Month: March 2017

The 11^th annual YN Property Awards Dinner 2017 took place in February at the prestigious Lancaster London Hotel, that truly hosts the best and most beautiful views of the capital city. The esteemed event is now a long-standing institution and is considered one of the finest and leading events in the property industry calendar.

The purpose of YN Property Awards is to recognise talented young property professionals and celebrate the brightest young minds in the industry. Each awards ceremony celebrates the achievements of property professionals aged 21-35 and highlights the rising stars and key talent in the industry.

This year’s event was the 11^th annual award ceremony that has truly got bigger and better as time has progressed. The dinner has gone from strength to strength attracting hundreds of guests, many sponsors and prestigious, high-profile speakers. The event is not only seen as a way to celebrate achievements in the industry but is also a great networking opportunity for guests from a wide range of backgrounds and different property sectors.

The YN Property Award are an excellent way to make valuable new contacts and to discuss the latest trends in the industry; this year the topics of discussion included; Brexit, overseas investment and the appeal of London to buyers thanks to speeches by industry greats; David Marks and Ian Marcus.

Judged by a panel of leading industry experts, the award nominations are taken very seriously, and Phillips Harrod were delighted when Adam Phillips and Simon Harrod won the award for the YN Estate Agent of the Year. This award recognises the many remarkable achievements Phillips Harrod has accomplished such as managing over 50 deals of rentals over £1,000 per week as well as notable deals of £10,000 per week, £9,000 per week and £7,000 per week. In fact, thanks to hard work put in by Simon and Adam, they have seen the company turnover double in just one year. With such staggering achievements in mind, the award has truly cemented the success of Phillips Harrod and their contribution to the property industry.

As well as celebrating the achievements in the property sector, the awards dinner also raised vital funds for Norwood charity. The event raised over £170,000 for the UK’s largest Jewish children’s, family and learning disability charity. With over 500 guests involved, fascinating guest speakers as well as comedian, Ian Royce, adding humour and fun to the event, it was truly a roaring success for, not only the winners but all who were involved.

Decisions made by the former chancellor in the 2015 Summer Budget are coming into effect in April this year which could see landlords struggle to make a profit. As the new tax changes could see landlords struggle, it is likely that tenants will have to foot the bill and that we will see up to a 30% rent increase across the market.

The former chancellor, George Osbourne created mortgage interest tax relief reforms, that means that come April 2017, landlords will not be able to deduct all of their mortgage interest when they work out their profits. It is predicted that this change will force up to two million landlords in the UK up to the next tax bracket.

The new changes were designed to make it easier for first-time buyers to enter the property market. This seems incredulous by some economists as increasing rent will make it harder for first-time buyers to save for their investment and will make it more challenging for young people to find a place to live as these changes will squeeze the supply of rental property. In fact, a recent ARLA survey suggests that in light of these new changes, 58% of landlords are considering reducing their investment in rental properties and 66% of landlords predict that the tax changes will mean there is pressure to increase rent prices.

With numerous experts predicting an adverse impact on landlords and the private rental sector, there has been increasing resistance against the Government for going ahead with these proposed changes. In fact, a Professor of Financial Economics, David Miles, predicts that rents would have to rise between 20% and 30% to offset the government impact. This is not only making life difficult for tenants struggling to afford the fees, but for landlords who may struggle to rent out their property.

With this potentially damaging situation occurring imminently, there is increasing pressure from many committees to halt the Government in this controversial decision. The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) believe there is much more that the Government can do to help landlords.

It has been found that thanks to the extra revenue raised in surcharge stamp duty, among other cost savings, that the Government has raised £1.19 billion in tax, which is £560 million more than predicted. As some of this revenue was formed from stamp duty, the RLA and many other organisations believe that this sum should be used to give landlords a break and support the rental market.

As the time is nearing ever closer, changing the reform process is now considered a matter of urgency to protect the rental market, support first-time buyers and not let the already limited number of properties available become affected.