Entries by Joanna Plane

Is the Green Deal the Real Deal..

By: Colin Campbell A new initiative announced this month by Chris Hulne, the Energy & Climate Change Secretary has been supported by landlords in the private rented sector. The ‘Green Deal’ is aimed at providing the nation’s increasing energy needs by finding cleaner and more efficient ways of sustainable consumption. Pointing out that a quarter […]

Landlord Petition Hits Downing Street

By: Madalena Penny Today Downing Street will be receiving a petition of 2,000 landlord signatures.  The ‘Rebalancing Law Petition’ organized by the RLA  (Royal Landlords Association) and other landlord bodies has been created in an attempt to ask the government to reconsider their intended closures of county and magistrate courts. The proposed closures consisting of […]

Tenant Influx Hits Record Numbers

By: Madalena Penny 61,000 new tenants is no coincidence.  According to Countrywide, this is the number of applicants that registered for residential rental property in Q3 this year. Compared with the previous quarter, the research reveals a 19% increase and a 44% leap since January 2010, creating a tenant-trend and mass flight to the private […]

Is the Jury Out over Court Closures?

By: Colin Campbell The ramifications of last month’s governmental spending revue is currently being digested over the breakfast tables of landlords up and down the country. Closer analysis suggests that, as always, ‘the devil is in the detail’. Regular readers of the Legal 4 Landlords tri-weekly blogs will know that the Private Rental Sector will […]

BTL Lending Hinders Landlords

By: Madalena Penny With eight consecutive months of rent rises, LSL Property Services has revealed that 71% of landlords surveyed are finding it increasingly difficult to secure lending to increase their portfolios despite the wave of tenant demand and regardless of the rise in rents the sector is presently experiencing. Legal 4 Landlords financial director […]

Counting the Cost of Tenant Demand

By: Colin Campbell With tenant demand currently out-stripping home ownership in the UK, landlords can expect on average 5.5 potential tenants waiting for every available vacant property. The Office of National Statistics calculated in 2009 that the average income in Britain had achieved a level of £25,000 per annum, a figure that demonstrates that many […]

November 5th – Insurance Claims Rocket

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Colin Campbell Remember; remember the 5th of November, and also where you’ve put your insurance policies! With 3.3 million households provided by the private rented sector, it’s a certainty that tenants up and down the country will be holding a party to celebrate Bonfire Night.  While they are busy selecting sparklers, rockets, fountains […]

Property Possession of a Different Kind

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ Not all tenants can be evicted even with a possession order.  Even with a 100% success rate in court, this was one unwelcome tenant that Legal 4 Landlords could not move on………In true Halloween spirit and to add a bit of contrast to the doom and gloom of cuts and job losses, Legal 4 […]

1 in 5 Households will be Privately Rented by .

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny A recent study published by the Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) has indicated that by 2013, the private rented sector will be larger than the social rented sector, with one in five households in private accommodation by the end of the decade. Between 2005-2009, the PRS grew by a further […]

Surveyors Risk Court Action

By: Madalena Penny In an unprecedented case last week, one landlord was awarded £72,000 in damages when a surveyor overestimated the value of rental property, landlord Emmet Scullion had invested in. Costing Mr. Scullion £352,950 in 2002 and given a rental value of £2,000 per month by surveying company, Colleys, the property in Surrey only […]

Rental Voids Reach All Time Low

By: Madalena Penny According to the latest survey from ARLA, (Association of Letting Agents) the number of residential rental voids has fallen on properties from 3.6 weeks to 3.2 weeks in Q2 of this year, the lowest recorded. Compared with the last quarter of 2009, which revealed a void period of 4 weeks, the survey […]

September BTL Update

By: Madalena Penny Lloyds Banking Group has announced a change regarding their buy-to-let policy.  In a bid to limit their lending in the Buy-to-Let sector, the group are now only permitting 3 properties per landlord, a stark contrast to their previous lending pattern of 9 properties per portfolio. In the current economic climate, rented accommodation […]

82,000 Households Face Eviction in London

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny 82,000 households in London could lose their homes claim London Councils.  The results from their survey found that 90% of landlords would evict tenants if they fell into arrears due to the proposed government cults due to be implemented next April.  The survey also revealed that landlords would not be renewing […]

Calls For Landlord Register Review

By: Madalena Penny Housing Minister, Grant Shapps may have been too hasty with his decision to eliminate Jonathan Healey’s proposal of a landlord and letting agent register, which was planned to be introduced in England this year, experts claimed last week. Amid a trending shift for available housing in the private rented sector by the […]

Rent Arrears & Costly Evictions

By: Madalena Penny Landlords Warned to Act Quickly Landlords need to act fast when dealing with tenant arrears, advised Stephen Moss, Senior Partner of landlord legal network, ‘Legal 4 Landlords’. Mr. Moss added: “Landlords acting alone and without the protection and support of letting agents can fall victim to thousands of pounds of loss due […]

Rent Arrears Increase in August

By: Madalena Penny A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Housing revealed that 100,000 new houses are to be built this year.  Under the previous labour government it was announced that 240,000 new builds would need to be completed every year running up to 2020 to sustain the populations housing needs.  The report by […]

Landlord Harassment – By Accident or Design

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny Landlords risk prosecution for failing to understand harassment legislation warned Sim Sekhon of ‘Legal 4 Landlords’. Earlier this year, one landlord was charged with harassment and fined £750 when he visited his tenant at the supermarket she worked at to discuss the 12 weeks rent she owed after numerous failed attempts […]

A Principled Franchise

Iain Ritchie has managed the Glasgow regional office for Legal 4 Landlords for the past 18 months.  In an interview with Amanda Fitzgerald of Farrell-Ambrose, he explaines his experience as a franchisee for the Landlord Legal Network. 1.Why you chose this particular franchise? I chose this particular franchise because of several factors; The BFA Associate […]

A Golden Opportunity in the PRS

With 16 regional offices established across the UK in the last 2 years, legal services, ‘Legal 4 Landlords’ have just been made an Associate Member by the British Franchise Foundation (BFA). As the fastest growing network, the expanding organisation offers support and legal services to the private rented sector, covering; evictions; tenant referencing; deposit schemes; […]

Rogue Landlords

By: Madalena Penny Since the 1950s & 60s, landlords have tried to shake off the bad image created by notorious slum landlord Peter Rackman.  Building a property empire of 100 mansion blocks and 3 nightclubs in West London, the property tycoon who was known to be associated with the Kray twins became infamous for driving […]