Rents hit new heights, the Renters Reform Bill, the latest House Price Index and other UK property news

To help you keep abreast of all the latest trends, here we bring you the principal property news headlines – for owners, investors, and landlords.

Let’s take a look …

Up and Up – New records (again) as rents soar skywards

Rent levels across the UK are soaring. Evidence comes by way of a story in Landlord Today on the 6^th of July that identified a 1.3% increase in June alone.

Nationally, the average monthly rent has risen to a record £1,229 but there are regional differences, of course. In London, for example, the average rent costs £2,077 per calendar month – having increased by 1.9% in just the last month.

By far the steepest rent increases, however, were in Scotland, where the average rent rose by a staggering 5.5% month on month – setting new records for Scotland and the biggest increases in any part of the UK.

At the other end of the scale, some parts of the UK recorded falls in the average levels of rent. In the Northeast of England, for example, rents fell by a further 1.1% in June to just £625 a month.

The types of properties losing the most value in June 2023

In a market where overall house prices are in decline – an estimated 11.1 million homes, or one-third of the total housing stock, have dropped in value – the online listings website Zoopla on the 6^th of July identified those types of dwellings currently most likely to have fallen in value this June.

Properties most likely to have fallen the greatest in value are larger detached houses and bungalows, said Zoopla.

Some parts of the country have fared worse than others – with as many as 65% of homes along the coasts of southern England falling in value during June. Other areas where prices have tumbled the most include Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But Zoopla also offers a warning to those wanting to invest in the current housing market. For any prospective buyers thinking of taking advantage by purchasing in areas where homes are falling in value, says Zoopla, it is important to consider the risk of increasing mortgage rates and the prospect of negative equity.

Renters Reform Bill 2023 – What landlords and tenants need to know

Law firm Cripps took the opportunity on the 30^th of May of recapping the contents of the government’s Renters Reform Bill that was introduced to Parliament on the 17^th of May:

• assured shorthold tenancies (AST) will be abolished and replaced by periodic assured tenancies – relieving tenants of the need to commit to a minimum rental term;

• future tenancies can be terminated at any time by tenants giving two months’ notice;

• Section 21 – so-called “no-fault” – evictions will be abolished, and landlords will have the option of terminating a tenancy only for strictly-defined statutory reasons;

• those statutory reasons include:

• an intention on the part of the landlord to sell the let property;
  • if the property is needed for housing a close family member of the landlord;
  • persistent rent arrears on the part of the tenant (at least 2 months arrears on a minimum of 3 occasions during a 3-year timeframe);
  • tenants’ anti-social behaviour.

• landlords can increase the rent only once a year (after giving at least 2 months’ notice of any such increase);

• landlords cannot unreasonably deny tenants the right to keep a pet – but a damage deposit or insurance costs can be charged;

• tenants’ deposits must be held in an approved scheme;

• a register of residential landlords and their properties will be held, and available for inspection, on a Privately Rented Property Portal; and

• landlords will be obliged to register with an Ombudsman scheme set up to examine and decide complaints raised by tenants.

Nationwide HPI: House prices relatively stable in June

The House Price Index maintained by the Nationwide building society confirmed that the housing market has achieved relative stability but remains in overall decline compared with property values one year ago.

In fact, the national average house price rose by a modest 0.1% in June – reversing the fall of 0.1% that had been recorded the previous month – but taking the overall annual fall in values to 3.5%.

There are regional variations, with the biggest falls in value in the past 12 months in East Anglia, where average prices have dropped by 4.7%.

During the second quarter of this year, the decline in average house prices has been felt in every region of the UK except for Northern Ireland.