The Tenancy Deposit Scheme faced rough weather in its first year due to the very tight inaugural deadlines. But one can call it a success as it ended up with half a billion pounds in deposits and 2,000 deposits resolved, as quoted in the scheme’s annual report.

This is a not-for-profit organization that is responsible for holding tenants deposits and resolving landlord and tenant disputes.

The Scheme did not begin at the pace that was expected. Even though more and more landlords started to use the scheme after it became mandatory in April 2007, it still has not hit the heights that were expected. (more…)

Did you know that some of our European neighbours have longer term tenancies than here in the UK?

Well, France for example, the longer term tenancy is a well proven and widely used option for tenants.
Now there have been increasing demands in the UK too for the introduction of more long term tenancy agreements which are commonplace elsewhere in Europe.

Mike Goddard, the chief executive of Belvoir (UK letting agent), the UK’s largest specialist agency was explaining on the BBC2 Money Programme that how tenants and landlords could benefit from the security of long-term tenure. (more…)

As I have pointed out in other blogs recently, more and more people are deciding to let out property because they are struggling to sell it or in some cases are not prepared to sell at heavily discounted prices. 

Amidst this changing trend, more experienced landlords and investors are calling on these novice landlords to take a good look at the financial implications and landlord obligations before they become a landlord overnight.

For instance not many new landlords know that if the property is still has a residential mortgage, then they will find that under the terms of this agreement they are not allowed to rent the property out. (more…)

If you are a self managing landlord then nothing is more irritating than tenants not turning up for a property viewing. After all, we are busy people and the last thing we need is a tenant who doesn’t turn up.

No doubt we have all been in the situation where we have arranged to meet a tenant at a certain time during the day, only to find that 15 minutes after the agreed time the tenant has still not arrived - how annoying! (more…)

A survey by The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) claims that a majority of tenants get on well with their residential landlord.

As I strongly believe – property is a people business and there is nobody more important to our property business than our tenants!

About 84 percent of tenants have a ‘harmonious’ relationship with their landlord and a quarter of these went on to call it a ‘fantastic’ relationship. Just 16 percent of those who completed the survey were not happy with their landlord relationship. (more…)

It’s official – there is not a single location in the UK that has not been affected by the property price falls. Even residential properties in prime City of London locations have seen steep falls, says yet another report.

There was a good 11.5% fall during the third quarter of 2008, which was preceded by a 6.8% fall in the second quarter, according to the Jones Lang LaSalle London Prime New Homes index. (more…)

In the last blog I talked about typical costs you can offset to reduce your property tax liability that often get overlooked by us.

As you are aware, as landlords we are responsible for maintaining the property. Therefore, any property maintenance related costs can also be offset against our rental income. (more…)

OK – so all investors and landlords who have benefited from last week’s 1.5% base interest rate reduction are still smiling, and rightfully so!

The chances are we’ll be smiling even more if the base rate continues to come down over the next few months, as indicated by most financial experts. (more…)

It seems a long while now since we heard every other person talking about programmes such as location, location, location! In fact, it is probably the last thing that most investors are worrying about at the present time.

The word on the lips of landlords and property investors more so nowadays, is cashflow, cash flow, cash flow! After all, this is the single biggest challenge that is facing us in the current economic climate. Buying more property is off the radar for most investors and instead it is a case of now getting their ‘property house’ in order. (more…)

Interesting question isn’t it - ‘Would you really drop rents?’ I know that for many landlords the answer to this question is a definite ‘No’, but I think it really needs to be thought about more carefully, and the benefits and drawbacks carefully scrutinised.

I have dropped rents in the past and here is the criteria that I consider when a tenant tells me they are struggling to pay the rent: (more…)