It seems incredible, but the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) has said that it has almost £5 million of deposits which it is unable to repay because it can’t get hold of the tenant to whom the money is owed. The Director of the DPS, Kevin Firth, said that “some tenants are not keeping their contact details up to date – resulting in this large number of unpaid deposits”. For security… Read more
March 10th, 2010
March 9th, 2010
RT @whatstheidea: Ulster Says No to Boiler Scrappage Schemehttp://www.oilfiredup.com/site/news/item/993 # Housing market on hold ahead of general election http://is.gd/a1xyt # House price rises may be slowed by increased supply, says RICS http://is.gd/a1xJh # RT @PWNews: Politicians warned "wake up to housing crisis": http://bit.ly/bsg0lL # Moneyweek on what the Wilsons tell us… Read more
March 9th, 2010
Landlords are feeling more confident in the buy to let market for the fourth month in a row, according to Upad’s rental confidence index. 61% of 155 landlords surveyed said they were more confident than last month. Financial criteria were one of the main issues commented on, with one landlord commenting that “there are positive signs lending is returning to the market, which has been the… Read more
March 8th, 2010
Fergus Wilson – "We were going to be, to put it bluntly, stuffed." http://is.gd/9WtEV # Can Leeds lead a property revival in the North? http://is.gd/9WtPP # Government attacked over plans to ban uninsulated rental homes http://short.to/1aj1q # London #Property Meet 100+ Guests Tue March 9th, Waterstones Piccadilly http://is.gd/92Q1Q # Housing market "faces lost decade" -… Read more
March 8th, 2010
A “flatmate mortgage” is a mortgage that takes into account the income that could be generated from renting out a room to a flatmate when a lender calculates how much people can borrow to buy a property. Most lenders will not allow for this kind of income when calculating maximum borrowing, yet for many people, it’s how they’re affording to pay their mortgage right now. Every year we see the… Read more
March 7th, 2010
@DominicScott Some of these are pretty good http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/11-sites-to-create-cartoon-characters-of-yourself/ in reply to DominicScott # Home ownership to decline, say lenders http://is.gd/9SZyN… Read more
March 7th, 2010
Q: My tenant has given me a month’s notice, but she refuses to answer her phone or emails when I’m trying to arrange appointments. Can I just show up at the flat and let myself in, because there is a clause in her tenancy agreement that says she has to co-operate with viewings? Q: My tenant won’t tidy up for when I’m showing the flat to other people. I give her 24 hours notice I’ll be bringing… Read more
March 6th, 2010
RT @TessaShepperson: Landlord Law Blog: Housing law reform and legal aid http://bit.ly/9cpFcv # Landlords should still be cautious despite rental increases http://is.gd/9Qo2r… Read more
March 6th, 2010
18 people a year in the UK die from gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning, and another 310 are injured (source: HSE Gas Safety Statistics). Don’t let next year’s statistics be your tenants. Landlords have a duty to maintain all gas equipment, fixed and mobile heaters, flues etc. Such equipment must be inspected every year: the tenant should be given a copy of the Gas… Read more
March 5th, 2010
One of the questions we hear from tenants most often is where can I find a landlord who’ll let to tenants on housing benefit? As many as one in ten renters may be receiving benefit, so when these tenants represent such a huge proportion of the market, why do so many landlords state “no DSS” in their adverts – and are they right to do so? For some, it’s because they have no choice. Some… Read more
