Greetings, I Come in Peace

[Turbine Terry]

Thank you. I was thinking of using a service to locate and secure tenants. Does anyone have any views on that?

I use Openrent for all my properties - advert and referencing for 2 tenants only £90 total - saves hundreds from using a normal letting agent and advert goes on Rightmove etc. I had 97 enquiries in 4 weeks for my last advert, but I am very picky so I took my time before choosing. You do the viewings yourself with Openrent which is also better as you get to meet the tenants and so you can get a feel of them (not that kind of feel; that's frowned upon these days ). Meeting, and making sure you get good tenants will go a long way to countering the negative aspects of the Renters Reform Bill if/when it is introduced as expected. If you are considering buying a property that is lower than a C grade EPC study the EPC first and see how costly it will be to get to a grade C and/or make sure you can afford £10k worth of EPC upgrades over the next 4 to 6 years to safeguard against any new EPC regs that may come in. No one knows for sure what any regs will look like yet or when they will be introduced (or even if they will be) - some changes are highly likley though, but worst case should be a £10k cap on what we must spend per property, so planning now will help offset the pain. Even though it was easier/less stressful when I started 20 years ago if you are prepared to put some work in I still consider it to be a very good time to be a landlord (best returns I have ever had at the moment). If you go into it knowing all the potential pitfalls you will find that most can be offset by a bit of work, careful planning and research. Read lots online about what being a good landlord entails and the regs and laws etc that we must comply with. Good Luck.

[Section20z]

1. What are the main reasons behind this advice?
2. If you could go back in time and invest in something else, what would it be?

1. Legislation & tax 2. More houses. But wouldn't buy any today.

[doobrey]

+1 on the above (post #17).

To item 1, I would add: 'Risk'.

[davetg]

I still can't think of a better thing to invest in even given all the new regulations. The lessons i have learnt are:-
1) Never let to people on benefits.
2) Don't over leverage your borrowing.
3) Have access to spare funds for unexpected things like a new boiler being required or new EPC rules.
4) Don't be too friendly with tenants - keep it polite and business like.
5) Don't be rushed into a tenancy because someone is desperate and check all tenants very thoroughly.
6) Never let to people on benefits.

[jpucng62]

1. What are the main reasons behind this advice?
2. If you could go back in time and invest in something else, what would it be?

The last 20 years may have been the 'golden years' for BTL. There is more regulation & higher taxation on BTLs; mortgage costs are going up; tenants are getting more rights & EPC C is coming.

The stock market is the place to go instead - £20k per year in an ISA means all tax is avoidable and when I look back over my 20 years would've made me. similar amount of profit!

There are few guarantees in life, but at least the stock market will never need a new boiler!

[jpucng62]

So presumably a lot of people here are going to have to do exactly that before 2025. What is the general strategy? Wait until the tenancy ends then upgrade? Wade in and do it now in preparation? Pay your sister's boyfriend's mate for a 'C' certificate?

Some upgrades are easy - LED light bulbs, loft insulation; others much more tricky - floor insulation; party wall insulation; some are just very expensive - external wall insulation.

The EPC assessment is not fit for purpose so it is really tricky to know what to do. What I wouldn't do is buy a Victorian / Edwardian Terrace or an electrically heated property. If you buy a modern house with gas central heating & cavity wall insulation you should be ok for now.

I am selling all my Victorian / Edwardian terraces & potentially all my electrically heated properties (depending on the change in the assessment due later this year). If you only need minor upgrades you can do them with tenants in situ but many of the recommendations are farcical - floor insulation (1 point) and are impossible with tenants in situ.

The proposal is new tenancies by 2025 or 2026 & all by 2028 - that may seem a long way away, but in rental terms really isn't. Under the proposals after these dates it will be illegal to rent a property with a lower EPC.

I assume before long houses with a C or above are going to fetch higher prices on the market?

At present that is not the case but the Govt are trying to force mortgage companies to give preferential treatment to EPC C houses and eventually, when everyone catches on, it might be.

If you are going to get in to this (and my recent advice to my son was - don't) be sure you do not buy a problem. The Govt is seton NetZero by 2050 and is using the PRS as a guides pig. Buy a modern house with a high EPC score and leave the lovely, characterful older properties for FTBs.

PS If you by a flat remember that ground rent and lease charges come straight off your bottom line - freehold is much better!

[jpucng62]

If you are considering buying a property that is lower than a C grade EPC study the EPC first and see how costly it will be to get to a grade C and/or make sure you can afford £10k worth of EPC upgrades over the next 4 to 6 years to safeguard against any new EPC regs that may come in.

Also consider the date of the EPC - the assessment has change a lot since they came in 10 years ago and and old assessment may be out by quite a lot of points or may have had work done that is not reflected in the EPC.

I had a house lose 10 points in 10 years without anything else changing!

[DPT57]

Letting property is no longer a hands off investment or sensible for anyone who doesn't have the time and the will to learn the trade. You need to read, read and then read some more. Forums like this are invaluable, but if you're not yet a member of the NRLA I would suggest you join and do their foundation training.

[Hollywood]

I've just come across this in a neighbours EPC (D 60) which is now up for sale, under 'How to improve this property's energy performance Heat recovery system for mixer showers

It's worth a point on the EPC, have a Google.
I've not seen them before

[Berlingogirl]

Just googled them and they’re £684! Ha ha ha! How long would it take for it to pay for itself?

[Hollywood]

"Typical yearly saving £22.00"
That EPC was done May 2021, My neighbouring property (identical) done in Nov 2021 no mention of device

[SouthernDave]

Check the EPC. Rented houses are supposed to be EPC-C by 2025 for new tenancies. You don’t want to have to tear the place apart after a few years to add insulation. If I was buying, I’d want at least EPC-B to add some future-proofing.
Good luck!

theres no way this will happen. The gov have no idea what they are proposing, its all a pipe dream designed to get people thinking. It was like when they said all gov funded construction projects needed to be undertaken as a BIM process by 2016 because they wanted to reduce the cost of UK construction. What a joke.

[Slackjawedyokel]

theres no way this will happen. The gov have no idea what they are proposing, its all a pipe dream designed to get people thinking. It was like when they said all gov funded construction projects needed to be undertaken as a BIM process by 2016 because they wanted to reduce the cost of UK construction. What a joke.

Maybe not - who knows what a Govt will do these days…
It shows the intention though. I wouldn’t buy a low EPC BTL these days (unless I had a clear plan and budget for how to raise its EPC).
Environmental considerations aren’t going to go away and the outlook for oil/gas/electricity prices is bleak. I don’t see any Govt going easy on landlords that fail to bring their properties up to scratch. Whether they are sensible enough to balance the needs of tenants to have low-energy houses to rent with their needs to actually HAVE houses to rent is an open question!

Me? I’ll continue munching popcorn from the sidelines 🍿.

[Hudson01]

Totally agree with the above comment, the govt are locked into this now, there is no going back, as LL's we have no friends !! I have firming up my plans for the years ahead on how i am going to dispose of my properties and when i am going to '' have the conversation '' with my very good long term tenants. I know it will be a total blow to them all but there is nothing more i can do, i am not prepared to spend the amounts of money needed to bring them up to a C, It makes zero financial sense for me (at my stage in life), the ROI does not add up, i would have to live to 150 to see a return.

If the shower in power could not sort out the cladding crisis and do the right thing...... do we really think they will assist LL's........

[Sydaton]

......I still consider it to be a very good time to be a landlord (best returns I have ever had at the moment).

When you say, "best returns", Terry, is that based on what you paid for the properties or their current values?