Great guide for agents - this is exactly where you can help landlords

A new league table of worries for landlords shows exactly why letting agents are needed - and a lot of the problems are ‘basics’ rather than more complicated issues.

Zoopla has contacted 6,000 consumers and over 660 lettings and estate agents and together compiled a list of the issues most concerning landlords for 2019. They are:

1. Finding suitable tenants;

2. Ensuring tenants look after the property;

3. Tenants paying rent on time;

4. Keeping up with increased regulations;

5. Concerns over future changes to legislation;

6. Making enough profit;

7. Restrictions on buy to let mortgage interest tax relief;

8. Local rental values;

9. The tenants’ fees ban;

10. Slowdown in the increase of property prices.

Zoopla’s survey says: “Awareness of legislation changes amongst landlords is quite low. Agents are much more on top of the situation. Only around a third of landlords are aware of some of the biggest regulatory changes. 

“This presents an opportunity for letting agents to share knowledge and educate landlords further about changes in legislation, to stop them dropping out of the market longer term.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the Zoopla survey shows that most of the landlords who find the legislation changes a challenge are not planning to do anything in response.

“Some are planning to leave the market, whilst others plan to move to a letting agent to help them manage their properties, presenting an interesting opportunity for agents” explains the portal.

Of the legislation awareness amongst landlords, the Zoopla survey - the third annual study of its kind - reveals the top 10 ‘areas of awareness’: in other words, landlords are very aware of, for example, tax relief removal but far less about banning order.

1. Mortgage interest tax relief being phased out for some taxpayers; 

2. House in multiple occupations licence needed for properties with 5+ occupiers;

3. Energy inefficient properties could be fined;

4. Minimum room size regulations;

5. A cap on rental deposits; 

6. Ban on tenant fees in respect of granting, renewing or extending a tenancy;

7. Giving a ‘how to rent’ guide to new tenants;

8. Tougher rules on mortgage financing for landlords with 4+ properties;

9. Ban on surcharges for electronic payments;

10. Banning orders now being placed on a national database.

You can see the full survey here.