Landlord stress - the problems of letting property: Property news roundup

Plus, house sale fall through rate, the £5m market, and 'bank of mum and dad' figures

Two bedroom flat to rent in Victoria Street, St.Albans AL1. On with Langleys for £825 pcm (£190 pw).

One in four landlords say letting property is more stressful than they expected and two thirds admit they are more stressed now than a year ago.

The survey for UK Landlord Tax show that the biggest contributing factors are late rent payments (58 per cent), funding property maintenance and repairs (40 per cent) and tax worries (38 per cent).

Although three quarters of those surveyed said they had no plans to stop letting out their property in the next year, just over a half said they didn’t expect to make any money in that time either.

"Following the dramatic increase in landlords in the UK it’s not surprising that they are becoming more stressed. Letting properties is a serious business and with the number of so-called ‘accidental landlords’ increasing significantly it’s no surprise that landlords are feeling the pressure.," said Simon Thandi, director at UK Landlord Tax.

Bank of Mum and Dad still crucial

A survey of 1,000 people actively looking for property to buy emphasises the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is still vital to getting on the property ladder. The research from removals company Bishop’s Move shows that 42 per cent of those aged 25-34 feel that their greatest challenge to buying a home is the ability to raise a deposit. This drops to 23 per cent for those aged 35-44.

However, only 14 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 said their greatest challenge to buying a property was getting money together for a deposit.

"I think there is now an acceptance amongst some parts of the younger generations that they don’t have a choice but to turn to the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ if they want to get on the property ladder, which is why I think the figures for those aged between 18-24 are so low," said Bishop’s Move’s Sales & Marketing Director, Chris Marshall. "Raising a deposit isn’t a concern to them now as they know that safety net is there."

Brits return to £5m+ market

British buyers have accounted for more than two thirds of all £5 million+ sales since the start of 2014, compared to half the sales in the same period last year, according to figures from Knight Frank.

"The increase in mergers and acquisitions and the stock market has encouraged UK national buyers to buy having been waiting in the wings for a while," said Rupert Sweeting, Head of Knight Frank Country. "Some company owners now feel they can invest their dividends in a home rather than keep them in reserve for their business."

The report also shows that demand from Asia has increased, with Chinese buyers accounting for six per cent of the market since the start of 2014, up from zero last year.

House sale fall through rate

New figures indicate that the house sale fall through rate has increased steadily since March 2013, according to Quick Move Now.

"Quick Move Now is seeing two clear reasons for the upwardly moving fall through rate," said Quick Move Now’s market analyst, Donna Houguez. "Stricter rules imposed on borrowing by lenders as a result of the mortgage market review have resulted in buyers making offers, confident that they would be able to secure a mortgage and then realising that they were unable to, forcing them to pull out of sales.

"In August and September, the reason for sales falling through clearly changed, and it was the buyers themselves who became nervous. We saw a sharp increase in the number of buyers who had made a generous offer in order to secure a property against the competition change their mind and pull out amid fears of an imminent property market collapse."