With the cost-of-living crisis beginning to hit, the 20 and 30-somethings of Rotherham urgently need the help and support of the Government to help them get on the property ladder.

For the last few weeks, we have listened to the debates and hustings of Liz and Rishi. Between them, they have told us how they are going to stop building on the green belt, slash taxes, outbid each other on the number of refugees they are going to deport and push back against WOKE culture wars, but what are they doing for the 20 to 30-somethings of Rotherham? 

Dubbed ‘Generation Rent’ by the press, desperate to get on the property ladder, this is an open goal for any candidate to obtain more votes to become the next Prime Minister.

Yet only 16% of the c.200,000 Tory membership is aged 18 to 34 whilst 47% of members are aged between 55 and 74.

Therefore, it’s not a surprise that neither Liz nor Rishi aren’t speaking daily about the cost of petrol for the daily commute, rising childcare fees or the lack of opportunities for first-time buyers to purchase their own properties. 

(For balance, 16% of Labour’s members are 18 to 34, 20% for the Lib Dems and 16% for the SNP).

Everyone is feeling the effect on their household budgets with the rise in energy bills. Yet, it is the younger generation (i.e., Generation Rent) that are having to cope with the frenzy of rising energy costs the most.

Whilst increasing energy prices will affect all households across the country, younger (and less affluent) households are more prone to be disproportionately affected than those on the lowest incomes (i.e., Generation Rent).

In the financial year ending in 2020, the least well off 25% of households spent 5.59% on energy compared to 3.9% for the average UK household. With 2023 energy bills set to be triple those figures, energy bills for those in the lower quartile will rise to around 16.8% of their household budget.

And let’s look at the housing element of the ‘Generation Rent’ household budget.

The average rental of a Rotherham property in the summer of 2020 was £541 PCM; by the summer of 2021, it was £575 PCM, and today, it is £623 PCM.

Overall, Rotherham rents are 8.3% higher than a year ago and 15.1% higher than two years ago.

This is the fastest annual rate of rental growth since records began in 2006. This increase in rents isn’t standard. Before 2020, I would have expected to see this level of rent growth over a seven-to-ten-year period – not two years. Good news for Rotherham landlords, yet not so for Rotherham tenants.

Why have rents increased so much in Rotherham?

It comes down to fewer rental properties and existing Rotherham tenants not moving as much.

There are 368 fewer rental properties in Rotherham than five years ago, leaving only 6,527 private rental properties in Rotherham.

9 out of 10 rentals come onto the market because the existing tenant is moving. Yet, because there are fewer Rotherham rental properties and the asking rents for those are much higher than their current home, many Rotherham tenants are not moving, exasperating the issue even further.

Today, I looked on Rightmove, and there were only 85 properties available to rent. I would have expected that to be over double that pre-pandemic.

Neither candidate has been silent on the topic of homeownership for the young.

Rishi Sunak said he would stop building on the greenbelt. This, however, would not help Generation Rent massively.

Liz Truss has pledged to help more renters buy their first home by stating she will ensure tenant’s rental payments could be used as part of mortgage affordability assessments. This is important as the mortgage payments can be 10% to 20% lower than the rental payments. 

Tied in with new relaxed mortgage affordability rules announced by the Bank of England in early August, this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction to help Generation Rent.

Truss also plans to scrap the red tape holding back housebuilding and give local populations more say on developments. However, when Boris Johnson suggested something similar a few years ago, the policy was quietly dropped after the Liberal Democrats used this against them resulting in the Tory’s resounding by-election defeat in 2021 in Chesham and Amersham.

So, by the end of the first week of September, we will know who the Prime Minister will be. Whoever gets the job has a gigantic task on their hands. I wish them luck and ask them not to forget the younger generation and their aspiration to be homeowners.

• 254 of the 864 properties on the market in the Rotherham area have had a price reduction in the last 3 months.
• The average reduction has been 6.3% of the original asking price.
• This is great news for Rotherham home buyers and Rotherham buy-to-let landlords, strangely Rotherham house sellers as well.

The last couple of years of the Rotherham property market has seen some amazing prices being achieved with multiple offers and many properties selling for way over the asking price.

Yet, as I have been writing about the Rotherham property market over the last few weeks, the tide is beginning to turn, and pendulum swing more towards a balanced Rotherham property market as more homeowners in the Rotherham area (S60/61/62/63/65/66) have been reducing their asking prices.

Of the 864 properties for sale in the Rotherham area, 254 have been reduced in price in the last 3 months.

This can be broken down as follows…

So why is this important and why is this good news, even for Rotherham house sellers?

Property industry statistics show that 5 out of 6 house sellers will buy another property and over 80% of those sellers will move up the property ladder.

When you move up the property ladder, that normally means you pay more for the one you want to move to (that’s why it’s called the property ladder).

So, whilst you won’t be getting as much for yours as you might have done earlier in the year, you won’t have to pay as much for the one you want to buy (and the price difference between the two properties will be smaller – meaning you will end up saving money because of these reductions).

Therefore, what is the level of reduction being seen in the Rotherham property market?

The average percentage of the price reduction in the Rotherham area has been 6.3%.

I must stress house prices/values in Rotherham haven’t dropped 6.3%, just the asking prices of some of the properties on the market.

This is good news for Rotherham first-time buyers and landlords, as they will be more likely to buy a property at a more reasonable price whilst. As I explained above, this is also good news for sellers as most of them will end up paying less for the higher priced property they end up buying after selling theirs.

So, what should Rotherham homeowners be aware of if they are selling their home now or in the future?

For me it is important that I inform all Rotherham property owners of the real story. This enables them to judge for themselves where they stand in the current Rotherham property market, thus enabling them to make better informed decisions.

You see some Rotherham estate agents will deliberately over inflate the suggested initial asking price to the house seller, because it gives them a bigger chance to secure the property on that agent’s book, as opposed to a competitor.

This practice is called overvaluing.

Now of course, each Rotherham homeowner wants to get the most for their home, yet some estate agents know this and prey on those Rotherham house sellers.

You might ask, what is the problem with that?

Well, you only get one opportunity at hitting the Rotherham property market as a new property. Everybody has access to the internet, social media and the four main property portals (Rightmove, Boomin, On The Market, Zoopla), and your potential buyers will know the property market like the back of their hand.

If you have a 2-bed Rotherham semi that is on the market for a 3-bed Rotherham semi-detached house price … those Rotherham buyers will ignore you.

Your Rotherham property will stick on the market as your potential buyers keep seeing your property on the portals each week.

These buyers will then start to believe there is something wrong with your property and dismiss it even further. That is until you, as the house seller, reduce your asking price. The issue is that sometimes these buyers will think something is wrong with your home and could bid you down even further, meaning you will get less even though you asked for more! (This was backed up by some research done by Which?).

Now according to research by Denton House, the average British house buyer only views around six properties before buying – so please don’t assume viewers will come round your optimistically priced (i.e., overvalued) Rotherham home, thinking they will knock you down – quite the opposite – they just won’t view your home in the first place.

And you know that because I bet you have done the same yourself when searching for property.

So, all I suggest is this … be realistic with your asking price to start with.

Do that and you will sell your Rotherham property at a decent price to a decent buyer … first time, every time – enabling you to move onto the next chapter of your life.

If you know of anyone currently selling their home in the Rotherham area and finding things difficult, please share this article with them as it could be of interest.

Well, what a weekend that was. Street parties, gatherings in the park, the purple bunting, egg and cress sandwiches, union jack flags, cheese and pineapple on cocktail sticks, and let’s not forget the trifle – the Platinum Jubilee Party. And no decent party is worth its salt without a game or a quiz.

So, if you have post-Jubilee blues, let me ask you, how much was the average Rotherham house worth in 1952?

To start with, let me look at what a property is worth today in Rotherham.

The average price paid for a property in the Rotherham area in the last 12 months was £174,290.

Now, let’s go back to 1952. Sir Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister, Newcastle won the FA Cup, London was covered in the Great Smog, free prescriptions on the NHS ended (it cost 1 shilling or 5p in new money), and King George IV, at the age of 56 passed away on the 6^th February, meaning Princess Elizabeth became the Queen – as for housing…

The average price of a Rotherham home in 1952 was £1,423.

This means Rotherham house prices are 121 times higher since 1952.

Yet over the last 70 years, the country has been subjected to 4.5% per annum inflation.

The 1952 Rotherham home is equivalent to £27,367 today when adjusted for inflation.

This means Rotherham house prices have increased by 504.8% in real terms since 1952.

So, does that mean house prices are more expensive today compared to 1952?

In 1952, the average annual male wage was £452, 8 shillings and 1 pence, meaning the average Rotherham house was 3.15 times the average wage. Today the average home is 8.85 times the average wage.

Yet let us not forget the average mortgage payment in 1952 was £11 per month. The average Brit earned £34 per month, meaning 32.3% of the household income was going on mortgage payments, whilst nationally today, according to the Nationwide, it stands at 28%. 

It’s cheaper, in real terms, to buy a property in 2022 than in 1952.

And that’s the point, some things in ‘real terms’ (real terms being true spending power of the money after taking into account wages, costs and inflation) were more expensive and some cheaper 70 years ago. For example, in 1952, petrol was equivalent (in today’s inflation-adjusted prices) to £1.02 per litre, a pint of beer £2, half a dozen eggs £2.20, 

cheddar cheese £2.40 per 500g, a basic radio £430, a Hoover £530 and a 12-inch TV £1,600.

So back to property, the Queen’s reign has seen some amazing house price rises in the UK, yet that growth hasn’t always been in constant upwards direction as we have had a couple of dips along the way.

We had a house price crash in 1990, when the average value of a Rotherham property dropped from £42,825 to £35,468 in 1996, only for them to start rising again.

Rotherham saw another house price crash between 2008 and 2009, and the average house price dropped from £128,109 to £109,215 in a year.

So, what else has changed about property and housing since the Queen came onto the throne?

In 1952, only 32% of people owned their own home, whilst 50% of people rented from a private landlord and 18% rented a council house.

By the time of the Silver Jubilee in 1977, 56% of people owned their own home, with 12% of people privately renting and 32% rented from the council.

Come the Golden Jubilee in 2002, 70% of people owned their own home, with 11% of people privately renting and 19% rented from the council.

Today, 63% of people own their own home, 20% of people privately rent and 17% rent from the council.

So, to conclude, as we look forward into the 21st century, I am sure the property market will be totally different again in 70 years. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and do share it with your friends if you find it interesting. 

PS for all you Rightmove fans, the average Rotherham terraced home in 1952 was worth £905, and a semi in Rotherham could be bought for on average £1,295.

Rental properties in Rotherham have reduced by 368 from 2017 to 2021.

Property prices are at an all-time high responding to the pent-up demand from 2020/21, low stock and the desire for more living space.

Talking to a number of landlords they view this is as a suitable time to exit the BTL market and take some equity that the high sales figures generate.

You would think it would be of government concern about a shrinking PRS, but the reality is that being a landlord is becoming harder with increased legislation, the debate about the abolition of section 21, not to mention the inability to offset finance costs and all coupled with the perception that the landlord is always the Bad Guy!

When landlords sell, we offer the properties with a sitting tenant to our investor base but with the current increased prices, the extra 3% stamp duty that an investor would need to pay, make the yield calculation unattractive.

The net result is that properties are lost to the PRS which with reduced supply and high demand will drive rents higher but with inflation and the cost-of-living crisis there will become an unaffordability of significant increases in rents.

Not with standing this I always remind landlords that they need to increase rents on an annual basis in line with the price indexes so that it can go some way to make the yield calculation workable. 

Otherwise, there will be no interest to investors, tenants lose their home, and the landlord sells to the highest bidder.

Isn’t it about time that the government makes it attractive to be a landlord, the overall majority of whom provide decent quality housing?

Being a landlord needs to be worth their while, if not the PRS will be in decline and then what for the millions of tenants who rely on the PRS.

Appreciate any thoughts! Feel free to give me a call 07743 702739

If you’re contemplating becoming a landlord in Rotherham, you may be wondering whether you can let out your property if you don’t have a specific buy-to-let mortgage. There is a common misconception that landlords must acquire a buy-to-let home loan before renting out their property to tenants but, in fact, it’s possible to let your home out with a standard residential mortgage as long as you have Consent to Let.

The expert team here at Bricknells have all the information you need about getting this permission from your mortgage lender.

Consent To Let – An Overview

Your mortgage lender can give you permission to let your property by giving you “consent to let”. If you have a standard residential mortgage instead of a specific buy-to-let mortgage, you must obtain this permission before you rent your home out. Consent may also be required from other authorities including your housing association or any other organisation that has regulations that apply to your home (for example, shared ownership), any other adult with occupancy rights, and your insurance provider.

Why Is Consent Required?

If you have bought your home with a standard residential mortgage, one mortgage condition will be that you live in the home yourself. If you let out your property without first getting permission from your mortgage lender, you will very likely be in breach of contract and you could end up with a financial penalty such as additional payments or extra interest. For this reason, if you have a residential mortgage and want to let out your home you must either obtain consent or change to a specific buy-to-let mortgage.

When Must I Get Consent?

Once you’ve decided to rent your property out to a tenant, you must get in touch with your lender and arrange for permission to be granted. Sometimes, it’s best to switch to a buy-to-let loan, but in some cases, obtaining Consent To Let will be the best option for you. For example, if your mortgage is currently a fixed-term product but you’re keen to leave, obtaining consent and then renting out the property can help you avoid the early repayment fees. If you’re planning to move overseas for a short period but will eventually return, obtaining consent will enable you to let out the property while you’re away, giving you some additional income to pay for the cost of renting another property in your chosen destination.

How Can I Obtain Consent to Let?

You can get consent by getting in touch directly with your lender. Every lender has their own process, however, they can discuss the options available to you. The fees you will be charged will differ depending on which lender you are with. While some charge one-off fees, others charge an increased rate of interest, and others don’t charge a fee at all. If you are granted consent, it will only be for a specified period. Usually, it will be to the end of a fixed-term mortgage, however, some lenders will work on either a 12 month or 6 month basis. After the consent period has ended, you’ll need to get in touch with the lender again to discuss your next steps. Your lender may extend your consent period or ask you to change to a buy-to-let product.

Most lenders will accept your request for consent, but it’s likely there’ll be some restrictions. For example, you may need to earn a certain amount to obtain permission, or you may have to have a specified amount of equity in the property. You may also need to earn an income from rent to cover your mortgage payments. You may also find that you have to have been with your lender for a specific period before being given consent. If you’ve defaulted on your mortgage payments you will find it hard to get consent, and you may also find extra restrictions if you have a Help To Buy or Shared Ownership mortgage.

Ready To Let?

If you’re ready to let out your property in Rotherham, the team here at Bricknells is happy to help. Just give us a call today on 01709 365584 or send an email to enquiries@bricknells-rentals.co.uk and we can get to work finding you the perfect tenant.

Even though the average value of a Rotherham first-time buyer property has risen by 236.7% since 1989 to £112,780, the monthly payments Rotherham first-time buyers must make on their mortgages as a proportion of their take-home pay is 49.1% less today compared to 1989.

Today, according to the Nationwide Building Society…

the average Rotherham first-time buyer only needs to pay out 23.1% of their household take-home pay on their mortgage payments, compared to 45.4% in 1989 (i.e. just under a half less).

You might say 1989 was 33 years ago, a long time ago and not relevant to today. I would agree. 

So next, I looked a little closer to home, and in 2007…

the average Rotherham first-time buyer had to spend 38.9% of their household income on mortgage payments (i.e. 40.5% proportionally cheaper than today).

So why do I say all these things?

Last month, the Bank of England revealed that its Financial Policy Committee would be removing their mortgage market affordability test on people taking out mortgages in August. 

The test was introduced in 2014 to ensure the UK didn’t have a repeat of the 2008 Credit Crunch and particularly hit first-time buyers with what they could afford to buy.

This rule change means Rotherham property buyers could soon be able to borrow thousands of pounds more and purchase larger homes.

The decision to withdraw the affordability test certainly raised eyebrows in the press, primarily as the Bank of England has raised interest rates five times in the last six months to try and reduce rising inflation. Yet, as stated in the first part of this article, Rotherham first-time buyers are comfortably paying their mortgages compared to previous years – therefore everything should be ok with this rule change.

The old rules tested home buyers on mortgage repayments if interest rates rose to 6%/7%, yet the Bank thought that rule was too harsh. 

Not all rules have been changed, as the important Bank of England ‘loan to income ratio’ stays put. 

The Bank were keen to stress that the mortgage market was not going to turn into a free-for-all, as it did in the mid-2000s when the likes of Northern Rock were offering 125% mortgages, and a sixth of all UK mortgages were given without proof of income.

I believe it will have a progressive effect on the Rotherham property market.

Many Rotherham tenants who have been paying rents far more than actual mortgage payments for the same Rotherham home, but have failed affordability assessments regardless, will now be able to get on the property ladder.

The rule change should open the Rotherham property market up a little more and allow house prices to grow in Rotherham.

I advise anyone who has been refused a mortgage on affordability in the past to speak to a mortgage arranger. If you don’t know of one, drop a message to me, and I will give you details of mortgage arrangers you could talk to. 

Should you buy now or wait for the bargains?

• Many commentators believe we have seen the peak of the Rotherham property market.
• So, should savvy bargain hunters wait for Rotherham house prices to fall?
• Or could postponing your house buying for any anticipated Rotherham house price drop be a costly mistake?

Over the last two years, the Rotherham property market has been a rollercoaster ride of hyperactive demand together with the new sport of getting your offer accepted when you compete with 30 other bidders. 

Yet there are clouds on the horizon that the Rotherham property market could be at its peak.

Bank of England interest rates have increased four times in the last few months to try and combat inflation. Meanwhile many Rotherham households are finding it tough to counter the most significant drop in real incomes in a single year since records began in the mid-1950s, all at the same time as gas, heating oil and electricity prices are predicted to rise again in the autumn. 

Hence why some economists are predicting house price drops in the coming 18 to 24 months of 3% to 5%.

So, surely this is not the best time to buy a Rotherham property – and surely savvy buyers should wait for Rotherham house values to fall?

Is it realistic to see double-digit national house price growth? Certainly not.

The question is how far the Rotherham property market will slow and whether the slowing will drop into modest falls.

Let me look at household income first.

At best, the outlook is gloomy as real household disposable income is set to drop by 2.4% in 2022/23, the largest drop since records began in 1956. This is despite the £17.6 billion of financial support for British households revealed in Rishi Sunak’s Spring 2022 Statement with the National Insurance thresholds, energy bill support package and duty cut on petrol. Without these changes announced by the Chancellor, real household disposable income would have fallen by an additional 1% in 2022/23. 

Second, as interest rates increase, mortgage rates will increase in line, increasing mortgage costs, so surely that will curtail demand, meaning Rotherham house prices will drop, and buyers should wait to catch a bargain?

Finally, with inflation on the rise, the real value of people’s savings will decrease quicker, and the value of their deposits will diminish, meaning Rotherham prices will surely drop, and people should wait to buy?

Surely the Rotherham property market has peaked and buyers should wait for the bargains?

Well, I don’t think so, and these are the reasons why I say that.

I believe, subject to no significant shocks in the world economy, Rotherham house price growth will be very slow in the next 18/24 months and go into low single digits (even the odd month dipping ever so slightly into the red), but not the 16% to 19% annual drop we saw in 2008/9.

Let me look at real household income. Every economist predicts growth in real household income in 2023/24 by around 1%.

If the two years are combined, the predicted effect on real household income in the next two years (2022/23/24) is a net loss of 1.4%, whilst in the credit crunch years 2010/11/12, the net loss was 2.7%.

I was looking at the increase in mortgage rates. 79% of owner-occupiers have fixed their mortgage costs and had their affordability stress-tested to Bank of England interest rates of 3% to 4% under the Mortgage Market Review rule changes in 2014. I believe the most significant impact of increasing interest rates will be at the point of taking on a new mortgage by first-time buyers (as opposed to servicing or the porting of an existing mortgage from one house to the next house).

The four successive Bank of England base rate rises, inflation and the rising cost of living are likely to bring more cautiousness over summer and autumn when it comes to people buying a property. Yet, there is still a massive imbalance of demand for property over the number of properties for sale to quench that demand.

The potency of the job market and the ongoing mismatch between the supply of properties on the market and demand for those properties will support property values.

Finally, the by-product of increasing inflation is that it makes buy-to-let more attractive. If there is a reduction in first-time buyers, this will be counterweighted by more landlords buying again, supporting the current level of Rotherham properties.

But what if Rotherham house prices do drop significantly?

So let’s assume that Rotherham house prices do fall, irrespective of the reasons above, it will not inevitably help Rotherham buyers.

If we have a house price crash, people tend to find their careers are at risk, and their salaries don’t rise as much. The younger generation (i.e. first-time buyers age range) often gets hit the toughest by recessions.

If first-time buyers wait until 2024 to buy and Rotherham property values drop by 10%, that will prove more expensive. 

In the last 2008/09 crash, lenders weren’t offering 5% deposit mortgages. The lowest deposit mortgage that first-time buyers could get was with a 10% deposit and even then, they were hard to come by.

When writing this article, first-time buyers can obtain a 5% deposit mortgage for a fixed rate of 2.66% for five years.

The typical first-time buyer terraced house in Rotherham sells for £109,800.

So, if they were to buy now, on this mortgage deal, the first-time buyer would have to stump up a £5,490 deposit and their mortgage payments would be £381.91 per month.

Yet, let’s say property values in Rotherham do drop by 10% in the next 18 months, the terraced house would now be worth £98,820, so a significant saving. Or is it?

Everyone believes interest rates will rise further, so let’s assume they go to 3% by the autumn of 2023. That means the mortgage rate for a 10% deposit mortgage will be in the early 5%’s, so let me assume 5.29% (because the banks tend to increase the gap between the base rate and the mortgage rate in recessions to allow for the extra risk).

The monthly mortgage payment on the 5.29% mortgage would be £465.44 per month, and you would need to double your deposit to £9,882.

So even if Rotherham’s house prices did drop by 10%, the first-time buyer would be £1,000 worse off a year in mortgage payments and would have to find double the deposit.

…and then there is the other cost of waiting.

You have two years’ worth of rent to pay. The average rent for a Rotherham property is £588 per month.

If you waited a couple of years for Rotherham house prices to drop by 10%, you would spend £14,112 in rent.

Choosing to buy a Rotherham property makes even more economic sense if it is a long-term choice, as homeowners can ride out any house price drops. 

Homeowners who plan to stay in a property can generally rely on getting their money back within six to ten years whilst not paying any rent.

Will Rotherham prices go up, or will they go down?

Remember, George Osbourne said house prices would drop by 18% in May 2016 if we voted to leave the EU, whilst many economists said they would drop by 5% to 10% when Covid hit in March 2020.

And we all know what happened.

If you think you will be better off owning your own Rotherham home rather than renting one, don’t bother to wait for the suggested house price drop that may never happen. 

These are my thoughts, what are yours? Let me know in the comments.

If you’re a landlord in Rotherham, you may be wondering whether your tenants have the right to refuse you entry to your own property. Here at Bricknells, we often meet landlords who are uncertain of their access rights, so here is our expert guide to help you understand your legal position.

It’s My Property – Surely I Can Enter It At Any Time?

This is a common mistake that many landlords make. While it’s true that you own the property, by entering into a rental agreement with a tenant, you’ve effectively handed over the rights to use and live in the property to your tenant.

Thus, while you’re the property’s owner, the tenant has rights too. The “covenant for quiet enjoyment” is a legal term that basically means your tenant can live in your rental accommodation without you (or your letting agent) hassling them.

Furthermore, once you’ve granted the tenancy, you can’t expect to legally treat your property as your own. With this in mind, it may appear that you are unable to enter the property if your tenant refuses to admit you. However, there’s a lot more to be considered.

The Landlord’s Right Of Entry

Your tenants may have an entitlement to “quiet enjoyment” of your rental property, but you do still have the right of entry in certain circumstances. There are three reasons you can enter the accommodation:

• To inspect it.
• To carry out repairs or address an emergency such as a fire, flood, criminal activity, or structural damage.
• To provide a service such as gardening or cleaning (these instances must be covered within your tenancy agreement).

Must I Give The Tenants’ Notice?

In general, you must let your tenants know that you (or your representative) will be entering the property at least 24 hours before you do so. However, you can enter your property legally with no permission or notice in an emergency.

Can The Tenant Refuse Me Entry?

A tenant can refuse to let you into the property, but in most cases, if you offer them the opportunity to change the date and time, the problem can be solved quickly and easily. Occasionally, though, landlords may encounter a tenant who refuses access repeatedly. If this occurs, landlords have a few options open to them.

• Negotiate. The first course of action any landlord should take is to talk to their tenant and try to arrange an alternative day and time. Sending emails is the best way to ensure you have digital evidence should the matter escalate.
• Tell the tenant they’ll be liable for costs if there is a deterioration of the property’s condition due to the denied access. The tenant should also be told that the landlord will no longer take responsibility for any damage to the tenant’s property or injuries to the tenant themselves if it is caused due to the refused access.
• Take legal action. If the above efforts fail, the next step is to seek advice from a solicitor. In a worst-case scenario, a court order can be obtained to evict the tenant.

Why Can’t I Just Enter My Property Even If The Tenant Refuses?

It’s very unwise to enter your rental property if the tenant hasn’t permitted you to do so since it would represent an abuse of your tenant’s trust. You could also be putting yourself at risk of an accusation of property damage or theft which could be very difficult to disprove.

At Bricknells, we’re highly experienced in rental property management in Rotherham.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at enquiries@bricknells-rentals.co.uk or on 01709 365584 to find out more about how we can help with renting out your property.

Looking at the recently introduced White paper we have broken it down into the following 12-points.

• Require all homes to meet the Decent Homes standard.
• Introduction of a series of pilot schemes with selected local authorities to explore ways of enforcing standards.
• Abolish section 21 – no fault evictions.
• Reform the grounds for possession; expedite landlord’s ability to evict for antisocial behaviour, rent arrears and sale of the property.
• Limit rent increase to once per year, end rent review clauses and improve tenants ability to challenge excessive rent increases. 
• Introduce a new Ombudsman where tenants can hold their landlord to account.
• Work with the Justice system to target delays in court proceedings, strengthen mediation and alternative dispute resolution.
• Introduce a new information property portal for tenants, landlords and local councils, with the possibility of a rogue landlord database.
• Strengthen local councils enforcement powers.
• Make blanket bans on renting to families with children or in receipt of benefits illegal.
• Give tenants the right to have a pet in their property.
• Work to develop innovative methods of providing security deposits.

So that’s the essence of the White paper and it’s probably now a good time to take stock of any tenancies you manage.

Why not download our ‘Tenancy Compliance Health Checklist’ just to check that you have everything in place??

Rotherham Rental Homes Nightmare

• Rotherham needs 420 additional private rented properties per year to keep up with current and future demand from Rotherham tenants.

• Yet over the last 5 years, Rotherham has lost 368 private rented homes.

• What are the 5 reasons the supply of private rental properties in Rotherham are falling? What does this mean for tenants and landlords in Rotherham?

There has been a rise in demand for rental properties and an 8.9% fall in the number of Rotherham private rented properties, which has caused Rotherham rents to rise by 7.8% in the last year, a new all-time high.

The National Residential Landlords Association asked the respected economics think tank Capital Economics, to carry out research on the UK rental market. It found that if the current trends in the property market in terms of growth of the population, Brits living longer, the lack of new homes building, the reduction in social housing (aka council housing), then demand for homes in the private rented sector needs to increase by 227,000 homes per year.

So, based on those numbers, Rotherham needs to have an additional 420 private rented properties per year.

The problem is the number of private rented properties in Rotherham has reduced from 6,895 in 2017 to 6,527 in 2021, a net loss of 368.

So, why has supply of private rented homes in Rotherham reduced?

1. Section 24 Income Tax

Section 24 was introduced in 2017 to level the playing field on the taxation of property between homeowners and landlords. Section 24 stops landlords from offsetting their buy-to-let mortgage costs against the profits from their rental property. Interestingly, no other kind of UK business is affected by the Section 24 taxation. In other words, whatever other form of business you might be in, be it butcher, baker or candlestick maker, every other business can offset their finance costs against their profits, except buy-to-let.

The issue caused by Section 24 Tax is that some landlords ended up paying more income tax than they really made in profit after paying their buy-to-let mortgages. Meaning on the back of rising Rotherham house prices in the last five years, some Rotherham landlords have sold their buy-to-let investments.

2. 3% More Stamp Duty for Landlords

When someone buys a property, they normally must pay a tax to the Government for the privilege. This tax is called Stamp Duty. Yet landlords must pay an additional 3% stamp duty supplement on top of that when they purchase a Rotherham buy-to-let property. Evidence suggests some Rotherham landlords have decided to hold off or scale back buying additional buy-to-let properties for their portfolio because of the thousands of extra pounds that landlords have to pay to buy the rental property.

3. Holiday and AirBnb Lets

Some Rotherham landlords are converting their long-term rental properties into short-term furnished holiday and AirBnB properties. Whilst the hassle, stress and service levels are much higher, these types of properties do tend to make more money and aren’t as heavily taxed as normal lets. When properties convert to short-term lets, it removes another Rotherham property out of the general supply chain of long-term rental properties.

4. Greater Legislation for Rental Properties

With more than 150 pieces of legalisation, and new laws being added each year, the burden on landlords is huge. On the horizon is the Renters Reform Bill which will remove the no fault evictions. Also, all rental properties with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of below a ‘C’ will have to be improved (i.e., money spent on them) by the landlord. This could be more than £10,000 per property. Hence, why some Rotherham landlords have been selling their rental properties with low EPC ratings in the last 18 months.

5. Accidental Landlords Selling Up

There are some Rotherham landlords who are classed as ‘Accidental Landlords’. In 2008/9, with a slowing property market and house price values dropping in the order of 16% to 19% (depending on the type of property) some Rotherham homeowners decided to let their home out as opposed to selling it at a loss. Yet, with the price booms of the last 18 months, many decided to cash in on the higher property prices and sell – again taking another private rental property out of the system.

So, why is demand of private rented homes in Rotherham increasing, even though more people own their home in Rotherham than 5 years ago?

Even with better provision of affordable social housing and higher rates of owner occupation in Rotherham (rising from 57.32% of homes in Rotherham being owner occupied in 2017 to 59.42% in 2021), demand for private rental property continues to outstrip supply.

There are many reasons behind this including:

1. People are living longer, meaning not so many properties are coming back into the mix to be recycled for the younger generation.

2. Net migration to the UK has continued at just over a quarter of a million people a year since 2017, meaning we need an additional 115,000 households to house them alone.

3. For the last two years, one in six of the owners of properties that have been sold have moved into rented accommodation instead of buying on because of the lack of properties to buy.

So, what is the outcome of the imbalance between supply and demand on Rotherham rental properties?

Quite simply – Rotherham rents have rocketed. They are 7.8% higher today than the spring of 2020 … and that’s on the back of rents being 6.4% higher in spring 2020, compared to spring of 2019.

The severe shortage of housing in the private rented sector is pushing up rents in Rotherham as demand continues to grow. Many Rotherham people are finding it hard work to find appropriate accommodation at a reasonable rent, and with mounting numbers of tenants predicted to continue, this situation will only get worse unless more houses are built.

My heart goes out to those Rotherham tenants struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, only to then be hit by higher rents.

Yet, these higher rents are now enticing new landlords back into the Rotherham buy-to-let market because of the higher returns.

With higher inflation, property investment has been seen in the past a safe harbour to invest one’s money in. With the bonus of rising yields (because of the increase in rents) together with the nervousness of the Bank of England to increase interest rates too much because of the issues in Eastern Europe, this could be the start of a second renaissance in the Rotherham buy-to-let market.

If you have concerns about the issues in legislation and taxation, then the advantage of employing a letting agent, with the choice of property, what you pay for it and how it’s managed, will go a long way to mitigate them.

If you are considering getting into the Rotherham buy-to-let market for the first time or expanding your property portfolio (whether you are a client of Bricknells or not) please do not hesitate to give us a call and we can discuss these matters further.

01709 365584