NLA in takeover move

NLA is set to become a lettings monolith as it plans it's latest takeover in the landlord and letting organisation world.

It now has it's sights on the UKALA the Association of Letting Agents with around 500 letting agent members.

The proposed takeover of the management features comes after the NLA took over the NRLA in a hotly disputed and aggressive takeover move last year.

What next ....world domination!

Dogs galore tenant

Any landlord who has had the dilemma of whether to let to a tenant with pets needs to feel sorry for the poor landlord who ended up with this tenant.

The tenant in question Kindred Hummer wasn't content with one & a cat. Oh no! She was allegedly found with 50 cats, 10 dogs and a squirrel. A squirrel!?

Property Hawk has said in the past that letting to tenants with pets can be a smart move.
We're not sure about allowing a tenant to set up a small zoo. The landlord unsurprisingly evicted Hummer but was still left massively out of pocket with legal fees and clean up costs.
Commenting on the case he advises:

“I would just warn other landlords to always visit the tenant's previous address before you take them on.”

Landlords warned on LR fraud

Advice in the latest Young Groups newsletter highlights how landlords can avoid the dangers of Land Registry fraud where unscrupulous individuals attempt to sell or take ownership of a landlords buy-to-let property.

Steps that a landlord can take to avoid it are:

• Register your title. If you have not registered your property with
the Land Registry, do so straight away. Registering your property will
give you greater security of title. Also, if you do register and then
become the victim of fraud, you may be eligible for compensation
from the Land Registry.

• Keep your contact details up to date. When renting out a
property you should register a correspondence address which is
different to the property address - an ‘address for service’. The best
address for service would be your home address but make sure that
you update the Land Registry if you move house.

• Consider multiple ‘addresses for service’. To further
prevent fraud, the Land Registry allows you to have up to three
addresses for service. So rather than just putting your own
home address down,consider also providing them with your
email address, you may fi nd it useful to add your solicitor as the
third. Some of our clients already list Young Group’s details too.

• Put a restriction on your title. If you think you are particularly
at risk of fraud, you might want to consider applying for the entry
of a restriction on your title. This means that the Land Registry will
then not register anything on the property (for example a sale or a
new mortgage) unless a solicitor or other professional has certifi ed
they have checked your identity.

By taking these very simple steps it can make it much harder for
fraudsters to tamper with the title of your buy-to-let property.

See this article about more info about how land registry fraud can affect landlords.

Landlord insurance - professional rates available

BTL mortgages - most popular

Looking for a buy-to-let mortgage? Visit www.propertyhawk.co.uk and save time and money!

Our free online buy-to-let mortgage service aims to provide you with the most competitive buy-to-let mortgages in the market, whilst helping you choose a product to suit your individual requirements. You can use the free buy-to-let mortgage finder to get an instant personalised quote and apply for your mortgage online. There are no broker fees charged for this service so you could save yourself considerable time and money when arranging your next buy-to-let mortgage.

Below is a selection of the most popular buy-to-let mortgages currently available. For full information on these products, and all other buy-to-let mortgage schemes available to you, please visit www.propertyhawk.co.uk and click on Mortgages to use the free online buy-to-let mortgage finder. If you would like to discuss your requirements with a member of the support team please telephone 029 2069 5446.

Most popular buy-to-let mortgages

Interest Rate	Overall Cost for Comparison	Max LTV	Product Detail	Completion Fee	Early Repayment Charges
2.99% Fixed	5.3% APR	60%	Fixed rate of 2.99% until 30/11/2011 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 4.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 60% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 125% at a notional rate of 4.99%. An application fee will apply.	3.5% (min £595)	5% of amount being repaid until 30/11/2011
3.64% Tracker	5.2% APR	60%	Variable tracker rate of BBR + 3.14% until 30/09/2012 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 4.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 60% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at a notional rate of 4.99%. An application fee will apply.	3.5%	4% of original balance being repaid until 30/09/2012
3.88% Tracker	4.1% APR	75%	Variable tracker rate of BBR + 3.38% for the lifetime of the loan. This product is available up to 75% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 100% at a notional rate of 8.5%. An application fee will apply. Available on a repayment basis only and for loans up to £150,000. The completion fee is payable at offer stage.	£1695	1% of original balance being repaid for 1 year
4.35% Tracker	5.1% APR	75%	Variable tracker rate of BBR + 3.85% for 1 year then reverting to a variable rate of BBR + 4.19% to give a current rate of 4.69% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 75% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at payrate. An application fee will apply.	3%	3% of amount being repaid for 1 year
4.89% Fixed	5.1% APR	60%	Fixed rate of 4.89% until 30/09/2012 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 4.74% for the remainder of the term. There is a free valuation up to £680 for purchases and remortgages and free legals for remortgages only. This product is available up to 60% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at payrate. There is a £250 booking fee and an application fee will apply.	£1499	4% of amount being repaid until 30/09/2012
4.94% Tracker	4.6% APR	70%	Limited company product. Variable tracker rate of BBR + 4.44% until 30/11/2011 then reverting to a variable rate of BBR + 3.49% to give a current rate of 3.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 70% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at a notional rate of 5.44%. An application fee will apply.	3.5% (min £595)	3% of amount being repaid until 30/11/2011
4.99% Fixed	5.5% APR	80%	Fixed rate of 4.99% until 30/11/2011 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 4.99% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 80% LTV and there is a rental calculation of 125% at payrate. An application fee will apply.	3% (min £595)	5% of amount being repaid until 30/11/2011
5.4% Fixed	5.3% APR	75%	Fixed rate of 5.40% until 01/02/2013 reverting to a variable rate of BBR + 4.24% to give a current rate of 4.74% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 75% LTV and there is a rental calculation is 125% at payrate. An application fee will apply.	2.5%	3% of amount being repaid until 01/02/2013
5.45% Fixed	5.7% APR	75%	Fixed rate of 5.45% until 31/10/2012 then reverting to the lender's standard variable rate which is currently 5.39% for the remainder of the term. There is a refund of valuation (up to £500) and free legals for remortgages. This product is available up to 75% LTV and the rental calculation is 125% at payrate. An application fee will apply.	1.25%	2% of amount being repaid until 31/10/2012
5.49% Fixed	5.1% APR	60%	Fixed rate of 5.49% until 01/11/2012 then reverting to the lender’s standard variable rate which is currently 4.79% for the remainder of the term. This product is available up to 60% LTV and the rental calculation is 120% at payrate. An application fee will apply.	£1995	4% of the outstanding balance as of 1st January until 01/11/2012

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice.
Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Please visit www.propertyhawk.co.uk and click on Mortgages to search the full product range and find a buy-to-let mortgage to suit your specific personal circumstances.

Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages. The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

Free property management software, Free tenancy agreements

Falling prices & higher yields

The latest RICS Letting Survey for July has some encouraging figures for landlords and the lettings market. The full study can be viewed here. It's not the easiest study to decipher because it is based on the attitudes of the surveyors that take part. Imagine a hundred surveyors in a room who are then asked do you think yields and rents are going up down or staying the same. The survey then takes the balance. So if out of the 100; fifty surveyors say rents are going up to thirty who say rents are falling; the balance would be +30%. Not the most straightforward but it has been very useful as a forward indicator on the residential letting and investment market.

The latest figures show that surveyors are pretty positive on rental yields with a balance of almost 20% surveyors seeing residential investment yields rise.

This is not unsurprising. With rents continuing to increase and rental demand strong, particularly in London the income side of the investment equation is on the up. House prices on the other hand continue to suffer from weakness. The latest views from respected City figure Neil Woodford Invesco Perpetual's head of investment indicate that he expects house prices to fall over the next couple of years by between 5 & 10%. If that's the case investment yields will continue to strengthen.

For landlords looking for good income producing investments, the current climate looks pretty positive.

Get me the cheapest landlord insurance quote

Bricks & mortar board returns

Globrix the property listing site has just released figures revealing which University cities deliver the highest returns for buy-to-let investors.

There are two elements to their figures. The first is the gross rental yields which vary between 4 & 6%. The other element of a landlords returns is the change in the house price or capital value of the investment.

The combination of the two gives the total returns experienced by a buy-to-let investor.

Southern and scottish university towns have generally done best.

Globrix tips Sheffield and Glasgow as offering some reasonable potential for future investment locations.

To see the full article.