Date                9th November 2015
Time                6:pm to 8:30pm
Venue             Central Bedfordshire Council Watling House, High Street North, Dunstable.
                        LU6 1LF
 
AGENDA ITEMS                      
 

• Let's Rent Scheme! Working with Private Landlords
• Gas and Electrical safety in rented accommodation.
• The presentation will look at the landlords duty of care & legal requirements for Gas & Electrical systems & appliances in their rented properties and also CO and smoke alarms
• The Deregulation Act 
• Following the Deregulation Act, this presentation with give an update on the matters affecting landlords, including the changes & rules for tenancy deposits, 'retaliatory' & 'revenge' evictions, and ending an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.

 

• Funding and Energy Efficiency          

 
If you would like to attend this forum please email me daniel.bourke@belvoirlettings.com

Last week the Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis announced that the temporary permitted development right introduced in May 2013 and due to expire in May 2016 to convert offices to residential is to be made permanent. This allows conversion of office premises to residential use, subject only to local authority prior approval of a limited range of matters.

I have been working with a number of developers in Dunstable who have carried out a conversion under this permitted development right and have provided a number of studios and 1 bedroom apartments which are desperately needed right now in Dunstable. The amount of jobs being created has attracted a large number of employees who all require housing in an area already suffering from a shortage of good quality rental property.

The B1(a) to C3 change was previously only to operate to a 30 May 2016, but now under the Housing and Planning Bill this will become permanent.   Office-to-residential conversions can proceed under PD rights, rather than a more detailed planning application having to be submitted, but will be subject to prior approval from the local authority in relation to flooding, highways, transport and contamination impacts.  

The new permitted development rights will also permit the demolition of office buildings and new buildings for residential use as well as enabling the change of use of light industrial buildings and laundrettes to new homes

At this months meeting we have:

How To Find Joint Venture Partners To Help You Build A High Cash Flow Property business – Vanish Patel
Vanish Patel, will be sharing how to find and work with joint venture partners. Vanish is a successful investor and coach who knows everything there is to know about structuring JV partnerships.

ALSO…The Property Investors Budget Survival Guide. How it affects you and what you need to do about it – Ranjan Bhattacharya

The Summer Budget of 2015 is a complete Game Changer for all UK Property Investors. It's impact on the UK private rented sector will be gradual but far reaching. Many property investors will find that increases in taxation will render their existing business models unprofitable.

This seminar will explain:

The impact of key changes to property taxation and how nearly ALL Property Investors WILL PAY A LOT MORE TAX
 
The planning and Steps You Must Take Now to prepare for the Buy-to-Let Tax Grab so you can survive the next few years
 
The Business Models you Must Adopt to Prosper from these tax changes and profit in the new Buy-to-Let landscape which will emerge

If it is your first time attending a PIN meeting you can use the code below for FREE entry
 
Click on this link: Luton Pin
Click “Book using a voucher code”
Insert you contact details
Enter “belvoirluton” into voucher code box and click apply voucher button
Click, “Click Here to book your place now” - An email confirmation will be sent to you
 

For a first time investor looking for a ‘Vanilla’ property that will rent out all day long and give them a safe return without too much heartache I have found these recent 1 bedroom properties.

This property on the North West side of Dunstable is a one bedroom ground floor apartment with allocated parking at the rear of the property.
It has its own front door to the gardens, electric heating, is fairly spacious for a 1 bedroom apartment and will probably require just a freshen up to prepare it for rental.
It is advertised at £120,000 and with a market rent of £600pcm will return a rental yield of 6% Lynwood Lodge

This next property on the East side of Dunstable but close to the town centre is a one bedroom top floor apartment with allocated parking in a sought after development which is about 10 years old. It is very convenient for workers on the Woodside Industrial Estate especially the new Amazon fulfilment centre.
There would be very little to do to prepare this apartment for rental, most probably just cosmetic touches.
This one is advertised at £115,000 and with a market rent of £600pcm and possibility of achieving £625pcm you would be looking at a minimum rental yield of 6.2%. Bramley Court

Now for the wild card for the investor who might have cash in the bank.

This brand new apartment is in the centre of Dunstable and is in a very well refurbished building which has been finished to a very high standard.
There are a couple of quirks to this building including the requirement for a cash buyer so the owner has decided to rent it until an investor is found.
 
This apartment is located on the first floor and has a fully fitted kitchen including dishwasher, a proper sized bathroom and bedroom with fitted wardrobes. It also has an allocated parking space to the rear which is hard to find in the centre of town.
This is a buy and go property. Everything is new and it has an NHBC 10 Year Warranty.
This one is advertised at £110,000 and the tenant is paying £675pcm giving a rental yield of 7.36% !
For a cash investor this is definitely one to make time to look at. Albion Buildings

if you are a first time investor looking for some advice on which properties and areas you should be looking at to invest in Dunstable email me daniel.bourke@belvoirlettings.com or call into my shop at 18 Church Street, Dunstable.

Do you understand the tax changes announced this year and how they will effect your income from your rental property?
Are your finances structured in the best way to protect your investments in the future?
 
The changes announced earlier this year could greatly impact landlord’s income and in case you missed the announcements they cover claims for wear and tear and a reduction of tax relief on mortgages from 2017 to 2020 which could possibly push you into the higher tax bracket.
 
Belvoir Dunstable will be holding an event one evening in November (date to be confirmed)  for about an hour when we will have an Accountant and a Wealth Management specialist explaining the changes. This will focus on the upcoming tax changes and implications for landlords and how best to structure your property ownership and finances to protect them in the future from taxes such as inheritance tax and Capital Gains Tax. You will then be able to ask them any questions you might have after the presentations.
 
If you would like more information to attend this event please email daniel.bourke@belvoirlettings.com

With increased traffic congestion, mounting rail travel, motoring and parking costs, and rising stress levels related to commuting, more and more people are opting to work from home. It’s a trend that I make sure that landlords are aware of and one of the reasons a 2 bedroom property is the most sought after in Dunstable.
 
National statistics show that one in seven Britons now work from home. The 4.2million workers who shun the commute in favour of doing their jobs without leaving the house has gone up by 800,000 over the past ten years.
 
On-going technological advances that enable people and businesses to connect ‘on the go’ or from virtually any location has, for many, reduced the need to travel to an office.
 
The 24 per cent increase has also been boosted by women seeking to find flexible work arrangements to fit around childcare.
 
As employers offer greater flexibility surrounding work hours and location, a growing number of employees are taking advantage and working from a dedicated space at home. An increasing number of tenants now have a home office high on their list of criteria and landlords should be responding to this.
 
Government legislation has also been reviewed this year to reflect the growing trend of small businesses run from private rented properties.
 
Any private rented property from which a business is operated is now subject to a new law under section 35 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.
 
This newly defined ‘Home Business Tenancy’ allows tenants to operate any business that can reasonably be run from home, with the specific exclusion of the sale or supply of alcohol.
 
Whilst I believe this is a sensible development that will be welcomed by landlords, there are still many other things to consider since mortgage lenders and insurance companies may have clauses in their agreements which restrict or prohibit home working in some properties.
 
The terms can often be complex and the new changes do not apply to any tenancy which existed before these provisions came into force, so to accommodate the changing and growing need for ‘home working’ by tenants, landlords should seek out early professional advice.
 
For landlords interested in capitalising on this trend, I have identified the key components that need to be considered when creating an attractive working area in the home:
 

• Ample phone and electrical sockets – any home worker is likely to need fast and reliable Wi- Fi connection to the internet, along with one or more phones, computers, scanners and copiers so sufficient power provision is necessary to set up a dedicated home working area.
• Furniture, or the space in which a tenant can put their own – every office at least needs a desk and some storage space and it’s important to consider where furniture might go when installing sockets. Fitting out a small space is challenging but with the right furniture and a little imagination it’s certainly possible.
• Lighting – every home worker needs good lighting, be it from a window or artificial. This should be considered when creating a dedicated working space; if the space is small and doesn’t benefit from a window, appropriate low intensity lighting should be used.

 
Some landlords may not have the option of devoting an entire room to office space but for those that do a relatively small investment might add considerable letting appeal.
 
Even if the space is used only for organising bills or for students doing homework, landlords need to realise the demand for a dedicated working space - the kitchen table just won’t suffice anymore. With millions now working from home across the UK, landlords should be considering the changing market and making provisions for it.
 
Daniel Bourke – Director Belvoir Dunstable and Lettings Specialist at Luton Property Investors Network (PIN)