Category Archives: Landlord Advice

Landlords waiting more than five months to regain their property.

 
Recent figures from the Ministry of Justice show that private landlords are having to wait an average of over five months to regain possession of a property when applying to the courts. While it can be costly to evict a tenant, it should always be a last resort. It can be costly in time, money and effort.
The Residential Landlord Association is warning that the Government’s move to develop longer tenancies will fail without urgent court reforms to ensure landlord can quickly regain possession of a […]

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 […]

Top tips for tenant screening and reference checks

Let’s try and get your tenant selection right the first time
A property is one of the most valuable assets a person will own in their lifetime and therefore in an ideal world this asset will have minimal risk and therefore minimal damage or value depreciation.
Lets talk through the dos and don’ts when it comes to finding the right tenants to occupy your properties.
Do you have an ideal tenant in mind?
I’m sure we would all like some tenants who have a regular income, don’t smoke, don’t […]

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!

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• Unlimited claims up […]

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.

The Residential Landlords Association’s Election Manifesto

(Update: Read PropertyQuoteDirect’s campaign to Change the Face of Landlords during the General Election)
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will know that the General Election is just a few months’ away, with political leaders already publicising their plans for the property and private rental sectors in the future. However, this General Election is proving very difficult to predict as this time around there are more parties vying for leadership than ever, which means that landlords need to start preparing themselves for what could […]