How do I get away from my awful letting agents?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

I’ve been using a letting agent on a fully managed service for over 2 years now. They’ve never been great – considering the service is fully managed I end up doing an awful lot of stuff myself, having to remind them of certificate renewals

The post How do I get away from my awful letting agents? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: How do I get away from my awful letting agents?

ICO demand – is it a scam?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Our Ltd company has just received a demand from ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) claiming that we are not registered with them. That is true…. I have never heard of or from them before.

They say our customers, clients and tenants expect us to take our data protection obligations seriously like the many real estate companies that have paid their fee on time.

The post ICO demand – is it a scam? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: ICO demand – is it a scam?

Just a Criminal

admin    Uncategorized     agents

George Lindsay aged 55 from Erdington was successfully prosecuted by Birmingham city council and sentenced to pay a fine of £19,970 and only got away without jail time, because the guidelines did not permit the judge the option.

Lindsay was found guilty of failing to obtain on HMO licence and 13 infringements of HMO regulations that included:

–

The post Just a Criminal appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Just a Criminal

RLA takes to your TV screens

admin    Uncategorized     agents

RLA news and research is being brought to a whole new audience, with the launch of a monthly slot on Property TV.  The digital and satellite channel, which has been broadcasting for four years now, was set up to ‘inform, educate and entertain’, covering all matters property-related – including landlords and the private rented sector. […]

The post RLA takes to your TV screens appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

View Full Article: RLA takes to your TV screens

Smaller energy suppliers could thrive as rivals collapse

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Energy Suppliers:

The UK energy market is going through big changes as some companies, both big and small, are struggling to survive.

A total of eight
small energy suppliers went to the wall in 2018 as wholesale energy
costs proved too much for them. This trend has continued in 2019,
with two more failed suppliers, Economy Energy, and Our Power.
Industry watchers predict there are more failures to come.

It’s been a
challenging year for the remaining energy suppliers, raising
expectations of further company failures or more consolidation and
the continuing need for Ofgem’s safety net, where a stable provider
is called upon to rescue customers stranded by the failure of a
rival.

It all demonstrates
the volatility in the market with some good businesses getting
stronger, while others are struggling to survive in a very
competitive and regulated market. The collapses show how
unsustainable pricing by new entrants place such a heavy burden on
households and landlords when picking up the pieces.

Some suppliers have
been tasked with taking on more than 800,000 displaced customers,
receiving a huge boost to their businesses in the process. With this
instant growth to these mid-market operators they pose a serious
threat to the dominance of the market’s “big six” suppliers:
British Gas, E.ON, npower, EDF, ScottishPower and SSE – which
control 80% of the market.

Trade association
body for the UK energy sector, with a membership of over 100
suppliers, Energy UK, and the energy regulator Ofgem, both welcomed
the entrance of new players as a signal of healthy competition, but
until recently few of these had seriously rivalled the big six.

Those in the frame
to close the gap are three mid-sized firms: Ovo Energy, First Utility
and Bulb.

In the case of Ovo
it has taken on around half a million new customers from the failed
companies, taking its customer base to a massive 1.5 million and a
substantial market share of around 5%, not too far behind npower’s
7.7%.

Energy consultant
Cornwall Insight’s Robert Buckley thinks that although there’s
been a lot of negative comment in the media about the company
failures, there are few signs they’ve caused “any real
degradation to competition in the retail market.”

“The shake-up has
presented an opportunity for several suppliers to grow, changing the
face of the retail landscape in the process,” he says.

There are signs that
the next generation of suppliers will start to close the gap between
them and the big six over the next few years. Consumers see switching
to these new challengers has substantial benefits in terms of price
and service.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Smaller energy suppliers could thrive as rivals collapse | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Smaller energy suppliers could thrive as rivals collapse

Landlords – no more excuses please

admin    Uncategorized     agents

As I write this blog, I’m on a train down to Devon to do a talk at the ARLA Propertymark Devon Regional Meeting.

One of the many hats I wear in my role as Director / Brand Ambassador for Hamilton Fraser Group is overseeing ‘Education’. 

The post Landlords – no more excuses please appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Landlords – no more excuses please

How to: Prepare your property for Storm Brendan

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Some parts of the country experienced stormy weather over the weekend-and blustery conditions are set to continue for a number of days with Storm Brendan on its way. It is important landlords know how to prepare for this type of weather, to ensure their tenants and properties are safe. As well as keeping up to […]

The post How to: Prepare your property for Storm Brendan appeared first on RLA Campaigns and News Centre.

View Full Article: How to: Prepare your property for Storm Brendan

The Tories’ silence

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Owners of small companies would pay more tax under Labour – up to 45% more – but the Tories haven’t mentioned this.

Commenting on the Labour manifesto, John McDonnell said “In terms of income tax, the top 5% will pay a bit more

The post The Tories’ silence appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: The Tories’ silence

What are the implications for investors of this week’s election?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

General Election:

This is the week of
the election, and very likely a landmark one in the history of the
country. Everyone’s anticipating what the implications will be for
themselves of such an important vote on Thursday. If you are an
investor, and landlords are certainty that, then the implications
could be far reaching, but also far reaching for all of us!

Jeremy Corbyn, the
Labour leader, and Boris Johnson, the prime minister and Conservative
Party leader, have set-out their stalls in their manifestos and on
the hustings, and will do final battle at the ballot box come
Thursday.

Many of us will be
up all election night in anticipation, eagerly awaiting the final
result on Friday the 13^th of what is likely to be a
crucial vote, representing a parting of the ways; a cross roads of a
decision for the future of the country. There is certainly clear blue
water between the two main parties, decidedly radical in approach
from Labour, and a strong commitment to leave the EU as quickly as
possible from the Conservatives. But, there’s always the
possibility of another hung parliament, if tactical voting plays a
part.

Mired in
uncertainty

It seems like the
country has been stuck in political purgatory forever, mired in
argument and counter argument, and getting nowhere, while all the
time businesses and people are suffering because of the uncertainty.
Is it possible that the stalemate over Brexit and the uncertainty
surrounding U.K.’s future direction will end this week? After 3½
years of a battered pound, stagnant house sales and hammered domestic
stock prices, it would be good to have a sense of direction, whatever
course that may be, but how confident are you of that?

The opinion polls
are currently suggesting a victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
the Conservative candidate, but Labour are catching up, and could
still surprise; they could yet form a government with the help of all
the other parties except the Brexit Party.

According to
investment website, marketwatch.com, the result of this
election could have a major impact, not just in Britain, but also on
world markets and currencies.

The historical
backdrop

For good or ill,
David Cameron, with a complicit Parliament, allowed a referendum vote
on a simple majority – stay or leave. To the surprise of much of the
establishment, the vote went to leave. Parliament confirmed the
commitment to leave by voting through Article 50, and then to secure
a better majority to help get a deal through, Prime Minister May
decided on an election.

The 2017 election
ended with Theresa May losing her small majority, then having to rely
on the Democratic Unionist Party to prop up her lame Conservative
government. It made getting legislation through, and especially
Brexit, an uphill task. Three failed attempts to get her compromise
Brexit deal through Parliament prompted May’s June 2019
resignation, a full three years after the referendum result for
leave, and no still sign of a resolution.

Boris Johnson came
in with a cast iron promise the country would be out by October 31st.
Against all the odds he struck a deal with Brussels on October 17th,
but despite this he failed to bring Parliament round, hitting the
same “brick wall” as his predecessor, as opponents of Brexit
successfully blocked and delayed the deal.

Even when Johnson
got MPs to finally voted for a second reading of the government’s
withdrawal bill — the Brexit deal — time was running out, and a
majority of MPs felt that the three days allocated to scrutinize the
bill was not enough and blocked it yet again.

With Parliament
effectively deadlocked, Johnson was forced to asked the EU for and
extension beyond his promised 31^st October deadline. His
repeated calls for an election to break the deadlock, resisted by
opposition parties for several weeks, eventually resulted in
capitulation. The decision to let the people decide by way of an
election was finally voted through on the fourth time of asking.

A new deadline for
exiting Europe has been set for the 31^st of January, so we
await the result of the election to see if Mr Johnson gets a chance
to keep his promise, or whether Mr Corbyn gets the keys to number 10,
and jets off to Brussels to negotiate his better deal. This to be put
to the people in the form of another referendum, to accept the
“better” deal or remain, while Jeremy Corbyn remains neutral on
the outcome.

What does all
this mean for investors and the economy?

A Stock Market
Almanack study shows that the Conservatives and Labour have won nine
general elections each between 1945 and 2010, with in eight out of
the nine years following a Conservative victory the FTSE All-Share
index rose, with an average 10.8% gain.

The market rose in
just three of the nine years following a Labour win, with an average
negative return of 5.8%. The same study showed that returns tend to
be negative in the month and week before an election, while returns
after an election tend to be low.

But this time could be different; none of those previous elections involved Brexit with its consequences for equities and the pound, and none featured a Labour government in waiting with the most radical socialist policies the party has ever put forward.

Sterling has been up and down like a Yoyo in recent weeks as investors have reacted to the sways of the latest opinion polls. The pound dropped at the end of November after two election polls showed that Boris Johnson’s lead had narrowed, demonstrating investors’ fear at the prospect of a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn.

However, a YouGov
poll that successfully predicted the outcome of the 2017 election
called a Johnson win with a 68-seat majority, sending the pound back
up above $1.29. Another more recent poll cut Johnson’s lead by
half, sending the pound back down again at the prospect of a hung
Parliament, when no party reaches the 326 seats needed for a
majority.

The outcome as they
say is in the “lap of the Gods”, but one thing is for certain; a
small majority for either of the main parties would mean another hung
Parliament, it would diminish the chances of breaking the Brexit
deadlock. Such an outcome would mean the return of uncertainty and
the prospect of a no-deal Brexit or no Brexit at all — it would
send stocks prices, house prices and the pound plunging. It may also
see the break-up of the United Kingdom.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – What are the implications for investors of this week’s election? | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: What are the implications for investors of this week’s election?

Is Robert Jenrick going soft on Rent Controls?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, gave an interview to the I newspaper detailing conservative plans and policies to tackle the housing crisis.

When questioned about the Tory commitment to end Section 21 eviction notices and what was the point if landlord could instead ‘constructively’

The post Is Robert Jenrick going soft on Rent Controls? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Is Robert Jenrick going soft on Rent Controls?