Category: Property Insurance

A bathroom, wi-fi and a pint please

Posted on 9th October 2012

There is no doubt that more and more property investors regard student tenants as an attractive business proposition. A company in the Midlands are offering property owners, who are thinking of organising landlord insurance on a student let, an insight into what they should offer to get students running to their door.
Simon Thomson is a Director of Accommodation for Students (AFS) and has been an integral part of the company since he started it up 12 years ago with a friend while at university. The […]

Landlords warned not to cut corners on fire safety

Posted on 8th October 2012

The NLA (National Landlords Association) has warned property owners operating in the private rental sector that it is vital that they adhere to fire safety regulations or risk prosecution. Following on from the Electrical Fire Safety Week, the NLA issued the reminder for not just long time landlords but also anyone considering becoming a landlord.
Professional agencies can very easily carry out a regular fire risk assessment to see if any hazards exist, and if they do, how to put them right, however, many landlords are […]

Landlords encouraged to embrace the green deal

Posted on 4th October 2012

Landlords in Yorkshire and Humberside are being encouraged to get their homes in order now if they want to get the full benefits from Government regulation widely known as the “Green Deal”.
The Energy Act 2011 stipulates that homes rented out to tenants will have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) no lower than a grade E by the year 2018. It may seem a long way in the future for landlords new to the business, but the fact is all new homes, and any […]

Tooting landlords ask the council for help with fox problems

Posted on 28th September 2012

Landlords in Tooting are urging tenants to buy dustbins in a bid to discourage the increasing number of foxes now prowling around the borough. Francesca Cowin, a landlord, claims her property has been experiencing problems with the creatures outside her home for about 10 years.
The house that she protects with landlord insurance has had the same tenants for 18 months and they have complained several times about the high number of foxes in the garden. The young family have a four year old child and […]

Green Deal innovator believes that private landlords will be better off

Posted on 24th September 2012

Energy efficiency specialist Enact Energy believes that private landlords throughout the United Kingdom could be among the biggest beneficiaries of next year’s Green Deal.
Enact Energy was named earlier this year as one of the Green Deal pioneers by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the company will be one of the first with the power to offer landlords home improvement projects sponsored by the Green Deal Plan or grant funding through ECO (Energy Company Obligation). They firmly believe that landlords will be able […]

Research shows there are ten tenants chasing every property

Posted on 12th September 2012

A major regional letting agent in Yorkshire has said that letting demand throughout the county is now at a record high, with at least ten prospective tenants showing interest for every single property that becomes available to rent.
Yorkshire Agents, Linley & Simpson’s research shows that in the past month, the gap between available stock and people wanting to rent has got bigger, leaving many tenants unable to find somewhere to live. The agency says that private landlords have been able to take their pick of […]

More homes for Peterborough as landlord looks to expand

Posted on 11th September 2012

Landlord insurance providers will welcome the news that Peterborough’s biggest landlord intends to build at least another 600 houses in the city over the next three years.
Cross Keys Homes say they will be spending £60 million on presenting the Cambridgeshire city with 600 new homes but also say they want landowners interested in selling their plots to contact them, as they would like to undertake even more projects if the possibility arises. It can only be good news for Peterborough which already has over 9,000 […]

Scottish landlords could be facing a huge financial headache

Posted on 3rd September 2012

Warnings that many Scottish letting agents are going to go bust due to the new tenancy deposit law are getting stronger as the autumn deadline approaches, and if the worst happens some industry experts are forecasting a £50 million black hole in tenant deposits leaving private landlords legally accountable.
It has already been reported that a record number of letting agents in Scotland are trying to sell up in advance of the November deadline that will require them to place all tenants’ deposit money in a […]

Students proving to be A star tenants

Posted on 23rd August 2012

With A-Level exam results popping through the letter boxes of millions of would be university students this week, several reports from the letting industry show landlords who let out their properties to students are bullish about their business prospects in the coming year.
The student rental market has been an important part of the letting sector for many years and leading buy-to-let lenders Paragon report their customers in this sector are very confident of their prospects, with 76% saying demand for their properties is excellent. And […]

New private landlords warned not to overlook anything

Posted on 22nd August 2012

A lettings expert is urging prospective private landlords not to underestimate their costs before they enter the property market, and warning the business is more complicated than just getting a mortgage and expecting the tenant to pay for it via a rental charge.
Sarah Rushbrook, director of Rushbrook & Rathbone, a national property management agency, feels that if a private landlord plans to hold a property for a decade, they should expect to have to invest in one new kitchen and a bathroom refurbishment, probably three […]