If you are a landlord of an HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) or a tenant of part of a property designated as such, you might need to be prepared for a shock.

An House in Multiple Occupation is described as one rented out by at least three people who are not from one household (for example, a family), but share facilities, such as kitchens and bathrooms.

Local councils are seeking to have HMOs reclassified, so that council tax becomes liable on each of the tenancies, rather than on the single property itself. In one example, a five bedroom home had its council tax quadrupled from £1,300 per year to £4,890. It was reclassified as five one-bed homes, even though three of the bedrooms did not have ensuite bathrooms and none had kitchen facilities.¹

Normally, landlords receive a council tax bill for the one property, which is split between the tenants as part of the rental payment charged. Now that councils are asking the Valuation Office to revalue HMOs on the basis of separating out individual tenancies, landlords can only increase rents to take account of the extra charges.

This could cause financial hardship for many, coming as it does on the heels of cost of living rises, especially energy costs. Landlords will also be reluctant to pass on the extra costs because of the danger of having tenants in arrears or quitting tenancies altogether.

For councils who are cash strapped, this is seen as a good way to raise money in what they see as a painless way. Government figures show there are 500,000 HMOs in England² that could be affected. However, the likely effect will be to price more would be tenants out of the rental market and put more pressure on their own housing departments.

The viability of remaining a landlord of an HMO is now going to be called into question, with reports that at least one landlord has already filed for bankruptcy as a result of the recent changes³. If this money raising tactic by councils increases, it is very likely we will be seeing less rental property on the market at a time when there is already a shortage.

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Sources

1 – Lawford, M. (2022) Council Tax on my Buy-to-let has quadrupled to £7,000. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy-to-let/council-tax-buy-to-let-has-quadrupled-7000/ (Accessed 29^th March 2022)

2 – Wilson, W., Cromarty, H (2019) House of Commons Library: Houses in Multiple Occupation in England and Wales. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00708/SN00708.pdf (Accessed 29th March 2022)

3 – Central Housing Group (2022) Wave of ‘unfair’ HMO council tax revaluations revealed that can quadruple bills. Available at https://centralhousinggroup.com/wave-of-unfair-hmo-council-tax-revaluations-revealed-that-can-quadruple-bills/ (29^th March 2022)

The future of House prices and interest rates

The cost of living increases, especially energy, prompted by the economic costs of two years of Covid-19 are also being accompanied by interest rates increases, while would-be home buyers watch asking prices for property continue to increase.

To all intents this is a perfect storm for consumers, but likely first-time home buyers and those wishing to trade up are going to find it harder to make the transition. According to the Nationwide, a typical property now costs a record £29,162 more than it did a year ago, which represents the largest cash increase since the Society started collating property data in 1991.¹

The rise, which equates to a 12.6% increase across the housing market, is continuing to surprise industry experts. It would be expected that with pressure on household budgets along with rising inflation, the housing market would have quietened down, but in reality, property values are being driven by an imbalance between the meagre size of property supply being outstripped by the demand from prospective buyers, which is still as positive as it was last year.²

How long it can continue is still a matter of conjecture.  As household cost increases begin to bite, demand is likely to subside. The other factor is the rise of interest rates. After the rise in inflation, the Bank of England has had to raise the bank base rate, which of course has had a knock-on effect on the availability of continuing low mortgage rates².

According to Moneyfacts, standard variable rate mortgages have seen the largest single monthly rise since they began recording statistics. Opting for a fixed rate mortgage is becoming a real alternative to keep costs under control, but even fixed rates are also showing rate increases too, with 2-year fixed rate deals showing their largest increase since 2015.³

At the same time, product choice is shrinking with lenders revising and condensing their product ranges. While there are still over 4,800 products on the market, a monthly fall of 518, if continued, would represent a significant reduction in choice.⁴

For those readers who are still on their lenders’ standard variable rate or are coming to the end of their fixed rate period, now is a good time to seek professional mortgage advice and let us talk you through the options available to suit your circumstances.

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Sources

1 – BBC (2022) House prices see record cash rise, says Nationwide. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60585947 (Accessed 29th March 2022)

2 – Bayliss, J (2022) RICS Residential Market Survey. Available at: https://www.rics.org/uk/news-insight/research/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey/new-listings-slump-fails-to-meet-demand-driving-up-house-prices/ (Accessed 29^th March 2022)

3 – Williams, E (2022) Moneyfacts: SVR Mortgage Rates Post Biggest Ever Monthly Rise. Available at: https://moneyfacts.co.uk/news/mortgages/svr-mortgage-rates-post-biggest-ever-monthly-rise/ (Accessed 29^th March 2022)

4 – Financial Conduct Authority (2022) Mortgage Lending Statistics 2022. Available at: https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-lending-statistics (Accessed 29th March 2022)