14th June 2019
On a wet cold and windy night on the 12th June, local Lettings Agents Concentric (incorporating Lawsons) which have been renting and managing properties in the Wolverhampton area for nearly 30 years, ran its second seminar of the year, with one intention in mind… Educating landlords.
READ MORE
4th June 2019
There’s no getting away from the fact that there have been a lot of changes in legislation in the lettings industry over the past year, not least updates in the law surrounding energy efficiency. This has been quite a big one, because there is currently a huge buzz around the need for us all to be more aware of our environmental impact, from the materials we use every day, to how we reduce the amount of energy in our businesses and in our households. So let’s take a look at what’s changed, and how we as landlords and agents need to look at energy efficiency within the properties that we rent out, along with the potential hurdles that might present.
READ MORE
29th March 2019
From 1st April 2019, it has become mandatory that all property agents hold a registered membership with a certified money protection scheme. This is by way of insurance for landlords and tenants, to prevent rogue agents from keeping back money from deposits and rents if something goes wrong. Let’s look at what this means for landlords, and what you should be looking out for when you employ an agent to manage your properties.
READ MORE
15th March 2019
Since April 2018, it has been possible to be banned from being a landlord. Not unlike facing a 12 month ban from driving if you break the law, as a landlord, you could now be stopped from letting out or managing properties for being found guilty of housing offences. It’s a pretty radical, although arguably necessary move, brought into play to crack down on rouge landlords and agents. So what does it mean, exactly, and how could it affect you?
READ MORE
11th March 2019
2019 is proving to be an unpredictable market for properties in the UK. As with many other industries, people are hitting pause in anticipation of the outcome of the Brexit deal. Could this turn out to be a good thing for landlords?
READ MORE
20th February 2017
It’s a common phrase you see rounding off nearly every rental listing - “No DSS”. DSS – being the now-defunct Department of Social Security – refers to LHA tenants, the catch-all term for low-income tenants who claim Local Housing Allowance (LHA), named after the now-defunct Department of Social Security.
READ MORE
16th February 2017
The growth of the buy-to-let market isn’t slowing down, as the housing shortage in the UK continues. Because of this, you now see a lot of information out there to help landlords get the best rental yields for their properties, but interestingly there is less information on capital appreciation. More associated with buyers and vendors, capital appreciation is also a factor that landlords need to consider when they invest in property, now more than ever.
READ MORE
14th February 2017
Being a good landlord means having to deal with problems as they arise, whether it’s appliances that have stopped working, issues with neighbours or the tricky situation of handling rent arrears. You may have vetted your tenants thoroughly and to the correct procedure, but it’s not always a guarantee that they’ll pay on time. Sometimes, a tenant will hit hard times – they may lose their job, go through a major life change, or simply have a tough month with expenses - and you need a strategy to deal with rent arrears when they happen.
READ MORE
9th December 2016
Twenty one percent of privately-rented accommodation has been found to contain unsafe gas appliances, meaning that over 2.7 million tenants could be in danger. Landlords hold the legal responsibility to ensure that appliances are in safe working order.
READ MORE
16th September 2016
With property prices ever increasing and successive governments taxing income from property more and more each year, landlords and property investors are often turning to houses of multiple occupation sometimes known as HMOs for higher rates of return. So why do HMO give landlords and property investors a higher rate of return? Well essentially this is down to the fact that HMO properties are rented out by the room rather than as a whole property.
READ MORE
