Newsletters

12.11.2009 | Autumn 2009

The market

The Rental market has stabilized after a period where the oversupply of properties from the depressed sales sector has put pressure on rents. According to ARLA, the industry body, the temporary influx of ‘accidental landlords’ who turn to rental because they cannot sell, has slowed, as the housing market has shown signs of stability. Rents as a result have started to stabilize and yields remain steady at around 5%. A shortage of supply is considered to be temporarily boosting the housing market but economic indicators and difficult mortgage conditions are expected to limit the speed of any recovery. However, the early signals are now in place for buy-to-let landlords to start investing, which should help fuel any recovery.

‘Conti-Rental’

New research by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has found that there is a demand for more flexible accommodation from today’s 18-30 year olds and they are a generation of renters compared to their older counterparts.

A survey of over 1,800 people revealed that double the amount of the younger generation (30.8%) have rented three or four properties, whilst only 17.5% of Generation X had rented a similar number at the same age. 34.2% of Generation Y that currently live in rented accommodation confessed that they enjoy independence from property ties.

A further 31.6% enjoyed the flexibility to move around. However, only 8% thought it wasn’t important to eventually own their own property. There were more men who had never paid rent for a property - 32.3% had opted to stay in the family home - whilst 75% of females were making their own way in the world and had either bought or were in rented accommodation.

Young females were keener to get on the property ladder with 45.2% having bought before they turned 25, whilst only 32% of men could claim the same. 21% of 18-to-30s stated that they wanted to continue renting for the foreseeable future.

Ian Potter, Operations Manager of ARLA, said: “The research reveals a generation that want to be upwardly mobile and free from ties. Attitudes towards renting have changed in the UK and perhaps we’re becoming more like our fellow Europeans, who tend to rent rather than buy.

“This trend of being “conti-rental” recognises that renting should no longer be perceived as a waste of money, but simply as an alternative lifestyle choice. Today’s graduates, more than ever, are looking for work that involves travel and opportunities to move around, renting allows them to operate more freely in a flexible job market.”

ARLA steps up call for compulsory qualifications

ARLA has criticised the Government for not throwing its weight behind compulsory professional qualifications for letting agents. Ian Potter, operations manager of ARLA, said: “The current depressed sales market has highlighted the ease of entry into the lettings sector. Sales agents have been turning to lettings as an alternative source of income despite having no relevant qualifications or experience in what is a highly specialist area. There are real dangers that landlords and tenants could fall foul of rogue operators and this is unacceptable in terms of consumer protection. We estimate that around half of letting agents still do not belong to a professional body. This poses a risk to new landlords as well as tenants.”

ARLA was responding to Government proposals in the wake of the Rugg Report, which called for the mandatory licensing of all letting and managing agents, together with compulsory registration of landlords.

ARLA qualification

We pride ourselves in having ARLA trained and qualified staff in every office. This is an important part of the Dorset Lettings philosophy, reflecting our dedication to achieving the highest industry standards. The appropriate members of staff in each of our offices are either already qualified or are studying for the new industry qualification, The Technical Award in Residential Lettings, which is an exacting four part programme of study and examination.

Safe to let?

Following the death of a mother of two from Cornwall, electrocuted by bathroom taps while running a bath, the Electrical Safety Council is calling on all landlords and tenants to undertake basic but essential checks to ensure their rented homes are electrically safe. The coroner into the death stated that he found it inexplicable that whilst gas safety inspections are a legal requirement, electrical checks are not. Landlords do have a legal obligation to make sure that electrical installations in their rented properties are safe.

The Electrical Safety Council is now calling for basic checks to be carried out on rental homes. The Electrical Safety Council has published a new Guide to Electrical Safety as part of its campaign. A copy can de downloaded free of charge at www.esc.org.uk

Director general of the Electrical Safety Council, Phil Buckle said “An inspection of the electrical installation by a registered electrician, known as a ‘Periodic Inspection’, checks for any lack of earthing or bonding and can identify potential dangers.” (ARLA Agreement Magazine August 09)

If your property is fully managed by Dorset Lettings we can arrange for a periodic inspection to be carried out by a NICEIC qualified electrician. It is recommended that this check is carried out every 5 years. Please let us know if you require more information or for an inspection to be arranged.

New website

The new website was launched in October. The site is much more state-of-the-art with significantly improved features, is more user friendly and reflects the new Dorset Lettings brand. We hope you like it.

Testimonials

Incorporated in our new website will be a section for Testimonials. We are looking for comments and feedback on our service. If you feel you would like to contribute please post to the office or email to debbieking@dorsetlettings.co.uk

Property portals

We would now estimate that the majority of our tenant leads are generated via the internet. As well as investing in our new website we are also increasing our investment in the main portal, Rightmove.co.uk, as well as the other leading players such as Primelocation.com, Findaproperty.com and Propertylive.co.uk. Investment in this medium will continue and we are continually assessing ways to maximize our presence.

To-let boards

Perhaps the most underrated marketing medium for our properties is our ‘to-let’ board. Many prospective tenants, tour areas before deciding on a location, street or property and a ‘to-let’ board is often the catalyst to turn interest into action. Our new boards are designed to stand out whilst reflecting an image of quality.

Julia’s House

Sales of the Dorset Lettings calendar were a little disappointing, particularly after the success of the picture competition last summer. Nevertheless the group managed to raise £3,000 for Julia’s House which will contribute to the cost of their continued excellent work.

Rental Insurances

Given the current economic climate we feel it important to consider rent guarantee and legal cover insurance when renting out your property. Although we have only had a handful of rent problems during the past 12 months, this is an increase on previous years and a clear indicator that even rural Dorset has suffered its share of the credit crunch. Rentshield are willing to offer a rent guarantee policy to any of our landlords provided that their tenant currently has a good payment history and that Dorset Lettings can verify the references and identification that was taken prior to the start of the tenancy. Please contact your local office if you would like to discuss this further

Boiler Servicing

The weather has suddenly turned Autumnal and tenants are starting to use their heating systems. For any landlord whose boiler has not been serviced recently please let us know and we will arrange this for you.

As the winter draws closer we will ensure that empty properties have the heating turned on low for a part of the day in order to avoid burst pipes.

PAT Testing

For all those landlords whose properties contain electrical items, please remember that they should be PAT Tested annually. Dorset Lettings have approved electricians who can undertake this on your behalf.

The Energy Sav ing Trust

So keen is the government to improve the amount of energy we lose from our homes, that they have made available grants which will be administered by the Energy Saving Trust. As much as 50% of funding can be obtained towards cavity wall insulation and loft insulation etc. Further information is available on www.energysavingtrust.org.uk; follow the link to ‘search for grants and offers’. We have been advised by our energy performance assessor that these grants are available to landlords as well as owner/occupiers and that the trust needs to allocate its current funding in order to be eligible to obtain its next allocation.

News from Wimborne

Since the transfer of Nicholas Sharp to our Dorchester office we are pleased to welcome the new member of our team, Sophie Tuffin.

Sophie has recently graduated from Southampton Solent University having completed a degree in Architectural Technology. With an in-depth knowledge in property construction Sophie has quickly become an invaluable member of the team.

Sophie has previous residential lettings and property management experience working for a large corporate in Hampshire and will be building upon this experience through undertaking the National Federation of Property Professional Technical Award. Sophie is very much looking forward to starting her formal training in December 2009.

A huge Congratulations is in order for Stephanie Wright who recently completed the NFOPP Technical Award with flying colours. Stephanie has found the in-depth legal training valuable and is on hand to answer any legal queries or concerns you may have.

Stephanie manages a large portfolio of properties and has established good relationships with her client landlords and tenants.

Debbie King, our manager has recently been accepted to run the Virgin London Marathon 2010 for Spinal Research and is very much looking forward to many long dark cold nights of running to come. Any sponsorship contributions would be much appreciated.

News from Sherborne

Good luck to Tina Herbert who will sit the second part of her ARLA industry award early in November. We hope that Chloe Salter will take part one before the end of the year.

Katherine Vickery attends a business meeting on a weekly basis and has formed extremely good links with a wide variety of quality companies in the locality. Should any of our landlords require a recommendation for an accountant, solicitor, will writer, web designer, stock broker, removal firm, tradesman or virtually any business please do ask and we can put you in touch. We have used many of them ourselves and have no hesitation in recommending their services.

Traditionally we have found the letting market to be reasonably quiet in Sherborne during September. It seems that those looking to rent before the school term starts have moved over the summer and those without children take their holidays. The expected pattern has continued and we have been very busy letting since the beginning of October. Interestingly a significant proportion of our applicants has sold properties elsewhere and is looking to relocate to Dorset. This supply of tenants had disappeared completely earlier this year having made up such a large proportion of our market for many years. Perhaps this flurry of Autumnal sales is a sign of better things to come next year.

News from Weymouth

We are very pleased to welcome as part of our busy team, Julie Gear who joins us as Lettings Administrator. Julie has lived in Weymouth her whole life and her knowledge of the area is a valuable asset.

We were also very pleased to be asked to Sponsor the Weymouth Cougars Junior Football Team for the 2009/10 Season and our logo looks good on their smart new “strip”. We wish them every success in their matches.

The business in Weymouth continues to grow and shoots of the Olympic effect are now appearing. We have already let two properties to team sailors in training in Weymouth waters and are receiving enquiries from property owners keen to let property in Weymouth and Portland from the Spring of 2010 through to the 2012 Olympic Games.

We are in direct contact with all the teams who will be competing in the sailing events and there is demand for accommodation from next spring whilst teams train and during the many sailing events which will be taking place in the run-up to 2012.

Lets of various lengths will be in demand, ranging perhaps from 2/3 weeks to longer term tenancies up to and covering the Olympic events themselves. Premium rents will be obtainable during peak training periods and, of course, during The Games themselves and we are currently researching supply and demand which will dictate rent levels.
We are also in process of creating a micro-site linked to our new Dorset Lettings website and this will greatly facilitate our communication with would-be landlords and tenants at this exciting time.

We hope that any Landlord who is considering an “Olympic Let” will be in touch when we will be pleased to share with them our knowledge of likely tenant requirements and advise on the rents which they may be able to expect.