Category Archives: Property Insurance

How will the Immigration Act 2014 affect Landlords?

Posted on 6th June 2014

Immigration Act – Around this time last year the Queen announced in her annual speech that the government had introduced a new Immigration Bill which would require landlords to vet all their potential tenants in order to make sure that they are in the country legally. Naturally, many landlords and industry experts were concerned over this new Bill, however it is still planned to go ahead October of this year. Here, PropertyQuoteDirect explains the purpose behind the Bill, why so many landlords are against it, […]

Landlord Regulation Under Scrutiny

Posted on 2nd May 2014

Landlord Regulation Under Scrutiny – If you’re a landlord you probably feel like there’s quite enough regulation that you have to worry about at the moment. While a simple 2 bed property might be easy enough to run on a day-to-day basis, local and national regulation for HMOs can be an enormous burden for landlords. Couple this with things like council tax, landlord insurance and tenant management and it’s no surprise that many landlords find themselves having to give up other occupations to work full […]

Help to Buy Made Easy

Posted on 11th December 2013

 
With phase two of the Help to Buy scheme recently launched there is some confusion as to what is on offer and who is eligible for what. With this in mind we have come up with a guide so landlords can find out what buyers can get from the scheme and how this may alter the market in the next couple of years.
The second phase of the Help to Buy scheme was launched earlier on in the year, which means that properties worth up to […]

Investing in Another Property

Posted on 7th June 2013

 
Investing in Property – Over the last few years, student housing has become very popular amongst landlords and has transformed over the last ten years into a global market. This is a result of the increase in students in need of somewhere to live; there has been an increase of 67 million students since 2000 to 2011.
James Pullan is the head of Knight Frank Student Accommodation and he has said, “Student property is one of the most successful real estate asset classes, thanks to stability […]

Legal for Landlords: know your rights

Posted on 3rd June 2013

Legal for Landlords: know your rights
Landlords often fail to protect their legal rights properly. Many see housing law as being there mainly to protect tenants. It should be used to protect landlords too.
The law can be complex. And when you have a long to-do list to deal with, it’s easy to push understanding the law to the bottom of it. We’ve covered landlords’ legal responsibilities recently. Now we’ve put together this list of the basics to help landlords know their rights.

A Landlord’s Guide to Saving

Posted on 31st May 2013

A Landlord’s Guide to Saving – The other week it was reported that landlords need to make sure they have a contingency plan when it comes to their business, especially as the rental market is constantly changing. Even though it’s relatively easy to make a profit now, there is always the chance that something could go wrong, which is why it is so important to have some extra cash that can help. So here is our guide to saving and how it can be done […]

Taking Tenants on Benefits

Posted on 11th February 2013

Many landlords refuse to take tenants who plan to pay their rent using housing benefit. There are several reasons for this. Some landlords are worried about frequent government changes to housing benefit rules causing delays in payment, and there may be worries about what happens if a tenant loses their benefit for any reason.

Warm Tenants, Happy Landlords?

Posted on 23rd January 2013

 
Happy Landlords – The recent increase in the percentage of people renting rather than owning, and the resultant rising rents has meant that many tenants are more demanding of their landlords than they once were. Those who would have expected to buy in the past, but instead find themselves renting for the foreseeable future as the banks clamp down on credit, can be tougher customers than the students and short-term renters who once made up a higher percentage of the market. Keep them happy by […]

Live in Landlords

Posted on 14th December 2012

 
Even though we are now officially out of recession people are still seeing the side effects from the last few years and budgets are still tight. This means many are trying to find ways of making extra income to live a little more comfortable. One of the ways people have been doing this is to take on lodgers in their properties. This means that they then become “live in landlords”.
Spareroom, who are a website which offers letting of single rooms have conducted a survey and […]

Property Renovation – How to Buy a Wreck and Make Money

Posted on 10th December 2012

 
Property Renovation – Buying a property to let always involves an element of risk. The rental market might falter, bringing down your monthly income. Mortgage interest rates might go up. Tenants might not pay rent on time. When you buy a property that needs a lot of work or conversion before you can let it, the risks grow. The cost of renovating a property nearly always turns out to be higher than the original builders’ quotes, as until work is started, it’s impossible to tell […]