Author Archives: Landstones

Thinking about the market over the last month several things have come quite starkly into the forefront. The first one is the importance of getting the price correct for the property you are hoping to rent. Tenants are very selective and with the background of Covid everyone expects to get a deal and people are negotiating aggressively. This makes selecting an agent who is willing to fight your corner and defend your price even more important. Getting the price right in the first place is the most important issue here, many tenants will not even consider a property they feel is unrealistic as there is plenty of property to choose from.

One of our key observations is how varied Covid’s impact has been on different locations, property types and price brackets within London. There have been some clear winners and losers and the divergence of these is a stark reminder of London being a tapestry of different areas and demographics, which are driven by different factors. Family homes are doing very well in this market with many families looking for more space to allow a little more breathing room to endure another lockdown if this comes. Many families are looking to purchase near good schools and want to try before they buy with a little uncertainly in the economy coming out of Covid and maybe into Brexit.

Some of the area that have been doing very well over the previous months are Notting Hill, St Johns Wood and Hampstead, all noted for their famous outside spaces and green areas. Competition in these areas has been fierce for the cream of the crop properties, this just goes to show that keeping your rental stock in top condition is extremely important when trying to get top rent or getting the property rented quickly in a tricky market.

Flexible working and working from home continue to be a hot talking point for many people, outside space and home offices are still the hot must have requirement. Rooftops, balconies and anywhere to grow a tomato plant have seen huge click through rates on Rightmove and Zoopla.

With the current lockdown and most of the world in quarantine, our daily lives and routines have changed dramatically in many ways. For the vast majority of people, to an unrecognisable extent. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we all interact and the way companies work, if it‘s even possible for them to do any business at all, for many industries and sectors this is not the case.

Extreme circumstances often breed extreme solutions and the property market seems to be no different. In a world of ever-increasing connectivity and ever more integration, we have now been forced to separate ourselves. The property market has quickly evolved and adapted to this new landscape and has embraced the concept of online viewings.

Making videos of our properties has allowed us to keep working hard for our landlords and give them access to tenants who, for obvious reasons, cannot physically attend the property to view. For those tenants who are still desperate to move and secure their next home during this period, of which we are finding there are numerous cases, our video viewings give a 365 degree walk through of any property allowing our tenants to select a property with 100% confidence they have all the information they require.

Of course, this would never replace the conventional face to face viewings that gives everyone a feeling of security and personal relationship which is so important in any tenancy transaction. Hence why, here at Landstones, we can’t wait to show you our properties in person again!

Here at Landstones we are aiming to bring you a monthly insight into the current trends in prime central London lettings market. The lettings market is facing a turbulent time with several pieces of new government legislation having been enacted in 2019 and more coming into force in 2020.

One of the biggest changes from 2019 was the tenant fee ban which applies to new or renewed tenancy agreements signed on or after 1 June 2019. The aim of the Act is to reduce the costs that tenants can face at the outset, and throughout, a tenancy. This does away with referencing fees and tenancy agreement administration fees for most AST agreements designed to make renting cheaper for tenants.

One ongoing piece of legislation which may seem like old news, but it’s an ongoing saga that continues to affect landlords across the country is Mortgage interest tax relief. As of the end of 2019 landlords will only be able to claim 25% of finance costs, with the remaining 75% restricted to the basic rate of taxation.

The combination of the mass of new and existing legislation has had a restricting effect on the supply of rental stock in the market, which through January and February of 2020 have seen prices rise across the board from studios to 1-bedroom flats and all the way through to large family homes.

Here at Landstones we pride ourselves on doing what is best for our clients and looking after our tenants. We offer the best stock and the very highest level of service.