Is agent being “smart” with reservation fee?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

After tenant fee ban, when a letting agent charges potential tenants one week rent before putting offers to me, WHO does this reservation fee belong to, me the landlord or my letting agent, in case the offer defaults on tenant side?

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Building safety standards to go further and faster with new Regulator

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The slow pace of improving building safety standards will not be tolerated, the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick warned, as he announced measures that go further and faster to ensure residents are safe in their homes.

To give effective oversight of the design

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The Boris Bounce!

admin    Uncategorized     agents

House Prices:

The latest Rightmove
House Price Index shows a huge post-election bounce for the UK
property market as the threat of a Corbyn led government disappears
and a big boost in optimism returns:

• 2.3% (+£6,785)
  surge in the price of property coming to market, the largest monthly
  rise we have ever recorded at this time of year
• Increased
  optimism also releasing pent-up demand as would-be buyers judge the
  election result gives a window of stability
• Over 1.3
  million buyer enquiries since election, up 15% compared to same
  period a year ago, suggesting an active spring market ahead
• 7.4% growth in
  number of sales agreed, as early birds act quickly

House movers and first time buyers in particular, desiring to get onto the housing ladder, will face all-time highs in the price of properties with two or fewer bedrooms.

Director of Benham
and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, comments:

“The coal that
fills the furnace of the UK property market is very much market
sentiment and it doesn’t matter what your stance is on Boris or the
election result, even the slightest inkling of returning market
stability has been enough to reignite the fires both where buyer and
seller activity are concerned.

“There was an
instant uplift in buyer commitment following the result and those
acting fast enough were able to secure some very favourable deals.
However, as is always the case, a tsunami of buyer demand soon
spurred an increase in asking prices and savvy sellers were quick to
ride the turning tide to ensure they secured the best price for their
property.

“This rather
emphatic return to form was always on the cards given the resilience
of the market and we shouldn’t be surprised if this is only the
start of a very positive new decade for the UK property sector.”

Founder and CEO of
GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, comments:

“The property
market has sat in a state of hibernation while political uncertainty
has remained prevalent, but all the while, both buyer and seller
sentiment has been building like a coiled spring.

“The election has
proven to be the release point for this built-up tension, with the
market exploding back to life almost instantly and both buyers and
sellers jumping back in at the deep end where enquiries and asking
price increases are concerned.

“This has helped
to bump start a market that has been stuttering over the last three
and a half years and while we shouldn’t try and run before we can
walk, it does show promise for the year ahead.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – The Boris Bounce! | LandlordZONE.

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Rent guarantor service – Should I proceed?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I have been a landlord for over 20 years and I generally manage my properties without using an agent. We currently have a property empty and have been approached by a prospective tenant who works full time.

The only problem is that she has informed me that she has a poor credit rating.

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Record increase in seller asking prices post election

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The Rightmove House Price index has reported a post election election surge this month in the average price of property coming to market by 2.3% or up£6,785 to £306,810. Click here for full report.

This 2.3% rise in new seller asking prices is the largest that Rightmove has recorded at this time of year since the House Price Index started in 2002.

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Rental Income – Sole Owner’s main residence?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Hi, I have read several threads on property 118 forum and found very helpful and informative. I have bought a flat in 2017 in my sole name for our main residence. I lived there for one year with my wife and two daughters.

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Poorest 20 per cent drowning in debt…

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Consumer Debt:

The debt burden for
the poorest twenty per cent of the UK population is threatening to
swamp them warns a leading think tank, the Resolution Foundation.

Given that the
bottom quintile of society in terms of savings, predominately are
renters, this situation is of obvious concern to landlords who depend
on the financial stability of their tenants to sustain regular rent
payments. No doubt many landlords will be looking with some relief to
April when Housing Benefit is set to rise, ending the government’s
benefits freeze.

Around 900,000
households across the UK should see their Housing Benefit payments
increase from April this year as the freeze on Local Housing
Allowance (LHA) rates comes to an end, meaning an average of around
£10 extra per month for households in the private rented sector.

Although the rising
levels of UK household debt are high in absolute terms, when you
compare them to the levels reached during the 2008 financial crisis
they are still below that.

Nevertheless, the
Foundation says that:

“…policymakers
should turn their attention to the spread of consumer debt, and
specifically the extent to which low-to-middle income households are
increasingly exposed. Over the past ten years there has been a 10
percentage point rise in the proportion of lower-income households
using some form of consumer credit (excluding student loans) – they
have nearly caught up (to) their counterparts at the top of the
income distribution. This includes, for instance, a 13 percentage
point rise in the share of households in the bottom income quintile
using a credit card, as compared to a 4 point rise among those in the
middle and 2 points among those in the top.”

Analysis by the
Resolu­tion Foundation shows that although debt levels have
improved since the 2008 crisis, problems are starting to build again
among the poorest one-fifth. Low-income households tend to gravitate
to high-interest loans on credit cards, overdrafts, hire pur­chase
and vehicle finance, putting them under pressure when keeping up with
their housing costs.

Figures obtained by
the Foundation from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show
that the poorest one-tenth of UK households owed around £18 billion
of non-property debt, and the richest tenth owed far less at £11
billion.

Describing the
lowest group as “potentially vulnerable” the Foundation thinks
that many in this group are “far too exposed” to financial shocks
as the debt burden falls hardest on the poor. It thinks that while
“fears of another debt-fuelled financial crisis are over­blown”,
policymakers needed to “focus on the rising use of consumer debt
among potentially vulnerable groups”.

High debt has become
more man­ageable for the better off as interest rates are at
record lows and this is reflected in mortgage costs. It means the
average-two-year variable-rate mortgage with a 25 per cent deposit at
6.1 per cent in April 2008 is now just 1.4 per cent in April 2017.

Low-earners don’t
often have a mortgage, but they pay dear for consumer credit.
Interest rates on high-cost consumer credit are often a larger share
of their income, and on average three times higher than for the
richest fifth of house­holds. Without savings to fall back on,
they are “far too exposed to financial shocks”, says the
Foundation.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Poorest 20 per cent drowning in debt… | LandlordZONE.

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Soldier On Property Training Course Committed Suicide

admin    Uncategorized     agents

You may well have seen this story on the BBC website and also in The Telegraph. There have also been several links to them on Facebook and other Social Media over the last few days. The story has certainly prompted a lot of discussion.

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Advanced tax planning benefits for incorporated landlords

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This is PART TWO of the video we launched this time last week.

In this video, Ranjan Bhattacharya and Mark Smith discuss a number of  strategies you can read about in greater detail by clicking on the cards at the bottom of this page

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A new TAX PLANNING angle for landlords to consider

admin    Uncategorized     agents

If you have children or grandchildren over 13 years of age and it is your intention to leave your property business as a legacy for them, why not consider involving them now?

There are certainly inheritance tax planning advantages of doing so and if they are over the age of 18 there could also be income tax advantages too.

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