Isis Insurance, a leading landlords insurance broker has noted a recent BBC report which highlights how Londoners hoping to rent out their homes during the Olympics are being warned they could be breaking the law and left facing a fine.
Isis Insurance services, a leading let property insurance broker has noted a number of recent reports which suggest that landlords continue to be optimistic as to the future of the let property market.
Isis Insurance, a leading let property insurance broker have noted recent comments regarding the apparent profitability of student let accommodation.
The student let market has long been seen by many landlords and a number of let property insurers as the undesirable end of the let property market, but recent reports suggest that times attitudes from landlords in particular may be changing.
As many buy to let landlords may testify the fundamental issues with investing in buy to let property are twofold – having faith in the ability of the property to inflate in value and the demand for rented accommodation.
Whilst the value of houses, and the corresponding increase or decrease in value is very dependent upon the area in which the property is situated, the demand for good quality rented property by tenants seems to be very strong.
Isis insurance services a leading landlords and let property insurance broker has noted a recent article provided by the BBC which suggests that demand for properties to rent is surging.
The article suggests that there has been a continued rise in the number of people looking for homes to rent.
A survey by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) said 74% of its members had more prospective tenants than homes to let. (more…)
Isis Insurance a leading let property insurance broker has noted a recent report by Savills, the estate agent, which says that £3.7bn of foreign money is pouring into the London housing market each year and especially into prime areas such as Mayfair, Kensington, Notting Hill and Chelsea. The demand is leading to UK owners selling their homes and moving to outer London.
Savills’ report, called World in London, says British sellers of homes in central London have outnumbered British buyers by 30pc this year, compared with 5pc in 2008. Meanwhile, foreign buyers have outnumbered foreign sellers by 58pc in 2011, up from 23pc in 2008.
The market is being boosted by the weakness of sterling and the perception of London as a safe haven amid political and economic uncertainty.
Yolande Barnes, head of residential research at Savills, said: “We anticipate that London will continue to attract overseas buyers in the foreseeable future, especially with the eyes of the world on the London Olympics next year. “The diversity of economies from which these buyers originate and of their motivations for purchase, mean that there will nearly always be an overseas market for London property for as long as London remains a major global city.”
The data shows that from 2007 to 2011, the most prevalent overseas buyers in London have been from Western Europe, with 11pc of the market by value. This group includes an increasing number of buyers from southern European countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain as they invest outside their homelands to avoid economic uncertainty.
However, in central London, the biggest investors have been from Eastern Europe, including oligarchs, with 15pc of the market and an average purchase price of £6.2m. Middle East and North African buyers account for 14pc and spend £4m. The average spend of British buyers is £1.5m.
In 2010 overall, overseas buyers made up 54pc of investment in central London properties worth above £5m.
The international demand highlights the split between London’s housing market and the rest of the UK, which is suffering from a lack of mortgage availability and spending cuts. While growth in UK house prices stalls, Savills has forecast that prime London prices will grow 33.4pc in the five years to the end of 2015.
Whilst London property may be at the extreme end of property valuations the trend for foreign purchasers to acquire many of the UKs prime location properties puts more pressure on UK house buyers and further down the chain buyers looking to purchase their first property. For this reason the buy to let market remains buoyant, with potential tenants facing a bidding war for properties on a number of occasions.
Isis insurance has many years experience in arranging let property and buy to let insurance and have a number of buy to let insurance schemes with some of the UK’s leading insurers.
Isis insurance services a leading buy to let insurance broker has noted a recent report where buy-to-let landlords have been warned not to disguise their profits from the tax man after selling their properties.
It has been reported that tax officials are increasingly trawling through Land Registry records to check the accuracy of tax returns. If a property is not a seller’s main residence then capital gains tax (CGT) may be payable on the profit.
There has been a massive increase in capital gains tax from enquiry work, particularly as the amount of CGT payable has collapsed as asset values slumped during the recession and this is seen as evidence of how aggressive HM Revenue & Customs [HMRC] is becoming in tackling tax evasion in this area.
The work was conducted by teams of special investigators set up in the past three years in the regional offices of HMRC.
Their establishment has come alongside the Revenue’s widely publicised campaign to uncover people who are hiding taxable income in offshore bank accounts.
“We risk assess returns using a variety of methods, as well as cross-matching database information, both our own and external,” said an HMRC spokesman.
“Enquiries into the disposal of second homes is just one area we look at,” he added.
CGT is payable on the sale of most assets, not just property and around 130,000 people paid capital gains tax in 2008-09.
The profit made on selling a property is liable to CGT unless it is someone’s main home at the time of the sale, or was their main home at any time in the three years before.
Sellers also have an annual tax-free allowance to set against any CGT bill.
Even if there is still CGT to pay, a landlord can reduce the bill by offsetting:
However many landlords sometimes feel they have had the costs but can’t prove it, because they haven’t retained the necessary paperwork. Also many HMRC investigations lead to disagreements over whether some costs are repair costs or enhancement to the property and HMRC often challenges the records for expenditure going back 20 years or more.
Isis insurance is a leading landlords and buy to let insurance broker and is able to place landlords insurance with a number of buy to let insurance companies who offer specialist policies for landlord insurance cover.
Despite the problems created by the credit crisis which in turn led to a reduction in the availability of both traditional and buy to let mortgages there are signs that the buy to let market is becoming attractive for landlords once more.
As the government’s austerity measures continue to bite potential first time buyers are unable to afford to buy homes and therefore tend to rent properties for longer periods. This appears to be a trend which has developed since mortgages became harder to secure.
Since buy to let finance became harder to secure a significant gap has developed between demand and supply, which has in turn resulted in an increase in rents in certain areas where young professionals would once have purchased rather than rented property.
As has always been the case the area that the property is situated in will affect the type of tenant that the landlord is able to attract and it is a fact that the right area with the right tenant will always be a more attractive proposition to a let property owner than the wrong area which may in turn attract the wrong tenant.
The key is for the let property owner to understand the fundamentals of the local property market as this will greater increase the value of the investment.
However with the availability of tenants on the rise even areas which have not historically proved attractive to landlords could now become more attractive as the cost of property has fallen over the recent past.
As a final point the area in which the property is situated plays an important part in the calculation of the buy to let insurance cost and is a point often neglected by newer let property landlords.
Isis Insurance have a number of years experience in arranging buy to let property insurance and landlords insurance and are able to place insurance cover with a number of specialist let property insurance companies and are also able to place unoccupied property insurance.
The number of properties signed up to the national flood warning system in England and Wales has broken the one million mark for the first time, the Environment Agency announced today.
From the end of March, the organisation has started to issue localised flood warnings to an extra 160,000 properties with a telephone landline at risk of river or sea flooding – taking the total number of properties signed up to 1.1 million.
The extension of the organisation’s flood warning service was one of the key recommendations from the independent Pitt Review into the summer 2007 floods. The Environment Agency is also continuing to expand the number of areas in England and Wales that are eligible for its service.
The automatic registration of more properties at risk of flooding is the latest move to improve flood risk information to the public.
A new iPhone app ‘Flood Alert’, which uses live data from the Environment Agency to provide users with real time updates on nearby flood warnings, was launched by Halcrow earlier this month. Further applications for other smart phones are being developed by other third parties.
Last year, the Environment Agency launched a service allowing householders and businesses to monitor rising river levels during a potential flood. The service at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/riverlevels shows updated river and sea levels at over 1,700 locations across England and Wales.
Environment Agency Acting Director of Flood and Coastal Risk, David Rooke, said: “Our free flood warning service now provides advanced warnings to over a million homes and business, giving more people vital time to get prepared for flooding, and by doing so, protecting lives and property.
“One in six homes in England and Wales is at risk of flooding. We urge everyone to check whether their property is at risk by visiting the Environment Agency’s website and taking steps to prepare, such as looking at ways to make properties more resistant to floods.”
Environment Minister, Richard Benyon said:“I am delighted that so many people are now signed up to receive alerts. An early warning will give people time to prepare for potential flooding whether that is by moving furniture upstairs, checking on elderly neighbours or preparing a grab bag in case evacuation is advised. The extra time gained by an early warning can help keep people safe during a flood and minimise damage to property.”
Flood risk is just one of the issues faced by property owners and also impacts on owners of buy to let properties and is a major cost influence in insurers pricing of buy to let property insurance.
The increased availability and usage of the national flood warning system can only be seen as a substantial benefit to property owners and let property insurance companies alike.
Isis Insurance offer a range of buy to let insurance policies, including unoccupied property insurance. Call us on 01625 539 656 for more information and to get a quote.
Isis Insurance a leading landlords insurance broker has noted a recent report by a consumer body which suggests that tenants of let properties should have a rating website on which they can share their experiences of landlords.
A report by Consumer Focus mentions that many people renting in the private sector had very little information available to them before they signed a tenancy agreement with a landlord.
On the other side Landlords can ask potential tenants for references, deposits and other personal information.
The group would like lettings agents to follow the example of sites such as eBay which give customer feedback.
Consumer Focus said it had written to some of the largest letting agents in England asking them to look at how they could use the internet to encourage more feedback about landlords.
In a survey of 2,000 people carried out in January, it found nine out of 10 tenants thought such a website would help them make better decisions about who to rent a home from. “Currently the landlord is firmly in the driving seat despite rent being a massive outgoing for many of us,” said Claire McAnulty from the group.
“People often sign up with little more than a gut feeling after a cursory tour of the property.
“The best way to help private renters is to ensure they have the information to know what they are getting into.”
Isis Insurance are a specialist landlords and let property insurance broker and have many years in arranging landlords insurance.
In the main property owner’s requirements for material damage insurance broadly be split into three categories:
The buildings and contents at the property owners own premises would not normally be covered under a landlords insurance policy.
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Whilst a number of factors can affect insurers attitude to the risks involved in arranging Landlords insurance policies such as the physical location of the buildings and its individual claims history, a major consideration will be taken from a range of other physical factors relating to the property to be insured.
The construction of the property including the number of storeys and construction materials used will have a major influence on the premium charged as it is usual for higher premiums to be charged for properties of non-standard construction.
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The UK has seen some of the worst weather conditions for many years with snow ice and sub zero temperatures recorded in many parts of the UK.
Whilst the pre Christmas snow may have abated at present more cold weather is sure to arrive before winter is out.
The recent extreme weather conditions have not only caused havoc for motorists, businesses and the general public but also for many homeowners, particularly the owners of unoccupied properties. (more…)
With the onset of yet another early freeze, there are a few simple precautions that can be taken by our clients to ensure the continued well-being of their home, or let property or any other property.
One of the largest dangers that exist during the winter weather are burst water pipes. This happens when the water freezes within the pipe, expands thus damaging it, causing an escape when the water thaws.
Having a spare room can often be considered a luxury but when times are tough it can become an asset that can be turned into regular income.
A recent report has shown that more than 200,000 homeowners now have a lodger, an increase of 15% in the past three years, a level that has not been seen since the sixties.
In many cases homeowners are taking in lodgers to help meet mortgage payments, in many cases where the homeowner may have taken a drop in income due to loss of a job or reduced working hours. (more…)
Across England it is estimated that there are 651,000 properties lying unoccupied and this figure does not include properties undergoing renovation or in the process of sale. At a time when many tenants are looking to move into let properties this large number of unoccupied properties may come as a surprise to many people.
So why would so many properties be unoccupied, when it would seem that there is a demand for properties from available tenants.
Many reports suggest that demand for let property remains strong with some reports suggesting that 40 per cent of landlords noting a strengthening of demand in the third quarter of 2010.
A separate report claims that London rents have reached an all time high and rental income across the UK has seen eight successive months of increases and to reach record highs.
In an even mo0re bullish report commentators suggest that many let property owners believe that there will be more prospective tenants in the next 12 months with many landlords suggesting that they now have tenants competing for properties. (more…)
Properties can become unoccupied for many reasons, some of which can involve traumatic circumstances, so to add to the situation many insurance companies are unwilling to provide cover full cover for a property which is empty.
Many people who own a property which has become unoccupied will be familiar with the problems faced to obtain insurance cover at a reasonable premium. (more…)
Getting prospective tenants interested in your property may seem the hardest part of finding a tenant, but this is only the beginning. Successful landlords know the most important stage is selecting the right tenant……………………………………………………………………..
As any savvy landlord knows, your buy to let investment is only making you money when it’s occupied. Gaps between tenants can cost you dearly so it’s crucial to ensure a maximum level of occupancy. Here are our top tips on finding a tenant……………………………………………………………………..
Millions of Brits have moved into property investment in recent years, attracted by the wealth created by rising house prices. But with a collapse in the housing market those same people are now thinking very carefully about how to protect their asset for the longer term – which is where renting and the need for Landlord Insurance comes in. (more…)
If you want to make sure you”re paying for the correct amount for landlords building insurance cover, you”ll have to be prepared to calculate the rebuilding cost of your home in order to make sure you have the right amount of buildings insurance. (more…)
What is Residential Landlords Insurance?
‘Residential Landlord Insurance’ commonly known as ‘Buy to Let Insurance’ are terms used when describing a specific policy designed to cover a property owner who receives remuneration for providing residential accommodation. Alternatively, if the property is occupied for commercial use a ‘Commercial Property Owners policy’ will be required instead.
Research by Paragon Mortgages suggests that growth in the buy-to-let market is having a positive impact on UK housing by, for example, driving up standards in rental stock and helping to create a more flexible private rented sector. We are therefore keen to ensure that buy-to-let investment is protected and encouraged. (more…)
There is no legal requirement for landlords to hold a landlords insurance policy, although not owning one would be very inadvisable.
Most of today’s landlords face risks on a daily basis and owning a second house as an investment is no different – A fire or robbery may destroy your investment and the hard work you have put into it. With property letting fast becoming an increasingly popular method of saving for the future, it makes sense to protect it! Insurers have recognised the need for landlords insurance and as a result have developed policies and cover to cater specifically for landlords. At Isis we deal with a wide range of landlord insurers and we are able to find the best insurer for each landlord’s circumstances, be that a landlord with either one or a portfolio of properties. (more…)
Thinking of investing in buy-to-let property? Make sure you get your insurance sorted.
Any business faces risks on a daily basis and owning a second house as an investment is no different. A fire or robbery may destroy your nest egg and the hard work you have put into it.
Every year around 30 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas appliances which have been incorrectly installed or maintained. Following the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, landlords have strict responsibilities relating to the safe installation, maintenance and use of gas appliances, fittings and flues in rented accommodation.
It is vital that all landlords adhere to the Gas Safety Regulations as failure to do so could result in the death of your tenants and the risk of prosecution if you are shown to be negligent.
1. Do your research!
This is especially important if you are new to the buy to let market. Make sure you are aware of the risks and potential pitfalls of any investment. It is a good idea to chat with other landlords and investors and learn from their experiences. If you have a shortage of time or don’t feel passionate about property you may find there are other investments which will suit you better. Remember that investing in a buy to let property is not just about making money; as a landlord you have a responsibility to your tenants.
Before you make any decisions be sure this is the right investment for you.
Investing in buy to let property has become big business in the UK but with interest rates rising and rents falling, the market is changing fast.
Over the past five years buy to let lending has grown massively, now accounting for up to 12% of all mortgages in the UK. The rapid growth in the market has led to many mortgage lenders offering specially designed buy to let mortgages at very competitive rates.
Isis Insurance Services Limited is a member of The Financial Ombudsman Service. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
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