Category Archives: Best Practice Guides for Landlords

Interior Decorating Tips for Landlords

It’s come to the end of the tenancy agreement and maybe you have a bit of time before the new tenants move in or maybe you’re struggling to find a new tenant for your empty property. One thing you will want to do is give your investment a clean up and think about interior design. If the walls are scuffed, rising damp in the kitchen and the previous tenant’s cat has scratched the carpet then now is the time to give the property a spruce […]

Is your property winter ready?

 
As a landlord, it is your responsibility to make sure that your properties and tenants are winter ready. Keeping on top of essential maintenance is vital and keeps tenants happy.
Prepare

Communicate – Talk to your tenants. Ask if there are any issues that they are concerned by. Make sure that all emergency contacts are up to date.
Set up and emergency plan – A ring binder in for every binder full of emergency telephone numbers, helpful advice, where the stopcock/fusebox/gas and electricity meters are. All useful to […]

How to Avoid Property Voids

 
It’s a New Year which means new resolutions, new goals and big plans for the year to come. For many people the New Year will continue the same as the last but for others there may be some hurdles to jump over.
Many people enter January with a tight budget after the festive season which can result in late or missed payments which, from a landlords prospective could mean late rent, unpaid rent or tenants looking to downsize to cut costs.
Our team at Property Quote Direct […]

My Tenants Experienced a Burglary Just Before Christmas, Are They Covered?

“I’ve just been informed by my tenants that they have been burgled; the back door has been severely damaged and all of their Christmas present have been stolen. I need to know what is covered by my Insurance so that these damages can be repaired and hopefully my tenants can receive some compensation for the contents that have been stolen.”
The Crime that Spikes Around Christmas & Why
It is not uncommon for there to be a spike in the number of break-ins around this time of […]

The Landlords Battle against Organised Crime in Their Properties

 
Many Landlords may be under the impression that if illegal activity is carried out in a property that they are renting out, that they will be protected by their insurer but sadly this is usually not the case. We are here to guide you through what to look out for to ensure that you are not left uninsured due to some troublesome tenants.
We are going to talk you through the common and unusual scenarios that are leaving landlords properties all over the UK, vulnerable and […]

How do proposed legislation changes impact HMO landlords?

Minimum bedroom size, mandatory licensing and personal checks
If you currently own a property that is let to multiple occupants you are going to need know about the changes that could soon be coming your way including minimum bedroom size requirements, mandatory licensing and personal checks on yourself. So, let’s get started!

Credit Unions, the new banks?

Credit Unions, the new banks?
Landlords, in common with the majority of the population, are viewing the coming budget with trepidation. Apart from the feared cuts and tax hikes that will affect all the population, the residential landlord is steeling himself for the announcement of a massive rise in Capital Gains Tax. What better time then, for the average landlord to appraise his financial situation and spend some time looking at different areas where he can ease his financial situation.
First of all he can look at […]

Retirement age to go up

Retirement age to go up
It is no secret that one of the main reasons behind the upsurge in buy to let residential landlords has been the uncertainties in financial matters over the last 10 years. Earlier in the century, many contributors to orthodox pension schemes saw their predicted pension incomes slashed while others saw theirs disappear altogether in stock market crashes after 9/11. Then more recently the bank crisis and recession have had a similar effect, with more people than ever before becoming nervous of […]

Help and Advice for Landlords

Landlord Advice – As is the case in most ventures, help and advice from within the trade or profession one has earmarked to make a living in, can be invaluable. Although it is inevitable that stepping into a new project is bound to be fraught with anxieties and tensions, inside knowledge can help you avoid many pitfalls and so save both time and energy, not to mention money.
This applies to the prospective residential landlord as much as any other business. From the very outset there […]

Landlord Advice: Changing the Face of Landlords

Landlord Advice – There are numerous landlord services and advice lines out there designed to help landlords struggling with their businesses, however even if your business is doing well you can still face common problems. These days, one of the biggest problems landlords face is that there are numerous negative stereotypes surrounding them, meaning they are often ignored or even subjected to abuse.