London Houses for Rent

Secondary financial centres are feeling a chill too. Here is a snapshot from four different markets.

Dubai
The business hub of the Gulf region is seeing a slowdown in its construction boom as lenders rein in financing. Estate agents who deal in the upper end of the property market are now worried about shrinking investment as banks make it harder to get mortgages and wealthy Europeans and Asians curb their appetites for property purchases.

“It’s not surprising to see individuals cutting back on real estate investment. We can probably expect that to continue until stock markets settle,” says Jan Dabrowa of Dubai Properties Group.

Prices on both sales and rentals in the emirate have remained steady until now. But if the financial crisis worsens in the west they are widely expected to start falling.

Moscow
In the Russian capital, wealthy oligarchs have long propped up the high-end real estate market. But agents are now getting nervous. The Russian stock market has plummeted since June and in August the rouble suffered its worst monthly decline for more than nine years.

Would-be billionaires are too busy covering their professional concerns to consider property purchases. And yet, even as developers cancel projects, the supply of new housing units continues to grow, by 2.1 per cent in September to about 27,400 listings, with many more new high-end condos still set to open.

Natia Ratishvili, an estate agent at Knight Frank in Moscow with nearly a dozen properties priced above $4m on her books, says enquiries have fallen considerably in the past few weeks.

“One buyer agreed to put an offer in on an $8.6m apartment and then pulled out as the stock market started falling,” she says. “He really panicked and changed his mind at the last second and we’re beginning to see more and more of this behaviour.”

Singapore
The malaise in this city-state (pictured right) has spread from the lower and middle end of the market to high-rise condominiums and white-glove communities in exclusive districts, say brokers. Prices on properties valued at $3m or more – the luxury segment – have been reduced by 1020 per cent in just the past few weeks, according to data compiled by the Singapore Association of Estate Agents.

“The financial sector and the jobs that come with it are critical parts of the property market,” says Leong Wai Ho, an economist with Barclays Capital. “With the current economic climate, residential property prices could fall by up to 30 per cent over the next two years.”

Zurich
In the old-money Swiss city, headquarters for UBS, one of the European banks hit hardest by the credit crunch, there is also increasing gloom.

Estate agent Adrian Bratschi, who works in Küsnacht, a suburb popular with finance executives, says nearly half a dozen clients have pulled listings off the market over the past two weeks. “Some [people] are a little afraid, even if the crisis doesn’t directly affect them,” he says.

Article written by Troy McMullen

Technorati Tags: crisis, house, market, residential property

With the crisis that started in sub-prime mortgages now wreaking havoc on credit, equity and commodity markets and bringing down banks across the US and Europe, the world’s financial centres are bracing themselves for another kind of fallout – this time in prime residential property.

It’s still too early to gauge what the long-term effects will be and analysts warn that each city will respond differently but, anecdotally, sales of centrally located, high-end houses and apartments are slowing, while prices are stagnant or slipping. Estate agents from London to New York, Zurich to Singapore say this can only be exacerbated by the past few weeks of turmoil.

“They say when Wall Street sneezes, the rest of the financial world catches cold,” says Danny C.Y. Leung, a specialist in luxury condominium sales in Hong Kong. “We’re seeing a similar phenomenon in real estate, particularly on the sale of expensive properties.”

Financial centres historically weather economic storms better than most because they tend to be hubs for media, culture and tourism. But, by almost any measure, these are extraordinary times. “You’re seeing an unprecedented sell-off of securities and a series of shocking bank failures,” says Charles Wyplosz, an economics professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. “We are almost certain to see these factors affect property sales and investment, particularly among wealthy individuals.”

Following the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, two historic Wall Street institutions, and the looming belt-tightening in those banks that remain, New York City brokers are perhaps the most concerned. After years of resilience, the market is ­softening, with third-quarter sales volumes down 24 per cent from 2007, says veteran property appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel. The average price of a Manhattan apartment sold in the same period was $1.5m, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman, which was higher than in 2007 but down slightly from the $1.7m average achieved in the first quarter. And prices for new-build condos have started to drop – by 1.5 per cent year-on-year. Listings have meanwhile jumped to more than 10,000, according to estate agency Corcoran Group. And, as Miller notes ominously, the full impact of the banking crisis has not yet shown up in the data.

Many of the properties languishing on the market are in less bankable neighbourhoods and buildings constructed when speculative investment seemed like a good idea. At 20 Exchange Place, a recently completed 57-storey tower, sluggish sales have forced the developer to market the flats as rental apartments rather than condominiums. The company is also offering to waive brokers’ fees, security deposits and the first month’s rent in order to woo tenants. “Developers are being squeezed right now as the market shrinks and that’s forcing them to go to extraordinary lengths to fill units,” Miller says.

Individual sellers in the city’s priciest ­re-sale postcodes have started getting jittery in the past few weeks as well. Eugenia Foxworth, a broker with Warburg Realty Partnership, says clients have cut asking prices on seven of her 18 exclusive Upper East Side listings. Several others have pulled their homes off the market, hoping to ride out the economic slide. “The market for trophy properties will lose a little luster with current conditions,” she says. “Buyers and sellers have been put in a wait-and-see mode until they are sure the market will rebound.”

Leung says the same is true in Asia’s financial capital. Fears of rising interest rates, higher unemployment and a slowing economy have caused analysts to predict that Hong Kong house prices will drop by 10 per cent or more in the fourth quarter. Transaction volumes are down 60 per cent from last November’s levels, according to Knight Frank, and, although prices for the most luxurious properties in The Peak were still up year-on-year to HK$24,700 per sq ft in August they are now falling a bit each month. Rents are meanwhile being slashed – by 15 per cent for one development in the Mid-Levels. And, according to a survey by the Centaline Property Agency, thousands of estate agents are expected to leave the business in the next six months.

The London market is also faltering after a decade-long boom and the situation has only been exacerbated by the crisis hitting the City and Canary Wharf. An estimate by the Hay Group management consultants suggests financial and business services companies in the UK expect to shed 110,000 jobs in the year to next April, while those who do stay employed could see bonuses severely reduced.

As a result, property analysts are predicting that house prices will tumble at least 20-25 per cent from their peak. Gazundering – where buyers demand discounts as high as 30 per cent before signing contracts – is rife. And even estate agents in posh areas such as Kensington, Chelsea, Fulham and St John’s Wood say business has dropped significantly.

“We had more than 2,500 viewings in September and that’s a lot of traffic but now most people are sitting on their hands, watching and waiting,” says Lindsay Cuthill, a director at estate agency Savills. This week he received a “good offer” of £3m on a Fulham property. But that was £250,000 below the asking price and, generally, he says, “the £1m-£3m market – investment banker territory – is on hold”.

London’s super-prime market is said to be showing ‘early cracks’
According to Savills’ research department, turnover of homes worth £5m-£10m is also down – by a third in the first three quarters of this year compared to 2007 – while average prices in popular central London neighbourhoods have fallen by 12.1 per cent this year. And even the so-called super-prime market, which had been booming with billionaire buyers from Russia and the Middle East, is showing some “early cracks”, with prices down 1.8 per cent in the third quarter.

Eliza Leigh at Knight Frank paints a similar picture. “This financial crisis means we’re approaching a sustained period of slow growth. And we haven’t the foggiest idea how long it will last.”

The week Lehman collapsed, she dealt with one buyer who cited the market turmoil to secure a discount on a £2.9m Kensington flat. “He made a compelling argument that the whole financial situation had changed [and] I think the sellers were extremely worried that they wouldn’t be able to find another secure buyer with market conditions so perilous.”

Forecasting how the New York, Hong Kong or London property markets will perform in coming months is perhaps a fool’s game. As Savills’ Jonathan Hewlett says: “We’re dealing with the unknown.”

But Cuthill is fatalistic. “I was out last week with a client from Morgan Stanley and his wife, who is pregnant. And he said: ‘If my bank is still standing, and I still have a job and I still get a bonus, we’re still going to buy a house.’ People can only put their lives on hold for so long.”

End of Part I

Article written by By Troy McMullen

Technorati Tags: crisis, house, market, residential property

The Show is over. After Bradford & Bingley what now for buy-to-let.

Why has there been such a fuss about Bradford & Bingley - isn’t it just another failed bank?

Bradford & Bingley specialised in buy-to-let loans, which are now regarded as a risky business. As Gary Styles, economics director at the property data company Hometrack, explains: “It was absolutely a key player and it is difficult to see who is going to step in to take its place.”

So, is this the end of buy-to-let?

So far the signs suggest not: professional investors - the lucky souls who built up portfolios of five or more rental homes during the recent boom years and now have loads of equity - have been active in the auction rooms for months, snapping up bargains.
Related Links

• Buy-to-let: extra commission fees
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• Q&A: How will the buy-to-let market be affected?

Even smaller players are holding their nerve, even if few are in the mood to buy more homes now prices are falling. Jacqui Daly, an associate director of Savills, says: “There is a big contingent of buy-to-let investors who have invested to fund their retirement, sometimes with just one or two properties. I can’t see these guys exiting the market - and currently there is no evidence that they are.”

Can I still get a buy-to-let loan?

Yes, but you’ll have to work hard to find it. The website Moneyfacts.co.uk says that the number of deals being offered to buy-to-let investors has slumped by 85 per cent in the past turbulent year, to fewer than 500.

Ray Boulger, of the broker Charcol, says that Bradford & Bingley had “priced itself out of the market” in recent months - so in reality was offering few loans to borrowers. But the buy-to-let lenders who were still active responded quickly, by pulling deals or charging more. Boulger says: “HBOS has pushed up the cost of its buy-to-let deals and The Mortgage Works has pulled its rates and not issued its new ones.” Woolwich lifted its rates by as much as 0.5 percentage points on Wednesday. But Moneyfacts says that good deals remain: Cheltenham & Gloucester is offering a two-year fixed rate of 6.04 per cent - but you will need to pay 2 per cent and a further £99 in fees.

But higher rates don’t just affect buy-to-let investors . . .

No, but potentially they are more damaging. Boulger explains: “Some buy-to-let investors who may have qualified for a deal may find that they can’t achieve the required rental cover with the new more expensive rates. That may be particularly bad for those who are remortgaging and who can’t afford to put more cash in.”

Are more buy-to-let investors hurting than other borrowers?

For the moment, no. Bradford & Bingley’s much-reported buy-to-let bad debts seem to have arisen from its staggeringly imprudent lending decisions.

Some 12,100 (1.1 per cent) of the total 1.1 million buy-to-let loans outstanding are in arrears: this compares with 1.33 per cent of the 11.7 million loans that are held by owner-occupiers. Repossessions are running at 0.16 per cent of all loans, whether they are buy-to-let or owner-occupier, according to statistics from the Council for Mortgage Lenders .

But aren’t rents rising?

Rents have been on the up for two years, after stagnating for several years when buy-to-let investors piled in during the property boom. But, alas for investors, they have started to tail off again as economic woes set in. The hardest-hit areas are those with an oversupply, such as redeveloped city centres, particularly in the North (where Savills says that there are more distressed sales and that property values have dropped as much as 25 per cent in some cases). Savills says that rental returns on luxury London homes are now dropping for the first time in years.

Is demand falling?

The number of households is rising, but landlords fear that, now the UK economy is struggling, the influx of immigrants may reverse. But Jacqui Daly, of Savills, says: “This will be offset by first-time buyers, who now find they need to save deposits of 20 per cent to buy.” Hometrack says it is still 30 per cent cheaper to rent a home than buy, a mismatch that will encourage renters to stay put.

What about all those homes that won’t sell?

With prices 10 per cent lower than a year ago, many homeowners are choosing to rent out their homes, rather than sell at a loss. Many housebuilders are trying to get in on the act, too, which means more and more competition for tenants.

What’s the key to finding tenants now?

A grasp of the economic realities. Jane Ingram, of Savills’ letting division, puts it bluntly: “Everyone’s worried about money right now. The numbers of properties to let have increased. If you want to find tenants for any kind of property, you have to undercut the competition. Keen pricing and presentation are vital. The property has to be finished to a high standard.”

What level of makeover are you suggesting, exactly?

Pretty extensive. Simon Buhl Davis, who heads Savills’ interiors service, recommends the following measures: do a spring clean; hang mirrors to reflect light; maximise storage; create a fresh look by canny placement of flowers and fruit; and keep the garden tidy. He also also put special emphasis on the following: display the best possible photos of your property on websites; apply a fresh coat of paint to high-traffic areas such as hallways; regrout tiles on showers and put fresh mastic around the sides of baths; clear clutter (including post); get rid of smells without using overpowering air fresheners; and clean, clean, clean.

So, what can a letting agent do for me?

It depends on the level of service - and on the small print of the contract. A commission may be payable if your tenant stays on after the end of his agreement, even if the agent is no longer managing the property. This issue has been the subject of a recent ruling (see page 5). A basic letting service - where the agent finds tenants and takes deposits - should cost about 10 per cent of your rent. A full management contract (typically 15 per cent of rent) should cover repairs and maintenance.

Could I save money by sacking my agent?

Have you got the time and patience for such things as vetting the identity of prospective tenants, arranging an energy performance certificate and handling deposits? Do you live close enough to respond quickly? And can you do DIY? For advice on this and other aspects of being a landlord, Renting and Letting by Kate Faulkner, a new Which? guide, offers loads of advice (£10.99, www.which.co.uk ).

Are any parts of the market still booming?

The huge increase in the number of students at university is helping to keep the market for homes for them buoyant. The Government is worried about student ghettos springing up - and was talking this week about using the planning system to prevent this, but until then there are rich rewards in places such as Durham, Manchester and Hull, research from Paragon Mortgages indicates.

What about snapping up a bargain, like the big investors?

It’s possible - if you have access to cash, but be a tough negotiator. Stuart Law, of the investment firm Assetz, says that you will need about 30 per cent cash as a deposit to buy in the current climate. But, he says, “even then, you need to be able to negotiate another 20 or 30 per cent discount - on the current valuation, not last year’s. That way, you can count on a yield of 7 to 9 per cent, which means you can make the sums add up.”

Article written by Anne Ashworth and Judith Heywood

Technorati Tags: house, London, market, rental

The custodian of grand country houses can also be a tough landlord, reports Lisa Bachelor

A couple who invested thousands of pounds in their rented Cheshire home say they have been forced out by their landlord, the National Trust.

Until last weekend, Alan and Susan Walsh had rented Dog Farm in Dunham Massey, a Cheshire estate owned by the trust. Tenants since 2000, the couple had been running a bed and breakfast from their house – they still run the Lavender Barn tea room and gift shop across the road. Alan works on the Manchester trams while Susan, who retired from teaching after suffering a stroke, runs the tea room.

The Walshes have invested £42,000 in repairing the house over the years, a sum that Susan says they were prepared to spend in exchange for paying a ‘peppercorn rent’ of £100 a month for five years, which then rose to £1,000 a month. They invested a further £20,000 in the tea room, which they started up two years ago.

Then out of the blue in May they received a letter from the trust giving them eight weeks’ notice to leave. ‘We have invested everything in our house and business and we assumed we would be there until we were old and grey,’ says Mrs Walsh.

The trust told the couple it was ending their lease for reasons that included parking their van in the wrong place, owning ‘vicious’ dogs, putting up a sign for the tea room in the wrong colours and paying their rent late.

‘We had previously resolved all these issues with the trust,’ says Mrs Walsh. ‘We moved the van when they asked us to, we took down the sign when they asked us to and we had discussed the £100 rent payment we had accidentally missed and they were fine about it. We have four rescue dogs, including a labrador and a Yorkshire terrier. They are far from being vicious and our customers love them.’

After being made to wait for four weeks, the couple were granted a meeting with Nick Hill, a senior rural surveyor with the trust. The meeting went well and the Walshes again believed that the issues had been resolved. However, they were then told that the trust would not reverse its decision.

The couple collected 700 signatures from customers of their tea rooms objecting to their eviction, but the trust still refused to back down, they say. ‘It has given a lot of our customers food for thought,’ says Mrs Walsh. ‘Many of them are members of the National Trust and have always thought of them as good people. They can’t understand why they are doing it.’

The couple claim that a similar property to theirs, also owned by the trust, has recently become vacant with a rent of £2,100 a month. ‘I think the trust want to get someone else into our house so they can double the rent,’ says Mrs Walsh.

David Houston, the trust’s area manager for Cheshire, said: ‘After very full and careful consideration over many months, we will not be extending Mr and Mrs Walsh’s residential tenancy for Dog Farm cottage. Regretfully, this tenancy has proved unsatisfactory, but our policy is always to respect tenant-landlord confidentiality on such sensitive matters and do not feel it is fair to comment on specific details.’

It is not the first time the National Trust has been accused of playing the hard-nosed landlord. Three months ago, The Observer revealed how a couple in their seventies were given two months’ notice to leave their National Trust cottage in Gloucestershire. The couple had first experienced problems in 2006 when, having signed a year’s tenancy agreement at £1,200 a month, they found their rent suddenly raised to £1,600.

The Observer contacted the trust on behalf of the couple and the eviction was overturned shortly afterwards, although the trust denied that its action had anything to do with our intervention.

The trust owns more than 4,000 houses and cottages that are let as private homes. The properties vary from small terraced cottages or flats converted from farm buildings to modest period homes, some of which are open to the public. In some areas of the country, it is the principal housing provider.

More recently it has combined its role of guardian of green spaces with that of housebuilder. A development is under way in Dunham Massey, where it is constructing 750 homes due for completion in 2012, and it has built another 135 homes for over-55s at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire. At the Erddig estate, near Wrexham, it wants to build 223 homes on 20 acres of countryside.

Five trust members have put forward a resolution calling for the Erddig plans to be scrapped and have tabled a further resolution demanding that the officials involved be ousted. The resolutions have been backed by the required 50 trust members and will be considered at the annual meeting on 1 November.

‘This development will swamp the village and destroy the last of our green spaces,’ says Tara Green, secretary of the Rhostyllen Residents’ Committee, the group opposing the development. ‘The council held a referendum on the development and the majority of people came out against it.’

Green adds: ‘We feel that the National Trust is a conservation body that is there to protect older buildings and land. There are National Trust members all over the country who don’t know about this side to the organisation and a lot of them are not happy once they find out.’

Back in Dunham Massey, Mrs Walsh and two of her dogs have moved into her daughter’s attic up the road. Her husband has moved into their son’s house with the other two dogs. ‘How would you like to be nearly 60 and living in an attic?’ says Mrs Walsh. ‘We are not human to them [the National Trust].’

Article written by Lisa Bachelor.

Technorati Tags: forced, house, leave, tenants

Walk into quality with a ceramic foyer and spacious entry from the attached two car garage or from the front door. Plenty of storage in the entrance closet. With open concept living, dining, and kitchen entertaining will be a breeze. Patio doors lead out to your private wooded lot from master bed or dining area to have a BBQ winter or summer! Light bright and airy with large windows and lots of natural light coming through. Lower Level has daylight windows for future expansion. The air to air exchanger will keep fresh air coming in for those with allergies!

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Check out our spacious apt in central london now for rent. featuring the common areas and the room available now. interested, please call 07912079952.

Find out more about London houses for rent at http://www.londonhousesrent.co.uk 

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Hiya, I am currently studying in University in Italy. My dad lives in Hapshire, England and I used to visit him on summers. Last summer,I had a row with his girlfriend and left ,deciding not to go back. I managed to get an internship in London this summer but I do not know where to stay. I have been checking website offering ‘wanted flatmate ads’. I would like to stay with females only but I am still a bit scared. Is this safe? renting a room in a shared house? I have never done that before and I am a bit confused….Shall I rent a room in a shared house? Thanks a lot My point is- they are people I don’t know. It can be a bit scary! Hampshire*

There are some websites that you can go for flat/room sharing but the best option is to look for studios for rent, the minimum rent time typically is of 6 months and you can pic up some decent places for as Little as £500 a month and most of the estate agents have them on their listings. the other option is to know someone from your country and they may know some one that may have a place available… below there is some link’s to help you with your quest… good luck… to Hannah: there is quite a large community of Portuguese in London, I’m shore some one from your area is living or working in London that may be able to help you… I’m Portuguese to and that’s the way i did… it works

Find out more about London houses for rent at http://www.londonhousesrent.co.uk

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W1 (West End) and SW3…and a bit of SW10 (The Boltons…but I suspect there are NO bedsits in the Boltons!)

Find out more about London houses for rent at http://www.londonhousesrent.co.uk

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There aren’t too many places in North London where one can sit down outside a cáffe and feel like they are in Venice drinking a cappucinno looking out onto stunning canals and romantic views. Well, in the aptly named district of Little Venice Londoners can, which is why this beautiful little suburb is becoming more and more popular amongst young professionals looking to live in London, whilst enjoying gorgeous surroundings. Find out more about London houses for rent at http://www.londonhousesrent.co.uk 

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Please let me know …does not matter anywhere in London, but preferred are East London and South East London. Let me know even if there are any 1 bedroom houses too with lesser rent amount. Urgent.

Have a look on rightmove.co.uk Should be plenty there….

Find out more about London houses for rent at http://www.londonhousesrent.co.uk

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