The Quiet Landlord Exodus: Why South London Renters Should Be the Ones Worrying

Drive around Clapham, Balham or Brixton at the moment and you start to notice something. Flats that were quietly let for years are appearing on the sales portals. A landlord I have known for a decade told me last week he is cashing in two of his three flats near the Common. He is not angry about it. He has just done the maths - and the maths has changed.

Here is what is actually happening, away from the headlines. Property118 reported this week that Capital Gains Tax changes are now the single biggest reason landlords are selling. At the same time, the landlords who are staying in are restructuring hard: company incorporations are up an extraordinary 1,700% as buy-to-let owners move their portfolios into limited companies to shelter what they can from the tax. Overall landlord sentiment, on every survey I read, is weak and getting weaker.

That might sound like a landlord's problem. It isn't. It is a renter's problem, and in South London it is becoming an acute one.

Follow the chain. Every flat a landlord sells to an owner-occupier is a flat that leaves the rental pool for good. Propertymark now counts roughly eight renters chasing every available property. Nationwide has rents up 3.3% over the year, even as house-price growth has cooled to 1.8% - a telling split, because it shows demand pouring into renting exactly as supply drains out of it. Fewer rental homes plus more tenants competing for them equals one thing: higher rents and less choice for the very people the tax changes were never meant to hurt.

This is the uncomfortable truth I keep coming back to. We have spent several years making it less attractive to be a private landlord - higher taxes, more regulation, less flexibility - in the name of helping renters. But you cannot help renters by shrinking the number of homes available to rent. If the goal was genuinely to improve life for tenants in Clapham and across SW London, the answer was always going to be more homes, not fewer landlords.

So what do I tell people? Landlords: don't make an emotional decision. If you own a good flat in a strong South London location, the case for holding - or incorporating and holding - is often stronger than the case for selling into a flat market. The demand for your property has arguably never been higher. Renters: understand that the squeeze is structural, not a blip. When a well-priced flat comes up in the area you want, be ready to move fast, have your references and paperwork in order, and treat a good landlord as someone worth keeping.

Are you a South London landlord weighing up whether to sell or restructure, or a renter feeling the squeeze first-hand? I would really like to hear from you - drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call me on 07837 093554.

Fewer Sales, Longer Waits: Why Is Conveyancing Slower Than Ever?

There is a strange contradiction running through the property market right now, and if you are trying to buy or sell in South London you have probably felt it without being able to put your finger on it.

Fewer homes are actually changing hands. And yet every sale that does happen seems to crawl along more slowly than ever before.

That should not make sense. When there is less work in the system, things ought to move faster, not slower. So what is going on?

The numbers behind the frustration

Transaction volumes have cooled noticeably. HMRC's figures showed completed residential sales down again through the spring, and Zoopla's research points to stamp duty quietly dragging on activity across the south of England in particular. There are simply fewer deals in the pipeline than there were a year or two ago.

But here is the part that catches everyone out. The average time to get from an agreed sale to exchange of contracts has now stretched to around 125 days. Split that out and it is roughly 111 days for a freehold and 133 days for a leasehold. Back in 2019, before the pandemic reshaped everything, the same journey took closer to 76 days.

So the workload across the industry is lighter, but the process has never been slower. Four months, on average, from "yes" to legally committed — and often longer if there is a leasehold or a chain involved.

Where the time actually goes

I spend my working life on the phone chasing these transactions along, so let me tell you what I am seeing on the ground.

With fewer files to work through, a worrying number of solicitors seem to have gone looking for reasons to slow things down rather than reasons to move them forward. Enquiries that used to be handled in a quick line of correspondence now come back as a two-page list. Perfectly clean titles get picked apart. A missing FENSA certificate on a window replaced fifteen years ago becomes a three-week standoff. One industry commentator recently called it "death by due diligence," and honestly that is exactly what it feels like.

I want to be fair here. Nobody wants to be the professional who missed something, and a good conveyancer is protecting their client from real risk. That is their job and it matters. But there is a meaningful difference between protecting a client and manufacturing friction — and too much of what is slowing transactions down right now falls into the second category.

Why delay is so dangerous

Every extra week a transaction sits open is another week for something to go wrong. A buyer gets cold feet. A mortgage offer edges towards expiry. Someone further up or down the chain pulls out and takes everyone with them.

The data backs this up. Nearly one in four sales that fall through now collapse after the three-month mark, up sharply from a few years ago. And a large share of those late collapses have nothing to do with price or survey problems. They are about fatigue — people simply running out of patience and goodwill because the process dragged on far longer than anyone promised at the start.

That is the real cost of delay. It is not just an inconvenience. It is deals that were ready to complete quietly falling apart.

What this means if you are moving

The encouraging news is that this is not a demand problem. Buyers are still out there and good homes are still selling. What we have is a completion problem — and a lot of it is self-inflicted by the way the process is run.

If you are buying or selling, the single most useful thing you can do is choose your conveyancer on how they communicate, not just on the quote at the bottom of the page. A proactive solicitor who picks up the phone, replies to emails the same week and pushes a transaction forward is worth every penny over a cheaper firm that hides behind its inbox for a fortnight at a time. Ask how they will keep you updated. Ask how quickly they turn enquiries around. It is one of the few parts of this whole process you can genuinely influence.

Instruct early, get your paperwork ready before you even have a buyer or a purchase agreed, and stay on top of the timeline rather than assuming no news is good news.

The bottom line

The market has slowed, but the process has slowed faster — and that gap is where good deals are being lost. Picking the right people around you, and keeping the pressure on gently but consistently, is the difference between a move that completes and one that quietly falls apart.

If you are thinking about buying or selling in South London and want a straight, no-nonsense view on how to keep your move on track, I am always happy to have that conversation.

The End of Section 21: What No-Fault Eviction Reform Really Means for South London Landlords and Tenants

Walk past the lettings boards on Abbeville Road this week and nothing looks any different. But something big has just shifted under all of them. As of the 31st of July, Section 21 - the "no-fault" eviction that has underpinned the private rented sector for the best part of forty years - is history. Every assured tenancy in England is now periodic, rolling month to month, and no landlord can any longer ask a tenant to leave simply because the fixed term has run out.

If you rent in Clapham, Balham or Brixton, that is genuinely good news: your home is no longer on a two-month countdown. If you are one of the many local landlords I speak to, it is the biggest change to how you operate since the tenant fee ban. So let me cut through the noise.

The headline is simple. Fixed terms and no-fault notices are gone. To regain possession now, a landlord has to use one of the specific grounds under the new Schedule 2 - selling the property, moving back in, serious rent arrears, or a breach of the tenancy - and evidence it. Tessa Shepperson's Landlord Law bulletin has been walking through these grounds in detail, and the short version is this: possession is still possible, but it is now a reasoned process, not a rubber stamp.

Here is the bit the national headlines miss. The worry isn't the rule itself - most good landlords in SW London were never chasing people out for no reason. The worry is what it does to supply. Propertymark reported this week that there are now roughly eight renters chasing every available property. Eight. At the same time, Property118 is reporting landlords selling up in numbers, driven by Capital Gains Tax changes, with company incorporations up an eye-watering 1,700% as the ones who stay restructure. Nationwide has rents rising 3.3% over the year even as house-price growth cools to 1.8%.

Join those dots and you get the real South London story. If more landlords take the end of Section 21 as their cue to sell into a flat sales market, the pool of rental flats around the Common shrinks further - and with eight tenants per property already, it is the renter, not the landlord, who feels that most sharply. Fewer homes, more competition, higher rents. That is the opposite of what the reform set out to achieve.

My honest take? This is a good reform wrapped around a supply problem nobody has fixed. Landlords: don't panic-sell. A well-run, well-priced Clapham flat with a good long-term tenant is still one of the most resilient assets you can hold, and the new rules reward exactly that kind of landlord. Renters: the security is real, but the market is tighter than ever, so when the right place comes up, be ready to move quickly and present yourself well.

Are you a South London landlord weighing up whether to stay in or sell, or a tenant trying to make sense of your rights under the new rules? I'd genuinely love to hear where you've landed on it - drop me a line at jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com or call me on 07837 093554.

Bank of Bro and Sis helping fund South London Property Purchases

Research by Hamptons shows that siblings are increasingly chipping in to help brothers and sisters onto the property ladder. In 2023, siblings made up a record 11% of family members contributing to first-time buyer deposits, more than double the share recorded five years ago (5%).

There are a number of ways that South London homeowners can help their siblings get onto the property ladder. Here are a few ideas:

• Offer to gift money towards their deposit. This is the most straightforward way to help your sibling buy a home. However, it is important to make sure that you can afford to gift money without impacting your own financial situation.
• Co-sign a mortgage. This can help your sibling to qualify for a mortgage or to get a better interest rate. However, it is important to be aware of the risks involved in co-signing a mortgage, such as being liable for the debt if your sibling defaults on the loan.
• Help your sibling to save for a deposit. You could offer to help your sibling with their monthly budget or to set up a savings account for them. You could also offer to match their savings contributions up to a certain amount.
• Provide practical support. This could include helping your sibling to find a property, negotiate on price, or move house.

If you are considering helping your sibling to buy a home, it is important to talk to them about their needs and expectations. You should also discuss the financial implications of your support with them.

Here are some additional tips for South London homeowners who are helping their siblings to buy a home:

• Make sure that you are clear about the terms of your support. This includes things like whether the money you are giving your sibling is a gift or a loan, and whether there are any conditions attached to your support.
• Get legal advice. It is a good idea to get legal advice before you offer to gift money or co-sign a mortgage for your sibling. This will help you to understand the risks involved and to protect your own interests.
• Be realistic about your expectations. It is important to be realistic about your ability to help your sibling financially and to set realistic expectations for them.

By following these tips, South London homeowners can help their siblings to get onto the property ladder and achieve their dream of homeownership.

Contact me today to find out how you can benefit from the current market trends. Or if you would like to know the value of your home check out my online valuation tool.

Bailiff Crisis Puts South London Landlords at Risk

A severe bailiff crisis is brewing in the UK, and South London landlords are particularly at risk.

The number of County Court bailiff evictions being put on hold or cancelled is increasing, due to a lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for bailiffs. This is compounded by the historic lack of investment in the courts, and rising interest rates, which are sparking landlord panic to exit the rental market.

In Q1 2023, landlord repossessions in the county courts rose by 69% in comparison to the same quarter in 2022. This is before Section 21 is abolished and more eviction cases end up in the courts.

Landlord Action, an eviction and housing law specialist, is calling on Judges at County Courts to start granting leave to transfer more eviction cases with serious arrears to the High Court to share the burden of rising workload.

Some landlords have already waited more than six months to reach the point of eviction and are being financially crippled by the delays. In one case, a landlord waited 16 weeks from the date the possession order was granted to the date the bailiff appointment was confirmed. However, the bailiff then called to say that the eviction could be delayed due to the PPE issue.

Paul Sowerbutts, Head of Legal at Landlord Action, says: "We've offered our client the opportunity to re-apply to have his case transferred up to the High Court, but naturally there is a reluctance as this is yet another cost for the landlord. Whilst the High Court could help alleviate the delays, it won't solve the crisis we are facing."

Daren Simcox, CEO of High Court Writ Recovery, a private bailiff firm, says that the number of County Court bailiffs employed by courts to attend evictions has been waning as government policy has affected team sizes. This means that some bailiffs now cover multiple courts, resulting in unmanageable workloads.

He adds: "The bailiffs simply don't have the time to wait, so if there is a problem on the eviction day, they are moving on after 10-15 minutes leaving cases unresolved.

"The current wait time for possession in some cases is 37 weeks from claim to possession – that's nine months and simply isn't acceptable. Judges should be granting permission to transfer up to the High Court as a matter of course, given the current circumstances."

If you are a landlord in South London, you need to be aware of the bailiff crisis and take steps to protect yourself. Here are a few things you can do:

• Start the eviction process early. The sooner you start, the sooner you will be able to get the eviction completed.
• Be prepared to pay for a High Court eviction. This is usually more expensive than a County Court eviction, but it is often quicker.
• Work with a qualified eviction lawyer. They can help you navigate the legal process and protect your rights.

If you are interested in knowing more or you are curious as to what your rental property is worth today drop me a line and pick my brains or use my free online valuation tool to get a ballpark figure!

Quarter of Young Tenants in South London Admit to Subletting

A new survey has found that a quarter of young tenants in South London admit to subletting their rented properties. The survey, conducted by Direct Line, found that the most common reason for subletting was to offset the cost of rent. Other reasons included wanting to make some extra money, having friends or family stay over, or needing to move out temporarily.

The survey also found that young tenants are more likely to sublet than older tenants. This is likely due to the fact that young people are more likely to be living in rented accommodation and are therefore more likely to be struggling to afford the rent.

Subletting is a risky practice, as it can lead to eviction, fines, and even legal action. Landlords have the right to evict tenants who sublet without their permission, and they can also sue tenants for any damages that are caused by the subletting. It is after all, a breach of the tenancy agreement. Despite the risks, the survey found that many young tenants are still willing to sublet their rented properties. This is likely due to the fact that subletting can be a way to make some extra money or to have more flexibility in their living arrangements.

If you are a young tenant in South London and you are considering subletting your rented property, you should carefully consider the risks involved. You should also make sure that you have the permission of your landlord before you sublet.

What does this mean for landlords? Well, some operate a "hear no evil, see no evil" policy, as long as the rent gets paid it's fine. But what if your tenant is subletting the whole property on a holiday let platform like AirBnB? This puts your lease at risk of forfeiture (if the lease prohibits commercial letting, or stipulates it must be used as a residential dwelling) or your mortgage company might call in the loan. After all, the property is being used for a purpose other than what they were lending you the money for. So it does come with risks, and no rewards for the landlord. It may also cause a nuisance to the neighbours, who will be all too keen to highlight to the local authority that the property is being let on a nightly basis for more than the 90 days which are allowed in any one calendar year. Short term guests can be a noise nuisance, and of course long term residents feel safer when they know their neighbours as opposed to when they do not.

So what to do? Well, a blind eye can be turned to speeding, little white lies and so on... as long as nobody gets hurt. Ultimately though someone will get hurt - a neighbour upset due to noise, the local council with you for flouting the law - it will catch up to you. So make sure that you are aware what is going on in your property by doing regular inspections! If you'd like further advice on letting, short or long - drop me a line and let's talk.