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Good Landlording

By: Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson
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  • Summary

  • A weekly podcast co-hosted by Suzanne Smith and Richard Jackson, who discuss practical tips to help you start, grow and succeed as a landlord.
    © 2024 Good Landlording
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Episodes
  • #GL9: Flats versus houses for landlord investments

    #GL9: Flats versus houses for landlord investments
    Jun 5 2024
    This week's episode of Good Landlording discusses one of the first questions that landlords ask themselves when they're looking for a buy to let: should they buy a flat or a house? Richard and Suzanne go through the pros and cons of both flats and houses, drawing on their own experiences as landlords, with Suzanne only now investing in houses, and Richard having only ever bought flats as rental investments. Suzanne explains the difference between "leasehold" and "freehold", service charge, ground rent, and practicalities, before going through what the new Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 promises to bring now it is on the statute book. What we cover in this episodeWhat's the difference between leasehold and freehold?Ground rent and when it becomes a problemWhat does it mean when a flat owner has a share of the freehold?Service charge - top tips for leaseholdersThe advantages of flats as investments for landlordsThe downsides of flats as investments for landlords?The advantages of freehold houses as investments for landlordsWhat makes a good house for landlords?What makes a good flat for landlords to let?Golden nuggetCredits What's the difference between leasehold and freehold? For leasehold properties such as flats and some houses, the building itself and/or the land it sits on are owned by someone else called the "freeholder". The freeholder may be the original developer, or, they might have sold it onto another company. Each leaseholder enters into a lease with the freeholder to own the flat or leasehold house for a fixed period of time. And so this is currently typically 99 years or 125 years for residential properties. The length of the lease decreases each year until it eventually runs out, unless the parties agree to extend the lease. A lease is therfore an asset that will that goes down in value the closer it gets to the end of the term. When someone buys a flat, the leaseholder transfers the lease agreement to the new owner. This is called "assignment", and the freeholder is likely to need to give consent to the assignment. And during the the lease agreement, the term of the lease, the leaseholder pays ground rent and a service charge to pay for repairs and maintenance. A leaseholder is a long-term tenant, and a freeholder is a type of landlord. However, to avoid confusion, it is good practice to use the word "leaseholder" to refer to somebody who holds a long term lease, and keep the word "tenant" for someone who has a a tenancy agreement with a landlord. When someone buys a lease, they pay a "premium" for the lease, which is an upfront payment for the right to occupy the property for the term of the lease. Ground rent and when it becomes a problem Leaseholders also pay ground rent, which may be a "peppercorn" (a nominal amount which the freeholder does not collect), or a more substantial sum. Over the last few decades, some developers and freeholders have seen ground rent as a profit centre, and have included onerous ground rent clauses into their leases, which increase over time. Sometimes ground rent doubles every 10, 15, 20 or 25 years. Onerous ground rent provisions are a big problem as many mortgage companies refuse to lend money on properties which have them. Ground rent above a peppercorn was abolished for new leases a few years ago, and it was supposed to be restricted in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, but it got dropped at the last moment, when the election was called. >> Blog post: The Independent Landlord - The latest news on the reform of ground rent What does it mean when a flat owner has a share of the freehold? Sometimes the owners of flats in a building (who are leaseholders) club together and set up a company to buy the freehold, which the flat owners have shares in. These leaseholders are said to have a "share of the freehold" in addition to their lease. However, do be careful,
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    Less than 1 minute
  • GL#8: What the General Election means for landlords, with guest, David Smith

    GL#8: What the General Election means for landlords, with guest, David Smith
    May 27 2024
    With the fall of the Renters Reform Bill, and the upcoming general election, Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith pick the brain of leading solicitor David Smith from JMW to explore what the election is likely to mean for landlords. In this episode we discuss what happens to the Renters Reform Bill now, and analyse what a new Labour or Conservative government might bring for landlords. We step away from the hyperbole and catastrophising, and take an objective look at what we currently know about the policies of both Labour and the Conservatives. As always, we bring the practical perspective of landlords, and share tips on what we're doing to filter out all the noise that an election brings. We recorded this episode on 24 May 2024, shortly before parliament was prorogued ahead of the General Election on 4 July, before any of the parties have published their election manifesto. With this episode, we reached a big milestone: episode number 10! We've released 8 regular episodes and 2 on the Renters Reform Bill since we launched Good Landlording on 10 April, less than 7 weeks ago. We've also had well over 10,000 downloads, before this episode goes live! That's a fantastic achievement for a new show, run by podcast newbies. What we cover in this episodeWhat happened to the Renters Reform Bill?What we know about Labour's policies for the Private Rented SectorWhat if the Conservatives win the election?Advice for landlords in this period of uncertainty before the General ElectionCredits >> Submit a question: Click here for question form What happened to the Renters Reform Bill? The government abandoned the Renters Reform Bill in the brief wash-up period on 24 May when a few bills managed to be rushed through the House of Lords, like the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill. As the Renters Reform Bill fell, any new government would need to draft a new bill from scratch, with a new long title, if they want to pursue rental reform after the election. Of course, some of it would no doubt look the same, but a new Bill would have to start all over again to go through all of its stages in the Commons and Lords, which would take several months. >> Blog post: The Independent Landlord - Renters Reform Bill: What happens now? What we know about Labour's policies for the Private Rented Sector Labour has not yet published their manifesto. However, David Smith predicts the following might feature in Labour's policies for landlords should they win the general election and form a government" Abolition of Section 21 and fixed term tenancies, but with a few additional grounds for landlords to terminate a tenancy, for instance if they want to sell, or it's a tenancy for agricultural workers. Regulation of letting agents and other property agents. Some sort of rent stabilisation measures, as opposed to rent control. He does not see this as a bad thing for landlords as they would move to yearly increases in line with inflation, instead of just increasing rents when tenants change. Increased devolution of housing powers to local authorities. More regulation around management standards and quality, along the lines of Rent Smart Wales, which would bring more consistency than the piecemeal the current selective licensing approach. Landlord register. Better enforcement by local authorities. >> Blog post: The Independent Landlord - What are Labour’s policies for the Private Rented Sector? What if the Conservatives win the election? David Smith predicts that the Conservatives would not bring forward another Renters Reform Bill should they win the election. The driving force behind the Bill, Michael Gove, has stood down, along with many of the more moderate Conservative MPs. We will need to wait for their election manifesto to be certain. Advice for landlords in this period of uncertainty before the General Election Landlords are entering a period of increased uncerta...
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    Less than 1 minute
  • GL#7: How to manage rent arrears

    GL#7: How to manage rent arrears
    May 22 2024
    In this week's episode of Good Landlording, we discuss one of the most difficult aspects of our jobs as landlords, and that's handling rent arrears. Rent arrears are challenging, even if landlords use an agent. The essence of the agreement between a landlord and a tenant is that the landlord provides a well maintained and legally compliant property to live in. In return, the tenant pays rent. If tenants don't pay the rent when it's due, they are in what's called rent arrears. Private landlords run a business and need to be paid the same as any other business that doesn't receive government funding. Being a good landlord doesn't mean you're a charity and you need to provide the property free of charge. If we don't get paid, we can't pay our bills, and may end up going out of business. However, there's a lot landlords can do to help tenants who start to fall into rent arrears. Managing rent arrears is something that all landlords need to understand, so we can minimise the risk of rent arrears, and know what to do if our tenants fall behind with their rent. Richard Jackson and Suzanne Smith share practical tips to help landlords avoid rent arrears, what landlords should do if tenants do fall behind with their rent, and how to help tenants. We also go through options are for evicting tenants in rent arrears both now and if the Renters Reform Bill had come into force. Eviction should be the last resort for landlords, if everything else has failed. What we cover in this episode at a glancePractical tips for landlords to minimise the risk of rent arrearsWhat should landlords do if tenants are in rent arrears?Practical tips to help tenantsWhat is Breathing Space?Late payment processThe last resort: Evicting tenants because of rent arrearsUsing Section 21 Housing Act 1988Using Section 8 Housing Act 1988The new Mandatory Ground 8A in the Renters Reform BillGolden nuggetCredits >> Submit a question: Click here for question form Practical tips for landlords to minimise the risk of rent arrears Prevention is better than cure, and landlords should try to avoid tenants falling into arrears in the first place. Here are 7 practical tips to minimise the risk of rent arrears: Tenant selection. Choose tenants that can comfortably afford the rent. For more information, see Episode 1: What makes a good tenant? Choose the rent payment date carefully. When entering into a new tenancy agreement, ask the tenants when they would like to pay the rent. The best date is shortly after they are paid. You can pro-rate the first payment so that if they move in on the 15th of the month, but want to pay on the 25th of the month, they pay the extra amount in their first rent payment. After that, they'll go onto the new rent payment date. OpenRent have a facility to calculate and set this up automatically for you as part of their RentNow package. Standing order. Ask tenants to set up a standing order so they don't forget to pay the rent. You can tell if they have done this as the rent payment will come in overnight, rather than in the daytime. Track rent payments. It's important to keep track of whether tenants have paid the rent. You can check your own bank account on the payment days, or automate it with (say) Alphaletz. The Alphaletz platform can send the tenant a reminder that the rent is due, and send a chaser if the tenant doesn't pay the rent on the due date. Rent guarantee insurance. Richard recommends taking out rent guarantee insurance for the first year with new tenants. If they are good payers and are never late paying, you can cancel it in the second year. Clarity with letting agents. Make sure it is clear what your letting agents are required to do for late or missed payments, ie who's responsible for chasing it up and then actioning it. Also, ask the agents to tell you if payments are (say) more 5 days late. Don't hope it will get better by itself.
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    Less than 1 minute
Management Economics Personal Finance
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