Evicting Tenants: Rules You Must Follow

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After all the trouble that you went through to find a tenant, there will eventually come a time when you may want them to vacate your property. Whatever the reason, due to the sensitivity of the situation, you may want to go about it specifically, “by the book” as they say, or else risk being guilty of illegal eviction of your tenants. Keeping the rules in mind will not only protect you from any future lawsuit but also your tenants. Here are some rules to follow:

The Kinds Of Rental Agreement:

Periodic Assured Shorthold Tenancies

If the tenancy has no fixed end and operates on a weekly or monthly system, then it is a periodic tenancy. According to the Government of UK, you must:

1. Submit to them a ‘Notice to Quit’ that specifies a date.
2. If by the deadline, your tenants have failed to vacate, send them a ‘Notice of Intention to Seek Possession’. This implies that legal proceedings may follow.
3. Once you have accomplished the first two steps, you can approach the court for an order of possession which gives you legal permission to evict your tenants and gain repossession.
4. Finally, if this still doesn’t convince the tenants, you must apply for a warrant for eviction and have your tenants forcefully evicted from the property with the help of bailiffs.

Fixed-term Assured Shorthold Tenancies

In this type of tenancy, your tenants have a fixed duration stay. If they fail to vacate even after receiving the notice at the end of the pre-decided stay duration, follow the abovementioned steps from Step 2.

Excluded Tenancies

If your tenants live with you in the same property, you may not need to go to the court. Here is what you need to do:

1. Provide them with a ‘Reasonable Notice’ to quit. This generally means that you need to submit this notice a week prior. It could be verbal as well.
2. After that, if they refuse to leave, the law dictates that you have the capacity to change the locks on their rooms, after their belongings are provided to them.

Rules For Assured And Regulated Tenancies

In case you have let a private flat for rent prior to February 27, 1997, a different set of regulations may be applied that may lean in favor of your tenants.

Letting Links is a social networking platform specifically designed to help tenants and landlords, anywhere in the UK, connect. You can find a tenant or property via this website. Furthermore, individuals can also make use of the directory to register their businesses. Here is how you can connect with them:

Website:

http://www.lettinglinks.com/

Address:

BMA Corporation LLP

149 Buxton Road, High Lane, Stockport,

Cheshire, SK6 8DY

Email:

sales@lettinglinks.com

Dress To Impress: Home Staging Tips

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Before the deal is sealed, tenants in search of a private flat to rent prefer visiting the home to get an idea of the kind of setting they will be living in. Is there adequate lighting? Are there any major repairs required? Does the house look “shabby”? Some of them can be a bit picky. To ensure that your home scores high during this visit, you need to dress it appropriately to make an impact on them. We have some great tips for you to do just that!

1.     The First Impression Is Definitely The Last

While your prospective tenant doesn’t expect a house right out of the Modern Homes magazine, they do expect a place that is visually impressive and secure. The exterior of the construction is the first aspect they will notice. This will be the basis on which they may judge the inside of the home as well. Your goals should be to make your property look appealing from the very start. Focus on making your entrance look clean and welcoming.

2.     Arrange For Adequate Natural Lighting

It has been observed by interior designers that natural sunlight allowed in a setting can make the room appear bigger, and can help establish its allure. Therefore, push the draperies aside to allow the light to flow in and enhance the appearance of the place.

3.     Use Some Art-Work As Decor

A cold empty room has negative associations attached to it. As a landlord, you want to really sell the idea of your apartment by making an emotional connection. Using some form of artistic expression, such as a painting hanging on a wall, a neatly designed vase, or a photograph can really add to the attractiveness of the venue.

4.     Feel Free To Invest In Minor Repairs

The rent you intend to charge needs to be justified. The minute the tenant enters your property, they are mentally checking things off against your asking rent. So if there are paint chippings in some areas, a broken knobs or two or some minor plumbing issue, it is recommended to have it all fixed before the visit.

Whether you have a flat to rent out in Bristol, or anywhere in UK, get in touch with tenants right here! Tenants interested in finding a place to rent may also find their dream house at Letting Links!

Letting Links is a social networking platform specifically designed to help tenants and landlords, anywhere in the UK, connect. With the help of our ever growing and progressive website, you can find a tenant or property. Furthermore, individuals can also make use of the directory to register their businesses.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our customer services department at sales@lettinglinks.com. We would be happy to oblige you.

Tenants: Creating a Profile

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For most tenants, finding the right property to rent is not a task easily accomplished. If you think you’ve found just the house for yourself, the rent may be way beyond your means; or with the right rent, the location might be the problem. To eliminate these failures and disappointment, Letting Link introduces a facility profile creation.

With the help of this feature, tenants and landlords will be able to connect with each easily and faster!

What Does Your Tenant Profile Look Like?

The process of creating the Tenant Profile is quite simple. It is important to note that this is not an alternative to a rental application. It is simply a great and convenient way to connect with landlords. All you need to do is sign up right here, provide a brief description of the location preference and the rent you are willing to pay, and you are good to go!

So, Why Do We Need Tenant Profiles Again?

As of late, the need for tenants to make their presence known has become essential. It offers them the facility of letting the landlord come to them! Furthermore, this works well for landlords as well, who, even after numerous advertisements, have not received the desired response. They can simply find tenants using Letting Link Tenant Profile.

Quick scenario: Let’s say for instance, you have been unsuccessfully searching for an apartment to rent in Manchester City Centre. On creation of an account on Letting Link as a tenant, you provide details like the location preference and the minimum and maximum rent you are willing to pay. This is then displayed on the “Tenant Search”.

A few days later, Voila! You get a message (via your account) by a prospective landlord from Manchester City Centre who is acceptable to your rent limit!

So hurry up and create your profile now!

Letting Links is a social networking platform specifically designed to help tenants and landlords, anywhere in the UK, connect. With the help of our ever growing and progressive website, you can find a tenant or property. Furthermore, individuals can also make use of the directory to register their businesses.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our customer services department at sales@lettinglinks.com. We would be happy to oblige you.

Avoiding Bad Tenants

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As a landlord, you need to manage your rental business with professionalism and effectiveness. Part of the deal is also discerning between a tenant with a clean history and one that will cause you numerous sleepless nights. So, once you find a tenant, how exactly do you screen them and identify the bad ones?

If you’re not too sure, we’re here to help. Just read on to find out how you can successfully avoid bad tenants, and consequently enjoy a good rental business:

1.     Never Rely On Your Instincts

As humans, we tend to be slaves of our own mind, and make big decisions based on little to no rationality. This is due to our inclination to rely primarily on our instincts. While we cannot completely ignore instincts, it is not feasible to rent out your property to an individual based on just that. We often come across experienced landlords who rent out their private property only to have the tenant default on rental payments and cause many damages within the first few months.

2.     Take A Look at Past Landlord References

Who better to judge your prospective tenants than their previous landlords themselves. While you are in the process of screening applicants as tenants, make sure to run a quick background check. If you’ve set a criterion to fill out a rental application (recommended), then you will have access to former place of residence. Call up the previous landlord to get feedback on the individuals. Did they pay the rent in a timely manner? Was there any misconduct on their part? Did they ever get into trouble with the Law? These are some of the questions you need to focus on.

3.     If Possible, Get Income Verification

Ask your tenant to submit records of their bank statements and deposit evidence. If they insist that the information is too private or sensitive for disclosure, insist on providing other forms of verification of a steady cash income.

4.     Ask Who Will Be Moving In

If the property is being inspected by one individual, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he/she will be the only one moving in. To get a clear picture, just inquire.

As a landlord, get in touch with different tenants! Become a private Lettings landlord now!

Letting Links is a social networking platform specifically designed to help tenants and landlords, anywhere in the UK, connect. With the help of our ever growing and progressive website, you can find a tenant or property. Furthermore, individuals can also make use of the directory to register their businesses.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our customer services department at sales@lettinglinks.com. We would be happy to oblige you.

Letting a Property – The Benefits

admin    Tenants     letting a property

While there are some renters who view letting a property as a failure, there are others who see the benefits that are to be gained from renting a house or apartment as opposed to purchasing one.

Some of the benefits of renting include the ability to save money while renting for the purpose of purchasing a home, few maintenance requirements and the inclusion of amenities which the renter would not likely be able to afford if they were to purchase a home instead of renting. Although there are some negative aspects to renting an apartment, this article will focus exclusively on the benefits of renting a property.

The Ability to Save Money

Being able to save up a great deal of money for the purpose of making a down payment on a dream home is just one of the many great advantages to letting a property. Many existing homeowners were only able to achieve homeownership by adopting this same principle.

Although renting is often perceived as throwing good money away because it does not result in equity, the ability to save money while renting is unrivalled, especially in tougher economic times where prices are arguably still over inflated. Renting a flat/apartment is usually cheaper than the monthly mortgage on a home.

A first home is one that you would want to put your own stamp on. For this reason having the ability to save money to facilitate a deposit plus renovation/decoration works upon purchase is very useful. Therefore the value of letting a property cannot be denied. Depending on how long the renter stays in rented property, they may save hundreds or even thousands of pounds during the course of the rental agreement.

No Maintenance Properties

Another advantage to letting a property is there is typically little or no maintenance required by the tenant. This is especially true in an flat/apartment situation. The renter may be responsible for small items such as changing light bulbs but more extensive repairs such as leaks in plumbing or clogs in drains are typically handled by the maintenance staff of the rental property.

Communal areas such as gardens and coridoors are covered by a maintenance charge usually payable by the owner of the property. The exception is usually when a tenant rents a house as opposed to an apartment. In these cases the tenant may still not be responsible for small repairs but might be required to maintain external areas such as gardens etc.

Additional Amenities

Another advantage to apartment living is often the amenities offered to residents. Such amenities might include usage of the pool, an exercise room, meeting spaces, launderettes etc. In most cases these amenities are offered free of charge to residents and their guests. Many people looking to purchase a home would not likely be able to acquire one with amenities such as these.

These items are often considered luxurious and are not available in the majority of homes which are on the market at any particular time. In fact searching for homes which specifically have these features may severely limit the number of search results and may result in no search results at all when these features are searched in conjunction with a typical price range. However, those who rent can enjoy access to these amenities. They may pay more in rent than those in a comparable apartment complex without these amenities but they are also still likely saving a considerable amount of money each month as long as they are budgeting wisely and have chosen a rental property within their price range.

Lettinglinks.com is a social networking site that connects landlords with tenants. If you are interested in letting a property then visit the main site and create your account in seconds. The site is 100% FREE to use. Gain access to thousands of UK registered landlords and their properties NOW!

Rental Properties For Investment Purposes

admin    Landlords, Real Estate, Rental Property Investment     Buying Rental Properties, Rental Properties, Rental Properties For Investment Purposes

There are lots of different ways that you can make money without having to put hours and hours into something every day. That doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have to work on your project, but there are some that can be done up and then left to run on their own, at least for a little while. One way to do this is to invest in rental properties and become a landlord, though things do seem to pop up all of the time.

If you decide to commit to buying rental properties that you can overhaul and let out, you can realise a regular flow of rental income each month with little hassle after your initial period of renovation works.

Buying rental properties can be tricky, but you can usually find the right thing if you look around. Initially it is a good idea to just buy one if this is your first time. However, if you are confident in your buying strategy and can handle the works, then aside from finance, there isn’t a limit on how many you purchase at once. For the best investment, you want to find something in a decent neighbourhood that might need some work. You will get a ‘market happy’ price by adopting these strategies when buying rental properties, but you can put a little work and money into it and turn it into a perfect investment.

That means you can command a higher rent and get a return on your investment.

When buying good rental properties initial research is essential. Think of it as your road map to success – without it you will be literally ‘driving blind’. You can’t always tell what a neighbourhood is like just by driving through during the day. To make the best decisions about an area, try visiting at different times of the day. How do these times affect your property directly? Does the feel to the area change at night? Issues may arise that you hadn’t considered that could be detrimental to the rentability of your potential investment.

If you are looking into buying rental properties, and you notice a great house at a very low price, you have to wonder why that is. There could be a high crime rate in the area of interest, even though the look and feel of it would suggest otherwise, or even a very troublesome neighbour that has left the house unsold.

If you are new to buying rental properties, you should also know that you should always have someone look over the house for you no matter what you think of it. There could be problems with the foundation or other key areas that mean the house will be more of an investment than you first thought. Though estate agents are generally very honest about what is really wrong with a house,and its sale history you should always get your own person i.e.
a qualified Surveyor/ Structural Engineer to look over anything you are considering when you are buying rental properties.

Lettinglinks.com is a social networking site that connects landlords with tenants. If you are looking to rent out your property then visit the main site and create your account in seconds. The site is 100% FREE to use.
Gain access to thousands of UK registered tenants NOW!

Will Our Greenbelt Land End Up Looking Like This?

admin    Renewables & Green Issues    

With the demand for housing forever on the increase there is constant pressure on the government to relax their hold on various greenbelt areas across the UK. This has been successfully avoided for a number of years but now it would seem that there is another demand on the horizon, which, in order to be met could make the destruction of some of our most prized countryside areas inevitable.

What am I talking about? – Green Energy!

In recent weeks we have seen the introduction of the new Energy Bill 2011. This outlines our strategy to meet the carbon reduction targets by 2050 that we have so dearly promised Brussels. You will notice by the media frenzy surrounding issues such as the Green Deal that the need to cut carbon emissions is now firmly on the Governments radar.

The need to cut carbon emissions or face heavy fines from Europe is forcing us as a nation to invest in green technology. There are plenty of carrots being dangled out there such as feed-in tariffs to entice consumers to purchase renewable energy systems such as solar power. But the fact is as the deadlines draw ever closer, more drastic action will have to be taken to ensure that these targets are met.

An example of such radical action could well include countrywide production of  renewable power plants such as Gemasolar situated in Andalusia, Spain.

How does a view of England's rolling hills look now?

This colossal 19.9MW plant generates enough electricity per year to power around 25,000 households in its local region. Developers have reportedly also figured out a way to provide continuous solar energy, even after sunset.  With an estimated CO2 reduction of more than 30,000 tonnes per year it’s not hard to imagine that with a few of these plants placed around the UK, emissions could be reduced towards target levels quite dramatically.

Granted we do not have the same levels of sun exposure compared to that of Spain, but when you consider that Photovoltaic panels work using daylight, the possibility of a system like this running in the UK could still be effective. This is backed up further still by the fact that for economic viability purposes and regional topography, solar energy is the most effective way of generating renewable energy.

So the question is what side of the fence do you sit on – green energy or greenbelt?

How Landlords Can Avoid Gumtree’s Advertising Fees

admin    Landlords, Real Estate     Gumtree, letting links, property rental, rental adverts

No one is sure what happened or why, but earlier this year it was announced that Gumtree, the classified website owned by eBay was going to be charging for their once free service. Gumtree was a place that landlords could post free adverts for vacant rental properties and find tenants quickly and easily. It was a very effective site – and free!

The way Gumtree used to work was that landlords could post as many adverts for free. So if a landlord had several properties, he/she could post as many as necessary without it costing a fortune. They would list their properties from newest to oldest. If a landlord wanted his listing to be visible at the top of search results, he’d have to “bump” his listing frequently in order to be put back at the top.

“Bumping” used to be a simple case of logging in and resubmitting your advert. This would automatically push your ad to the top because it would tell Gumtree that the property was still available. The ‘bump’ feature was absolutely necessary, especially in high volume areas such as London, where there were hundreds of vacant properties added daily. It wouldn’t take long before your advert would sink to the bottom and within a couple of hours be completely out of sight. Without being able to ‘bump’ the advert it would become completely useless.

The old pricing structure was wonderful, which is why Gumtree received so much praise from many landlords through the blogs.

But as is the case with many free listing sites, the word ‘free’ only remains for so long before the powers that be deem it necessary to charge the very people that make the site ‘valuable’ to use their service, you!

The result…Gumtree now charges £9.95 per ad (you get your first 2 ads free) and for unlimited ads they charge a fee of £42 per month. In addition Gumtree also has used this opportunity to revoke the free ‘bump’ feature! This is now chargeable at £2 per day outside of London and £7.14 per day in London, which would amount to £49.98 per week if you decided to do it every day; which you will probably need to do if you want your advert to be read at all!

Now having said all of this, one might start to wonder ‘how does Gumtree monitor and figure out how to limit Landlords to 2 free adverts per year?’ Since landlords didn’t have to register in order to post an advert it didn’t seem technically possible to restrict the free usage so a little research was in order. From the research carried out it would seem that the way Gumtree keeps track of usage is through email addresses.

Anyone with multiple email addresses (and if you don’t they’re certainly easy to obtain) could get many adverts posted for free. It’s also possible to use this system to avoid the costs of ‘bumping’, since all you would need to do is delete the ad, and re-enter under a new email – for FREE.

So now we have shared that golden nugget of information with you, our loyal readers, before you run off and begin posting free property adverts on Gumtree once more, we would like to ask you to consider this…

Aside from its mass traffic generation ability, historically, Gumtree’s unique selling point to landlords was to provide a service by which they could market their properties to a huge audience at no cost. A fantastic, no-brainer service if it’s free, but now it isn’t one should question what they are actually getting for their money.

Ok, we have shown you a way to make the service essentially free for you to use again, but is Gumtree really providing a good service for the average Landlord?

There are several reasons to consider but one that stands out like a sore thumb is Gumtree’s primitive search feature. It is hard to search for properties of interest at the best of times on the site, but with all the extra work involved in keeping the service free, is it really worth it?

There are other options that will be cheaper and easier with less time consumption that would be well worth looking into. User-friendly portal Letting Links is free to use and is growing in popularity everyday. With the sites unique ability to match tenants with properties and vice versa based on their requirements, could there be a simpler, more effective way to rent your property out?

If you rely on finding quality tenants online then Letting Links is just the ticket you’re looking for! Check us out to find out how we can save you money and get you in touch with the right tenants.

Nightmare Rental Property – This Could Be You!

admin    Landlords     credit checks, know your tenants, Letting your property, nightmare properties, reference checks

Getting to Know Prospective Tenants Before Letting Your Property

As this video illustrates, the penalties for failing to get to know your tenant applicants prior to letting your property can be severe.

Letting Links has been created to make the letting process transparent. Of course it is important to obtain references and credit checks for potential tenants. But we feel that this is sometimes not enough and that with all the paid checks in the world you can still end up with bad tenants.

To help reduce the risk of acquiring bad tenants Letting Links provides landlords with a unique feedback and ratings system that is visible on all tenants profiles. Feedback and ratings are created by the tenants connections such as previous landlords to help build a better picture as to who you are dealing with.

Need more? Well, to make this process even simpler, we have provided every member of the site with a free audio/visual chat interactive system attached to their profile. Chat face to face with people from the comfort of your own home before you invite them to view your property.

Don’t get caught with a tenant that you don’t really know. Use all the tools at your disposal to make the best decisions possible. They are FREE after all!

Using a Rental Agent? Which Service Should I Go For?

admin    Landlords     agents, letting agreement, Service, tenancy agreements

Is this your first time letting out a property? Maybe you’re planning on using an Agent but you really aren’t sure what service you should be using. They generally fall under 3 different types of service categories.

Introduction Only or Let Only

As you can imagine from the name, this is the basic service that will market your property for you and be available for potential tenants to view the unit. The Agent would then take references, for which the prospective tenant would most likely be charged for this service. Once a suitable tenant was found, you would probably pay extra to your agent to have the tenancy agreement written up and signed. As soon as the tenant moves in the agents service is complete and the responsibility for collecting rent and taking care of the property falls back to you – the Landlord.

Rent Collection

Most agents will market this service as an add-on to the Let Only model, but is again a basic service that has its limitations. The agent will collect the rent on your behalf by setting up a standing order with the tenant’s bank account to have the monthly rent transferred into a rental account which would then be transferred to you. This is not a rent Guarantee. The agent will most likely have a few standard letters that would go out to remind the tenant that the rent is due, should they go into arrears, and he might even make a few calls on your behalf. If however the matter becomes a court situation in order to collect back rent, this would become your responsibility. If you want to save the 2 – 3% that the agent would charge, it would be just as easy for you to set up the standing order yourself.

Full Management

This is the hardest decision to make; do you want to manage the property yourself or hire an agent to do this for you. There are several things you should consider before making this decision.

If for example you do not live locally, it would be quite impossible for you to be there quickly should there be an emergency, or to do check ins and outs, or for periodic inspections.

How knowledgeable are you about repairs and maintenance? You need to have a basic understanding to be able to figure out what was wrong, and either how to fix it or who you should call. And without the basics, it becomes more likely that you could be taken advantage of by some unscrupulous tradesman. This is where an agent would have the advantage, especially if they have several properties they are managing. They would hopefully have a good team of tradespeople they could call on, and if they are giving them steady work, the tradespeople have a tendency of putting letting agents in priority sequences.

And the most important question you need to answer is: do you have the time it takes to manage the property yourself? Problems have a way of occurring at the worst possible time and could interfere with your other commitments, such as family. Your tenant doesn’t care what he’s interrupting; all he knows is that he has a problem and wants it fixed – now!

If after reading this you’ve decided that managing the property yourself is just not worth it, try to negotiate with the letting agent about their management fee. Most agents like the benefits of managing the properties such as receiving repeat let only fees so they are more likely to be flexible when charging a management fee. Let Only fees are usually paid up front whereas the management fee would be received monthly.

In order to find the right letting agent for you, why not let ‘Letting Links’ help you find what you are looking for? We can even match you up with some potential tenants, so check out our services.