Badge of Honour

London homeowners go for gold as new Olympic lettings service launches

Its official, the race is now on as London homeowners seek to cash in on the estimated 500,000 visitors flooding into London this summer to witness the 2012 Olympic Games. A prime case is the former Spurs and Arsenal defender Sol Campbell's, who will be renting out his Chelsea townhouse for £75,000 a week, around four times its value throughout the Olympic Games. Like Sol, londoners have... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on February 7th, 2012 in Buy-to-let, Finding Tenants, Property Advertising, Property Investment, Property Market, Property Rental, Rental Advertising, Tips for New Landlords

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Case study – how to present your property: Liverpool, L3

What we like about the property… • The listing states the property is situated in the best postcode in Liverpool, and the surrounding features back that up. It’s close to the World Heritage Waterfront, the Liver Building and the Cunard Building. Architectural features like these will attract tenants. • The property has magnificent interior design. It has all the mod-cons and a rather... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on February 3rd, 2012 in Buy-to-let, Finding Tenants, Property Advertising, Property Investment, Property Market, Property of the Week, Property Rental, Rental Advertising, Tips for New Landlords

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60 Seconds with James Davis

What is your role? Founder & CEO of www.upad.co.uk What is Upad in a nutshell? Upad is the UK's largest online lettings agency. We help landlords let and manage their properties nationally, and because we've grown so large, we can pass on massive savings to landlords. How is it different to other lettings agencies? Our landlords are generally experienced buy-to-let professionals who... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on February 2nd, 2012 in Buy-to-let, Property Advertising, Property Investment, Property Market, Property Rental, Tips for New Landlords

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Case Study: how to present your property – Greenwich, SE18

What we liked about the property… It’s a luxury new development in an up-and-coming part of London. It has great facilities such as a gym exclusive for residents, and a concierge. It has multiple transport links with easy access to the centre of London (Train/DLR 8 minutes walk). Beautiful Thames views upstream to Canary Wharf and The City. What we liked about the... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on January 6th, 2012 in Finding Tenants, Property Advertising, Property Investment, Property Management, Property Market, Property of the Week, Property Rental, Tips for New Landlords

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Money

Rents set to stabilise in 2012

Rents in the UK are set to stabilise in 2012, according to the Belvoir rental index. The index suggests that rents will rise in line with inflation and salary increases in 2012. This marks a change from the previous couple of years which have seen rents persistently rise. However, as always with these national surveys there are regional fluctuations, with London and the Home Counties set to... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on January 6th, 2012 in Buy-to-let, Property Market, Property Rental

NLbigben

Government plans housing boost with billions of private money

Under plans currently being considered by the government, social housing could be a big winner, attracting billions of pounds worth of private investment in an effort to stave off a double-dip recession. As the Eurozone crisis continues, unemployment increases and the UK's economic growth forecasts are revised downward, concerns that the British economy needs a boost are rife. That's why the... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on November 18th, 2011 in Property Market, Upad

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Millions may never be able to own their own home

The increasingly depressing state of the housing market has been brought to the fore, with the news that millions may never be able to own their own home. The Council of Mortgage Lenders Director General Paul Smee said, that many will rent for longer than they first envisaged. Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Charlie Bean explains that as mortgage deals require higher deposits, they... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on November 4th, 2011 in Buy-to-let, Property Market, Property Rental

Crystal Bubble

Are rents too high?

There is plenty of good news in the rental sector right now. Tenant demand is strong and shows little sign of waning. With demand strong and supply less fluid, rents have continued to increase in most of Britain. In London the average monthly rent is £1000, elsewhere it weighs in at £700. Good news you might think. But there is a downside. Pundits are reporting that rising rents are at risk... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on November 4th, 2011 in Housing Benefit, Property Market

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Housing associations step in as UK is confronted with ‘growing housing crisis’

According to a study conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), England is confronted with a ‘growing housing crisis’, as a shortfall of 750,000 homes is predicted by 2025. The research revealed the biggest shortfall of housing would be in London, the South East of England, the East, and Yorkshire and Humberside. However, while the pressing need for us to build more... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on November 4th, 2011 in Housing Benefit, Property Market, Property Rental, Social Housing

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Developers delay building 300k homes

Campaigners opposed to plans from the coalition government to water down planning laws have revealed that property developers already have existing planning permissions to build more than 300k houses in England and Wales. The government has announced that they wish to create a new legal “presumption in favour of suatainable development.” This has led to countryside groups and others... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on September 22nd, 2011 in Green, Property Investment, Property Market

Happy families

Family homes attract Buy to Let landlords

Buy to Let landlords are increasingly looking to family homes as a solid investment. The latest numbers from BTL mortgage people Paragon shows a significant increase in landlords looking to families as tenants This shouldn't be a surprise. With the changes to Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance (LHA) already starting to filter through the private residential sector (PRS), we expect... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on September 13th, 2011 in Buy-to-let, Property Market, Property Rental

Building a Home

5% VAT on renovating unoccupied properties

If you're in the market for another Buy to Let flat or house, there are lots of reasons to steer well clear of unoccupied properties. It's especially true if they have been empty for a while or are in very bad shape. The time and expense of renovating a property will often take a good chunk out of your short term profits. That's why it pays to take a more long term view and consider the value you... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on August 18th, 2011 in Landlord Tax, Property Market, Property Rental, Tips for New Landlords

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coinage

Interest rate rises “unlikely” in 2011

The July meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to maintain base interest rates at 0.5%. The MPC noted that the general weakness of the British economy and turbulence in the Eurozone made it unlikely that the rate would be increased in 2011. The committee noted: “Recent developments had reduced the likelihood that a tightening in policy would be... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on July 22nd, 2011 in Mortgages, Property Market, Property Rental

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Crazy hill of San Francisco

Buy to Let key to mortgage lending rise

  In June, there was a significant rise in mortgage lending according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Gross mortgage lending rose by 16% on May 2011 but was still 3% lower than June 2010. It’s expected that mortgage lending will grow modestly year on year in 2011. Pundits have noted that among the reasons for the increase are existing borrowers fixing deals in anticipation of... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on July 21st, 2011 in Buy-to-let, Mortgages, Property Market

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chr2

Chiswick: the new Kensington?

The family suburb which is gradually becoming the “in” place. Located on the edge of zone 2, Chiswick already has its merits. It is almost equidistant between Central London and Heathrow Airport, meaning a comfortable commute for the city workers and a hop skip and a jump to a faraway destination. The Times reports that Chiswick is seeing an influx of affluent people who have decided to... Read more

Posted by Simon @ Upad on June 8th, 2011 in Property Market, Property Rental

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