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Landlords brace themselves for benefit caps

There are concerns that cutbacks in Local Housing Allowance will push increasing numbers of tenants into arrears. But demand for rental properties remains high, so what is the outlook for landlords?

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by Lorna Bourke on Sep 06, 2010 at 00:01

Landlords brace themselves for benefit caps

There are concerns that cutbacks in Local Housing Allowance will push increasing numbers of tenants into arrears. But demand for rental properties remains high, so what is the outlook for landlords?

The National Landlords Association reports that confidence among landlords has dipped for the first time in almost two years, driven by concerns about arrears and increases in Capital Gains Tax. Meanwhile, rental agents report a shortage of properties and an increase in demand as first time buyers give up hope of getting a mortgage.

According to the NLA, landlords are anxious about Coalition plans to restrict Local Housing Allowance and are afraid that this will show up as an increase in arrears as tenants struggle to fund the shortfall on their rent. LHA, paid to a million private sector tenants who are unemployed or on low incomes, is to be capped at a maximum of £400 a week with lower caps for smaller properties.

‘Cuts to Local Housing Allowance are causing concern to many landlords as it could leave their tenants struggling to pay their rent.’ commented Chris Norris, policy manager at the NLA. Figures from the NLA reveal that a fifth of private-residential landlords had tenants in rent arrears during second quarter of 2010.

Demand holds up

Clearly, if LHA is reduced then some landlords will suffer – those whose rental levels exceed the caps and anyone letting for more than £400 a week to a tenant on benefit. But if demand for property currently exceeds supply – as the letting agents and various surveys indicate - then presumably landlords will be able to find new tenants who can afford the rent.

‘This is primarily a London problem,’ says Vincenzo Rampulla of the NLA. He denies that some landlords have been profiteering. Government figures show that the median LHA rent for three bedroom accommodation in London is £730 a week – well above the new £400 cap - and there are some claimants receiving as much as £4,500 a week.

Disproportionate impact?

But will LHA cuts affect some landlords disproportionately? Do some landlords specialise in renting to tenants on benefit? ‘Yes – and time scales are a real issue,’ says Rampulla. With so many tenants likely to be affected by the caps in the greater London area, where there is the heaviest concentration of buy to let properties, it will clearly take time for those who can no longer afford the rent once LHA is reduced, to find a cheaper property.

Referring to newspaper reports on excessive amounts being paid in LHA, Rampulla said, ‘these articles give the impression that landlords up and down the country are making piles of money out of housing benefit. The reality is that the average LHA award is £113.38 per week which is £491.31 per month. That’s hardly profiteering.’ He makes the important point, ‘surely the real issue that ministers should be trying to tackle are those local authorities who have been allowing these excessive claims?

‘I am a little surprised that this has been identified by the NLA as a major problem,’ says John Heron managing director of buy to let specialist lender Paragon. ‘There are bound to be some landlords who are affected by the cutback in LHA but I don’t think it is a big number. Most landlords’ experience will be that they might find themselves with a tenant on LHA because of unemployment. Our information tells us that the limits have been set appropriately,’ he says.

While the NLA is concerned about the effect that the cutbacks in LHA will have on pushing tenants into arrears – a major cause of landlords’ default on mortgages - in the rest of the private rental market reports are of demand from tenants exceeding supply of rental properties.

Rent increasing

The most recent survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors shows that the number of rental agents saying rents increased exceeded those reporting declines by 27% in the three months to the end of July. Banks have imposed tougher constraints on loans for buy-to-let purchases, reducing the number of rental properties coming on to the market. Meanwhile owner-occupiers are also having difficulty obtaining mortgages, particularly first time buyers, and this is leading to an increase in rental demand, says the RICS report.

‘Supply of letting property continued to fall in the three months to July although at the slowest pace in a year which amid rising tenant demand has helped propel rents higher for the second consecutive quarter,’ said James Scott-Lee of RICS. And there isn’t likely to be any sudden change. ‘Existing landlords keen to expand their portfolio may still be struggling to access the necessary finance despite improved market conditions,’ he said.

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24 comments so far. Why not have your say?

Ahh...poor landlords, going to have to get by without guaranteed unlimited funds from the govt, lets all rally together and maybe set up a website where people can leave donations for the out of pocket landlords.

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I am not aware that demand for rental property exceeds supply although I am sure that agents will want us to think that. I often make enquiries and find that I am offered a discount on the quoted price before I have met the landlord or visited the property. Estate agent windows are full of flats to rent any many seem to be on offer for a long time suggesting that demand is not as great as agents would have us believe.

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The LHA is about £103.00 per week in the North East for a couple so I dont think NE landlords have a great deal to worry about and thats if You Take LHA Tenants which I dont ?

Ever since the rules changed its just not worth the hassel

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FAO Ian

I can tell you as a matter of Fact my phone rings every day Tenants wanting Property

I do get regular calls from Estate Agents asking if I have any empty Properties so it looks to me in the North East that there is a shortage

Im not an Estate Agent and I dont have a shop window

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Tim, it is the Tenants that will ultimately suffer as Landlords will refuse to take on people on benefits. In case you hadn't noticed, there is a shortage of social housing in the country and no money to build any more. Do you think people will be happier on the street?

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I have LHA tenants in north wales and the rent is in no way guaranteed by the goverment, it gets paid direct to the claiment, not the landlord so if they dont want to pay the rent and claim as much in benefits as possible this is what they will do.

Having been a forced landlord with a home in negative equity for three years running i have yet to make a profit, the rent received is not enough to cover the mortgage and the last tenants knocked up arrears and damages of 10K before the courts got them out.

The current tenants are not in arrears but always pay late and in pieces etc but when they move out there is no way i would take on LHA tenants again.

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as the market tosses more onto the streets rents will rise then as the empty houses don't sell competition will rise to attract tenants at lower rates.

t'is the market that is.

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FAO: Dislexic Landlord

I cannot comment on the north east but parts of London are swamped with buy to let flats and property that developers cannot sell. The same is true for regional cities. There may be demand for housing but not at the rents being sought by landlords.

Take a look at flats in Woolwich and Thamesmead in South London. You can pick them up for a song because few people want to live there.

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@Steven - I agree the fact that money gets paid direct to the tenants is ridiculous and the reason why so many landlords do not take on LHA tenants.

@Andrew - If by suffer you mean they'll have to move out of an expensive part of London and go into more reasonable social housing on the outskirts of capital then so be it. The vast majority of above average earners cannot afford to pay £400 a week plus, so i cannot think of one good reason why anyone on benefits (or the govt) should pay to live in these houses.

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Cutting LHA may cause a short-term increase in arears. But the long-term effect will simply be to reduce market rents!

Most landlords will only let to DSS tenants if they can't get working people able to pay their own rent. So if LHA goes down they will have to either accept lower rents from DSS tenants or even lower rates from working people who weren't prepared to match LHA rents in the first place.

This is just another of the artificial props to house prices put in place by Labour and being kicked away by the ConLibs. Long may it continue!

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DEMAND & SUPPLY economics is the forte of BUY 2 LET or Residential Landlords in any financial enviroment... I am a London Landlord & a landlord elsewhere of 20 years standing. (in my opinion) to be a landlord you have to be able to build in the x factor....Insurance,emergency repairs 24/7 & dependent on what market your in have as far as you can ascertain DECENT & RESPONSIBLE tenants. Far better to have for example a single mother on benefits with a guaranteed rent than possibly a single person who loses their job... But it varies. The higher up you go the higher the risk. If the rent is £500 a week & the worker loses his/her job,has a domestic break up becomes ill what the last thing they pay.THE RENT.... There are plenty of decent landlords,plenty of bad uns & plenty of good/indifferent/crap tenants & the bad uns aint all on social security benefits. It is a two way street.LANDLORDS & TENANTS BOTH HAVE RESPONSABILITIES...........Of course one of the situations is this WHY SHOULD (FOR EXAMPLE) AN ASYLUM SEEKER GIVEN RIGHT TO REMAIN(WITH CHILDREN) HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHERE THEY WISH TO LIVE & CHOOSE A HIGHER PRICED PROPERTY ? INDEED WHY ? So the cialition have altered things perhaps too quickly but it had to be done. Tenants have rights & as most landlords will tell you probably way too many...............but(certain) people in this country(by law) have to live somewhere. Not a perfect system but LANDLORDS...BE FAIR,BE BUSINESSLIKE BUT BE CAUTIOUS.....

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FAO Ian

I do totaly agree with your comments

I find that the big problem in the BTL market are New Builds a lot of folks jumped on the band wagon and got there fingers burnt badly we have them in Newcastle

Im Quite a boaring landlord I buy only in the streets I know well infact its the streets I grew up in nothing special just good areas where first time buyers used to purchase before the credit crunch

BTL is a great bussiness to be in if ypiu get it right

I STICK TO WHAT I KNOW BEST thanks

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I agree with Tim Dawson - a lot of high earners can't afford £400 a week rent, why should people on benefits get paid this amount? They should be offered alternative accomodation elsewhere, maybe within a 25-30 mile radius of where they currently live. If they refuse it - tough luck, it's that or the street.

How some claimants are receiving as much as £4,500 a week, as the article suggests, is a disgrace and an insult to any tax payer. They must think they've won the lottery, courtesy of the tax payer. It's about time people getting LHA realise that they're lucky to have a roof over their heads paid for by the welfare state, rather than being picky about where they live.

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An update re; LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE. I have just received notification that I now have a judgement of £1,495 plus costs against........a tenant who has been resident since June 2004 on benefits... ASYLUM SEEKER(ONE CHILD)from the former YUGOSLAVIA.. GIVEN RIGHT TO REMAIN.....PLACED BY THE COUNCIL... She received 56 days rent didnt pay & i GET PAID DIRECT. I will not evict her because its guaranteed money provided she doesnt work & who in all honesty is going to employ her or tajke her on as a tenant ? PROBABLY NOBODY.........Will she return to her former country ? Probably not. Her standard of living here is okay.Not brilliant but stable. When did the troubles in YUGOSLAVIA cease ? 1995!!!!! Provided I dont evict her she will probably stay in residence................Suits me. AND THATS THE NAME OF THE GAME ALAS..

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Its about time the government got to grip with this problem. The taxpayer is being consistently 'ripped off' by these grossly excessive claims. There's plenty of alternative accomodation outside the London area at more moderate cost. Choice becomes a luxury when someone else is footing the bill.

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why why why did the last government sell off all the social housing as any fool could have seen this day coming and instead of forking out all this money in allowances, wouldn't it be far cheaper in the long term to start building sum new council housing to replace those sold off. as we have more and more people coming to live here it is going to get worse and worse. A mortgage of £1600 per month is out of range for the majority of people in this country yet the govt pays this to non working layabouts but refuses to help on the same basis with mortgage payments for thoses that have perhaps worked for 10, 20 or 30 years and claimed nothing from the state. I feel sorry for those who have lost employment and are now looking for a job but once again the hard working taxpayer looses out to the scrounger who does not want to work and contributes nothing.

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The BOTS on LHA are a by-product of Labour Funding of immorality and the lack of stigma attached to children born out of wedlock (Bastards).

My wife's cousin's (an NHS Consultant on £1million p.a. ) youngest daughter shocked the family by having TWO. Especially the two aunts in their late nineties. But then his first wife who left him to shack up with a married man came from a family with divorce in it. As indeed does our own Royal Family and indeed the heir to the throne carries on a very open carnal affair with his Kate. The eldest daughter an NHS Surgeon has been "married" (lived in sin) three times before getting married in a bandstand in Buxton. Very fash I believe if you are not very religious.

Her child was born in wedlock, conceived in sin - probably I do not know the exact dates!! I am not sure if the youngest gets any benefits - probably she does not as she has a trust fund.

So the working classes follow the example except we the taxpayer fund them. I know of cases where the Bride Of The State (Tenant) was on £15,000 in benefits and was never without a live in boyfriend. The last one was on £38,000 p.a. as a 23 year old miner! Why did she not remarry. - well just do the sums - these BOTS are not daft.

Hardly fair....... to the married couples who struggle by.

So there will be pain for many landlords down south will be worst, and tenants as the wealthy Eton boys root out the funded immorality of Gordon Bigot Brown and his cohorts.

I only let to BOTS by accident but then I agree that class/job is no delineator of bad tenants. NHS Nurses with babies are some of the filthiest...! No wonder we catch infections in Hospital.

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Dear Dislexic Landlord

I totally agree with your comments. As an amateur BTL landlord is there any chance of me tapping you for a bit of advice?

Thaks

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I gave one of my flats on one ocassion only to an LHA tenant. Very bad experience with late rentals, grugs, dogs, you name it. First and last time. Never again. Would rather get out of the BTL game then take that hassle on.

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Hi Jolly Rodger

Im more than happy to give you advice if I can I am a meber of the NLA and i do have a lot of experiance

But I dont know everything but ill try and point you in the right direction

THanks

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Extremely shrewd of this new government to get this manoeuvre in place before interest rates start to rise.

This way they are understood to be capping excesses rather than blamed for heaping pain on BTL landlords suffering higher interest rates.

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I don't think this will make much difference

LHA tenants may get priced out of expensive areas - so what? Why should people on benefits be living in expensive areas at all???

This will increase demand in cheaper areas - so boosting rents in the less popular areas. Maybe some of those empty flats in Woolwich and Thamesmead mentioned above will now find takers.

This will free up property in more expensive areas but private sector tenants will want these as private tenants usually want better locations and there is no shortage of rental demand for quality property in quality locations

Who knows - this might even hav the effect of increasing average rental levels for landlords if all the cheap stuff is block-booked for social use and the expensive stuff goes to the booming private sector tenants...

I do hope however that it will cause my nuisance anti-social neighbour on housing benefit to be forced to move somewhere cheaper...I hear there are plenty of empty homes in East Germany...

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To price people out of one area and move them to cheaper area is equivalent to Nazis social engineering when they moved Poles from thier homes and brought in german speaking immigrants from Russia.

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LANDLORD X

Sep 09, 2010 at 08:06

@ Jordan Azai

Fine - I tell you what - I will pack in my business, go unemployed and move to a luxury house in Mayfair and send you the bill for my rent and living costs - OK? Coz that's what a lot of people are doing and shafting the taxpayer...

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