale of buy-to-let properties and claims that 86 per cent of landlords have no plans to increase their portfolio at the moment and may not increase it for up to five years. They suggest that the problem will worsen next year when landlord’s right to deduct their mortgage interest from their income tax bill is removed. Calling on the government to reverse the additional homes stamp duty introduced in April, and to abandon David Cameron’s focus on home ownership RICS is recommending that a new buildto-rent sector is introduced with private builders encouraged to build properties specifically for renting and pension funds incentivised with tax breaks in order for larger rental developments to be built. Additionally they are asking Councils to release more brownfields for building on.
Helen Gordon is the chief executive of Grainger plc, the UK’s largest residential property owner and manager, she has said “Build-to-rent can help the Government in five simple ways: (1) by increasing housing supply; (2) by delivering more quickly than other traditional house-building models; (3) through creating new jobs and contributing to town centre regeneration; (4) by providing a better deal to customers including more stability; and (5) by supporting greater flexibility in the labour market.” Gordon has also called on the Housing Minister to adopt the existing voluntary Private Rented Sector (PRS) code, which would protect the most vulnerable renters. ⁝
We Are Hiring! We believe that this is a good time for the housing market in Humberside and particularly in North East Lincolnshire. It has been relatively unaffected by the Brexit announcements and the energy industry in the Humber is forcast to keep people living and working in the area for the foreseeable future. House prices remain good value and rents provide a good return. Over the next few years we plan to take full advantage of this opportunity and have some ambitious plans to aquire further properties, invest in new developments and offer new and improved services to both landlords and tenants.
To help with this we are currently recruiting for another lettings negotiator to join the team. The plan is for them to share some of the work that Charlotte is currently responsible for. This shouldn’t affect you in any way, other than having another friendly person available to help you, but it will ensure that you continue to recieve the great customer service
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that we endeavour to provide.
We are commited to education and learning in the property sector so we also plan to take on a lettings apprentice who can support Charlotte and the new negotiator.
With Bobby, our new Property Maintenance Engineer who began working for us last month and Alison Robinson our Marketing Manager employed in June our team is growing and we hope you are beginning to see some positive changes already. ⁝
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Conservative Party Conference At the Conservative Party Conference last month the government set out plans for housing in the UK. This includes a £3 billion Home Builders Fund, Accelerated Construction on public land, urban regeneration and building on brownfield sites. A Housing White Paper is to be delivered later this year giving more details about how they will achieve a target of a million new homes by 2020. ⁝
Property Flood Risk Labelling The Association of British Insurers (ABI) last week published the results of a survey that suggested that less than a third of people buying a new property investigate whether it is at risk of flooding or not. With one in six properties at risk of some kind of flooding ABI is now urging estate agents and property websites to include a flood risk label on adverts much like an energy rating. ⁝
Property v Pensions
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Do we have your details correct? A recent survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics revealed that 45 per cent of people interviewed believed that investing in property would give them the greatest return for their investment compared to just 25 per cent of people believing that a workplace pension would give them the greatest long-term return. ⁝
CONTACT US: info@newmillsproperties.com or 01472 360178
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