October 28, 2009
Property Investment - Council Turns To Buy To Let Landlords
Council turns to landlords to solve housing shortage
Exeter’s local council recently turned to residential landlords and owners with vacant homes and flats to ask them to consider cooperating with the municipal government in order to provide a solution for some 6,000 people currently on waiting lists. Many of these people are looking for affordable housing solutions, but the fact that around a million private homes now stand empty nationally and 300,000 have been vacant for extended periods of time, creates a shortage of well-priced rental properties in some areas.
At the centre of the Exeter deal is an arrangement through which landlords agree to make their real estate available for a period of five years and in exchange the council would ensure that the residential property is well maintained and that the landlord is guaranteed a certain level of regular rental income. Many of these tenants rely on social housing, which is not always readily available. As such, Exeter’s approach is slightly unconventional, but local councillors hope that it will both guarantee landlords a steady rental income, whilst also cutting down on the housing list.
Britain’s Empty Homes Agency has revealed figures suggesting that approximately one out of every twenty residential properties in the UK have been vacant for periods exceeding six months. Charities are now calling upon local councils to contact home owners with vacant properties and residential landlords, in order to find a solution that would help tenants looking for affordable properties, as well as landlords who have been struggling with the impact of the recession and rising rental arrears.
Leave a Comment