Category Archives: Rent

Being an accidental landlord

Being an accidental landlord – Not every landlord wants to be a landlord. According to figures from Rightmove, around 30% of landlords are so-called ‘accidental landlords’.
These are people who have been forced into letting out a property they bought to live in. Usually, they need to move, but find they can’t sell. They may be in negative equity, or simply finding it difficult to achieve a decent price for their home in a slow market. House prices are recovering from the 2008 crash, but the […]

Protecting yourself against Rent Arrears

Protecting yourself against Rent Arrears – There has been a lot of concern recently from landlords and political figures over the amount of people in the UK who are in danger of falling into rent arrears. Already there have been reports that the number of people who have missed two or more rent payments has increased by a substantial amount in the first quarter of this year alone, so what do you do if you are concerned about your tenants falling into rent arrears?

Benefit cap trial begins

The government’s much-talked about benefit cap is being trialled from this week in parts of London. From Monday 15th April, people receiving benefits in Haringey, Ealing, Croydon and Bromley have had them capped at £500 a week, or £350 for a single person.
Those receiving benefits at above those amounts are likely to be living in areas where rents are high. A large part of their benefits will housing benefit. If someone is over the cap, it is their housing benefit that will be reduced.
That means […]

Landlords warned about ‘severe arrears’

Landlords are being warned that the number of tenants in ‘severe arrears’ is increasing. In the first quarter of this year, the number of tenants behind more than two months on their rent payments increased by a hefty 5%. According to figures by property receivers Templeton LPA, the number of tenants facing court-ordered eviction rose by 10% in the same period.

How to Deal with Rent Arrears?

It is every landlord’s nightmare: a previously reliable tenant fails to pay their rent on time. This can leave landlords struggling to meet their mortgage repayments, and causes a huge amount of stress. Most landlords will have to deal with arrears at some stage, with around 9% of rent unpaid or late.
Rising rents are good news for landlords who want to grow their business, but combined with relatively high unemployment and growth in inflation outstripping growth in wages, they can mean that tenants struggle to […]

Tapping Pensions For Deposits

 
There’s been a lot of hot air this week: Yes, you guessed it, its Party conference season. Politicians have taken the week off to engage in their respective annual conferences and as per usual, there have been some crackers. Yesterday, Nick Clegg announced at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton of his audacious strategy to give the young a rung on the property ladder.
Rising costs
With the soaring price of property deposits and the average age of first-time-buyers rising to 35, Clegg has advocated releasing parent […]

London and Dubai, a tale of two cities

Who has the supply and who has the demand for property
The fickle nature of investing in the buy-to-let market is amply demonstrated by the different situation landlords in the UK and Dubai are experiencing at the present moment.
Landlords in the UK express their confidence in the market with each passing survey. Rental yields on average are going up and void periods are going down. In and around London it seems as though many residential landlords are falling over themselves in the rush to purchase landlord […]