Blairs Mansion

Just in case you wondered how our illustrious former leader was doing after the global meltdown and his failure to get to grips with regulating the banks properly.

Nice man Tony...you know the regular guy who's persona was "I'm the kinda guy you could have a drink with down the local"

Well he's doing just fine. Look at his latest mansion.

Landlord Insurance - internet rates

Landlord Insurance - 'trap'

I met a fellow landlord in my Virgin gym this week. He highlighted an issue he had with his landlord insurance. Interestingly it was the complete opposite to my issue with my landlord insurance company.

He had bought a buy-to-let property in Hull several years ago with a Mortgage Express mortgage. Recently the property had been broken into and suffered £5,000 worth of damage. The property was insured but he had not increased the sum insured since the purchase of the property. The original re-build cost was in the order of £80,000. The insurance company has come back and is now arguing that the sum insured should be now £120,000 and that they will only pay out pro-rata on the £5,000. This seems to me to be very 'harsh'.

Has anybody come across a similar situation.? My fellow gym goer maintains that he has been caught out by ignorance rather than actively trying to under insure his buy-to-let property.

Looks to me that us landlords are at risk of get caught in a 'pincer movement' by these landlord insurance companies.

Landlord insurance - trusted providers

Your tenant dies - what to do?

It's a landlords worst nightmare. What would you do if your tenant snuffed it. I can't even imagine. Would you be responsible for removing the body etc? I hope and guess the NHS would step in at some stage. But then you are left with clearing up the mess. Literal and metaphorical.

How many of us would have details of the next of kin?

Aside from the practicalities of dealing with the dead tenant where would a landlord stand on the tenancy? Well legally the tenants death doesn't actually end the tenancy. The responsibility for the tenancy in this situation would pass to the executors. The simplest thing is to then agree a surrender with them.

A complication would be if the dead tenant had a relative living with them. Under the AST they do not have rights of succession to the tenancy. In this situation I would serve a section 21 notice on the remaining tenant and the executors in case it was deemed that the landlord had commenced a separate tenancy with them.

If the tenant has no relatives or executors then it might be advisable to contact the Crown Office which would be involved if there are no other personal representatives (whether executors or administrators) of the deceased.

Landlord insurance - professional rates

Saving the BTL mortgage - update

Since I created the e-petition to save the UK's Buy-To-Let Mortgage over 3000 landlords have signed it which is a great response from the landlord community.

Let's keep the pressure up and stop the Eurocrats spoiling our buy-to-let party!

Mortgage Search - whole of market

Rents and wages 'shock'

The average rent in some parts of London has reached 56% of pay according to the 'shock horror' headline in the Metro. The figures sourced from the National Statistics and Valuation Office Agency were compiled by the office of the Shadow Communities Minister under Jack Dromey.

They seem to indicate that London Borough's account for 21 out of 25 of the highest ratios of rent to income. The lowest ratios are in Lancaster where rent makes up 15 per cent of earnings. In Derby it is 20 per cent, Liverpool 24 per cent, Gateshead 25 per cent and Birmingham 26 per cent. The message for landlords in these areas are that if your tenant has a job there should be no problem paying the rent and if supply conditions get tight there could be considerable upside in rental levels.

The only thing is that Jack Dromey looks to have a problem with figures as evidenced by his dealings with his own expenses and those of the Labour Party - so can they be completely trusted?

Landlord Insurance - professional rates

Insulating your buy-to-let

I wrote recently about the tax benefits of insulating your buy-to-let.

Even better news!

Today when I made enquiries about insulation at my local authority in Nottinghamshire it transpires that they offer subsidised loft and cavity wall insulation. Why? Well it's not as a result of any generosity by the Government. Instead it's the result of legislation the government introduced to force energy providers to cut their carbon emissions. The result is that subsidised insulation is available to landlords in many areas. You need to act pretty sharpish though. The four year CERT scheme is due to end in December.

I'm made up. Not only will I be able to get my place fully insulated for less than a hundred quid. I'll also get my tenant off my back who has been pestering me that he is 'cold'. RESULT! I'm looking forward to my celebratory drink tonight....

Landlord insurance - internet rates

What's a residential inventory for?

The residential inventory is a record of the condition of a property before allowing the marauding tenant classes into occupation. It often has several uses:

· It is schedule of condition of the property being let

· It forms a record of the items and chattels attached to your buy-to-let being let

· It forms part of the legally binding contract that is set out in the tenancy agreement and is part of the agreement between the two parties

Create your own free residential inventory here.

Landlord Insurance - internet rates

TDS changes on FRIDAY!

As changes to tenancy deposit protection laws come into force this week, Shelter is calling on landlords to ensure they are protecting their tenants’ deposits, and protecting themselves from penalties.

The housing charity campaigned for the changes to the tenancy deposit protection law, which tighten up loopholes making the law more effective for both tenants and landlords.

From 6 April landlords will have up to 30 days from the start of a tenancy to place their tenant’s deposit in one of the three official protection schemes, up from the previous 14 days. The penalty for failing to do so will now be up to a judge to decide, rather than a fixed penalty and will range from one to three times the value of the deposit, which will be awarded to the tenant.

Recent figures from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) show that 47% of their members reported a rise in unplanned lettings¹, where homeowners are becoming landlords out of necessity rather than choice as they need to move but are unable to sell.

With the increase in homeowners becoming landlords, many perhaps for the first time it is important that they are aware of their responsibilities towards their tenants to avoid unwittingly breaking the law, particularly with regards to tenant deposits.

With thousands of people every year coming to Shelter for help with deposit disputes, the housing charity wants to ensure that all landlords, whether professional or homeowners letting their property, are abiding by the law and avoiding unnecessary disputes and potential financial penalties.

Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: “This legislation is enormously important for the three million households privately renting and for their landlords.

“With these vital improvements the legislation can achieve what it was created for – setting out clear responsibilities and timescales for landlords to protect tenants’ deposits and providing a quick and efficient way of resolving any disputes.

“We know that the majority of landlords want to do the right thing, the challenge is to ensure that they are not caught out by these changes and that they fully understand their legal responsibilities. We want landlords to know that this legislation benefits them as well as providing private renters with the reassurance that their hard-earned deposits are protected.”

Landlord Insurance - professional rates

Allsop auction - amazing yields

Amazing residential yields were generated in the latest residential auction held by Allsop last week. Of the 32 Assured Shorthold Tenanted properties sold the average yield worked out at a massive 11%.

Inside the M25 that was 6.82% whilst outside the M25 sales hit a stonking 13.3% yield.

Who says there is not value out there in the residential investment market. Mind you one problem. You need to be able to access finance.

No wonga no property. It's that simple.

Watch our latest auction update for market commentary, property highlights and yield analysis vimeo.com/39636140

— Allsop (@AllsopLLP) April 3, 2012

Mortgage Search - Bridging Finance available

House price drop

Any property bulls who expect a strong bounce back in residential property prices will be sadly disappointed by the latest figures from the Nationwide.

They reveal that prices have actually dropped 1% over the last year leaving the average home costing £163,327.

As we know there is no such thing as an average home. If you are lucky enough to own prime London property that 1% drop is probably a 25% rise depending on what part of London and the type of property you have invested in. If you have invested in property in say the North East in somewhere like Hartlepool you are probably nursing a double digit fall.

Property is a great barometer of what is happening in the real economy. One truism is that even in the worst of times somebody is doing well. If the headlines are true, doctors are no longer on a one way ticket to a 'moral' fortune because of the NHS cut backs. Other sectors are even now picking up their mantle and boosting house prices in the most desirable residential areas. With the price of some metals hitting an all time high perhaps it's scrap dealers that once again are coining it in. All this is an argument for investing in the best area you can afford, even if gross rental yields are less.

Landlord insurance - national coverage

Rents climb above £600 again

After the seasonal dip in rent. The spring kick up has resulted in monthly rents climbing back above the £600 pcm level for the first time since January.

The good news is that the general trend to rents according to the Rentindex is upward and with strong demand and lack of supply we can't see this changing in the short term.

Landlord insurance - best rates

Tenants & water meters

Many tenants who are responsible for paying their water bills will look at reducing their bill by getting a water meter. Can they do that? Well not unless there fixed term tenancy is for more than 6 months under the provisions of the Water Industry Act 1999. Then they may be able to install a water meter unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise. It is normal that the tenancy agreement requires that the tenant should obtain consent from the landlord first before approaching the water company to obtain a water meter.

The difficulty for a landlord is that once a water meter has been installed it can only be removed by paying the water company to do this (not cheap). I generally would advise that landlords should refuse consent unless the tenant is bound to procure (and pay for) meter removal when the tenancy ends.

Landlord insurance - professional rates

Rental yields top 6%

The latest buy-to-let yield revealed by BM Solutions show that the highest rental yields were in the North (7.0%), North West, Yorkshire and the Humber (both 6.3%), Wales (6.0%), West Midlands and the East Midlands (both 5.9%).

Greater London (4.8%), South West (5.0%), South East (5.2%) and East Anglia (5.3%) all registered yields below the UK average. Rental yields were marginally lower in 2011 at 6.1% than in 2010, when they stood at 6.2%.

Rental yields are notoriously difficult to measure accurately on buy-to-let property because of the complexity of measuring buy-to-let property capital values and rents.

Landlord insurance - all risks

Tenants to get credit history

A new scheme which up a tenants credit rating if they keep up to date on their rent is being introduced by credit referencing company EXPERIAN.

The scheme called the Rental Exchange could help to strengthen a tenants credit history in the same way that a good payment record for a mortgagee helps a homeowner gain credit.

This seems a positive development to me to incentivise tenants to pay their rent on time and gain a higher credit score which will help them obtain credit including a mortgage in the future.
Currently the Rental Exchange will only operate with a number of the larger corporate private landlords but if it could be widened to small private landlords it would be an excellent way of incentivising tenants to be prompt with their rental payments and bring down rental arrears.

For more details

Landlord insurance - professional rates

My tenants are dumb!

My tenants are testing my patience this week.

Do any other landlords spend all their time resending emails and texts with contractors details on?

Do tenants not have the facility or acumen to store a name or contact on their phone or search their email inbox.

Apparently not!

Landlord insurance - professional rates and cover

DPS dispute resolution

Landlords are familiar with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).

Any body who has worried about a dispute with their tenant over their tenancy deposit should have a look at Tom Derretts' excellent series of posts and advice on disputes over the tenancy deposit.

For information about repaying the tenant's deposit have a look at this recent magazine article.

Landlord insurance - all risks

Landlords urged to use RCD's

The Electrical Safety Commission (ESC) is calling on landlords to ensure that there is adequate RCD protection in all of their buy-to-let properties.

Currently the ESC estimate fewer than half of UK households (49%) have adequate RCD protection and this number drops to just 30% for private tenants.

A Residual Current Device (RCD) is a life-saving device that protects against dangerous electric shock and reduces the risk of electrical fires. The ESC urge that a Plug-in RCDs should be used if there is no RCD in the fuse box.

Electrical Safety for landlords

Landlord kills tenants' cat

Having problems with your tenants?

We don't recommend this as a course of action!

Pay up or else "Kitty gets it!"

Reference my tenants - For LESS

MPs 'hot under collar' over rents

It seems that it's not only landlords and tenants who are getting 'hot under the collar' over the subject of rents.

There seems to be some disagreement between the Tory and Labour ranks over whether private sector rents are rising or not. The Lib Dems seem conspicuously absent from the debate. No doubt mulling over much higher matters - such as the working conditions of university lecturers and possibly the true meaning of Nietzsche.

To view the red and blue banter have a look at this link to the excellent TheyWorkForYou website.

It's good to see that some things don't change. The Labour party is still agitating that rents are too high for hard pressed tenants ( but don't have the guts to put forward a credible tax & spend alternative to private landlords ) and the Tories do their best to stand up for market principles.

I do hope the Lib Dems are alright though........

It gets terribly draughty in those Ivory Towers!

Landlord Insurance - no nonsense cover

Tenant cashback?

The latest Tory idea to kick start the jobs market and save money into the bargain is Tenant Cashback also known as the tenant apprenticeship scheme.

The scheme announced last week offers tenants who are wannabe decorators and carpenters the opportunity to become an apprentice in their own home and to get paid for it.

Under the scheme tenants would get paid for fixing their own taps, fitting doors and painting their own property. OH DEAR!

Clearly Grant Shapps who has been the Minister pushing the idea has never witnessed the average persons first attempts at DIY. Whilst the theory is great; that we train up a people to become a less reliant breed of tenants. Any landlord on the receiving end of the DIY treatment would wince at the thought of what state their property would be left in. Lopsided doors, floods and a paint scheme straight out of the text book of Playschool for those older enough to remember this childrens classic.

Before you panic....the scheme is only available to tenants living in the social sector.

PHEW ....one definitely left filed under nice idea but in practice a potential disaster.

My experience of tenants decorating my property is let them practice on somebodies else's property and perfect their skills before before letting them loose on my buy-to-lets!

Landlord insurance - where do professional landlords go for cover?