Evicted lodger belongings?

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Hi my lodger been evicted yesterday, I gave her notice she was agreed to move by end of the month the when the time was to vacate the room then she suddenly changed she said has nowhere to go refused to move police were called then before the police come she disappeared she left her… Read more

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UK start-up InsureStreet helps solve cash deposit crisis

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Trust-based property rental solution:      

London, UK, May 2017 – UK start-up, is set to solve a major issue in the rental market and potentially pump nearly £4 billion of ‘dead money’ back into the UK economy by replacing cash deposits with trust-based deposit replacement insurance – InsureStreet.

• UK start-up aims to pioneer a rental community built on mutual trust and respect

• Digital platform to benefit tenants, agents and landlords, says HISCOX insurance

• Serial entrepreneur Vin Murria among high-profile investors

The app, whose backers include serial entrepreneur Vin Murria and insurance provider HISCOX, presents ‘generation rent’ with an easy and affordable alternative to the often crippling upfront cash deposits required by landlords.

InsureStreet comes at a time when rent rises across the UK have far outpaced wage increases over the past five years – and at a time when more misery is predicted for renters with further steep rises expected over the next few years, particularly in London. However, with a shortage of affordable housing, more and more people have no choice but to rent.

How InsureStreet works:

• Typically, renters are charged a minimum of six weeks’ rent as a security deposit, plus agency fees and a month’s rent in advance.

• InsureStreet provides renters with a digital RentPassport™ that validates their profile and then provides renters with an instant insurance quote to cover their deposit.

• Instead of paying a traditional cash deposit, renters make a one-off payment for an insurance policy that covers them for the duration of the rental contract. In most cases, that one-off insurance payment is less than a tenth of what you would pay for a traditional cash deposit.

• The platform rewards good behaviour through lower policy premiums at renewal.

• For landlords, the fear of unknown renters forces them to take cash deposits to cover any losses. InsureStreet replaces that fear with a trusted renter profile and an insurance policy, backed by HISCOX.

• InsureStreet has also partnered exclusively with Experian to offer renters the option to choose to pay their rent on the app and help improve their credit score.

With nearly two out of five UK households renting their home and home ownership at its lowest level for a quarter of century, this new data-driven approach also has the potential to channel £4bn of dead capital back into the UK economy, as well as free up often badly needed cash for renters. According to the latest figures around the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, right now more than £4bn is tied up in rental deposits schemes, and £1.25bn of that is in London alone.

Tahir Farooqui, founder and CEO of InsureStreet, says: “We believe change comes from within, especially in an industry that has been blighted with mistrust. In championing social mobility, we chose to lead by example and empower our customers to do the same; together we can grow and evolve as positive agents of change. Our goal is to make it easier for good tenants to find nice places to live – especially in large cities where rent is inflated beyond their means.

“And for landlords, because they have access to trusted renter profiles, it takes away the fear and mistrust out of rental transactions,” he adds. “What we are offering is not only a convenient app to set up and access our RentPassport™ service, but also a ‘Rental Hub’ to connect tenants, landlords and agents with each other and relevant services to improve their overall rental experience. The hub is both intuitive and transparent, ensuring open communication channels, so together the industry can evolve products and services that make a positive difference on the communities it serves.

“We will continue to develop a range of on-demand insurance-based services targeted at ‘generation rent’, and as we grow, a percentage of our profits will go to the homeless.”

Martin McBrearty, head of underwriting partnerships at HISCOX, comments: “The launch of InsureStreet is an exciting development for the rental market. Its RentPassport™ will connect tenants with agents or landlords digitally, making the whole rental experience more trusted and flexible. We’re really pleased to be involved.”

The company has secured initial funding from angel investors including Vin Murria, one of the UK’s top women entrepreneurs, along with other angel investors including Charles Burgess, Christopher Raymond McKee, Nick Martin and Catherine Hardiman.

The London-based start-up, which is regulated by the FCA, is selectively piloting with trusted and reputable insurance partners including HISCOX, Experian, Urban Spaces, Get Living, Quintain (Tipi), Essential Living, Atlas Residential, Walten & Allen and Fifty Thousand Homes.

Jonathan Westley, managing director of consumer information services at Experian, says:

“Experian is committed to be able to help millions of renters improve their credit score by having rent payments count in their credit record. We believe the new proposition from InsureStreet doesn’t just make renting more affordable, but that it can give people access to more attractive and affordable credit products in general.

“A strong credit history helps people to access mainstream financial services, including mortgages. In the past, building a good credit rating has been easier for homeowners than for tenants, because mortgage payments are factored in, but via Rental Exchange we want to help level the playing field for renting tenants.”

Jonathon Ivory, managing director of Atlas Residential adds:

“InsureStreet offers a unique and interesting proposition to benefit both investors and customers. For the former, there is some nervousness in respect of arrears and bad debt and the impact on returns, which InsureStreet can insulate against.

“For the later, with Atlas’s priority for customer satisfaction and retention, the consumer no longer has to tie-up such large deposit sums but they can also begin to build a valid credit history that can support downstream home ownership. This makes the InsureStreet offer very compelling and of great interest to our business.”

It is also one of only five insurance start-ups to be chosen as part of the Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab.

About InsureStreet

InsureStreet™ was founded in 2016 by Tahir Farooqui and was born out of personal experience when his younger brother, a millennial, struggled to find the large sum cash deposit typically required by landlords. The company’s mission is to solve this growing deposit crisis for ‘generation rent’.

Its service offers an alternative solution as users are able to access an on-demand insurance platform that generates real-time prices for deposit insurance, and rewards the good behaviour of trustworthy tenants. This removes the headache for landlords.

As the company aims to unlock billions of pounds currently locked away as deposits across the UK, it hopes to redirect that capital back into the economy. http://insurestreet.co

… LandlordZONE.

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Consider These Things Before You Increase Your Tenant’s Rent

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1. It could force good tenants to leave.

It might only be a small amount you’ve increased the rent by, but don’t underestimate how this could offend a good tenant who pays rent on time and looks after the property. If you reward good tenants who want to stay and make your property their home for a long period of time, does it really make a difference to get a bit extra each month? And consider carefully if you’re prepared to put your property back on the market if the tenant doesn’t accept the increase…

2. Can the rental market sustain an increase?

Should your tenant decide not to accept the increase they may give you notice to leave. During a periodic term, this will be 1 month. So now you need to prepare your property for market, take photos, book in any repairs and try to arrange viewings with a potentially disgruntled tenant. Along with this, you’ll have your fees for advertising and management percentages to fork out, unless you self-manage. These fees can be reduced if you go it alone or use an online letting agent, like Upad, with prices from £100+ VAT. Once on the market, there’s no telling if it will let for the increased amount. You also need to consider seasonal variations; such as the decline over the Christmas period, and general market conditions i.e. is supply exceeding demand?

3. Can the tenant afford a rent increase?

Let’s say your tenant accepts the rent increase, can they even afford it? Affordability checks at the initial referencing stage were based on the rent price then and their salary at that point in time. As we know from being a landlord’s- things change. There is a chance they may not be able to afford the increased amount. Also consider that they may be earning less than before if they changed jobs. Plus, it’s well documented that wages aren’t increasing at the same rate as rents, particularly in the South East and London.

4. An increase could lead to your tenant falling into arrears.

If your tenant accepts the increase, not wanting to leave the property but also not seriously considering the implications on their finances, it may lead them to fall into arrears. Even a difference of £50 a month could trigger this, particularly if a tenant’s wages aren’t increasing but their monthly outgoings are. It could end up costing you a significant amount if you need to issue court proceedings for possession based on rent arrears. There are currently 62% of landlords dealing with tenant arrears and this is only set to worsen with rents predicted to rise even faster than wages due to the tax changes from 2017.

5. Will you be left with a void period?

If your existing tenant leaves because of the rent increase, you could be left with a void period because there is no guarantee you can quickly find a new tenant. Void periods can be very costly, even a 1 month void means you’re not only missing out on a month’s rent, utility bills and council tax, you will also have to pay the mortgage that month. Many investors rushed to complete purchases before April this year when the increased stamp duty tax rate affecting landlords came into play. This led to an 11.5% increase (up to 50% year on year in some areas) in available properties to let on the market- according to Rightmove. This huge surge in demand means tenants have more choice and the knock on effect could be even longer voids.

6. Do you really need to?

If you’re achieving a good yield then remember this is a long term investment based also on the capital growth of the property. Of course there are expenses for you as a landlord and particularly with the new changes from 2017: profits will be affected. But on balance it might be better to keep hold of a long-term tenant that looks after your investment and pays the rent in full and on time each month.

… LandlordZONE.

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Tenant wants new AST in order to claim housing benefit?

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I own a single 2 bed terraced property which has been let to the same working single tenant for just over 3 years. The tenant has unfortunately lost his job recently, and reached out asking if I would give him a new 6 month AST agreement which he claimed he needs in order to claim… Read more

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Test your knowledge: Section 21

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According to the Ministry of Justice 35,188 claims for possession were filed from January to March 2017. On average 70% of notices served can be deemed invalid due to errors made by the landlord or agent*. These figures suggest that a huge number of a possession claims may be delayed or, worse, thrown out completely, […]

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Is it possible to avoid Letting Agent renewal fee in case of self-management?

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I self-manage a property in London and I used a letting agency to find my tenant. My contract with the letting agent states there is a fee to be paid for tenancy renewal (5% +VAT, periodic basis included). The tenant has contacted me well in advance of the expiration of the current tenancy term requesting… Read more

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Doncaster Look To Expand Selective Licensing

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Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council have begun the consultation process for a new selective licensing scheme in the area of Edlington. This scheme, if successful, will run alongside their pre-existing selective licensing scheme in Hexthorpe. The council states the reason for this scheme is to “help tackle the evidenced Anti-Social behaviour in this area”. Selective Licensing […]

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Knock two houses into one and Rent-a-room?

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We are considering buying the house next door and combining it with our own house to create one property. We would then rent out the bedrooms under the rent-a-room-in-your-own-home scheme, which would be more tax efficient than renting out the house separately. From a legal point of view, does this sound viable, and what arrangements… Read more

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Landlords can solve Britain’s housing crisis…

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Britain’s private landlords should be seen as part of the solution to Britain’s housing crisis, that’s the view of Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), writing for City AM. The UK is desperate for more homes, especially in London where over a quarter of households are in the private rented sector, a […]

… LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Landlords can solve Britain’s housing crisis…