March News

March will see the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, present his Spring Budget for 2023. Hunt has already dampened expectations for any tax cuts. However, the lettings industry should always expect the unexpected. We wait to see what else may be announced, and the potential knock on effect for your investment and tenants. 

Plus, a new report including recommendations to the government around its planned rental reform in England takes into account the responses of the call for evidence around the A Fairer Private Rented Sector white paper. You can find an overview below to understand more about how this may change the existing proposals going forwards. 

All the best,

The Abacus Homes team

Our rental market performance over the past month

Here’s a snapshot of how our agency performed in February 2023

• We achieved an average rent of £1025.00
• Our void periods were 2.0 days on average
• Our deal turnaround times were 7.5 days on average

Chancellor's Spring Budget 2023 to be presented in mid-March

On 15 March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, will share his economic plans for the coming months.

Hunt has already stated that “the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation” - suggesting that tax cuts for the near future may be off the cards. Other predictions suggest that the energy price cap increase may be extended, corporation tax may go up, and the date may be brought forward for increasing the state pension age.

New recommendations shared with the government around renters' reform

A report written by the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, Reforming the Private Rented Sector, lists recommendations to the government for amending the existing Renters' Reform Bill white paper proposals.

The report takes into consideration the call for evidence submissions from industry stakeholders, and covers, among other recommendations:

• adding the requirement for tenants to wait at least four months from the tenancy start date before they can give two months' notice
• Keeping fixed-term tenancies across the whole student housing sector
• increasing the notice period that the landlord has to give when gaining possession to sell or occupy the property to four months
• working with landlords on adapting the court process before abolishing section 21

You can read the full list of recommendations on the government's site - or dip into this summary guide, to see what may be taken into account when the bill is introduced.