Entries by Joanna Plane

Landlords Warned Over Tenant Referencing

The UK Private Rental Sector (PRS) is one of the UK’s best performing economies despite all the economic doom and gloom reported by the national press. Landlords and property investors spend a great deal of money on purchasing, renovating and renting out property, be that purchasing with cash, refurbishment of the property, paying repair or […]

2013 Busy Year For Buy To Let

It looks like 2013 could be a very busy year for UK Buy-To-Let, according to the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA). The average number of rental properties owned by BTL landlords rose from 7 to 8 in the final quarter of 2012, and the market expansion looks set to continue throughout 2013 as better […]

Landlords Use Property For Retirement

A greater proportion of residential property owners struggling to sell their existing properties are taking a leaf out of the portfolio landlords book and are choosing to offer their properties for rental purposes in the UK private rental sector (PRS), in order to provide adequate finances for their retirement. Of the single property owners choosing […]

Tenants Still Struggling With Rent

In the UK private rented sector, the average rental price for a residential property now stands at a staggering £777 (GBP) per month across the whole of the country, but there are some regional differences. Private sector rents in Greater London rose by 6.7% during the last 12 months to reach a regional average of £1,224 […]

Residential Property Prices Up

According to one of the UK’s leading mortgage lenders, residential property prices in the UK rose by more than economists had expected in January putting a halt to the annual decline. Nationwide say that residential property prices in the UK actually increased by 0.5% in January 2013, a further sign that the two years of […]

UK Insurance Black-Spots Revealed

Home owners and landlords with properties with London, Leeds or Bradford postcodes have been identified as most likely to be at risk by insurance companies Research analysing insurance claims have identified LS13, an area of Leeds, where terraced properties sell for just over £100,000 (GBP), as the UK’s worst burglary black-spot.

Landlords Avoiding Benefit Tenants

There has been a general slump in the number of private landlords in the UK who are willing to take applications from people on benefits and local authorities are being warned that they need to take action. As previously reported, http://blog.legal4landlords.com/welfare-reform-is-bad-news-for-landlords-and-tenants , there is now a significant fall in the number of landlords even willing […]

Rent Increases Trap Tenants

The homelessness charity, Shelter, say that Private Rental Sector (PRS) rent increases are leaving more tenants in a rent trap. According to the charity, private sector rents in England are rising by an average of almost £300 a year across the country, in the South-East where PRS rents in some areas have gone up over […]

PRS Rental Yields Increase Again

In the UK the combination of high tenant demand, increasing rents and realistic vendor pricing of properties for sale has been a major driving factor behind the increase in PRS rental yields. Buy-To-Let rental yields increased from 6.1% to 6.7% over the last quarter of 2012, with the biggest jump in the private rented sector […]

Reluctant Landlords Avoiding Insurance

When the financial crisis started in 2007/8, mortgage lending in the UK almost stopped because mortgage lenders became wary of the toxicity of sub-prime mortgage loans and raised their lending criteria to unprecedented and highly restrictive levels, virtually killing the UK property market. This meant that empty properties became financial millstones for many people who were unable […]

HMRC Deadline Looms for Landlords

Tax Year Deadline is 31st January 2013 Despite all the awareness campaigns and TV advertising, Her Majesties Revenue & Customs (HMRC) repeatedly attempt to tell us that completing a self assessment tax return doesn’t have to be taxing! However, as anyone who has ever completed a self assessment tax return will tell you, the evaluation […]

Tenants In Severe Rent Arrears Reduced

The number of tenants in severe rent arrears declined by 15.6% during the final quarter of 2012, according to data released by Templeton LPA, part of the LSL Property Services group. The data indicates that in the last quarter of 2012, almost 16,000 fewer tenants faced severe rent arrears of more than 8 weeks rental […]

Property Values To Remain Flat In 2013

Residential property values increased by an average of 1.3% in December 2012 but according to the latest figures released by the Halifax, property values are likely to end 2013 at levels close to where they began. The Halifax House Price Index revealed an average residential property price of £163,845 (GBP), up from £161,795 (GBP) in […]

Will Migrants Make UK Housing Shortage Worse?

Government ministers face an increasing amount of pressure to disclose their official estimate of how many immigrants will pour into Britain next year from Eastern Europe, after remarks were made on The BBC’s Sunday Politics Show. Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Secretary Eric Pickles conceded on TV that a wave of immigrants from Romania and […]

Evictions Soar As Property Owners Struggle With Payments

Millions of property owners and tenants renting property in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) are resorting to extreme measures including high interest pay day loans to avoid eviction as well as trying to make ends meet after falling behind on monthly housing payments. According to a new report by homelessness charity Shelter, nearly 8 million […]

Residential Property Market Expected To Remain Flat In 2013

Property experts and economists have predicted that the 2013 residential property forecast for the UK is going to remain much the same as last year. This is good news for all property investors, who are able to get finance, but not welcome news for struggling first time buyers as the UK residential property market remains […]

Renew Positive Mental Attitude!

Well it’s January 2013 and it has become a bit of a tradition to start the New Year with inspirational quotes and positive affirmation messages, in order for landlords and property investors to start the year with a positive mental attitude.  “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time […]

2012 Property Investment Review

Well it’s the end of the year that was supposed to mark the end of the world for mankind and yet we survived and it wasn’t all doom and gloom, 2012 did bring the UK some joy with events and celebrations across the country, including: For the general public: An inferior team, who hadn’t won […]

EPC Changes Don’t Make Sense

Government Backtrack On Energy Performance Certificates (EPC’s) New regulation of Energy Performance Certification (EPC’s) set to come into effect on 9th January 2013, and is intended to ease the quagmire of paperwork for estate agents, property management companies, letting agents and landlords when preparing to advertise a vacant property for sale or let.  Although agents […]

PRS Rents Lower Than 2008

Analysis of rental data by Belvoir Lettings has revealed that private rented sector (PRS) rents have fallen across the UK by an average of 2.4% since the start of the credit crunch in 2008. Belvoir said it gives a much more accurate view of the UK PRS rental market on a national scale rather than […]