Meet the Developer event 7th July

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Experience for yourself and first-hand what Birmingham has to offer for the property investor by attending an exclusive ‘Meet the Developer’ event hosted by Property Investor Partnership on Saturday 7 July.

This event will commence at 11am and will include a tour of Digbeth and the Jewellery Quarter

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Universal Credit’s ‘Full Service’

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I’m writing to draw your attention to a piece recently produced by the RLA relating to Universal Credit, Full Service.

If you follow the link, click here,  you’ll find an excellent article, produced by Natalie Williamson

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Income backed-buy-to-let mortgage launched

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Buy-to-Let Mortgage:

Given the increased scrutiny landlords have to go through when applying for a new or renewal buy-to-let mortgage, Kent Reliance’s new income-backed product for limited companies and individual borrowers could prove a godsend.

The specialist mortgage provider has announced the new product, which it says will now take a broader view of customer affordability when the rental property yield on its own does not meet minimum requirements.

Using earned income to supplement the interest coverage ratio (ICR) for buy-to-let loans, this could be the first of many such offerings as competition for buy-to-let lending is still intense among mortgage lenders.

The product, says Kent, has been specifically tailored for non-portfolio landlords looking to borrow through a limited company arrangement or on an individual basis.

Adrian Moloney, sales director for One Savings Bank, which Kent Reliance is a part of, says:

“This new, broader approach to buy-to-let affordability will provide additional flexibility to allow earned income to form part of the affordability assessment for a buy-to-let application.

“High property values, particularly within London and the south east, can result in lower yields and as a result, some applicants may be refused lending, even on good quality properties. We are looking to fix that.

“To support this product, we have also updated our buy-to-let calculator so brokers can immediately see if a case fits the income backed criteria prior to submission, thereby simplifying the process and enabling a faster turnaround.�

Andrew Montlake, director of London-based broker Coreco, said it was great to see a specialist lender such as Kent Reliance continue to work hard with brokers to understand and meet consumer’s needs.

He says:

“There are a whole host of buy-to-let landlords who invest in property for long-term growth who have spare income to make up for lower rental yields, and more choice of lenders who top-slice is needed in the market.

“Lenders need to continue to innovate and evolve their offerings to meet ever-changing circumstances and Kent Reliance has a great track record of doing this.�

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Income backed-buy-to-let mortgage launched | LandlordZONE.

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Dilemma on arrears, eviction, and late deposit protection?

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Having served s21 1(b) and 21 4(a) on 8th April with an expiry for the 17th June, after seeking advice in March, I’ve started to complete the court possession form. Had been advised at the time of service not to do the s8 at the same time as not 2 months in arrears.

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Right to rent checks

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Right to rent checks were first introduced in February 2016 meaning before a landlord rents a property, they must have carried out checks to ensure that the tenant or tenants have the right to rent in the UK. These checks must be carried out on all tenants even if they are not named on the tenancy agreement.

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Tenant keeps changing mind and date for ending tenancy?

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What do I do? My tenant has stopped paying rent, closed curtains, moved out with most of her main items of furniture, but leaving smaller items and rubbish.

She has promised, repeatedly, to move these items, end the tenancy and hand over the keys but

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Associations critical of Welsh Fees Ban Bill

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ARLA Propertymark are critical of the proposed ban on tenants fees with Chief Executive, David Cox, saying “We have been awaiting the announcement of this Bill, given the scrutiny on tenant fees across the private rented sector. It’s no surprise that

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Storm Hector: Are your properties safe?

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The Met Office has warned that Storm Hector will bring winds of up to 70mph. Whilst the amber warning for the storm has expired, the Met Office have warned that Storm Hector will continue to bring disruptive winds to Northern parts of the UK, and a yellow wind warning is in place and is valid until […]

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Letting fee ban to be introduced in Wales

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Letting Fee Ban:

The Welsh Government is introducing a Bill, which mirrors a similar one in England, a “Renting Homes Bill�, with a proposal to ban tenant fees in the Welsh private rented sector (PRS).

Under the proposed new law, as reported by the National Landlords’ Association (NLA), tenants will no longer be faced with letting fees of any kind from their landlord or letting agent. They will simply be asked to pay rent, and in some cases if the landlord requires it, a security deposits and optionally a holding deposit during the tenant screening phase.

As in the English Bill, The Tenant Fees Bill, the holding deposit in Wales would be limited to one week’s rent.

The Bill which will be along the same lines as the English one in which security deposits are proposed to be capped at six-weeks’ rent.

In Wales the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Bill proposes a penalty regime of fines of £500 fixed penalty, and unlimited fines and the loss of their landlord licence under certain circumstance.

Speaking on the introduced legislation, Rebecca Evans, housing and regeneration minister for the Welsh Government, has said:

“Fees charged by letting agents often present a significant barrier to many tenants, especially those on lower incomes.

“The bill will mean that tenants no longer face significant upfront fees when they start renting. In most instances they will only need to pay their monthly rent and a security deposit.

“No longer will tenants be charged for an accompanied viewing, receiving an inventory or signing a contract. No longer will they be charged for renewing a tenancy. And no longer will they have to pay check-out fees when they move out.

“I want renting to be a positive and widely accessible choice for people, and this bill will ensure that rental costs become more reasonable, affordable and transparent.�

The English Tenant Fees Bill currently passing through Parliament, slated to become law either later in 2018, or early 2019, whilst in Scotland landlords and agents have been operating under a similar banned fees regime since 2012.

The National Landlords’ Association is actively campaigning on these Bills going through Parliament and the organisation now shares similar concerns on the enforcement measures on the Welsh Bill.

NLA CEO Richard Lambert has given evidence to an English Parliamentary committee, where he has raised several concerns on behalf of landlords and agents about the Bill’s weak enforcement measures:

Mr Lambert said that for those who wilfully break the law, fines without enforcement are toothless, stating that:

“…the level of penalty is a deterrent to the law-abiding because it ensures that they will not slide into error, but for the people who are breaking the law and who factor it in as part of the cost of business, it will not matter at all, because the lack of enforcement means that they will assume that most of the time they can get away with it, and on the occasions that they cannot, it is simply a cost of doing business.�

The NLA has also argued that imposing a cap on security deposits would have unintended consequences, which could be damaging to certain groups of prospective tenants. It could also have the counter-productive effect of reducing some households’ abilities to secure suitable accommodation in the sector.

Speaking on the impact of the Renting Homes Bill, NLA Director of Policy and Practice Chris Norris said:

“Whilst tenants and applicants deserve to be treated fairly, and not unduly charged, it is disappointing that the Welsh Government seem to be adding to the enormous amount of change with which landlords in Wales are being expected to contend.

“With all of the uncertainty surrounding the introduction of the new ‘Standard Contract’ from 2019, and ongoing debate about fitness for habitation in the private sector the NLA would like to see the Welsh Government focus on getting the fundamentals right before moving onto new challenges.�

Welsh Government – Letting Fees Bill to make renting simpler and fairer – see here

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Letting fee ban to be introduced in Wales | LandlordZONE.

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Student property enquiries surge 73% following portal revamp

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Student Lettings:

 AccommodationforStudents.com, the UK No.1 student accommodation search engine has had a 73% boost in student property enquiries following a complete revamp of their website.

AFS appointed Code Computerlove to deliver the website upgrade. The newly re-launched interactive site is now far easier and faster for students and landlords to navigate, view properties and make enquiries both on desktop and mobile. It is also currently one of the fastest ever property portals on the web, with page download speeds of 0.8 seconds.

Started in 2000, AccommodationforStudents.com was the first student accommodation search engine. It quickly became established as the market leader with well over 100,000 properties. However, being originally built in classic ASP (active server pages) meant that changing and upgrading it, to ensure its future versatility and longevity, was always going to be a costly exercise.

Determined to make it happen, entrepreneur and Director of AFS, Simon Thompson, bought out his business partner William Berry one year ago, then succeeded in getting a loan from The North West Fund, which gave him the much-needed capital to re-invest in the business’ core asset – the website.

He comments: “This re-launch has been a long-time in planning. We have considered every aspect of the website and its functionality to make it as appealing for landlords and letting agents, and as simple for students, as possible.

In terms of new features, students can now see blended search results. Previously students had to visit different areas of the website to see different types of properties. Now they can search and compare the options like for like.

For landlords and agents, the key benefit is better visual representation of their properties leading to more enquiries, which is clearly working given the boost of activity. Coming soon will also be automated property feeds for letting agents and optional rent collection services for landlords.�

Rob Jones from Code Computerlove added: “The site has been transformed taking an iterative approach, focusing on key user journeys and interactions – areas delivering the most value and testing every release so that we were confident that the site was delivering exceptional results from the start of the roll out process. In addition to the hugely impressive increase in enquiries, bounce rate has also dropped by almost half and conversion is up.â€�

Simon set up Accommodationforstudents.com in 2000 after experiencing first-hand the difficulties in finding suitable student accommodation.  Today, the site is visited by more than 3 million students every year and advertises properties for 32,000 UK private landlords, 1,200 letting agents and more than 500 private halls of residence.

AFS also employs over 50 students on a part time basis and recently moved to new offices in the heart of the Northern Quarter in Manchester, where it has access to top digital talent and 99,000 students across four universities.

About Accommodation for Students
www.accommodationforstudents.com is the World No.1 Student Accommodation Search Engine. AFS features at the top of search engines, hosts more content than any other student accommodation website and is currently one of the fastest ever property portals, with page download speeds of 0.8 seconds.

Accommodation for Students was founded in June 2000 by two university students who experienced first-hand the difficulties with finding student accommodation. It quickly became established as the market leader with well over 100,000 properties.

Our aim is to help students find the best available accommodation available within the least amount of time. Unlike other student accommodation websites, all the properties featured on the AFS website are available to let and its database is up to date.

Today, www.accommodationforstudents.com is visited by more than 3 million students every year and advertises properties for 23,000 landlords, 1,800 letting agents and more than 500 private halls of residence. AFS also employs over 50 students on a part time basis.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Student property enquiries surge 73% following portal revamp | LandlordZONE.

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