The government’s proposed pension reforms, coming into play from April 6^th this year, are set to radicalise the property industry, with many on the brink of retirement looking to the sector as a way of keeping them in the lifestyle they are accustomed to once they reach retirement age. The financial freedoms the reforms allow mean that increasing numbers are purchasing property for buy-to-let purposes, joining the growing numbers of private landlords.

Neil Woodhead, Founder of Ready Rentals, an online support service for private landlords, and long-time industry expert, at the helm of letting agent Castle Estates in Glasgow, explains that this is a trend that they are certainly witnessing,

“In recent months we have certainly noticed a greater interest from those approaching retirement in becoming a part of the buy-to-let market in response to the new legislation. Some of these ‘silver’ clients are looking to release money from their pension and others have had money tied up in bonds that are coming to an end and, with the increased talk around the growing private rented sector and the potential therein, many are looking at this as a new approach to funding their retirement years.”

Other silver buyers are approaching the buy-to-let market from another interesting angle when it comes to funding their retirement – these are creating a ‘piecemeal portfolio’, having previously purchased a single large buy-to-let property and, in light of the changes in the market, are diversifying their investment by selling the property to purchase two or more smaller rental properties instead.

The reasoning behind this move is a decision to purchase cheaper properties in areas where long-term capital growth is not as substantial but shorter-term rental yields are.

Neil Woodhead explains that this is a new emergence in light of the imminent pension changes,

“One client has sold a modern flat for £160,000 (originally bought for £110,000) and has now purchased two single bedroom flats in a cheaper area instead for £28,000 each. This move has ensured that his rental per month has in fact grown from £550 per month to a figure of £730 per month.

“Upon retirement he originally had the view to sell the property and reinvest in a pension fund but instead took the option to change tack. In reality, when it came to retirement he could see greater benefits in looking for regular rental income rather than longer term capital growth and his story provides a good example of how those of retirement age are now looking at bricks and mortar differently.”

It certainly seems to be a growing trend. A recent survey by Platinum Property Partners revealed that a third of those heading for retirement are considering purchasing a buy-to-let property or properties. The current shortage in available rental stock is set to continue, with even the growing number of private landlords unable to make up the shortfall anytime soon, therefore providing great opportunities for those looking to enter the industry in 2015.

Yet it is not without its pitfalls. It is often all too easy for new landlords, retirees or otherwise, to overlook the added costs of operating in such a sector, something that differs substantially to an investment in stocks and shares for example.

Ongoing repair bills, the correct vetting of tenants, putting procedures in place to ensure everything is managed efficiently and keeping up to date with ever-changing legislation and legal requirements means that too many will fall fowl to the perils of naivety and inexperience.

Neil Woodhead has the following tips for those on the brink of retirement and looking to join the buy-to-let sector in 2015:

• “A buy-to-let investment is not one where you can simply sit back and watch your money grow. Whilst there is potential to generate a healthy retirement income, it is important to be realistic and ensure that you factor in the additional costs you will have to incur when managing a property. Do your sums in advance!”

• “Make sure you don’t fall foul of legal requirements. The buy-to-let sector is a regulated industry that can appear daunting to even the most experienced of landlords. Using a service such as Ready Rentals to self-manage your property will make sure that you keep abreast of any legislative changes and don’t encounter legal problems along the way. Everyone wants a stress-free retirement!”

• “When choosing precisely where to purchase your property, the best location may not necessarily be on your doorstep. Whilst there are obvious benefits of buying close to home, you may find that looking further afield can offer greater rental yield opportunities. Even if it is not somewhere that you would choose to live yourself, that is not a concern, remember that this is an investment for arguably the most important time in your life. Do your research thoroughly!”

For more information about the Ready Rentals service for private landlords and how it can support new and existing landlords, available from just £20 per month (including VAT), visit www.readyrentals.co.uk or call 0141 212 9120. 

2014 has been a year of great change for private landlords. With the private rented sector taking more responsibility for the provision of housing in the UK, as many continue to struggle to get a mortgage with the high deposits needed to secure a home and more and more concerned about rising house prices, the sector will come under ever-greater scrutiny come the New Year.

In fact, as the dawn of 2015 looms, greater transparency will be demanded of landlords and it is even more key that they keep abreast of changing legislation as well as the condition of their properties as winter takes hold. With this is mind, now is the time for landlords to make their very own New Year’s resolutions and plan for a prosperous and stress-free future in 2015 and beyond.

Neil Woodhead, Founder of Ready Rentals, an online resource that offers self-managing landlords with the support to provide a professional and legally compliant service, gives his suggestions for 7 resolutions that private landlords should keep this New Year:

1. Don’t forget your anniversary!

When is your gas safety, electrical, flue and PAT testing due? When is your insurance up for renewal? Miss the dates and you could end up being prosecuted, so it is important that you keep a close track of all anniversary dates. Logging them with Ready Rentals’ online support system means that you will be notified well in advance of upcoming dates and reminded weekly thereafter to ensure that nothing is overlooked or forgotten. Now if only there was a similar system for your wedding anniversary!

1. What’s your policy?

Does your insurance policy cover accidental and malicious damage, letting to unemployed tenants, 30-days void occupancy levels and loss of rent, or does it have a minefield of exclusions in the small print? If your policy is not yet up for renewal, make sure this New Year you have a good look at your current documentation and ensure that you are fully covered. If and when it is due for renewal and you’re looking around at other policy options, make sure you read everything thoroughly as it could mean the difference between a payout and a huge headache!

1. Have a thorough MOT!

When did you last inspect your rental property, check meter readings for adverse usage, assess general wear and tear or damage and update your inventory? While you have a bit more free time, start planning arrangements to visit the property in the New Year to ensure everything is up-to-date and there’s nothing that needs addressing.

When was the last time you checked for condensation and were the tenants advised of how to deal with these issues to reduce the risk of damage to their health and your property? Do the smoke alarms and CO2 detectors work? Are all the appliances functioning and have any unauthorised alterations to the property or fixtures been made? This can all sound very daunting but can be made far simpler with the use of templates that can be populated online.

1. Keep tenants cosy this winter!

Make sure you are providing systems that are operating successfully to ensure that your tenants are warm as the weather turns colder when January hits. Has your boiler been serviced and all your pipes and radiators checked for leaks? And do you have emergency cover in place in case of any emergencies? Make sure you also check that your loft insulation is up to current standards and consider additional measures to reduce draughts and increase the ability of your property to hold heat. All this makes a more comfortable home for your tenant, important measures for ensuring long-term rental and energy-efficiency.

1. Are you on track?

Check your current tenancy documentation is up to date and that it takes into account the changes brought about by recent legal cases and alterations in government policies. Make sure they comply with the correct notice periods and tenant deposit rules. Legislation is something that is not static for long, especially when it comes to the private rented sector, and therefore staying on top of any changes or alterations is key to staying within the bounds of the law. Ready Rentals can help by providing regular newsletters to landlords registered with the system, they will be notified of any changes and the online documentation updated accordingly.

1. Make the most of your assets!

First impressions count and whilst many make the resolution to join the gym and exercise regularly come the New Year in the pursuit of the perfect physique, the private landlord should be looking to the improve the appearance of their property, especially when it comes to marketing it to prospective new tenants. Ensure that the property is presented in a professional manner, whether it is de-cluttering if it is furnished, trimming back hedges, redecorating to make sure walls and skirtings are clean and neat or fitting new handles to doors.

Whilst being supported by a regulated agent, make sure that you have good quality photographs to show off your property and use a range of property portals to market and secure as much interest as possible from renters.

1. Become more eco-aware…

This may seem a long time away but by April 2018 new legislation will have a significant impact on properties with an energy rating below grade E and if Labour gets into power they are proposing an increase to grade C. If your properties do not meet these minimum levels you will not be able to make them available to let, so as we head into 2015 now is the time to budget for and programme any works required to raise your property’s standard.

To add further pressure to private landlords, from 1st April 2016, private domestic tenants will be empowered to request consent for energy efficiency measures that may not unreasonably be refused by their landlord. Now is the time to become more ‘green’ and look at what you can do to improve your property and in turn help the planet.

Don’t make resolutions you can’t keep this year, treat yourself or a private landlord-loved one to a Ready Rentals subscription this Christmas to ensure you are one step ahead going into 2015. The perfect last minute Christmas gift, usually £20 per month including VAT, Ready Rentals are offering a 15% discount for a limited number of landlords this Christmas time. See here for more.

For more information about the Ready Rentals service for private landlords, visit www.readyrentals.co.uk or call 0141 212 9120.

Even as winter descends on the UK, with coats being pulled tighter against freezing winds and noses turning nippy with the onset of frosty mornings, seaside resorts are hot for buy-to-let investors.

Data released by international bank HSBC has shown that the top two ‘Buy-to-Let Hotspots’ in the United Kingdom are both by the sea – Southampton and Blackpool. Resort towns are hugely popular summer-destinations, especially with the recent trend for staycations and, coupled with the increased residential demand created by a desire of many to live by the sea, rental demand is high.

This was reflected in the HSBC results that showed landlords in front-runner Southampton to be raking in epic gross rental yields of 7.82% (with average property prices standing at £138,311 and average monthly rentals being £901), with second place Blackpool following closely behind, averaging a 7.81% yield from average monthly rents of £494 and average property prices of £75,943.

Proving that there is money to be made by buying beach-side, the results from the HSBC research are noteworthy given the general assumption that the most money is being made on London’s ‘streets paved with gold’, whereas, in fact, the high rental rates fail to match the giddy heights of the capital’s property prices, leading to lesser yields than elsewhere in the UK.

And it is no longer simply those who are lucky enough to live ‘beside the seaside’ who are investing in property at the beach, the growing trend of the remote landlord proves that more and more people are making their buy-to-let investment away from their local area, beachside or otherwise.

Residential letting agency, Castle Estates Residential Letting Agents in Glasgow, active for a decade in the local property area, have released statistics of where their registered landlords are coming from and the results make for interesting reading.

A staggering 67.6% of Castle Estates’ 267 current landlords are remote, i.e. not resident themselves in the area where the property is located. Of this figure, 52.3% are UK-based but not local to the area and 15.3% are from overseas.

Neil Woodhead, Founder of Castle Estates Residential Letting Agents, says,

“We have certainly seen the growth of the ‘remote landlord’ in recent years, with landlords now registered from places as far-flung as Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, South Africa, and Canada – not to mention Surrey, Berkshire, Essex, West Sussex and London – still a long way off when you’re based in the West Central Lowlands!

“And this trend is set to continue with the recently announced pension changes and the additions just given in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, with more people likely to invest their released pension pot in property than ever before. These people will be looking around for where best to invest and many will see that this is outside of their own region.”

From his background in the industry, stretching to over 35 years in total, Neil Woodhead has recently launched Ready Rentals, an online system that provides self-managing landlords with the support to provide a professional and legally compliant service. A service that is particularly pertinent to remote landlords, as Neil explains,

“Managing property can be difficult at the best of times, but for a remote landlord, things can be even tougher. It is important that you have support services and structures in place to ensure that you keep up-to-date with changing legislation and the important paperwork that comes with being a landlord, not to mention dealing with any issues that may arise in a timely and professional manner. The Ready Rentals service can help with all these things – and more.”

Offering a wide range of support systems all in one place, from main portal marketing, automated creation of all the documentation needed to successfully manage a property, advice on all procedures, notifying utility companies of changes, notification of anniversary dates, an income and expenditure log, as well as a legal and financial helpline, Ready Rentals provides everything needed for remote landlords.

And being an online service, the system is accessible from all around the world for landlords of properties in England, Wales and Scotland. RICS regulated and available from just £20 per month including VAT, Ready Rentals is the Christmas must-have for all landlords, remote and otherwise.

For more information about the Ready Rentals service for landlords, visit www.readyrentals.co.uk or call 0141 212 9120.

The Scottish rental market is booming, as new figures released by lettings agent network, Your Move, have revealed.

Whilst the UK rental sector is currently witnessing growth overall – 41% of landlords surveyed by Paragon Mortgages said that they thought demand was growing – the Scottish market specifically is far outperforming that of England and Wales, registering a 2.2% increase in average rental prices year-on-year, from £526 in October 2013 to £537 in 2014.

The ‘Scottish Buy-to-Let Index’ has shown that this compares favourably to England and Wales’ 1.5% average rental price growth over the course of the last year. In fact, Scottish rental rates have been moving in the right direction for landlords since October 2011, when they stood at £507 on average. This figure, 5.9% lower than today, has increased each year since to the healthy figure of today, figures that the report says ‘are currently rising faster on an annual basis than across seven other UK regions’.

Neil Woodhead, Founder of Ready Rentals, an online resource that provides self-managing landlords with the support to provide a professional and legally compliant service, and himself a Scotsman, explains what might be causing this discrepancy,

“With the Referendum uncertainty behind us, there is now an increase in tenant demand in Scotland, along with additional instructions from new and existing landlords. With the majority of landlords non-resident, purely buying as investors, in light of the recent clarification of the Scottish Government’s new powers, it is anticipated that increasing numbers will now have the confidence to invest for the future.

“This is not only true for domestic landlords, but buyers from outside of Scotland will more and more be looking to the far north in coming months too. This will be sparked by both the new pension changes in place and also the lower property values, stronger demand and growing rents in relation to the rest of the UK. Uncertainty of the outcome of the May 2015 elections may well also create a slowdown in the English market which can only benefit Scotland further.”

The impact of the improving figures has led to a total annual return for a Scottish landlord on an average rental property of 8.9%, up from 4.2% in October last year. Whilst undeniably impressive, these figures are down marginally on the peak figures of June 2014, when total return stood at 9.4%. It is therefore important for landlords to continue to consider what they can do to make the very most of their property, their investment asset.

Neil provides his top tips for private landlords to maximise the return on their investment:

• Follow the market closely to identify future growth areas. For example, new companies setting up in new areas requiring incoming workers and in turn accommodation, the development of new hospitals, Government relocations.

• Compare your property with local competition. Well maintained, decorated and up-to-date properties are always more desirable and tenants will be willing to pay that little bit more.

• Do not assume that the best returns come from ‘executive flats’. Many tenants have children who are looking for long term rentals, front and back doors with gardens close to schools. In many areas these properties generally cost less to purchase but achieve higher rents.

• Do not advertise too soon before becoming available, 4-5 weeks maximum otherwise your property will slip down the rankings on major portals and give the impression there are issues with the property. Many potential clients also search for properties uploaded within the ‘last four weeks’

• Look on your income not as a rent per month but annually. I know of many experienced landlords who offer quality properties at slightly lower rents but usually let them very quickly to quality tenants who stay for a longer tenancy. Their void periods are reduced to a minimum and annual income is therefore increased.

• Consider whether you could rent to tenants with pets – very few landlords are providing suitable accommodation and therefore this can command a premium.

• Ensure your property is up-to-date with all the required media channels. A property without Skyplus or poor mobile signal will be an important issue these days for those looking to rent.

For more information about Ready Rentals visit www.readyrentals.co.uk or call 0141 212 9120.