Although the last couple of years have been good for the majority of landlords a report out this week shows that everything in the garden is not so rosy and that some landlords are resorting to court action to retrieve some of their losses.
It is true that property insurance can cover a landlord for most things but a leading company of lawyers are reporting a significant increase in home buyers suing chartered surveyors for over valuing properties they subsequently bought.
Daniel Brumpton, a professional negligence expert at well known law firm Irwin Mitchell, reports that his company are busier than ever helping disgruntled landlords claim damages, he said “We have seen an increase in the region of 20pc in the number of cases in which homeowners have launched proceedings against surveyors for overvaluing their property before they bought it and the great majority are buy-to-let purchasers.
“Landlords rely on surveyors to provide both an accurate valuation of the property as well as the likely rental income that will be achieved. It appears, however, that an increasing number are alleging significant discrepancies between the true market value and the figures provided in surveyor reports.”
The news comes hot on the heels of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicting a further drop in house prices next year. The institute believes house prices will fall by around 3% but suggest that buy-to-let landlords will fare better due to the current demand for rental properties.
Some cynics are suggesting the RICS report is an exercise in damage limitation after they have been so wrong in the past but many financial experts would agree with their assessment for 2012. The truth is that in these uncertain times any predictions for the next 12 months must be taken with caution.