The next two presentations focus on the wider strategies landlords can be taking and why the market is a positive place, despite the coronavirus restrictions. They are:
Strategies for success
Charles McDowell, managing director, specialist mortgages, HTB
Reasons to be cheerful – why the buy-to-let doom-mongers are wrong
Craig McKinlay, new business director, Kensington
In the first of these, Charles McDowell will examine how landlords can maximise their buy-to-let yield via specialist investments.
This includes discussing the pros and cons of investing in different property classes and the extra work that can be required.
In the second session, Craig McKinlay discusses why property still remains a valuable investment class.
Despite Covid-19 challenges, property investment remains a huge, tax-efficient opportunity in the medium to long-term and an attractive proposition given lender appetite and product supply.
The winners were among the almost 1,000 people who registered for the online conference and exhibition which focused on the changing world of the buy-to-let market.
Presentations included Richard Rowntree, managing director of mortgages at Paragon, with his observations on how landlords and the buy-to-let market can weather the pandemic.
Landbay managing director Paul Brett discussed how to diversify a property investment strategy, while Hampshire Trust Bank managing director of specialist mortgages Charles McDowell talked about how to maximise buy-to-let yields.
Other talks came from Dynamo chief executive Ying Tan, Kensington Mortgages new business director Craig McKinlay, Aldermore, national sales manager for intermediary mortgage distribution Matt McCullough, and BVA BDRC director of financial and business Mark Long.
A panel debate between Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions and Adrian Moloney, group sales director at OneSavings Bank, closed out the event.
The five winners are:
- Robert Denton, Regentia
- Brian Roberts, Malbon Townsend
- Keval Nagaria, KN Mortgage Management
- Sonja Roosten, Indigo Mortgage and Financial Services
- Hugh Dokter, Cavalier Financial Solutions
The AE3Media team will be in touch to let you know how to claim your prize.
The content from the forum is still available to view. Please contact lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk to get access.
For more information visit: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/events/buy-let-online-forum/?pfat=e103e0bc86d148eda1d842290bcf0d33
Landlord sentiment around capital gains, rental yields, the UK private rental sector as a whole and their own lettings businesses have all returned to above or close to levels recorded at the end of last year, after falling sharply in Q1.
Only feelings about the UK financial market have remained depressed.
Mark Long, director of financial and business at BVA BDRC, told the Buy to Let Online Forum its research found landlords’ main concerns were missed or unpaid rents, void periods and the ability to manage portfolios.
Void concerns
“Landlords confidence crashed [with the introduction of the lockdown] but there are early signs of recovery,” he said.
“More than half [of landlords] experienced rent problems or unanticipated void issues but landlords are helping where they can.
“One in five applied for a mortgage holiday and a similar proportion intend to do so in the future.”
For half of those who took one, the payment holiday was critical to their business continuity and Long noted there was “quite a lot of compromise to make things work for both parties”.
Around half of landlords approved rent deferments, while more than a fifth had agreed to rent reductions of more than 20 per cent.
There was positive news, with 28 per cent of landlords planning to remortgage this year – a figure unchanged from the end of last year, with most of these being portfolio and limited company investors.
However, Covid-19 debts will cast a shadow over next 12-24 months influencing market activity and future policy decisions.
Reasons to be cheerful
In his talk, Reasons to be cheerful, Craig McKinlay, new business director at Kensington, said brokers and landlords had lots of reasons to feel positive including the performance of buy to let compared to other asset classes, falling product rates and increased opportunities to advise to different segments of the market.
Presenting to property professionals at The Buy to Let Online Forum, McKinlay used an example of a £150,000 investment into shares listed on the FTSE All Share Index between 1995 and 2019.
Over that time, the investment would have grown by 67 per cent. If the same amount of money was used to be an unencumbered buy to let property, between those years, the property would be worth £325,000, an uplift of 116 per cent.
Landlords who used a mortgage to buy the property, which requires them to put less of their own money into the purchase, would see an even greater increase in their initial investment. “This is what we call leveraged investment,” said McKinlay. “And it also shows you the advantage of buy to let over shares.”
McKinlay also highlighted the expansion of several sub sectors within buy to let that created plenty of opportunities for brokers to grow their business. The numbers of older and younger landlords were increasing, he said during his talk, and products to serve both demographics were on the rise.
Falling rates, said McKinlay, were also another reason to be cheerful.
“Rates are still low and have fallen further since Covid as lenders look for solid low risk business,” he said.
“Although landlords have increasing costs in some way, more taxes for instance, and more regulation, the cost of having a mortgage has reduced. That has allowed landlords to maintain their profitability over the last few years.”
In the live chat, McKinlay hinted that Kensington would be announcing cuts to its rates shortly, following the announcement it had recently finalised a securitisation.
Registration is now open for brokers who would like to access presentations and content from the Buy to Let Online Forum 2020 which took place yesterday.
Email lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk to request access.
However, a survey of landlords conducted by the lender discovered administering HMOs can take four times the work of a standard buy-to-let property.
Speaking at the Buy to Let Online Forum, the lender noted that its HMO portfolio had been much less likely to require landlords to take payment holidays.
Charles McDowell, managing director of specialist mortgages at HTB explained the situation while discussing the pros and cons of HMO ownership.
“During lockdown, the HTB HMO portfolio has required much less support in terms of payment holidays than the rest of the portfolio,” he said.
“And we’ve had strong demand which is increasing. I think post-Covid we are going to see increased demand for HMOs.
“HMOs are not what they used to be, they are great assets, fantastically well furnished with a high calibre of tenant. But there are cons.”
McDowell also explained some of the main benefits and drawbacks of other specialist properties such as short-term lets and semi-commercial units, including likely workload and yields.
Registration open
Content from the event will be available for delegates to return to for up to six months.
If you are interested in accessing the content, please email lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk for more details.
For more information visit the website here.
BM Solutions and OneSavings Bank agreed the upheaval generated from the coronavirus crisis would mean lenders needed to gather more information and treat cases differently to normal.
Speaking on the market discussion, Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions, (pictured) noted there could be “a bit of short-term challenge on criteria”.
“Clearly, current trading conditions are a challenge, we’re already seeing some tweaking of criteria around the fringes,” he said.
“Lenders have to be cautious, we have to lend prudently, so naturally we’re going to have an eye on events in the pandemic.
“Brokers will need to be patient through this time as they will see lenders treating scenarios differently. Every lender has different policies and views on things.”
Rickards noted that once the nation has truly emerged from the pandemic and lockdown truly and its impact on the economy and unemployment, lenders would be able to have greater consistency.
And he highlighted that rates were unlikely to rise and there was not the same pressure on loan to values as in the residential market
“I think there will be a difficult 12 months ahead but I think we’ll come through this, lenders want to lend,” he added.
Criteria is set
OneSavings Bank group sales director Adrian Moloney agreed with Rickards, noting there was liquidity in the market and that “banks are well capitalised and we’re all keen to lend”.
“Criteria is probably set for a period of time,” he continued.
“I do think we have to be patient. We do have to work through this period where we have payment deferrals to work through, where we’re looking to see what happens with UK plc in terms of jobs, but I think all things considered lenders have got back to this market well and we’re in a good place for the short to medium term.”
The lenders also discussed key issues in the market including the treatment of borrowers who have taken a payment holiday, the overall future for the buy-to-let market and how lenders will adapt to working with brokers.
Content from the event will be available for delegates to return to for up to six months.
If you are interested in accessing the content, please email lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk for more details.
For more information visit the website here.
Speaking on his session ‘Lessons learned during lockdown’, the brokerage’s founder will add: “In the last three months, there’s been one constant with criteria – and that is that there is no constant. It’s imperative we have regular dialogue with regular partners.
“As the market begins to open up, cases which may not have fitted during lockdown suddenly have may a home. We have to be on that straight away to capitalise on opportunity.”
He also says brokers need to demonstrate their knowledge to gain credibility.
“During challenging times, clients need advice, they need support and they need engagement. We have to add value to our clients and landlords.
“You have to roll up your sleeves higher than ever before and make sure you stay ahead of competitors,” he adds.
The Buy to Let Online Forum takes place today. If you have pre-registered you can log in here: https://btl.online-event.co/page/the-buy-to-let-online-forum-2. Or you will have the opportunity to register again on Thursday afternoon.
Email lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk to request access. You will be able to view the presentations and exhibitions for a further six months.
Richard Rowntree, managing director of mortgages at Paragon, is opening the event at 9.30am with his observations on how landlords and the buy-to-let market can weather the pandemic.
The Buy to Let Online Forum 2020 is Mortgage Solutions’ first online event to include live streaming speakers and has attracted its highest number of pre- registered attendees for any of its online events.
Nine experts are lined up to speak to attendees, who will be able to interact with speakers by using the live chat function or by putting questions directly to the speakers, some of who will be live streaming in.
Presentations from Ying Tan, chief executive of Dynamo and Craig McKinlay, new business director, Kensington will point out the opportunities that still remain in today’s challenging market and how to make the most of them.
Paul Brett, managing director of Landbay, will be hosting a talk on how to diversify a property investment strategy, by adding houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and multi-unit freehold blocks (MUFBs) to a portfolio.
Meanwhile, Charles McDowell, managing director, specialist mortgages at Hampshire Trust Bank, will talk about maximising buy-to-let yields.
Attendees will able to listen to market insight from Mark Long director, financial and business, BVA BDRC and Matt McCullough, national sales manager, intermediary mortgage distribution, Aldermore.
The programme will wrap up with a panel debate between Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions and Adrian Moloney, group sales director, OneSavings Bank, chaired by editor in chief of Mortgage Solutions Paula John.
If you have pre-registered you can log in here: https://btl.online-event.co/page/the-buy-to-let-online-forum-2. Or you will have the opportunity to register again on Thursday afternoon.
Email lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk to request access. You will be able to view the presentations and exhibitions for a further six months.
Rowntree’s presentation looks at ‘Opportunities in adversity’ as landlords navigate the coronavirus and its impact on the buy-to-let landscape.
He will take a look at the lessons learnt from the financial crisis, and how the industry has changed since 2007.
Rowntree will then examine opportunities within the market in the context of the coronavirus.
He is set to say: “As with every crisis there is an opportunity, and this situation is no different.”
The Buy to Let Online Forum is an online conference and exhibition brought to you by Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions hosted within a secure, online environment.
Delegates can access video presentations and visit sponsor stands directly from their computer or mobile device.
There will also be a lender panel debate, and insights into how landlord clients are feeling about the market, their current investment position and future challenges.
Lenders available for brokers to engage with at the event include Aldermore, BM Solutions, HTB, Interbay, Kensington, Kent Reliance, Paragon and Pepper Money.
CPD hours will be earned by brokers attending today.
Registrations are now closed – with more than 900 delegates, the event is at capacity.
Content from the event will be available for delegates to return to for up to six months.
If you are interested in accessing the content, please email lorraine.francisco@ae3media.co.uk for more details.
For more information visit the website here.
