App with ambitions to revolutionise renting wins backers’ approval

admin    Uncategorized     agents

App-based property management service Residently has smashed its latest crowdfunding target as it bids to make renting a home as easy as booking a hotel.

Residently helps renters find, secure, live in, and move home seamlessly by partnering with agents, property managers and institutional owners who use its free software to manage the lettings process. It promises to eliminate voids, saving landlords hundreds of pounds each year.

New innovations

The firm has previously raised £20m in capital and its current offer on crowdfunding platform Seedrs has already surpassed its original £1.25m target, currently standing at more than £1.8 million with 10 days left to run. With the extra cash, it’s planning to launch new innovations such as a renter subscription product that offers the flexibility to move with one month’s notice, as well as letting renters share honest home reviews and get early notice for properties they’re interested in, months in advance.

In 2020, Residently begun offering itself for free to larger landlords; it plans to generate revenue by charging a percentage of rent and getting commission on home services sold to residents on the platform such as cleaners, movers and utility providers.

Seamless experience

Chief operating officer Shareq Husain tells LandlordZONE that the app has the potential to be revolutionary. He adds: “The renting process can be disconnected. With our platform, tenants don’t deal with separate emails for making an offer, referencing and then moving in – our journey is a seamless experience. Tenants can even set up their energy services and Wi-fi through the app.”

Launched in 2017, the company now has more than 7,500 homes on the network and plans to continue growing in the UK, with ambitions to onboard more than 100,000 homes onto the platform, while also planning a US launch.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – App with ambitions to revolutionise renting wins backers’ approval | LandlordZONE.

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Shortage of rental properties so extreme tenants are refusing to leave?

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Hi, my name is Melissa Lawford and I am the property correspondent at The Telegraph. I have heard from some lettings agents that the shortage of rental properties is so extreme that in some cases tenants are refusing to leave properties because they have nowhere to move to.

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Get up to speed with upcoming safety rules or face fine, landlords warned

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Landlords are being urged to prepare for changes to safety regulations that introduce an obligation to repair or replace any alarm which is found to be faulty during a tenancy.

Forthcoming changes to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations are expected as soon as Autumn 2022 when carbon monoxide alarms will be mandatory in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance in private rented homes and when installing any heating appliance – excluding gas cookers. Private landlords will be expected to repair or replace alarms once told by tenants that they are faulty.

Current rules

Since October 2015, landlords have had to ensure that a smoke alarm is fitted on every floor of their property where there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. They also have to put a carbon monoxide alarm in any room where a solid fuel is burnt, such as wood, coal or biomass and includes open fires, apart from gas, oil or LPG. Landlords must also ensure that the alarms work at the start of each new tenancy.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is now urging all private landlords and registered providers of social housing who would not be compliant with the updated regulations to start installation and repair of these alarms immediately, as they risk being fined for breaching the rules as soon as they come into force.

Legislation imminent

A spokesperson tells LandlordZONE: “We will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows and the changes will come into effect once regulations are made, which could be as early as Autumn 2022.”

Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, says: “The current regulations only oblige landlords to check that alarms are in working order on the first day of a new tenancy. Ahead of implementation, agents and their landlords should start now to plan for the changes and the impact on management practices going forward.”  

More information and guidance can be found here.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Get up to speed with upcoming safety rules or face fine, landlords warned | LandlordZONE.

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Do you need help selling your property portfolio?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

If we’ve learnt anything over the last few months, it’s that now is the time to sell our property portfolios. The market is high, prices may not be this high again for another 7 years, and there are regulations and tax bills around the corner telling us: we need to cash in and get out.

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Listed property EPCs – possible exemption?

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Listed property EPCs – Whilst having a Listed property is not an automatic “get out of jail free card” it seems to be a rather complex matter as to whether or not a specific Listed property will be exempted. Even on government sites

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