Category: Tennants

Landlords advised to explore avenues for new tenants

Posted on 11th October 2010

Residential landlords are ignoring a large proportion of potential tenants, warns an organisation whose job it is to provide landlords with key services.
Landlord Assist, a company that provides services for professional and individual landlords, believes that many landlords are turning their backs on a lucrative market because of government legislation.
They say that many buy-to-let landlords are ignoring tenants who are on Local Housing Allowance because the local authorities pass the benefit onto the tenant rather than the landlord. It is certainly true that this has […]

All safety concerns need to be reported

Posted on 29th September 2010

Tenants in privately rented accommodation are being asked to report any safety fears they may have after an appearance in court by a landlord who allowed a tenant to stay in a three storey property which had no fire escape.
Any tenant living in houses of multiple occupation (HMO) has been urged to contact the housing department of York Council if they have any worries about safety issues of the room they are renting.
In November 2009 the council closed down landlord Mehmet Altin’s renting operation because […]

Lloyds bounce back

Posted on 4th August 2010

Yet another partly state owned bank has announced profits this week and landlords looking for a bank to provide funds for extending their property portfolio, could be well advised to try Lloyds.
Lloyds Banking Group today posted a half year underlying profit of £1.6 billion in a dramatic reversal of fortune. In the same period last year the bank lost over £3.9 billion. The bank which was rescued by the state and is still partly owned by UK, taxpayers reported good profits from its retail banking […]

New scheme will cost taxpayers nothing

Posted on 2nd August 2010

Council city leaders have promised that the taxpayer will not be hit, when a compulsory licensing scheme for landlords throughout Oxford is brought in. The Council leaders have made the guarantee at the same time John Denham, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, made a visit to the city to find out exactly how the new scheme would work.
A week ago Oxford council said yes for the plan to adopt the new powers to create the scheme, which will apply throughout the […]

Housing scheme under pressure

Posted on 2nd August 2010

Landlords in the guise of Housing associations are finding great difficulty in kick-starting a government initiative programme to create home-owners.
Housing associations are finding homes built for the “try before you buy” shared ownership scheme are not attracting tenants who rent the properties to go on and buy them. The scheme, started in 2008 and funded to the tune of almost £300 million by the government, was designed to allow prospective buyers of difficult to sell houses, the chance of occupying the properties on a subsidised […]

Olympic Games venue could become a property hotspot

Posted on 28th July 2010

Landlords in the capital on the lookout for new properties, could well be advised to turn their attention to East London, according to a new survey.
Lloyds TSB say property prices in east London have soared since the announcement   that the Olympic Games will be held there in 2012. On average, prices in the boroughs situated around the games venue have risen by 25%, with two boroughs, Homerton and Shoreditch seeing prices go up by more than 50%.
Conversely, the borough where the Olympic Stadium is situated, […]

Landlords losing out thanks to previous Government

Posted on 26th July 2010

It has been revealed that over £220million is being stolen from taxpayers every year by tenants, in what is becoming an increasing housing benefits scandal. Tenants receiving housing benefits are routinely stealing the rent money which is worth hundreds of pounds, given to them by the state and which should be then paid to the landlords.
They are, however, being allowed to pocket the money for almost two months before the debt ridden landlord is able to insist that the money is paid directly to them […]

Council scheme interests landlords

Posted on 26th July 2010

Landlords in Cheshire have the chance to get interest free loans if they work with the local council in improving standards for tenants.
The good news for landlords comes from Halton Borough Council which covers the towns of Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire. The council is keen to work with residential landlords in the area, recognising their role in the already burgeoning private rental sector.
To support what the council describe as “decent” landlords they have launched an Accreditation Scheme. The enticements for landlords to sign up […]

Potential tenants face shortage of properties

Posted on 21st July 2010

The availability of rental properties in the United Kingdom is getting worse. This news comes after new research released today from ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents).
The research covers April, May and June of this year and the latest quarterly figures show that 70% of ARLA members report that now there are more tenants than there are properties available for them to rent. The first quarter (January, February and March) had the figure 11% lower at 59% which still compares favourably with September […]

Tenants flock to register

Posted on 20th July 2010

In what can only be good news for Landlords, a leading letting agency has seen a 16% rise in tenants registering for rental accommodation in the second quarter of the year.
Countrywide, the UK’s largest letting and property service business say they now have over 50,000 potential home seekers on their books, 18,000 of these registering in June alone. In the same quarter, new properties coming on to the market actually fell by 6%.
The survey, which took in data collected from over 200 branches nationwide, revealed […]