As the weather begins to warm up, now is the perfect time to take care of any property maintenance tasks that may have been overlooked during the winter months.

Here is our list of ideas of what to do inside and out. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but carrying out the actions below will help keep your property properly maintained …

External property maintenance

It is important to inspect your home’s exterior for any signs of damage. So …

• stand back and look at your roof – are there any slipped or missing tiles?
• are the gutters all intact and free flowing?
• inspect the windows for any signs of damage or wear, such as broken seals, cracked glass, or peeling paint;
• does the external paint need a touch-up or even a complete re-do?
• are there any cracks or any other signs of wear and tear?
• can you see any signs of water damage?
• are the walls structurally sound, properly insulated and have adequate ventilation?

It’s important to get these repairs done as soon as possible to ensure that your home remains in good condition, is protected from the elements and, any further damage is prevented.

When it comes to more serious repairs, it’s important to contact a professional. This could range from fixing a foundation issue to replacing windows.

Don’t forget regular maintenance, too. This includes:

• cleaning gutters;
• pressure washing the exterior;
• cleaning the windows.

The garden

Garden maintenance is an important part of keeping your outdoor space looking its best:

• trim and tidy the shrubs, and prune and feed the plants;
• mulching is another essential part of garden maintenance. Mulching helps to protect your plants from extreme temperatures and reduces the need for frequent watering;
• control weeds;
• regularly inspect your plants for signs of disease or pests. If you find any issues, act immediately to prevent them from spreading;
• check for the infamous Japanese Knotweed;
• feed the lawn if you have one;
• if you have paving slabs, check that there aren’t any cracks or gaps that need repointing.

Now, on to the inside ….

Internal property maintenance

Internal property maintenance is the process of keeping the interior of your home in the best shape possible. This means tending to any repairs, upkeep, and general care of the interior of your home.

The first step is to identify any necessary repairs. Start by inspecting for any wear and tear, mould or cracks and damage to:

• the walls, floors, and ceiling;
• your window and doors;
• kitchen and bathroom appliances.

Once you’ve identified any necessary repairs, it’s time to address them. Depending on the type of repair needed, you may need to enlist the help of a professional or may be able to do this yourself.

In addition to repairs, you should also focus on regular maintenance such as cleaning your doors, windows and window frames etc.

Get the paint brushes out!

Regular interior painting and wall repairs are necessary to keep walls looking fresh and in good condition. Depending on the age and condition of walls, interior painting should be done every few years. Worn or damaged areas should be repaired as soon as possible to avoid further damage.

Carpets should be professionally cleaned at least once a year, and hard floors should be refinished every few years.

Also, check:

• your loft or attic and make sure it is watertight;
• your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. (It is recommended you check your smoke alarms and CO2 detectors at least once a month. You should also change the batteries in these safety devices at least once a year);
• when your boiler next needs a service – this should be annually. Landlords also typically need to carry out extra gas safety checks;
• the electrics – again, landlords also have certain electrical safety obligations.

External and internal property maintenance is an important part of property ownership. By taking the time to do regular inspections and maintenance, you can ensure that your home or investment property remains in top condition and looks its best. This will help protect your property from the elements and keep it looking good for years to come.

Your property insurance and home maintenance

Finally, keeping your property well-maintained is typically a condition of your buildings insurance. This is because it decreases the risk of damage to the property, meaning the insurance company is likely to pay out less.

Regular maintenance also ensures that any existing damage is identified and dealt with quickly before it has the chance to cause more damage. This reduces the risk of a claim being made against the policy.

Further reading: March home maintenance and Spring property maintenance tips.

The latest UK property news focuses on the movement in house prices – examining the picture both locally and nationally.

In the private rented sector, headlines reveal the extent to which many landlords are prepared to adapt their properties to accommodate the needs of older tenants while the Renters Reform Bill is almost certain to have a major impact on this sector of the market.

Average house prices in your area

In a posting on the 31^st of January, the online listings website Zoopla published a searchable map of the UK so that you can identify the current average price of a house in your particular area.

It sets the scene by noting that the national average stands at £261,200 – a 6.5% increase in prices one year ago.

Hotspots for the strongest growth in average prices around the country are illustrated by the following statistics:

• Wigan – the highest rate of growth at 10.4%, to a current average price of £164,900;

• Wolverhampton – prices increased by 9.8% in the past year, and the average currently stands at £175,400; and

• the Scottish Borders – 9.6% growth in prices to a current average of £179,000.

If you are after the cheapest homes in the UK – with many areas reporting rates of growth less than the national average of 6.5% – Zoopla ranks the following three places:

• Inverclyde, in Scotland, where the average price of a house is just £101,500 (an increase of only 5% in the past 12 months);

• East Ayrshire – with prices averaging £102,700, up 4.3% on last year; and

• West Dunbartonshire, also in Scotland, where you can buy a house for £108,800 – paying approximately 4.4% more than at this time last year.

2023 begins with further slowing in annual house price growth

The latest house price statistics for January released by the Nationwide building society illustrate a steady decline in the rate of growth in average house prices nationally.

The building society recorded a 0.6% decline in prices in January compared with December, which were in turn 0.3% lower than the previous month.

On an annual basis, this meant that average prices had climbed by 2.8% in the 12 months to the end of December but that fell to an annual rate of just 1.1% in the 12 months to the end of January.

The average price of a house in the UK stood at £262,068 in December but this had fallen to £258,297 in January.

If current signs of mortgage rates stabilising are realised, some commentators predict that the housing market may begin to recover in the year ahead.

Landlords content to make property alterations to suit older tenants

Recent research – cited by Landlord News on the 25^th of January – suggests that many landlords would be prepared to invest in remodelling their let properties to better accommodate the needs of older tenants.

Almost a half (46%) of the landlords surveyed in the study said they would adapt their property accordingly – 21% of them said they would spend up to £1,000 on any necessary building works, 11% were prepared to invest up to £3,000, and 5% content to spend £5,000 or more on making their let accommodation more suitable for older tenants.

The willingness of landlords to make these changes is also reflected in the ageing profile of many prospective tenants. Government statistics show that the number of tenants aged between 45 and 64 years in the private rented sector has grown by 70% in the past decade while the number of those aged 65 or more has increased by 38%.

Renters’ Reform Bill likely to increase pressure on landlords

Although it is likely to result in bigger challenges and considerably greater pressure for landlords, the Renters Reform Bill is making its way through the legislative process with comparatively little notice from those it will most impact, according to Property Reporter on the 31^st of January.

The Bill tips the scales firmly to the advantage of tenants – to the detriment of landlords – because it proposes:

• abolition of the so-called “no-fault” evictions of Section 21 of the Housing Act;

• an ombudsman for the private rented sector to help protect the rights of tenants;

• outlawing landlords’ ability to refuse tenancies for people in receipt of welfare benefits; and

• granting greater powers to local authorities in the enforcement of tenants’ rights.

The Renters Reform Bill is expected to pass into law later this year – possibly as early as this Spring.

One of those all-important New Year resolutions might well have been a determination to protect, maintain, and run your home in the most efficient and effective manner – without paying more than you need to.

So, here are four tips on doing just that by putting your house in order in the year ahead.

Have a maintenance fund

One area where you can combine your twin objectives of maintaining your home in physical shape while also keeping your finances in good order is by setting up and managing a purpose-designed maintenance fund.

You know that you will need to carry out routine repairs and maintenance on your home to keep it windproof, watertight, and looking good. The problem is that some home repairs are likely to come unexpectedly – when something fails, breaks, or goes wrong when you least expect it.

By setting up a home maintenance fund or separate bank account exclusively for maintenance and repairs, you will stay one step ahead, be always prepared, and won’t let any passing emergency disrupt other essential expenditure.

How much needs to be in your maintenance fund varies, of course, according to the property involved and your individual circumstances. By way of illustration, a posting by London’s Southwark Council on the 21^st of February 2022 suggested that the average homeowner needs to put aside between 1% and 4% of the value of their home for annual repairs and maintenance.

Insurance

Whether you own your home or are the landlord of buy to let property, the cost of certain unexpected or emergency repairs – as the result of damage from an escape of water, for example – may be covered by your home insurance or landlord insurance policy. Provided that the policy is valid and up to date, of course.

So, part of getting your house in financial order must include a review of your home insurance or landlord insurance policy to make sure that it continues to provide all the protection you and your property need.

This is unlikely to be a question of cost alone but may include aspects of cover that you now need but didn’t before, or elements that were not previously relevant but have become so now. For example, you may have:

• bought a high-value item that needs an individual listing under your home insurance policy; or

• had an extension built or had the place modernised and refurbished – this added value needs to be factored into your buildings, and contents sums insured.

Of course, if you have any questions regarding your property insurance, please feel free to telephone us on 01702 606 301 – and we’d be delighted to help.

Utilities and other regular expenditure

Among the most regular payments you are likely to be making each month are those for utilities such as gas and electricity, but also your water, broadband, and entertainment packages.

Whatever sums you are paying they all mount up and you need to ensure you are paying no more than you need to. Exceptionally – and at least until March 2023 – you will want to check to make sure that your energy bills are properly discounted in accordance with the government’s Energy Price Guarantee.

Check, too, whether you are paying too much Council Tax if your home has been wrongly banded. Mistakes such as that are made in the case of hundreds of thousands of homes declared the Money Saving Expert on the 3^rd of January 2023 – yet it will only take you 10 minutes or so to check whether you are in the correct Council Tax band.

As far as your gas and electricity, broadband, and TV packages are concerned, then several online utility comparison websites can help you compare deals and make any switch you consider necessary.

Your mortgage

Finally, if your property is mortgaged, check that you are still getting the most suitable and cost-effective solution for you. In some cases – and with professional advice – it may be prudent to switch mortgage providers or products.

With the recent increase in interest rates, you may be in for a nasty shock if you are coming to the end of any fixed-rate deal. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the 9^th of January 2023, mortgage deals that enjoyed a fixed rate of interest of just 2% when they started are currently offered at an average of 6% – a significant increase.

Summary

These four tips for getting your house in order will help you check that you are still getting the most appropriate products for your own unique needs and financial circumstances – and may help you save some money too. 

Please note that the information within this article is designed for guidance purposes only and should not be construed as legal or financial advice.

You’ve probably noticed it about many financial services products that there’s often no single straightforward answer – and that’s true when you ask what landlord insurance covers. A lot depends on the type of landlord you are, the type of property that you own and, each insurer’s own definition of what their cover entails.

Before considering just what landlords’ insurance covers, it may be helpful to understand why this specialist insurance product is needed in the first place. And that also means taking a look at the role of the landlord with a buy to let business.

So, why is specialist landlord insurance necessary? Why won’t standard home building and contents cover suffice, for example?

Distinguishing between landlord insurance and standard home insurance

Owner-occupiers and landlords of buy to let property typically own homes that are to all intents and purposes quite indistinguishable – but for the critical fact that one is the owner’s place of residence whilst the other is occupied by rent-paying tenants.

On the outside, therefore, there may be no great apparent difference, but on the inside there is. The same might be said of standard homeowners’ insurance and landlords’ insurance – on the outside they appear fairly similar, but it is on the inside that the real differences start to emerge.

Those differences help to explain why landlords cannot simply use one of the very many standard home insurance policies on the market to protect the bricks and mortar and the contents of residential property which is currently let to tenants.

What matters to insurers, of course, is the question of risk – what is the likelihood of the insured property suffering loss or damage and the insurer having to pay out on a claim as a result?

It is that calculation of risk which informs the price at which any insurer needs to pitch premiums for the cover in question since it is only from income by way of premiums that insurers have the funds to pay out on claims. Those funds are held in a “claims reserve” which must be sufficient for the settlement of future claims – and, as an article in the Insurance Business Magazine on the 11^th of January 2023 insisted requires careful management.

Critical to that calculation of risk, as far as property insurance is concerned, is the use to which the premises are put:

• standard home building and contents insurance is designed to meet the risks faced by a typical property that is occupied on a more or less continuous basis by its owners;
• landlords’ insurance, on the other hand, is designed to meet the very different risks faced by a buy to let business, which relies upon rental income from the tenants occupying the premises – buy to let insurance (as landlord insurance is also called), therefore needs to protect the business uses to which the property is put.

That distinction is sufficiently critical that if you have arranged standard home insurance but in fact let the property to tenants, any claim you subsequently make may be rejected out of hand by the insurer.

Who is a landlord?

Landlords fall into two broad groups:

• the so-called professional who makes a conscious decision to earn a livelihood from buying to let; and
• the “accidental” landlord who finds him or herself becoming a landlord almost by chance, after inheriting a property or otherwise deciding to let out a home they previously occupied themselves.

Whilst there is no single profile representing the average landlord, it might be helpful to look at some of the most common profile features to gain a better understanding of why landlord insurance may be needed and just what it needs to cover.

The landscape in which today’s landlord must operate is subject to a welter of economic and legislative pressures and changes – many of which are discussed in an article in the Consumer Association’s Which? magazine on the 29^th of December 2022 and include some of the following significant developments in the year ahead:

• a long-awaited Renters Reform Bill could be finally enacted in 2023, bringing with it a completely different balance to the relationship between landlord and tenant;
• significant reductions in the thresholds at which Capital Gains Tax (CGT) becomes payable – and which will clearly impact those landlords intending to sell previously let property;
• potentially further increases in the interest rates attached to buy to let mortgages;
• increasing demand for accommodation in the private rented sector;
• the continued pressures of inflation and the rising cost of living could lead to more tenants defaulting on their rental payments;
• energy efficiency standards within the private rental sector become increasingly stringent; but
• despite the steadily escalating property prices, landlords might still be able to snap up a bargain.

The sheer diversity of these challenges for today’s landlord means that the group of property owners as a whole is disparate and reflects the wide spectrum of opportunities for operating a buy to let business. But they all share an interest in

protecting the property in which they have invested. And the best way to do that is by way of landlord insurance.

The principle of landlord insurance – and the cover it provides

What does landlord insurance cover? Just as there are many different types of landlord insurance, so the answer reflects those differences – making it important to identify the particular form of cover that meets your individual needs and circumstances.

Put most simply, landlord insurance protects your buy to let business. It protects the principal business asset – the property and its contents – and many of the additional risks and liabilities that go with being a landlord.

The role of insurance in protecting your business is critical and distinguishes landlord insurance, for instance, from the standard forms of home building and contents insurance typically arranged by home owner-occupiers

As we have explained, the risks and perils are different when your property is let to tenants and, so, specialist landlord insurance is required, rather than any standard form of home insurance.

Although the cover may appear similar, therefore, you still need to inform any mortgage lender with an interest in your property that it is being let to tenants and not occupied by you as your residence.

If there is a permanent or long-term switch to the property’s use as let premises, you may need to change your mortgage, suggests the government-sponsored Money Advice Service.

With these important principles in mind, it is possible to take a closer look at how landlord insurance protects you. You should note that not all elements of the following cover come as standard in any given let property insurance policy, so it is important you understand what your policy cover entails:

Building insurance

• at the heart of any landlord insurance is likely to be the protection of the physical structure and fabric of the building and its contents;
• this is protection against potentially serious risks such as fire, subsidence, flooding, storm damage, escape of water, smoke damage, impacts, theft and vandalism – it is important to note, though, that policies vary widely and some risks may not be covered or may be subject to special conditions, depending on the insurer;
• typical examples are subsidence, especially if there has been past evidence of the problem, and flooding, if your property is in an area known to be vulnerable to such a risk (all our policies provide subsidence cover as standard);
• some, but by no means all, policies also offer cover against the risk of malicious damage caused by your tenants or their visitors – those arranged by us here at Cover4LetProperty incorporate such cover as standard;
• in any event, the total building sum insured needs to take into account a worst-case scenario in which your property is totally destroyed and has to be rebuilt – a valuation based on current reconstruction costs (rather than either the present market value, for instance, or the balance of your outstanding mortgage) which naturally fluctuate over time and may need to be updated with reference to the index of reconstruction costs maintained by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS);

Trace and access insurance cover

• especially useful for landlords may be the inclusion of additional cover in respect of trace and access costs;
• you may have responded to your tenants’ request for emergency attention to a burst or leaking water pipe, for example, but the cost of the plumber you call out, the damage caused by his tracing the fault and accessing it (lifting floorboards or knocking the plaster off walls, for example) and the materials used in repairing the problem are not generally covered under the provisions of any cover for loss and damage caused by an escape of water;
• trace and access insurance cover offers precisely this indemnity;

Contents insurance

• although your tenants are of course responsible for insuring their own possessions and belongings, you may own items – especially in the common areas of the let property – which also need to be protected against the risks of loss or damage through appropriate landlord’s contents insurance;

Landlord liability insurance

• property insurance in general invariably incorporates indemnity for the owner’s public liabilities – in the case of the landlord this is likely to be an even more important safeguard;
• the landlord has a particular duty of care not only to members of the public, but more specifically to his tenants and their visitors – so, if you fail to take reasonable precautions to prevent their injury or loss, you may be faced with substantial claims for compensation by way of damages;
• if any individual suffers a personal injury or has their property lost or damaged as a result of the landlord’s negligence of his duty of care, the claim for compensation may assume substantial proportions (the more so if any injuries have proved fatal, of course);
• indemnity for landlord’s liability, therefore, typically starts at a minimum level of cover of £2 million – but cover for £5 million is by no means uncommon;

Employers’ liability insurance

• if you employ others to help run your buy to let business, the law requires – in all but a few exceptions – that you hold a minimum of £5 million employers’ liability cover in the event of an individual sustaining an injury or contracting an illness or other medical condition as a result of working for you;
• on occasion, this cover may be available as an optional extra to your landlord insurance or you may purchase it separately on a standalone basis;

Loss of rental income

• recognising that your buy to let property is first and foremost a business asset, there is a risk that any one of the risks you have insured against leaves the accommodation temporarily uninhabitable, so that the income stream of your business – the rent you would otherwise collect – is disrupted;
• landlord insurance may include compensation – or the provision of similar, alternative accommodation – for this loss of rental income pending any necessary repairs and reinstatement;
• the amount of compensation is typically limited to a maximum period or the limit may be calculated as a percentage of your total sum insured;

Unoccupied property insurance

• finally, you may need to bear in mind that insurers consider your let property to be at its most vulnerable when no one is living there – when otherwise minor maintenance problems may develop into serious emergencies and when the unoccupied building acts as a magnet for thieves, arsonists and other intruders;
• although you want to prevent lengthy voids – between one tenancy ending and before another one starts – periods during which your property stands unoccupied may be inevitable;
• if the property is unoccupied beyond a given number of days – typically between 30 and 45 consecutive days, but the precise interval varies from one policy to another – your insurer invariably reduces the extent of cover provided or may even regard the insurance policy to have lapsed altogether;
• in that instance, you may need to consider standalone unoccupied property insurance to maintain the full range of safeguards for your let property – you can read more about this subject in our Guide to Unoccupied Property.

What does landlords’ insurance cover?

A great many, varied risks and perils are likely to be encountered by practically any investor in buy to let property.

Buy to let property insurance offers common, core elements of protection whatever type of landlord you happen to be. But it is clear that there is scope for considerable variation in the precise scope and level of cover you purchase.

To help you negotiate this potential minefield and ensure that you secure the cover you need – at competitively priced premiums – you might want to consult specialist brokers such as ourselves here at Cover4LetProperty.

Standard home building and contents insurance is not an option if you are the landlord of buy to let property. If you let your property to tenants, it is important that you arrange suitable, purpose-designed landlord insurance.

The rate of inflation and its associated escalation of the cost of living inevitably affects the housing market – for landlords and homeowners alike. This is reflected in recent property news headlines …

Buy to let mortgage curbs – more care demanded by Bank of England

Anticipating what it describes as a forthcoming “prolonged period of credit stress”, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) of the Bank of England has urged lenders to exercise greater caution in advancing buy to let mortgage loans, according to a story in Landlord Today on the 12^th of January.

The current collection of risk factors – such as higher interest rates, inflationary pressures, and cost of living increases – present new and previously untested stresses with the market for buy to let lending, says the Bank of England. Indeed, similar pressures are also affecting loans to small businesses, unsecured personal lending, and loans advanced for the purchase of commercial property.

Nationwide HPI – December 2022

The Nationwide Building Society has released details of the principal trends in its House Price Index (HPI) as the year drew to a close. In summary, these revealed:

• a fourth consecutive month in which average house prices fell – with a recorded decline in the annual rate of growth of 2.8% in the final month of the year;

• this decline has been echoed across all regions of the UK by the time the final quarter of the year came around;

• East Anglia returned the strongest market performance and house price growth during the year while Scotland recorded the weakest;

• the gap between the strongest and weakest performing regions was the smallest since the Nationwide started to compile an HPI; and

The figures reveal that average house prices in the UK have seen their biggest decline since the financial crisis of 2008, says the report. Prices at the end of the year were some 2.5% lower than the peak that had been achieved in August 2022.

Commentators ascribed at least some of this slump in prices to a temporary caution on the part of buyers in the initial phases of the current inflationary period. Renewed market activity might be expected as the New Year progresses.

The average UK household will lose over £2,000 in income this year

Citing research from the Resolution Foundation, Landlord Zone on the 10^th of January revealed that the average family in the UK is likely to be worse off to the tune of at least £2,000 this year.

The UK is feeling the effects of some of the biggest impacts since the Second World War – the current war in Ukraine, the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic, high rates of government spending and borrowing, and the steadily increasing rate of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis that follows in its wake.

All these pressures are combining to strip an estimated £2,100 from the average family’s income in the year ahead, it says.

Government energy efficiency plans “dead in the water” warn landlords

In a press release on the 9^th of January, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) takes the government to task for its failure to provide landlords in the private rented sector with clear and transparent guidance with respect to its plans for energy efficiency.

Despite appeals by landlords for the government to delay the imposition of stricter energy efficiency standards until 2028 – instead of the 2025 target set by the government – there has been no clear response to the landlords’ demands.

Any hope that the government might achieve its aim of bringing all accommodation in the private rented sector to at least a ‘C’ Energy Performance Certificate rating is doomed to failure and likely to prove “dead in the water”, says the NRLA.

Running a buy to let business these days can be a challenge. Any landlord determined to negotiate the shifting sands of the private rental market will also need to keep a close eye on legislative reforms that are afoot.

With that in mind, let’s cast an eye across the horizon of some of the changes landlords can expect in the year ahead.

Renters Reform Bill: will the reforms become clear?

The single biggest development to shape the private rental market for many years to come is the much-vaunted and long-awaited Renters Reform Bill.

The reforms are aimed at making the private rented sector “fairer” for both landlords and tenants. As the Law Society has noted the basic thrust of the reforms was first aired by the government in April 2019. Eventually, a White Paper on the subject – entitled A Fairer Private Rented Sector – was published on the 16^th of June 2022.

2023 may yet be the year when some or all of the proposed reforms are finally enacted.

Included in the raft of sweeping changes are the following highly significant moves:

• repeal of Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and its so-called “no-fault” evictions – which will, of course, make it more difficult for many landlords to gain repossession of their let property;

• removal of landlords’ ability to grant Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) – by far the most common type of tenancy – and replace them with Periodic Tenancies that grant tenants the right to abandon any tenancy (without paying further rent) after just giving just two months’ notice; and

• landlords will be restricted to just two rent increases each year – and tenants will be able to appeal against the increases and any other issues with an independent private rented sector ombudsman.

The housing charity Shelter – which broadly supports the reforms – adds that it will also become illegal to reject applications for tenancies from those on welfare benefits, a formal register of landlords will be created, and local authorities will be given greater powers to enforce the rights of tenants.

Clearly, enactment of the current Renters Reform Bill would alter the entire landscape for landlords throughout the UK.

Focus on energy efficiency for commercial properties

Building management specialists the BGES Group on the 22^nd of November 2022 reminded landlords that important energy efficiency measures will be extended to commercial properties during the course of 2023.

The current Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) that apply to non-residential buildings mean that landlords cannot grant new leases to commercial tenants if the Energy Proficiency Certificate (EPC) is rated less than E – that is, if it is F or G.

With effect from the 1 of April this year, those standards will apply to every tenancy agreement and lease – including existing ones. Not only that but even more stringent standards are expected to be introduced by 2027 when the minimum rating will become C, and again by 2030 when all leased commercial buildings must achieve at least a B rating.

Scotland: New rules for landlords in 2023

Thanks to its independence across many aspects of government, legislation affecting landlords in Scotland differs from the rules binding those in the rest of the UK. As far as Scotland is concerned, therefore, there are two key dates of which landlords must be aware:

Rent freeze and ban on evictions

• in response to rocketing inflation, on the 28^th of October 2022, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill 2022 came into effect;

• this introduced a ban on tenants’ evictions and a freeze on rents until at least the 31^st of March this year;

• the termination date is subject to review every three months – so the provisions may yet be extended (by up to two further intervals of six months each) until 2024;

Licensing of all short-term lets

• in October of 2022, the Scottish government introduced legislation requiring all new “hosts” or landlords of short-term lets to apply for a licence allowing them to accept paying guests or tenants;

• with effect from the 1^st of April this year, those rules will now apply to all hosts or landlords – including existing ones;

• once an existing landlord has applied for the relevant licence, they can continue to let the accommodation while the application remains under consideration – but new hosts or landlords must wait until their licence is in place before they can legally let the accommodation.

Summary

Wherever in the UK you are a landlord with a buy to let business, therefore, there are significant changes on the horizon, and you will do well to prepare for the impact and implications of these well in advance.

Disclaimer: Please note that this information is based on our current understanding of planned legislation. Until legislation is actually passed, further changes can be made. We recommend you always seek professional advice if you have any queries relating to your obligations as a landlord as well as legislation.

A New Year, a fresh start – if only, you are probably saying to yourself!

Towards the end of 2022, we started staring inflation in the face. A recent article noted that inflation is already in double figures, and it is forecast to reach a high of 13% early in the New Year. Some analysts reckon it could rise even higher.

Meanwhile, domestic staples such as sugar, milk and teabags have soared in price – by 11.6% in October 2022 – and contribute to the steadily rising general cost of living.

As winter draws on, probably the most pressing worry for many households – whether homeowners or tenants – is the cost of keeping the place warm. Despite the government’s energy price guarantee, a story by the BBC on the 24^th of November explained that a typical household would be facing bills of an average of £3,000 – and the level of available support would be considerably reduced come next April.

Can you make savings?

Against this bleak outlook, the question on so many lips is whether savings in the domestic budget can be made – whether you own your home, are a buy to let landlord, or are renting your accommodation.

It helps no one if you are paying over the odds for the energy you need to consume to keep your home warm. For homeowners and tenants, the savings are obvious and for landlords, any cost-efficiencies in the use of energy will be welcomed by grateful tenants more likely to treat your property with the respect it deserves.

The following are some of the ways you might check whether your energy bills are currently realistic:

Your supplier and the tariff

• homeowners and landlords might want to check whether switching suppliers could achieve savings – or even whether you can switch to a different tariff from the existing supplier;

• because the energy market is currently in such a state of flux, it might be difficult to find alternatives and you may need to sit it out for a while longer until the situation becomes clearer;

Benefits and grants

Citizens Advice stresses the importance of both homeowners and tenants checking whether you are eligible for the benefits or grants that may be available if you:

• have no income or receive only a low income;

• have a disability;

• receive a State Pension or over the age for which you qualify for such a pension; or

• if you are in arrears with payments to your current energy supplier.

Citizens Advice also offers a handy ready reckoner to check your eligibility.

Energy consumption

• every household is likely to be different, of course, in the amount of energy it consumes in the normal course of events – but, in most cases, even minor changes to habits and use of energy can lead to significant savings;

• restrict the energy you use on heavy consumers such as washing machines and dryers, for example, by reducing the temperature at which you wash your clothes and by hanging the finished articles outside to dry on those often rare, sunny days;

• make sure the fridge remains set to the correct temperature – between 3º and 5º – and remember to defrost it regularly;

• simple measures such as closing interior doors, using draught excluders, and closing curtains can also help to reduce your consumption of energy;

Energy efficiency

• homeowners and landlords will have received a copy of the property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) if they bought it after August 2007 and any tenancy granted after October 2008 must also provide tenants with a copy of the latest EPC;

• energy efficiency – especially within the private rented sector – has become a hot topic recently and although improvements require a degree of investment, the savings can be substantial.

Water and sewerage

According to the website Statista, the average British household will have paid £419 for the annual combined water and waste disposal or sewerage bill by the end of the financial year to the end of March 2023.

Being careful about the volume of water you consume will not only save you money but also help you and your family to live more sustainably.

It is estimated that an average household of just four people will use around 600 litres of water every day. Yet there are simple ways to reduce this volume, such as ensuring that you have no leaks through faulty pipes or fittings such as the toilet, hand basins, and sinks. Consider using a cistern displacement device (CDD) to reduce the amount of water you flush each time the toilet is used. And always keep handy the telephone number for your local plumber – so that any emergency is dealt with promptly.

Summary

Getting ready for 2023 almost inevitably involves getting ready for some tough household budgeting.

By paying careful attention to the utilities you use – electricity, gas, and water – you might make helpful inroads into your ever-escalating household bills.

Recent property news headlines have naturally taken their lead from the recent Chancellor’s Autumn statement and commentary on the prevailing economic climate.

The latter throws into starker relief some of the advantages of buying new-build homes, a look at the likely movement in average house prices in the coming two-year period, and a predicted surge in private sector rents soon into the New Year.

Let’s take a look behind some of those UK property news headlines.

Landlords hit by tax changes in Autumn Statement

While it might have gone relatively unnoticed on the day, changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) regime will adversely impact those landlords wanting to move out of the buy to let market.

A story in the Mail Online recently revealed that the average landlord who sells a buy to let property once the full effect of the latest changes to CGT have come into effect stands to lose out some £2,600.

The newspaper noted that the current allowance before CGT needs to be paid upon the sale of a residential property is £12,300. But that this will be more than halved at the start of the new tax year in April 2023 to an allowance of just £6,000.

That allowance will again be halved to just the first £3,000 of profit on the sale of a property in April 2024.

Landlords who make a profit greater than these allowances will pay CGT at the current rate of 18% if they are basic-rate income taxpayers or 28% if they pay tax at the higher rate.

The changes are likely to result in the average landlord losing out on around £2,600 if and when a let property is sold says The Mail.

Green finance options to grow and incentivise new-build buyers

The government is backing plans to expand the availability of green finance options for homebuyers who purchase more energy-efficient new-build homes, reported the Buy Association on the 16^th of November.

The initiative will see government funding of up to £20 million to mortgage lenders who offer green finance products that will encourage buyers to reduce their carbon footprint and emissions, thereby also cutting back on their energy costs.

Incentives for the purchase of energy-efficient new-build homes will be targeted towards both owner-occupiers and buy to let property investors.

UK house prices forecast to fall for the next two years

Citing official figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the BBC on the 18^th of November, forecast a steady fall in average house prices during the coming two years – after which prices are expected to start rising again.

From now until sometime in late 2024, said the OBR, average house prices can be expected to fall by as much as 9%.

While the fall might be welcomed by first-time buyers who are struggling to get a first foot on the housing ladder, their earnings continue to be under severe pressure from the rising cost of living and the challenges of saving for a deposit.

Furthermore, increases in the mortgage lending rate have also made borrowing that much more expensive. Instead of the relatively manageable rates that have prevailed in the past ten years or so, two- and five-year fixed-rate mortgages currently carry an interest rate of a little over 6%.

Rents to rocket further in early 2023 warns industry figure

As landlords faced with the challenges of running a buy to let business sell up and leave the market and those that stay are faced with ever more expensive mortgage borrowing costs, there is a critical shortage of dwellings in the private rented sector.

A story in Landlord Today on the 21^st of November drew attention to the inevitable consequence of such a shortage of supply – escalating levels of rent.

With the supply of private rented property at a five-year low, rents are predicted to surge by as much as an extra 4% in January 2023 alone.

As the seasons change to winter, certain common problems faced by many landlords of buy to let property begin to raise their heads once again.

Citizens Advice claims that damp is a common problem. According to the housing charity Shelter on the 3^rd of May 2022, condensation is the most common form of damp in rented properties.

Housing Health & Safety Rating (HHSR)

The risk to landlords is not only the possibility of complaints by tenants but the action that might be taken by local authorities in response to those complaints. If your let property is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) or subject to the local council’s selective licensing regime, it is almost certainly going to be subject to an assessment under the Housing Health & Safety Rating (HHSR) system, which may also be used in respect of any property for which the tenant has asked the council to perform or one which the council itself considers necessary.

If you fail to take remedial action on problems raised by an HHSR, the council issue an enforcement notice to ensure that the repairs or alterations are made, warns Landlord Advice UK.

The cost of such remedial action and repairs and modifications made is not an item covered by your landlord insurance – even when provided by buy to let insurance specialists such as ourselves here at Cover4LetProperty.

Condensation and damp

Condensation occurs naturally and happens when warm, moist air, produced by the thoroughly normal business of cooking and bathing or showering, meets with cold surfaces such as exterior doors and windows.

Unless the space inside a building is properly and efficiently ventilated, that damp air finds its way to the nearest cold surface and condenses. When the temperature of the air cools because it has reached the cold surface of an outside window, wall, or door, it condenses in droplets of water. This is the point at which the moist air reaches what is called its dew point.

As the British weather reaches that time of the year once again and temperatures begin to fall, problems with condensation become more pronounced.

The reason for many complaints from tenants and the inclusion of condensation in any HHSR inspection is because of its potential health hazard. Condensation, and the frequently damp conditions it produces, encourages the growth of mould on the walls of infected buildings.

Mould is made up of minute spores which contain allergens (which can give you an allergic reaction), potentially toxic substances and irritants. So, when you breathe in or touch those spores, they can prompt an allergic reaction, leading to a runny nose, skin rashes and red eyes. The spores may also bring on asthma attacks in those suffering from the condition.

The National Health Service (NHS) is unequivocal in its view that mould and damp represent significant health risks, such as respiratory problems, respiratory infections and other breathing problems, asthma, and allergies – to which the young, elderly, those with existing respiratory conditions or asthma, and those with low immune defences may be especially vulnerable.

Dealing with condensation

So, how can you fight these allied enemies of condensation, damp, and mould?

Here are a few tips and suggestions:

• while condensation, damp, and mould may be responsible for fungal growth, mould and dust motes, the risks might quite easily be mitigated by making sure that the heating system is working efficiently, the installation of extractors fans and by ensuring that windows open properly for greater ventilation;
• a story in the Guardian newspaper on the 19^th of November 2022, suggested that recent amendments to the HHSR rules would place greater responsibility on tenants helping to curb condensation and the growth of mould in rented accommodation;
• tenants can be encouraged to recognise that bathing, washing, and cooking are some of the principal sources of water vapour in the air – which then condenses – so landlords might ask tenants to devise ways of reducing the volume of water vapour produced;
• encourage tenants to turn off the shower and taps once they’ve finished using them, for example, and to consider opening a window when they are taking their bath – and, of course, using any extractor fan you might have installed;
• the same goes for their use of the kitchen, when an open window or use of the extractor fan is going to help reduce the amount of steam inevitably generated in the process of cooking;
• after doing their washing, of course, your tenants are going to want to dry their clothes, but tell them not to do this by draping them over the radiator, since this produces a considerable volume of water vapour – if you install a vented tumble drier, therefore, you might not only be doing your tenants a favour but also helping to keep your let accommodation free of condensation;
• more serious problems with condensation – particularly in tracing its causes – may be something on which you need professional advice;
• depending on the principal causes of the problem, remedial measures might include an upgrade of your let property’s heating system, the replacement of windows and doors, or general improvements in the effectiveness of ventilation in the home;
• maintaining an even, ambient heat in the property might be especially important in cold weather since it reduces the sharp difference in temperature as air hits cold walls, doors, and windows – and maintaining this ambient temperature might be more important still when the occupants are out at work for most of the day;
• persuading your tenants to spend money on prohibitively expensive fuel costs may of course be difficult for you to do as their landlord, but the more efficient the heating system you install and the more sophisticated the control systems available to tenants, the more likely are they to play their part in helping to mitigate risks of condensation.

Condensation, damp, and the growth of unsightly and health-threatening mould pose a triple-pronged headache for landlords of buy to let property. But it is the health hazard of condensation and growth of mould that it encourages that is most likely to prompt complaints by your tenants to the local council. The latter, in turn, may then investigate the problem and impose measures you must take to remedy the problem.

Both the government and Citizens Advice stress a landlord’s responsibility for maintaining let property in a good state of repair. Not only is that your legal obligation as a landlord but a regular schedule of regular maintenance and repair is the key to avoiding the disruption and expense of tenancy voids.

Much better to avoid the risk of the let property having to be vacated because it has been allowed to fall into disrepair and a major restoration project is needed to fix it up again.

Since the cost of that maintenance schedule is typically one of the biggest overhead expenses which you are likely to face as a landlord, what might be done to manage and control essential repairs and maintenance?

Weather

Probably the number one enemy for the owner of any buy to let property comes from something as simple and inescapable as the great British weather. Blistering sunshine in summer, pouring rain, winter storms and the risk of flooding, ice, and snow, all take their toll on the condition of the building itself and even its contents.

If you want to manage and control your expenditure on repairs and maintenance, therefore, a major objective will be mitigating the punishing effects of the elements by weatherproofing your let accommodation.

This means maintaining your let property in a good state of repair the full year around.

Areas for particular consideration are:

• the roof, where any slipped or missing tiles or slates must be promptly replaced;
• all the rainwater goods – such as gutters and downpipes – which must be kept free of blockages and provide free-flowing drainage; and
• the external walls – where the brickwork must be checked to have been adequately pointed and remains free of cracks.

Maintaining your property in a good state of repair is also likely to be a condition of the landlords’ insurance you might have arranged through us here at Cover4LetProperty.

Seasons

Your maintenance schedule for weatherproofing the let property also needs to take into account the changing seasons – and the fact that winter conditions may be especially punishing.

This is the time of year when the focus is on the importance of striking the most appropriate balance between the cold and wet conditions outside to the moist and warm conditions that are likely to be present inside. Communication with your tenants on maintaining that balance may be critical.

So, weatherproofing your let property might involve just as much attention to the facilities you are providing your tenants inside the building as to anything you need to maintain and repair outside. This means ensuring that open chimney flues have been competently swept (preferably by a member of the National Association of Chimney Sweeps or the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps) and that any hot water or central heating boiler has been professionally serviced.

Empty property

A properly weatherproofed property is all the more important when and if your let accommodation is left unoccupied – for example, during the period when former tenants have left, but whilst you are still waiting for new tenants to move in.

This is a time when your usual landlord’s insurance policy may impose severe restrictions that reflect the increased risks of an unoccupied property. Some insurers may even consider your insurance cover to have lapsed altogether after your property has been left empty for longer than 30-45 consecutive days (depending on the insurer in question).

The solution in those circumstances is likely to be purpose-designed, specialist unoccupied property insurance which we can help you arrange.