Tenants should pay their own deposits in - says lawyer

Rent Guarantee Update

Letting Market Roundup

Finance Fears Are Causing Landlords To Lose Confidence

The most recent findings from the Upad Landlord Confidence Index show that just 54% of landlords say they are more confident in the rental sector than they were last month, down from 57% in October.

Shortage Of Buyers Impacting Housing Market

A shortage of buyers is continuing to have a real impact on UK house prices, according to research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

 

More Than 7 in 10 Landlords Believe That Professional Property Management Is Money Well Spent

That is the verdict of the latest Young Index which, in addition to reporting on property price and asset acquisition expectations, also assesses the value investors attribute to property management.

Reluctant Landlords Make A Comeback

The ‘reluctant landlord’ – a phenomenon that emerged during the recession as home owners were forced to let their property rather than sell it – has returned to the rental market, according to Arla.

Three Million "Zombie" Borrowers At Risk If Interest Rates Rise

Three million 'zombie' households are at risk of falling into financial ruin if interest rates rise, an economist has warned.

Tenant Who Took Out Frustration On Letting Agent Is Sentenced !!!!!!

A tenant sent dog muck, dead moths, nettles and a dead bird to his letting agent when he was threatened with eviction.

Brand Awareness Jumps For Digital Property Websites

Brand awareness of the TDPG websites Primelocation, FindaProperty and Globrix has jumped 19% this year, the company has claimed.

Lending Tumbles As 1st Time Buyers and Buy To Let Numbers Dive

Mortgage lending continued to fall in October, two major valuation firms have said.

The number of valuations fell 16% in October compared with September, said Connells Survey and Valuation.

Fraud-busting Councils Recover £135M From Benefit Cheats

In its Protecting The Public Purse 2010 report the Audit Commission finds that last year England’s councils detected around £99 million worth of benefit fraud, over £15 million worth of council tax fraud, and £21 million worth of other types of fraud including false insurance claims, and abuse of the disabled parking ‘blue badge’ scheme.

Landlord Assist is advising landlords to consider the impact of tenants who could lose their jobs due to the Government cutbacks and to take preventative measures

Over 800,000 jobs were lost during the recession, and with another 490,000 public sector job losses announced as part of the Government Spending Review many tenants could come under increasing financial pressure over the coming months.


(Another reason to consider Rent Guarantee)

Landlords Ripping Off The Tax Payer Over Benefit Tenants' Claim

Private landlords with housing benefit tenants are charging the maximum amounts possible – and ripping off the taxpayer.

Industry "Experts" ?

Two comments by two different property industry "experts" make us wonder why the word "experts" is ever used to describe them !!!

Landlords Struggle To Raise Finance To Expand

More than six out of ten landlords are finding it difficult to get finance to expand their portfolios.

Ombudsman Calls For All Letting Agents To Join A Redress Scheme

Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer is pressing the Government to make it mandatory for letting agents to belong to a redress scheme.

Tenant Demand For Private Rented Property Continued To Rise In Third Quarter Of 2010

The Paragon Group’s Private Rented Sector (PRS) Trends quarterly snapshot report of developments in the PRS and buy-to-let market showed that 36% of landlords reported rising levels of tenant demand during the period, compared to 6% who said it was falling.

Rental Scams On The Increase, Say Fraud Police

Online rental scams are on the increase, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has warned.

It is dealing with 95 complaints – half from London, but with cities in the north-east also targeted. Many victims are students or new graduates starting their first jobs.

Campaign Launched To Speed Up Evictions

A campaign has been launched for Parliament to change the law to speed up the eviction process and give landlords more right of access to their own properties.

Confidence amongst homeowners about the outlook for the property market has fallen sharply amid growing concerns over the availability of mortgage finance

The latest Zoopla.co.uk Housing Market Sentiment Survey reveals that only 63% of homeowners now expect property prices to rise over the next six months, compared to 78% of homeowners three months ago, showing a staggering decline in confidence in the housing market.

Could British Banks Need A Second Taxpayer Bail-out?

Britain’s banks may need to be bailed out by taxpayers again, an economic think tank has warned.

Tenants protected If Landlord Defaults On Mortgage

Wednesday 6th October 2010

Tenants will no longer be kicked out of their home with no warning if their landlord defaults on their mortgage.

Buy To Let Lending Remains Very Subdued

The freezing up of the buy to let mortgage market that emerged as an unwelcome side-effect of the credit crunch appears to have eased a little, according to the latest buy to let survey results from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Source Propertytalklive.co.uk

Customer Feedback

An interesting post this one as we treat Landlords, Tenants and Prospective Tenants as equal Customers.  Hence we receive so much feedback about our service.  The comments in this post compel us to thank our Landlords [for following our advice about presenting properties in a great condition], existing Tenants for looking after our properties for our Landlords and our Marketing department for refusing to take on sub-standard properties which are often then taken on by Letting Agents who simply don't care !

A Third Of Tenants Are In Arrears - NOT AT BROOKDALE!

A strange report is this!  aboutproperty.co.uk report that a third of Tenants are in arrears.  We do not understand this statistic at Brookdale.  We manage 850 properties and can count on one hand the number of Tenants in arrears.  This is clearly not a third.


Anyhow - worth publishing this story as it is a testament to Brookdale's strict Tenant selection criteria and our ability to offer a non-insurance based guaranteed rent scheme.

Research Your Agent Before Committing

Many Landlords choose a Letting Agent based on cost alone.  They do not take into account the experience of the company (in terms of years trading) nor the experience of the staff nor the level of Customer Service.  A web-site dedicated to exposing bad agents is a great place to research your agent.  www.allagents.co.uk receives regular reviews of agents up and down the country.  Just type in the name of the letting agent in the box at the top of the screen.


An example:  Belvoir Letting Allagents Review


At Brookdale we share over 160 years combined experience in the property industry.  In fact, we have so much in-house knowledge that we do not even employ solicitors.  This is one of the reasons we have never sold insurance policies (for which Letting Agents are paid commission) to cover legal costs!  Everything is done in-house.  


We do not even sell insurance to cover rental loss.  We offer a unique rent guarantee scheme where you are paid the rent even if the Tenant is late or does not pay.  It is not insurance based, does not penalise Landlords by taking the first month's loss as an "excess" and we are not selling it to earn commission as most other agents are.  We simply guarantee Landlord rental payments.  Read more.

Tenancy Deposit Rules Side With Tenants, Says Agent

Source EA Today: Wednesday 11th August 2010


A letting agent has accused the TDS of failing to address the fundamental problem of tenants raising spurious disputes, knowing that it costs them nothing to do so and they might as well “gamble on recovering some of their money”.

Letting Agents Prove Better At Avoiding Voids

Source EA Today:


Letting agents are more successful at keeping rental properties occupied than individual landlords, according to the Deposit Protection Service.

Dealing With Rising Interest Rates - A Guide For Landlords And Business Owners

Interest rates have now been at their record low of 0.5 per cent for 15 consecutive months. This unprecedented situation, which came about as a result of the government and Bank of England’s attempts to stimulate the economy, has been very good news for those with buy-to-let mortgages or business loans. 

Tenancy Deposit Law Should Be Totally Revised Says Expert

A lettings industry consultant has called for the existing law on tenancy deposit protection to be revoked, with totally new measures put in place.

Laurence Dillamore says the current system is not working.

The Popularity Of Renting Property Is Set To Rise, According To One Industry Practitioner

Commenting on the issue, chief executive officer of Upad.co.uk James Davis said that the price of buying homes may put increasing numbers of people off.

Property Shortage For UK's Nation of Renters

With the UK set to follow in the footsteps of it's European neighbours and become a nation of renters, Email4property.co.uk reports that current demand for rental property is far outstripping supply.

Secret Way The Tax Man Is Watching Landlords

If you own more than one property, the taxman is employing shadowy tactics to ensure you pay enough tax.  Here John Fitzsimons , personal finance editor at lovemoney.com exposes the secret way the taxman is watching Landlords.

VAT Increase January 4th 2011

Landlords please remember that VAT increases to 20% from 4th January 2011.  This will affect your payments we make at the end of January.

Brookdale Rent Guarantee Scheme - It Really Guarantees Your Rent!

Brookdale are the only agent that offer a rental guarantee which is not based on an insurance policy we sell you to earn commission (as with most letting agents).  It is a simple GUARANTEE that your rent will be paid on time whether your Tenant pays us or is late paying their rent.


Click Here for more.

The New Persimmon I-Home In Cardea Stanground

Persimmon Homes are developing a new site in Stanground called "Cardea".  The "Aster" is a one bedroom property priced very competitively and is a great deal for property investors.  It is named the "I-Home" as it boats connection to  fibre-optic broadband with speeds up to 50MB/S.  We cuurently have one to rent at a monthly rental of £450.

Useful Links For Our Tenants

Our website has a number of useful links for Tenants click here to view them.
Also we have created a page on our web-site for Tenants to send us enquiries.  Click here to view it.
Prospective Tenants can apply for a property on-line by clicking here.

Letting Agents Going Bust

Since 1989 we have seen a number of letting agents go bust but never more that during the recession of 2008.

Research Your Letting Agent By Reading Customer Reviews

www.allagents.co.uk provides a quick summary/reviews about letting agents and estate agents. It is well worth a look. Just type in the name of the agent in the box at the top and read the reviews.

The UK Housing Market Is A Relatively Safe Bet For Those Who Choose To Invest In It

According to LandlordZONE.co.uk director Tom Entwistle, property is a good option compared to many other assets in an unstable economy.

UK House Building Levels Rise

House building levels across the UK rose during May, according to the latest NHBC statistics, offering a positive backdrop to the coalition’s first budget.

More Imagination And Investment Needed In the Private Rental Sector

The emergency budget bought mixed blessings for the property industry.  The rise in CGT from 18% to 28% will hit buy to let landlords if they decide to sell inthe next few years , but not if they are looking at property as a long term investment.

VAT Increase Set To Boost "Black" Economy

The Chancellor's announcement to increase VAT to 20 percent from January 4th 2010 triggers the FMB (Federation of Master Builders) to issue a warning that this will boost the "black" economy.

TDS Bring Back External Adjudicators

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme has brought back some of its external adjudicators in order to improve turnaround times for disputes.

10 Reasons To Buy A New Build Home

This is an interesting article from Property Talk Live specifying 10 reasons to buy a new build home. It is primarily geared to the home buyer but all points are relevant to renters.  We find investors who buy new builds secure Tenants much more quickly than seconds.  In addition there are benefits associated with guarantess etc.

Suspension of HIPS Triggers Flood Of Properties Onto The Market

A flood of new properties has come on to the market since HIPs were scrapped on May 20, giving estate agents their busiest week in nearly three years.

Landlords Can Pay Off Mortgages Easier Due To Reduced Arrears

Landlords of buy-to-let properties could pay off mortgages quicker because of lower interest rates, according to one specialist.

Move To Bring Institutional Landlords Into the Letting Sector

With collaborative politics the name of the game, a coalition of large landlords, lenders, property investors and surveyors has formed.