x

Mark Hutchings

3465 Profile Views

About Me

my expertise in the industry

Mark's Recent Activity

If there was a change in government would Labour for example extend rent controls to the Lloyds housing model ? ....or would this be used just to push small private landlords out of the market. I am guessing the big boys will get government subsidy via us the tax payer to make this vision work. They will need that government hand out to pay all their housing staff top salaries.

From: Mark Hutchings 23 September 2021 09:44 AM

Just checked Open Rent today over 7,000 running property listings on Rightmove and shown as paying Righmove for 171 branches, thats an unbelievable amount of money for a low cost online letting agent to pay per month plus Zoopla....come on something stinks here....perhaps Letting Agent Today should be investigating why this market disrupter exists and what subsidised rates they have negotiated with the portals....and why.

From: Mark Hutchings 01 June 2020 10:21 AM

Sitting Tenants = Reduction in capital value of tenanted property. If labour bring back the 1970's housing strategy the sitting tenant will bit by bit return But hey not all bad perhaps Jeremy can bring back some classic T.V. … The Sweeney...'oy Jeremy shut it ! ' then slam side kick McDonnel across the bonnet of the police Granada....your nicked.

From: Mark Hutchings 06 November 2019 10:45 AM

Will landlords use online letting agents for full management type services , when local agents with offices are at more or less the same commission ? Upad outside of London was in some cases more expensive than your local small agent. ( perhaps they had investors to try and satisfy ) All the other online agents are all trying to promote some sort of full management services, but looking at how many properties they are advertising, it looks like they are not doing that well. Then of course there is the market disrupted OPEN RENT who somehow has survived offering only an online let only service ...but as every other agent knows on comparable Rightmove and Zoopla pricing their model just does not seem to stack up...so how are they different from the rest ? Upselling ? techie ? ...umm still not enough to explain away in my opinion. Do high street letting agents also need to fear OPEN RENT who now state they have fast approaching 2 million registered clients ? Are small independent agents all turkeys waiting for Christmas ? whilst the bigger agents expand on preferential terms through their negotiating power. Perhaps all the smaller agents should club together to see what terms they could negotiate ?

From: Mark Hutchings 14 October 2019 10:44 AM

Paul...I agree...however are small independent landlords part of this new brave world , a PRS made up of property companies, build to rent, housing associations, developers, attracting pension fund backing or government subsidy. So are independent landlords turkeys waiting for Christmas ?

From: Mark Hutchings 13 October 2019 08:44 AM

Not a casualty of the Tenant Fee Ban but a casualty of a market disrupted OPENRENT Agents paying full price to the major portals are just turkeys waiting for Christmas, Big agent chains admit they are getting discounted rates from the portals so not a level playing field Upad today....another small agent tomorrow...

From: Mark Hutchings 12 October 2019 22:40 PM

Us oldies remember pre AST , sitting tenants, active fair rent legislation, etc etc , the private rented sector outside London grinded to a halt

From: Mark Hutchings 11 October 2019 14:43 PM

It's time we all realised that the politicians, Rightmove, pension funds, housing associations, build to rent and property companies all clearly understand where the Private Rented Sector is going ; Drive out small landlords [and small letting agents] in favour of larger property companies and organisations who are in a position to attract funding from pension funds, investors and ultimately will 'be suitable' to receive subsidy from the Exchequer. We can all see that the most efficient PRS model is a free market and private landlords, but government cannot be seen giving tax breaks to private landlords...what and loose votes ! far better to give tax payers money to subsidise developers, housing associations with directors on £100K PA, and decent returns for Pension Funds. Well done Shelter...the goverments Pawn ?...history just repeating itself.

From: Mark Hutchings 11 October 2019 10:25 AM

Agents have already streamlined, already survived on low commissions...there is no where to go ...apart from increasing commissions. Landlords will have a choice pay an agent a fair price for a fair job of work probably 14 to 15 % or do it themselves. If they do it themselves they will need to run their rental affairs to a professional standard, and will require back up services to assist them. Once they have reached a professional landlord standard no doubt joining a redress scheme and using specialist letting software, then they will be eligible no doubt to get an account on Rightmove and the other portals ( as developers and builders already do )....so weakened trade only property advertising....brave new world

From: Mark Hutchings 04 February 2019 11:37 AM

Local Authorities passing 'the buck' to tenants....sorry couldn't resist

From: Mark Hutchings 23 November 2018 08:35 AM

The private rented sector is turning back full circle to where it started care of the old Rent Acts and then inevitably lenders will react to the element of uncertainty caused by increased security of tenure, which in turn causes a reduction in the capital value of a rental property, which in turn strangles investment into the private rented sector, and greatly reduces supply. Governments then put their faith back into social housing and Housing Associations, who are dependent on subsidy from the tax payer, this reliance on subsidy, in turn makes these housing providers political organisations which increases inefficiencies thus pushing up costs. Governments then put faith in Build to Rent blocks of flats, based on investment from pension funds.....no further comment necessary....costs will of course rise and these organisations will call for support from government subsidy to help manage their upwardly moving costs ' milk the tax payer' You will never find a leaner , more efficient model than a well run private sector,

From: Mark Hutchings 25 September 2018 12:46 PM

A housing policy run by children, can we get some grown ups involved

From: Mark Hutchings 17 August 2018 09:31 AM

The government better start building...oh I forgot the Build to Rent blocks of flats are the future of the private rented sector...ans so efficiently managed...relax everybody.

From: Mark Hutchings 15 June 2018 08:49 AM

Short stay apartments are not classed always as holiday lets. More importantly how many of these short stay properties on Airbnb are leasehold city apartments ? and how many of theses are operating against the terms of their lease , block insurance and lender ? It is time for leasehold managers and Airbnb to police this , I think Airbnb have a duty of care to make sure leasehold apartments advertised with them have the authority from their block management company or freeholder to rent on a short stay basis.

From: Mark Hutchings 24 January 2018 08:47 AM

Exactly , then Local Authorities have to police these schemes, and charge landlords to help cover their costs

From: Mark Hutchings 03 January 2018 10:53 AM

Don't worry, Pension Funds will make efficient property managers, especially with all the tax payer subsidy they will need to maintain their high salaries and profits.

From: Mark Hutchings 23 November 2017 09:38 AM

From: Mark Hutchings 17 October 2017 10:40 AM

Government has not laid a brick in 20 years to increase social housing output Shelter have been used as a tool to help pay big salaries to new pension fund led companies subsidised by the tax payer Local Authorities have a terrible track record in terms of maintaining their housing stock Government is tinkering too hard...too quickly...with the market and presume private landlords will still invest in the provision of private rented homes ongoing....watch this space....landlords will leave the sector at a far quicker rate than those pension fund boys can build new high rise flats ( slums of the future ) ..where is the proper family housing going to be built , at what cost and at what yearly management cost. Running an economy is a balancing act....woops the Housing Minister is about to tip the balance too far too quickly and cause a real Housing Crisis !

From: Mark Hutchings 07 September 2017 16:01 PM

Central Government polices designed to squeeze private sector landlords out of the market to make way for new shiny utopia of build to rent funded by taxpayers....have they learned nothing from history, we will be back to the Rent Acts before we know it.

From: Mark Hutchings 07 September 2017 09:01 AM

The Housing Minister should be seriously worried about stamping on the private landlord sector any more than he already has...unless of course he is confident that Build to Rent subsidized by the tax payer is far enough down the line to start replacing private landlords. Politicians, economists, pressure groups....beware trying to over engineer a market or economy is only for the brave or very foolish. For example on a smaller micro market look at the student accommodation market about to implode in many cities due to over supply, caused by Local Authorities trying to engineer the city housing stock by over regulation, planning breaks etc.....the figures all seemed to stack up until Brexit came along...woops student numbers falling, now we are left with developers going bust and empty buildings left again...failed investments...landlords pulling out of the market. Just think what politicians can do to the the larger property market...rely on fat cat, inefficient, profit driven private organisations to run our private rented sector ..... Do you remember the track records of Councils and Housing Associations in keeping up housing standards...don't worry Shelter are going to very busy investigating the performance of this new Build to Rent world which will just drain public money away into their coffers. Learn from history ...don't listen to the gleaming shining faces of the Shelter utopia...how many have worked in the public housing sector...how many are over 50 years old...how many of them have a real experience and understanding of the the rented sector as a whole.

From: Mark Hutchings 08 March 2017 10:59 AM

the government should be able to work with the private rented sector....Build to Rent has a long way to go yet....why not turn over the future of our rented private stock to Pension Funds who as we all know have a great record of cost efficiency and social responsibility

From: Mark Hutchings 06 February 2017 10:09 AM

Robert ...spot on Central government trying to take control of the private rented sector again, Never mind letting agents...how did / do Councils , Housing Associations, or now pension fund backed build to rent, fair in the past Highest ever complaints records...expensive salaries to Council and Housing Association staff , political bias, drop in private investment... The government is going to fall into the traps of the past...fair rents...longer tenure devaluation of let property values will knock on to lending....expensive ' subsidised Housing ' big salary Housing bosses... The attack on letting agents is planned and targeted for political reasons nothing to do with fair standards....let the private sector build the housing stock especially in our city centres...let private landlords buy the stock.....then let the government take it over and control it to satisfy the pension funds and government ratings.

From: Mark Hutchings 19 January 2017 08:34 AM

Weighted against landlords

From: Mark Hutchings 27 September 2016 09:11 AM

It is not agents leading the online approach...it is landlords who are voting with their feet and our industry is just moving to meet demand ( estimated to be around a third of landlords)...there is so much information out there on the internet for landlords these days,

From: Mark Hutchings 22 September 2016 09:48 AM

A cap is the obvious solution, a prospective tenant should expect to pay for their own credit checks and referencing. Many letting agents are operating on low margins in an over competitive market, these costs have to be covered, and agents & landlords will just add these costs into the rents. Lets not go back to the 70's and strangle our private rented sector...lets face it Central Gov. has done very little to increase the supply of private rented properties....and without providing subsidy to public / social housing sector....the charges made by your average regional letting agent will be far below the salaries of many Council officials or Housing Association housing officers. And as for turning over Build to Rent schemes to city led companies...watch efficiency disappear completely...and costs rise. The Gov will never get a leaner more cost effective model to manage private rented property than than the regional letting agent.

From: Mark Hutchings 22 September 2016 09:44 AM

There are many leasehold apartments advertised on Airbnb who operate against the terms of their lease , as short stay will not operate on an AST , and importantly they will not be covered in most cases on the block insurance policy, they would need a specific policy to operate as a serviced short stay property or holiday let. Landlords cannot double insure their property, so they are not insured, and so have no Public Liability Cover.....would you run a holiday let without Public Liability Cover ? A good starting point would be to approach the leasehold management blocks controlling blocks where leasehold apartments are being advertised on Airbnb and remind them that they should be taking action to prevent apartments being let out in this way. Further ask Airbnb to check their landlords have public liability cover in place, a simple basic requirement. Airbnb are starting to target the corporate let market- Relocation agents and companies beware, lets make it common knowledge in the industry that many apartments advertised on Airbnb are simply not insured - clients should avoid.

From: Mark Hutchings 22 September 2016 08:58 AM

The prime London market has been artificially high for decades, and is unrealistic, look to invest out of London, so its a case of ...oh dear....how sad...never mind...move on to sustainable long term markets

From: Mark Hutchings 20 June 2016 10:19 AM

How many apartments advertised on airbnb actually comply by having the correct insurance in place ? Most apartments are protected by a block leasehold insurance, which will not include letting out an apartment on a short stay basis, but will allow a let on a Shorthold Tenancy Agreement. I understand you cannot double insure in this instance, so this means that a large percentage of airbnb apartments in the UK are likely to be quite simply uninsured, including no public liability cover ! Would you let out a property or run a B&B without public liability cover ? you would be mad to do so ! Something goes wrong you could be sued and loose your home and assets. Airbnb are very good at collecting documents of prospective guests online, why don't they simply ask a property owner to scan a copy of their property insurance to them prior to listing ? This is a flawed business model until the insurance issue is sorted out.

From: Mark Hutchings 17 June 2016 08:10 AM

This site...airbnb...others...say in their terms and conditions that property owners must have : Public Liability Insurance specifically for short stay serviced property Must not be breaking the terms of a Head Lease or Lender Agreement These business models have grown into large business presuming their advertisers comply with above. Sooner or later the shit will hit the fan, when their is a serious fire or injury in an uninsured short stay property.

From: Mark Hutchings 23 March 2016 08:55 AM

Landlords will not risk taking on H.B. Tenants who fall into rent arrears spending their benefit on massive T.V.s , new white goods, and the rest etc ...then a landlord serves notice on the AST at the end of the fixed term, and then Councils actually advise the tenant not to vacate the property but to hold over until a court issues an eviction order. Err Councils ...don't complain then when landords avoid renting properties to H.B. applicants...you are not playing by the rules, it is the AST that has allowed the private rented sector to grow and to provide a housing stock for people to rent. Central government / Council / Housing Association building has been virtually nothing over the last decade, government has been happy for the private sector to fill the gap. Now the private rented sector has grown, now government wants to control the sector via red tape, and pressure towards the Fair Rent System ...7 year Tenancies...before we know it we will have Regulated/sitting tenants again...back to the future ...no back to the 70's...which will destroy the private rental sector. But wait we have on the horrizon , Build to Rent schemes run by financiers, pension funds and fat cat national agencies...I am sure this appraoch will be very cost effective ! Just get some proper controls in place to help private landlords manage H.B. Tenants and you may find this is the most cost-effective and productive way to increase housing to lower income or disadvantaged sectors of our community. Use the money to support private landlords, pay landlord their rent direct, and cover losses due to court hearings / evictions.

From: Mark Hutchings 19 February 2016 13:38 PM

There must be so many apartments offered on a serviced short stay basis, within leasehold blocks where the lease does not allow non-AST Lets, and where the block insurance only covers owner occupation or standard AST letting. So in practice these short stay apartments are not insured, and have no public liability cover. The Airb&b terms and conditions do point this out, but this info is very much in the small print, rather than being headlined as essential reading. Air b & b in the UK I believe therefore is a flawed business model until they ask their landlord clients to show they have the correct public liability insurance in place.

From: Mark Hutchings 18 February 2016 10:05 AM

Breaking News