‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny In July this year, the national press published our warning to landlords about the dangers of renting houses to tenants offering 6 months rent in advance. Drug cultivators and manufacturers have long targeted residential landlords in a bid to establish drug factories in residential neighbourhoods. As landlords have begun to enforce […]
By: Madalena Penny Landlords acting faster when dealing with defaulting tenants have contributed to the improvement in tenant arrears, according to LSL Property Services. As the largest lettings agent network in the UK, LSL’s research showed that 84% landlords reported that tenant arrears had remained stable or declined in the past 12 months, despite the […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny, “Legal 4 Landlords” T.S. Elliot may not have been a landlord, a government housing minister or a property investor, but he understood the fundamental value of the security a home provides to its occupants. Combining philosophy with the lettings industry may seem an odd mix, but as the current trends evidently […]
By: Madalena Penny ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ As all data presented recently points to a strong demand for private rented properties, on the surface it may appear landlords are faring better than most in these unstable economic times. However, digging a little deeper, there are some serious and significant flaws that landlords are facing, which could cause major […]
By: Madalena Penny Problems in obtaining mortgages, worries over double dip price falls, large deposits insisted upon by mortgage lenders and a shortage of properties have been named as contributing factors for a surge in tenant demand and rental values being pushed higher, suggested the latest survey from RICS, (The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors). […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ By: Madalena Penny This week the RLA (Residential Lettings Association) called for all landlords to support their campaign concerning the proposed changes to the Local Housing Allowance. In a bid to make the coalition government understand that their alterations to housing benefit rates will have a serious impact and result in negative consequences not […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ Banks have dominated the financial and popular news of late. With calls from the government, campaigns by the media and angry consumer groups calling for banks to ease up on lending and to pass on some of their profits to ease their customers financial burdens imposed by the high street financial institutions. In a […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ As the UK sees tenant demand increase, tenant referencing has become an essential and intrinsic necessity employed by landlords and letting agents alike. Whether you rely on data or just plain common sense, it becomes obvious that when enforced, correct tenant referencing saves time, cost and a heap load of trouble in the long-term. […]
The HCA Initiative The UK government’s national housing body, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) announced in May its aim to attract institutional investment for private rented affordable housing. Sixty-four business’s responded to the HCA’s offer including Aviva Investors, who currently manage £316bn of investments. Andrew Appleyard, head of specialist funds at Aviva Investors said, […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ An Englishman’s home is his castle. These are the fine, noble sentiments us Brits grew up with. Any child of the 80’s will have grown up with Thatcher’s aspirations of home-ownership for the masses, thus conceiving the home-ownership trend that has revolutionised the property industry and dominated a social and cultural mindset for the […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ A 3.3% rise in rents in Q2 2010 gives optimism to the estimated 100,000 private landlords in Scotland. Following similar suit to England & Wales, tenant demand is increasing. Edinburgh recorded the highest rise with an increase of 4.3% up on 2009 with Glasgow showing a rise of 2.6%. It appears the similar trend […]
Tenant arrears have fallen in the second quarter this year by a drop of 3.5% from the previous quarter according to data from the NLA, (National Landlords Association). As the decrease in rent arrears is welcome news for landlords, it may herald the calm before the storm, as it is yet undecided how LHA benefit […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ In a bid to ease pressure on tenants in the social rented sector, Housing Minister, Grant Shapps will be introducing a National Affordable Home Swap Scheme. Aiming to free tenants and give them control over their choices of home and area, the new scheme will give tenants the option of moving elsewhere around the […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ When it comes down to actual ethics, many landlords differ. Those who employ a letting agent obviously have less trouble than those who take full responsibility of their own tenanted property. But where do you draw the line? Once a landlord has fulfilled their responsibilities to both tenant and property, there’s usually a calm […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ The Prime Minister’s recent plan this week to limit the leases of council tenants has infuriated LibDems. Under David Cameron’s proposals, council tenants would be made to relinquish council homes if a change in their economic status proved they could afford to live in the private rented sector and their homes would be given […]
It’s surprising that in today’s economic climate, landlords are still agreeing tenancies without the necessary and proper tenant referencing checks. Landlords keen to let a property, especially one that has been vacant for some time forget and forego the preventative measures in eagerness to install a tenant to find that somewhere down the line, costs […]
Can anyone remember the last time a cement truck went past? New builds have reached their lowest number since the 1920’s, public spending cuts, unemployment and banking restrictions are laying waste to the housing sector, while statistics show a 4.5 million waiting list for social housing. The coalition are in danger of putting their heads […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ As one who has never relished delivering bad news, I’m thankful we don’t live in ancient Roman times, as I’m sure that as the bearer of the following property data I would be thrown into an arena to be eaten by lions, (although I do have some fab gladiator sandals for such an occasion). […]
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ The rise in Capital Gains Tax this year has put a lot of strain on landlords who invested in a buy-to-let by way of securing a pension for retirement. The now CGT, set at 28% without being indexed will no doubt take a chunk of a landlords retirement fund. A loophole through the purchase […]
Landlords were warned of the dangers of renting properties without due diligence. At an information evening organized to warn landlords on how to avert being duped into renting properties to illegal drugs organizations, D.I. Bill Stupples of Merseyside Police Matrix Unit gave advice on the dangers of drug cultivation and manufacture in rental properties. Susceptible […]
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