Total Landlord Insurance launches new look and improved website

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Established in 1996, Total Landlord Insurance became one of the first dedicated insurance products for landlords and has protected landlords’ assets across every postcode in the UK.

The private rented sector has undergone significant change since, in which Total Landlord Insurance has continued to offer comprehensive cover and peace of mind to its valued customers.

Total Landlord Insurance protects landlords for all tenancy types including professional lets, students and universal credit applicants. Available to purchase online and over the phone and underwritten by an A-rated insurer, TLI is ranked 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot with the majority of reviewers rating the service received from the team as ‘Great’ or ‘Excellent’.

What has changed?

Recognising the changing nature of the private rented sector and the increasing requirements of their landlord members, Total Landlord Insurance conducted research to gain greater insight into the specific needs of their customers.

Following the customer survey, Total Landlord Insurance has updated its brand and website to align with customer feedback, reflecting what it means to be a “Total Landlord” in 2022.

Customers can expect to see:

• A refreshed brand image reflecting Total Landlord’s evolution as a business since 1996
• A new look website with improved navigation and the same high-quality advice and guidance

Further development is also in the pipeline for the coming months including an enhanced customer portal to better support customer needs.

Explore the new website to see what has changed.

Steve Barnes, Head of Property Insurance at Total Landlord, has been the guardian of landlord insurance for more than 20 years. He says:

“We have been passionate about protecting the properties of our landlords ever since 1996, evidenced by our award winning insurance offering, high quality cover and competitive price.

Our focus has always been on our customers’ needs. Over the last few years, the private rented sector has evolved significantly, presenting new challenges and opportunities for our customers. Having been at the forefront of change in 1996, it is important that our brand is as relevant to our customers today as it was back when we began.

Earlier in the year, we reached out to our customers to hear their thoughts on the Total Landlord Insurance brand, website and current customer experience. We are excited to be able to use this customer feedback to make relevant and specific updates to provide an enhanced experience and meet the needs of our valued customers now and in the years to come.”  

Loved by customers

Total Landlord won the coveted Insurance Choice Award (for Best Landlord Insurance Provider) in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 regularly beating off competition from the likes of Direct Line, Simply Business and Endsleigh, as voted by customers. Total Landlord are also taking part in the Insurance Choice Awards 2022.

Customers can vote for Total Landlord as the ‘Best Landlord Insurance Provider’ by completing a short review by 17 October and will be entered into a prize draw with the chance to win £1,000 for taking part*. Will 2022 be their year?

Part of the Hamilton Fraser Group

Total Landlord are the Hamilton Fraser Group’s award-winning landlord insurance.

The Hamilton Fraser Group includes a number of brands supporting the whole tenancy lifecycle including, government authorised deposit protection scheme, mydeposits, deposit replacement, Ome, the Property Redress Scheme, Client Money Protect and housing law specialist Landlord Action.

View Full Article: Total Landlord Insurance launches new look and improved website

What to do about CO alarms?

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Hello everyone, If you have fixed gas appliances in residential premises you let, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022, unintelligible as they are, will affect you from 1st October 2022.

The government has published guidance for landlords and tenants which says all relevant landlords must: “Ensure a carbon monoxide alarm is equipped in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers).”

View Full Article: What to do about CO alarms?

LATEST: London mayor urges private landlords to sell their homes to councils

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London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has urged private landlords who are planning to exit the private rented market to sell their properties to local councils instead of other landlords.

Khan made the comments within a self-congratulatory statement on his website lauding the success of his ‘Right to Buy-back’ initiative.

It has seen some £152 million given to 14 participating boroughs across London on buying 1,577 privately-owned homes and converting them into affordable housing – either council houses let at below-market rents or as accommodation for homeless people.

Khan pitched the initiative as a way to increase council-owned housing stock in the capital after the Conservative’s 1980s Right to Buy initiative prompted some 300,000 London council homes sold to their tenant at a discounted rate, with many later entering the private rented sector.

Negative impact

“While the number of Right to Buy sales has been declining in recent years, the policy continues to have a negative impact on the overall number of council homes in London,” says Khan.

“It also doesn’t appear to be fulfilling its original mandate of boosting owner occupation, with recent research finding four in ten go on to be rented on the private market – sometimes back to the very council that was forced to sell the home in order to house homeless families.”

In his statement, Khan says that as more and more small landlords sell or plan to sell their properties due to changes in tax laws, the Mayor believes it is far better for these homes to be sold back to the council than to other private landlords.

“These [council] homes were built for the public good and it has been painful to watch them disappear into private portfolios,” says Khan.

“Returning these homes to public ownership is a key part of my plan to build a better London for everyone – a city that is greener, fairer and more prosperous for all.”

Read more about Right to Buy.

View Full Article: LATEST: London mayor urges private landlords to sell their homes to councils

More HMO restrictions in Bristol as battle over fast-expanding sector hots up

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Landlords in Bristol will soon be required to gain planning permission to convert properties into HMOs in three key areas, it has been revealed.

South Gloucestershire Council is to bring in Article 4 directions in the Bristol neighbourhoods of Stoke Park and Cheswick and parts of Filton following a public consultation that saw 93% of those responding to it declaring their support for more HMO restrictions.

There has been a strong campaign by local residents to stop more homes from being converted into HMOs in Bristol but particularly in Filton (main pic) which, activists and councillors claim, now contains 40% of all the county’s large HMOs.

It is also claimed that over the past year there has been an 11% increase in HMOs across the county.

The Filton Voice recently wrote an article quoting a local estate agent who said: “Investors are lining up to buy homes in Filton which have the potential to become HMOs – in some cases developers paying in cash up to £15,000.00 over the asking price”.

One activist, Nic Thomas, started a petition to gather support for greater HMO restrictions, saying: “[Increased numbers of HMOs are] causing the breakdown of the community, separating families and, particularly in the last year, has caused a lot of mental health issues to arise”.

Like Brighton, Bristol city council recently adopted new rules that restrict the number of HMOs based on density, but campaigners claim this initiative is failing because many HMOs are not declared or licenced.

South Gloucestershire operates a mandatory scheme for larger HMOs with five or more unconnected people living within them and sharing facilities.

The council had looked at applying Article 4 directions across the county, but a report by consultancy Arup revealed that only the three areas now being considered had seen an influx of HMOs, largely because they are student areas or near large employment centres including the HQs for Airbus and BAE Systems.

Read more: The complete guide to letting an HMO property.

The council is expected to vote the Article 4 directions through at the next planning meeting.

Cllr Steve Reade, (pictured) said: “It is fantastic to see residents of Filton and Stoke Park and Cheswick are so supportive of our plans to introduce Article 4 directions which will form a strong part of our ability in the new Local Plan to protect communities from being overrun by HMOs.”

Read the proposals in full.

Pic: Google Streetview

View Full Article: More HMO restrictions in Bristol as battle over fast-expanding sector hots up

London landlords urged to sell homes to councils – not investors

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Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has urged landlords who have a former council house they want to sell to offer their property to local councils – rather than selling to other landlords.

Mr Khan has given an update on the Right to Buy-back scheme which was unveiled in July last year in a bid to bring more homes into public ownership.

View Full Article: London landlords urged to sell homes to councils – not investors

Selective licensing will hit landlords in the cost-of-living crisis

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A property expert says that the cost-of-living crisis calls into question the viability of selective private landlords licensing schemes.

Selective licensing gives councils the power to regulate privately rented housing in areas of high deprivation, crime, anti-social behaviour and migration or low housing demand.

View Full Article: Selective licensing will hit landlords in the cost-of-living crisis

Higher BTL mortgage rate sees landlord profits halve – and things could get worse

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Since the beginning of the year, higher mortgage rates have led to the annual profits for a typical landlord being halved, research reveals.

The findings from estate agent Hamptons, show that interest rate hikes are now eating into the profit that the average landlord is now able to make.

View Full Article: Higher BTL mortgage rate sees landlord profits halve – and things could get worse

Tenant’s poor housekeeping causing property disrepair?

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What to do for the best? I have long-standing tenants (from 2016) who don’t appear to have done any cleaning since then.

The shower cubicle resembles a 21st-century Black Hole of Calcutta (i.e. it is black moulded from top to bottom) with the moving door parts so heavily limescaled that they barely grind into a closing position.

View Full Article: Tenant’s poor housekeeping causing property disrepair?

‘Selective licencing fees will push up rents as cost of living rises squeeze landlords too’

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A leading letting agent has criticised the reasoning behind the UK’s ever-growing list of selective licensing schemes.

Selective licensing covers all rented property in a given area or council borough and landlords are required to pay a five-yearly fee of between £500 and £900, depending on the area, along with reams of paperwork to complete.

Letting agents often offer to take on the task of applying for and being the named licence holder for a property, and North-East based agent Ben Quaintrell (pictured), who has experience of his local scheme run by Durham County Council, is not happy.

It has designated a huge area covering 29,000 homes or 42% of the county’s private rented sector.

Quaintrell, the MD of Darlington-headquartered estate agent My Property Box says he is not against initiatives that help tackle poor standards of housing and management.

But he says: “This scheme runs the risk of increasing rents, with some landlords who are themselves financially squeezed, passing on the licensing costs to already hard-pressed tenants.

“With the cost of living crisis, fuelled by soaring inflation and an energy price cap expected to near £3,000 this October, any additional financial pressure – such as that created by selective licensing – could have a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of those in privately rented accommodation.

“I would also question why Durham County Council has imposed the licensing scheme on such a large proportion of the area’s privately rented housing stock.

Read more about the Durham selective licensing scheme.

“I contend that this is an unfair mandatory tax on responsible private landlords and that it is unlikely to induce unscrupulous landlords to improve their standards.

“In addition, it may drive landlords out of areas where there is already a shortage of rented properties.”

Hefty fine

Under the scheme it’s an offence to let a property within a selective housing area without a licence and any landlord failing to comply faces prosecution and a hefty fine.

Licences have several conditions attached to make sure properties and tenancies are effectively managed. Some of those stipulations are legally required while others are in response to local conditions designed to tackle problems affecting a particular licensing area.

The aim is to improve the condition and management of rented homes, with a view to raising the health and wellbeing of tenants and curbing anti-social behaviour.

Read more: Do I need a licence for my property?

View Full Article: ‘Selective licencing fees will push up rents as cost of living rises squeeze landlords too’

‘Selective licencing fees will push up rents as cost of living rises squeezes landlords too’

admin    Uncategorized     agents

A leading letting agent has criticised the reasoning behind the UK’s ever-growing list of selective licensing schemes.

Selective licensing covers all rented property in a given area or council borough and landlords are required to pay a five-yearly fee of between £500 and £900, depending on the area, along with reams of paperwork to complete.

Letting agents often offer to take on the task of applying for and being the named licence holder for a property, and North-East based agent Ben Quaintrell (pictured), who has experience of his local scheme run by Durham County Council, is not happy.

It has designated a huge area covering 29,000 homes or 42% of the county’s private rented sector.

Quaintrell, the MD of Darlington-headquartered estate agent My Property Box says he is not against initiatives that help tackle poor standards of housing and management.

But he says: “This scheme runs the risk of increasing rents, with some landlords who are themselves financially squeezed, passing on the licensing costs to already hard-pressed tenants.

“With the cost of living crisis, fuelled by soaring inflation and an energy price cap expected to near £3,000 this October, any additional financial pressure – such as that created by selective licensing – could have a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of those in privately rented accommodation.

“I would also question why Durham County Council has imposed the licensing scheme on such a large proportion of the area’s privately rented housing stock.

Read more about the Durham selective licensing scheme.

“I contend that this is an unfair mandatory tax on responsible private landlords and that it is unlikely to induce unscrupulous landlords to improve their standards.

“In addition, it may drive landlords out of areas where there is already a shortage of rented properties.”

Hefty fine

Under the scheme it’s an offence to let a property within a selective housing area without a licence and any landlord failing to comply faces prosecution and a hefty fine.

Licences have several conditions attached to make sure properties and tenancies are effectively managed. Some of those stipulations are legally required while others are in response to local conditions designed to tackle problems affecting a particular licensing area.

The aim is to improve the condition and management of rented homes, with a view to raising the health and wellbeing of tenants and curbing anti-social behaviour.

Read more: Do I need a licence for my property?

View Full Article: ‘Selective licencing fees will push up rents as cost of living rises squeezes landlords too’