RLA Wales host General Election Hustings event

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With just days to go until the UK general election, RLA Wales policy and public affairs officer Calum Davies writes about a general election hustings event the RLA hosted in Cardiff, recently. Last Thursday, RLA Wales hosted a hustings event to discuss the issues that matter to private landlords, at Cornerstone in Cardiff last week. […]

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Call of the Week-Christmas decorations and winter letter for tenants

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Christmas is only a few weeks away, and many people will soon be putting Christmas decorations up. This week, a member got in touch with us about some outdoor Christmas decorations their tenants had put up at the weekend. Their tenant had put up several lights and small structures in the front garden, including a […]

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Wales regulations revoked after RLA campaign

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New regulations demanding landlords in Wales give comprehensive information packs to prospective tenants before accepting  holding deposits have been pulled. Landlords were told that from Friday (December 13) they would have to provide a list of data to prospective tenants, despite the regulations only being confirmed just weeks earlier on November 15.  However, the Welsh Government […]

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How do I get away from my awful letting agents?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I’ve been using a letting agent on a fully managed service for over 2 years now. They’ve never been great – considering the service is fully managed I end up doing an awful lot of stuff myself, having to remind them of certificate renewals

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ICO demand – is it a scam?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Our Ltd company has just received a demand from ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) claiming that we are not registered with them. That is true…. I have never heard of or from them before.

They say our customers, clients and tenants expect us to take our data protection obligations seriously like the many real estate companies that have paid their fee on time.

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Just a Criminal

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George Lindsay aged 55 from Erdington was successfully prosecuted by Birmingham city council and sentenced to pay a fine of £19,970 and only got away without jail time, because the guidelines did not permit the judge the option.

Lindsay was found guilty of failing to obtain on HMO licence and 13 infringements of HMO regulations that included:

–

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RLA takes to your TV screens

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RLA news and research is being brought to a whole new audience, with the launch of a monthly slot on Property TV.  The digital and satellite channel, which has been broadcasting for four years now, was set up to ‘inform, educate and entertain’, covering all matters property-related – including landlords and the private rented sector. […]

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Smaller energy suppliers could thrive as rivals collapse

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Energy Suppliers:

The UK energy market is going through big changes as some companies, both big and small, are struggling to survive.

A total of eight
small energy suppliers went to the wall in 2018 as wholesale energy
costs proved too much for them. This trend has continued in 2019,
with two more failed suppliers, Economy Energy, and Our Power.
Industry watchers predict there are more failures to come.

It’s been a
challenging year for the remaining energy suppliers, raising
expectations of further company failures or more consolidation and
the continuing need for Ofgem’s safety net, where a stable provider
is called upon to rescue customers stranded by the failure of a
rival.

It all demonstrates
the volatility in the market with some good businesses getting
stronger, while others are struggling to survive in a very
competitive and regulated market. The collapses show how
unsustainable pricing by new entrants place such a heavy burden on
households and landlords when picking up the pieces.

Some suppliers have
been tasked with taking on more than 800,000 displaced customers,
receiving a huge boost to their businesses in the process. With this
instant growth to these mid-market operators they pose a serious
threat to the dominance of the market’s “big six” suppliers:
British Gas, E.ON, npower, EDF, ScottishPower and SSE – which
control 80% of the market.

Trade association
body for the UK energy sector, with a membership of over 100
suppliers, Energy UK, and the energy regulator Ofgem, both welcomed
the entrance of new players as a signal of healthy competition, but
until recently few of these had seriously rivalled the big six.

Those in the frame
to close the gap are three mid-sized firms: Ovo Energy, First Utility
and Bulb.

In the case of Ovo
it has taken on around half a million new customers from the failed
companies, taking its customer base to a massive 1.5 million and a
substantial market share of around 5%, not too far behind npower’s
7.7%.

Energy consultant
Cornwall Insight’s Robert Buckley thinks that although there’s
been a lot of negative comment in the media about the company
failures, there are few signs they’ve caused “any real
degradation to competition in the retail market.”

“The shake-up has
presented an opportunity for several suppliers to grow, changing the
face of the retail landscape in the process,” he says.

There are signs that
the next generation of suppliers will start to close the gap between
them and the big six over the next few years. Consumers see switching
to these new challengers has substantial benefits in terms of price
and service.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Smaller energy suppliers could thrive as rivals collapse | LandlordZONE.

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Landlords – no more excuses please

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As I write this blog, I’m on a train down to Devon to do a talk at the ARLA Propertymark Devon Regional Meeting.

One of the many hats I wear in my role as Director / Brand Ambassador for Hamilton Fraser Group is overseeing ‘Education’. 

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How to: Prepare your property for Storm Brendan

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Some parts of the country experienced stormy weather over the weekend-and blustery conditions are set to continue for a number of days with Storm Brendan on its way. It is important landlords know how to prepare for this type of weather, to ensure their tenants and properties are safe. As well as keeping up to […]

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