LettingFocus

Local Housing Allowance - Tips to Make Sure Rent is Paid by LettingFocus

2010-03-11T09:33:00.002Z

It’s been a very busy week.
I have been speaking (twice) at the London Landlords Show, plus there was my own Seminar and Networking Event on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, it was off to an excellent meeting with people involved in the private rented sector access schemes and local letting agency models at the Crisis charity offices.

All good stuff!
At my talk at my own seminar, I looked at 12 tips for success if you are letting to tenants on Local Housing Allowance.
Here are 6 of those tips. (All attendees at the Tuesday seminar will be sent the rest. Past and present consultees will also be sent them on request.)

Getting Paid Under LHA

First, get the tenant to sign a disclosure form for the Benefits Service to allow them to share the tenants claim info and progress with you.
Second, make sure the tenant has all the documents they need with them. The form they need to complete asks for lots of documentation so you need to ensure it is all there or else there will be a delay in paying the claim.
Third, ideally go with them when they hand in the form so you can be aware it has actually been handed in and can be aware if (after all your efforts) there was still something missing.
Fourth, be proactive. Contact the Benefits Service often – for example if you are aware of any change in the tenant’s circumstances.
Fifth, if rent is late, apply immediately for the “safeguarding policy” so you can be paid direct as soon as possible.
Sixth, find out what the local authority is like in your area. Speak to them. Ask other landlords.
Some local authorities are very switched on and supportive of landlords and are fully up to speed with all the latest guidelines – which you can read here: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/lha-guidance-manual.pdf Others are not supportive of landlords and are slow at paying LHA claims.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
I’m David Lawrenson, a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.

Services to Businesses and the Public Sector

Primarily I am a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.
For example, I help banks improve their buy to let mortgage lending practices and I help housing association / local authorities find private landlords (private rented access schemes, local letting agency models etc.)
I also provide other services for both sectors as a consultant and I write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the broadcast media.

Services for Private Landlords

For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do just two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one-to-one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it.
We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Landlords Meeting & Property Seminar with LettingFocus on Tuesday

2010-03-03T11:32:00.004Z

If you have not already booked, don’t miss our Evening Seminar Event for landlords on Tues 9 March starting at 530pm.
We have anywhere between 20 and 30 people at these events which tend to be fun and informal and now only take place twice a year.
The attendees are always a mix of friendly experienced and novice landlords.
As usual, we will have guest speakers along including James Davis of Online letting portal UPAD, speaking about how to “Avoid the Void.”
Plus there will be another speaker too.
And there will be lots of opportunities to ask me about a range of property letting and investing topics.
Though it will be a busy event, there will be some time for networking during the course of the evening.
We open at 530pm.
The first talk is at about 630pm and we will end at about 9pm at the latest.
To book a place for this event please just reply to this email us at David@LettingFocus.com with your full name and write “Reserve a Place” in the subject box.
Payment is on the night - £30 if you email to reserve a place before lunchtime Tuesday or £35 otherwise. Hurry - there are just 8 places left.
More details including venue details here…..LettingFocus Event 9th March
Not in London?
Click here to find out about our Private One to One Phone or Meeting Based Consulting
Interested in our consulting work for organisations with landlord facing or but to let products? Click here: Consultancy for Organisations

Kind regards
David Lawrenson
www.LettingFocus.com Consulting and Independent Property Advice
Author: “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” –the UK’s top selling property title for the last three years.

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Private Rented Sector Access Schemes - Landlords Should Take a New Look At Letting to Tenants on Local Housing Allowance

2010-03-01T11:28:00.006Z

I have to admit, I’m the original landlord who preferred my tenants NOT to be on Local Housing Allowance (the now not so new version of Housing Benefit.)
Many years ago I had a tenant hailing from Guadeloupe who was getting housing benefit. (Guadeloupe as a department of France, presumably qualified him for getting this! Not sure I would get my rent paid in Guadeloupe or even France for that matter, but let’s leave that one to the “Daily Mail” for now.)
His rent was paid in the end, but it was always late and altogether it was quite a bit of hassle.
The tenant also had an odd habit of going out and leaving the front door open, which, as you might imagine, was a bit annoying to people in the neighbouring flats.
After that experience, in future, I only let to tenants who are working and had incomes.
And that’s why many landlords shy clear of letting to Benefit Tenants - it’s the fear of non payment of rent, administrative delays at the Town Hall combined perhaps with other prejudices regarding how their property might be looked after by such tenants.
Now, some of these prejudices are unfair – there are many good Benefit Tenants who pay their rent dutifully on time every time.
And on average “Benefit Tenants” stay longer too.
But, the prejudices exist all the same.

LHA – Using Landlords as Guinea Pigs
But what really got landlords cross was the decision by the current Government to replace Housing Benefit with the new system of Local Housing Allowance (or LHA as it is sometimes called) for landlords.
This was rolled out nationally in 2008.
LHA brought in a different way of calculating what was paid out - which we have looked at in other blog posts - but the key difference as far as private landlords were concerned, was that unless the tenant was deemed vulnerable, or was in 8 weeks arrears, the LHA would always be paid to the tenant.
This was a big change from the Housing Benefit system where it could be paid to the landlord if the tenant preferred it that way (and many did).
Now this change only affected private landlords. The lucky old councils and housing associations would still be paid direct under the old system of Housing Benefit!
In other words, as my friend Tom Entwistle of LandlordZone eloquently put it, “the private rented sector was being used as a guinea pig.”
The idea behind the change was to give tenants more financial responsibility: “Let them manage their own budgets” said the Government, loftily (possibly in the style of the ill fated Marie Antoinette - when she was discussing bread and its availability.)

Result – Chaos and Arrears for Some Landlords…….
Well, what’s happened as a result?
Well, many tenants spent the money they got from LHA on something other than the rent.
The result was arrears have risen, landlords have exited this part of the market in droves and both landlords groups and the likes of Shelter and Crisis are calling for a change whereby those tenants who don’t trust their own budgeting skills can once again opt to have the money paid direct to the landlord.
I think this policy reversal could happen eventually even under the current government who brought the original change in. (The Conservatives have already said they would reinstate the right for tenants to elect that payments of their LHA can be made direct to landlords.)
In the meantime, is LHA really that bad?
I’m not so sure.

. …An Opportunity for Other Landlords
I have always known that some landlords specialise in letting to tenants on LHA, and that’s not always because they are letting in areas where the entire population is on benefits either.
So why do they do it?
What do they know that other landlords don’t?
Over the past year, through the consultancy work I do with the public sector with local authorities and housing associations, helping them to understand and attract private landlords though things called “Private Rented Sector Access Schemes”, “Local Letting Agency Models” and the like, I have been surprised by the extent and level of help on offer to private landlords who choose to let to tenant on LHA.
I knew help was there, I just hadn't grasped the extent of it.
It varies by local authority but in many areas there is money to pay you rent in advance, to pay and safeguard deposits and occasionally even landlords finders’ fees.
Plus there is lots of help and advice from the local authority too.

New Rules
Recently, new rules have cut the actual time a tenant can be in arrears before the authorities can pay landlords direct.
And the definition of “Vulnerability” which also triggers direct payments has been eased.
Landlords should look at this sector again, but to make it work for you, you do need to be like the landlords who already let in this sector - very, very clued up on how the LHA system works.
Oh, and you need to be in a place where the local authority is landlord friendly and efficient at processing those LHA claims.

DON'T MISS OUR NEXT LANDLORD SEMINAR, MEETING AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors: Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
I’m David Lawrenson, a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
I help private landlord investors (see more on this below) but these days I’m mainly a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the media.
I have written articles, guides and documents on letting property and property investing for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and for quality landlord and property websites.

Services for Private Landlords
For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Private Rented Sector Access Schemes, Local letting Agencies & Choice Based Lettings - A Criticism by LettingFocus

2010-02-19T14:23:00.008Z

In our consultancy work for housing associations and local authorities, looking at Private Rented Sector Access Schemes and so called "Local Letting Agency Models," we have seen that the public sector provides lots of different incentives such as Rent in Advance Schemes, Deposit Bonds, Finders fees and the like to get landlords to let to people on low income who are dependent on Local Housing Allowance.

The incentives have been assiduously studied and evaluated on cost grounds by the providers. There has been some especially good work by Crisis and Shelter on this.

However, we have not yet seen any piece of really good research which looks in detail at the value to landlords of the different incentive offers that are used by RSLs and local authorities. (Only the National Landlords Association touched on it as part of a wider research piece but it barely scratched the surface of this question.)
The charity Crisis rightly highlighted the danger of "incentive inflation" as RSLs and local authorities compete to get landlords to give them their properties.
This was a step in the right direction but what's the payoff in terms of benefits to the public purse?

In the absence of more research on this, we at the LettingFocus consultancy say that local authorities are in danger of providing offers that may be OK for the the landlord, but which may not be the best option from the taxpayers point of view.

We thought the Rugg Review was super, but even that review missed this important point.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
Primarily, I work as a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing and buy to let product strategies and services.

I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the media.
I have written articles, guides and documents on letting property and property investing for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and for quality landlord and property websites.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

Property Seminar and Landlords Networking Event on 9th March 2010

2010-02-15T14:51:00.004Z

Don’t miss our property seminar and landlords networking meeting in London on the Evening of 9th March.
The meetings are small and informal and now only take place twice a year – we have a maximum of 25 guests and the meetings last for about 3 hours.
As usual we will have a special guest speaker plus you will have the chance to ask me lots of questions about residential property investment and letting.
And of course, you can network with other landlords too.
There are only eight places left, so hurry.
If you want to come, just email me at david@LettingFocus.com and then just turn up on the night. Cost is £30.
Location of venue here:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event

Gas Boiler Scheme

Landlords will know from previous posts how I complained about the lack of tax incentives for landlords to replace their old boilers and the general vagueness from HMRC on this matter (and specifically the vagueness on whether putting in a new boiler could be classed as an improvement, replacement or even a repair) which affects how it could be treated for tax purposes.
But some good news, at last.
Landlords should be aware of the boiler scrappage scheme which will cut the cots of replacing old boilers by £400.
The basic procedure seems to be as follows: 1. Obtain three written quotes for the job. 2. Ring the 'Act on CO2' helpline on 0800512012 3. They will send your voucher out approx 10 days after application. Vouchers are valid for 12 weeks. 4. Have the work carried out, then send a copy of the 'paid' invoice along with the voucher back to 'Act on CO2'. They will then send you a cheque for £400.00For full details please see this link: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Heating-and-hot-water/Boiler-scrappage-scheme

Inside Track Back - David Lawrenson Quoted in the FT

Claer Barratt in the FT two weeks back reports that less than two years after it collapsed into administration, the men behind the buy-to-let property club Inside Track are back, targeting UK investors with a new get-rich-quick property scheme.
Members are promised they can make "make £100,000+ in five minutes" she says, and a nationwide programme of seminars has begun to recruit investors eager to participate in the UK's next property boom.
Financial Times sister publication, “Investors Chronicle” went to one of these and found participants being encouraged to part with fees of more than £40,000 to acquire a portfolio of five UK properties from distressed developers, with IAP Global acting as the middleman.
I was quoted in the FT article too where I observed, “High-risk techniques are not used by the majority of responsible landlords, and it is therefore unfair that we might have to suffer increased regulation as the result of irresponsible activity from a small minority of greedy investors."
The full article is here (you need to register (for free, currently) to read the whole thing):
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2673677a-11f6-11df-b6e3-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I’ve been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
Primarily, I work as a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the media.
I have written articles, guides and documents on letting property and property investing for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and for quality landlord and property websites.

Services for Private Landlords

For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.
WANT TO ADD A COMMENT OR VIEW OLD COMMENTS?
To add a comment or view other people's comments on this post, simply click on “link to this post.”

Letting Agents and Tenant References and Checks by LettingFocus

2010-02-09T10:11:00.003Z

Landlords using letting agents to find a tenant for them need to be very careful that they set out EXACTLY what references they expect the letting agent to obtain from the tenant as part of the reference checking process.
Those of you who have read my book “Successful Property Letting” will know that I tend to go a little bit further than most letting agents do in terms of the kind of the references I wish a tenant to provide.
Where the property in question is close to me I still tend to do the “finding tenant” job myself using websites like Upad -see the link at Services and Products for Landlords
I do the viewings myself and then get the tenants to provide the employers and past landlord references plus all necessary documents - which I then validate.
And I ask to see a lot of documentation too – bank statements, utility bills, proof of ID etc.
Plus I do a credit check.

Why Do It Yourself?

Sometimes I am pretty busy on my corporate consulting work and speaking engagements and I sometimes think to myself, “Hey, why am I still doing this myself?”
The answer is complex.
But I find that I can do reference checks a lot faster myself than a letting agent can do it, so I’m not sitting and waiting ages for a “Go” or “NO GO” decision on the tenant.
Plus I get to see all the references the tenants provide, I study them carefully and can make up my own mind as to whether they will be good tenants or not.
And with the stress and cost one has if one gets a tenant from hell, it is really a job that I am loathe to lose control of.

As an example of this, a consultee of mine recently used a letting agent.
The agent had the tenant fill in the application form. But though the tenant was from Korea (and clearly outside the EU) the agent did not think to ask to see the work permit from the Home Office.
Doh! Basic stuff! But all too common a problem, I'm afraid.

Agree What Checks Your Letting Agent Will Do

In this case, the landlord had not agreed in writing exactly what reference checks they wanted the letting agent to do when they had agreed for them to do the work to find the tenant.
It’s an easy mistake to make and one that I have to confess I have made in the past.
I do use letting agents from time to time (and I have to for my properties that are far away because I cannot physically do the viewings.)
However, the letting agency is fully appraised as to what refs I need and he sends me copies of the tenants application form and copies of the references obtained too.
I trust them.
In theory all good letting agents should be as thorough on reference checks as he is.
After all, they should not want to provide you with a duff tenant because that will strain your relationship (or it should!).
But some letting agency staff are blinded by the commission and frankly could not give a monkeys about the quality of the tenant.

Be Wary of Pure Commission Driven Letting Agents

This type of letting agent will have the view that as long as they have ticked the minimum number of boxes as part of the reference checks and have got their commission, they are happy with that.
A letting agency near us has staff that I know are entirely on commission. This is the sort of firm you should be wary of and keep on a tight rein.

Private Rented Sector Policy Is Often Made on the Hoof

As part of the corporate consultancy work I do for mortgage companies and in the social housing sector, I get to read a lot of position papers on the private rented sector.
But I am continually amazed that in the private rented sector, so much government policy is made without the benefit of any good quality research.
Julie Rugg in her superb report into the private rented sector found the same thing.
Policy has been and continues to be made that affects landlords and tenants but which is not rooted in valid research findings.
What research there is, is often limited in scope and uses too small sample sizes.
An example is the proposal to require houses converted to HMOs to obtain planning permission. It may be sensible policy, but where is the research to justify this proposal?
I may come back to this issue another time.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
Our main business is at a corporate level for organisations - both public and private companies.
We provide consultancy for banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.

OTHER WORK

We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media. In addition, we have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.
For private landlords, we also find some occasional spare time to help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE, LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?

See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Housing Benefit and Shared Houses – More Pesky Government Meddling

2010-02-01T12:06:00.004Z

Welcome to this weeks blog - a whole day early.
Well, the current government sure likes to meddle in the private rented sector - which, of course, keeps writers and consultants like me very busy indeed.
In the latest move, Housing and Planning Minister, John Healey MP has announced plans to tackle anti-social behaviour and property standards by requiring landlords to get planning permission before turning a property into an HMO or house in multiple occupation for the first time.
Also, they have announced plans to make it easier for local authorities to introduce licensing schemes.

Odd Move
The plans to require landlords to get planning permission before turning houses into HMOs, strikes me as rather odd because when the plans were first mooted they were rejected by a pretty broad lobby consisting of organisations as diverse as the National Union of Students and the British Property Federation.
The National Landlords Association said, “If the Government was really interested in dealing with anti-social behaviour and property standards in the small minority of places where they are an issue, they would have taken up the NLA's call for more targeted local management action by councils working with landlords in their areas.”
They went on to say that these measures could lead to “A 'nimbys charter', creating no-go areas for landlords, students, young professionals, low income families, migrant workers and a wide range of other groups who rely on private-sector shared housing.
I agree.

Not Enough Low Cost Housing
Surely, the government should "go back to the start" and look at why more people are living in shared houses.
And the answer is that as the population has grown faster than housing supply and there are just not enough houses for people to live in.
Doh!
And as we aren’t building enough low cost social housing, people who need a home are looking to the private rented sector to provide it.
“Simples!” as the Meerkat would say!

New LHA Arrears Guidelines
And of course, increasing numbers of tenants now get their private sector rent paid by housing benefits (or Local Housing Allowance as the new flavour is called.)
Still, there was one bit of good news on that front.
The government has just changed its Local Housing Allowance (LHA) guidance on rent arrears and payment to landlords.
Local authorities can now pay LHA direct to landlords when tenants are contractually 8-weeks in arrears, rather than waiting until 8 weeks have physically passed.
This change takes into account the situation when rent is due in advance.
So, it means most landlords (whose tenancy agreements require rent in advance) will only have to wait 4 weeks.

Housing Benefit and the Press
Of course, the likes of the more right leaning press (when they are not getting cross about inward migration and hook handed clerics) get themselves very worked up about the growing Housing Benefits bill.
Certainly from my experience the number of people of housing benefits has grown massively.
Indeed, in my patch it is hard to find any tenants whose rent is not paid via the Local Housing Allowance system.
This is all very different to 10 years ago.
Back then, 90% of my tenants were UK nationals with the remaining 10% from countries like Ireland and Aussie and the odd Frenchman and German. Nearly all were all paying their own rent (they were not on housing benefits)
Five years ago, mass inward migration really took hold and suddenly 90% of my tenants were new migrants from all points of the world. Again, all seemed to be working. None were on Housing Benefit.
Today, 90% of all the tenants I have applying for my latest property are overseas nationals with about 75% on Local Housing Allowance - for which it seems residency qualifications are minimal. Just don’t tell anyone at the Daily Mail!

Why Many Landlords Don’t Like Local Housing Allowance
Getting landlords to let to people on housing benefits is not easy (even if the payment in many areas is at least 10% above private sector rents).
Why, because quite a lot of landlords don’t like the fact that the monies are normally paid to tenants (not direct to landlords like in the old days unless they are in arrears as explained above) so there is the risk the tenants go and spend it on something else.
The Tories have pledged to reinstate tenants choice for immediate direct payments to landlords should they win the election.
As part of my consultancy work with housing associations and local government I work to help them get more landlords to let to people in receipt of LHA / Housing Benefit them.
As you can imagine, this consulting work is in demand.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.

Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
Our main business is at a corporate level for organisations - both public and private companies.
We provide consultancy for banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.

OTHER WORK
We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media. In addition, we have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.

MENTORING
For private landlords, we also find some occasional spare time to help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

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Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Skipton Building Society Pulls a Fast One on Mortgages. Will Other Lenders Follow Suit asks LettingFocus.com

2010-01-26T07:49:00.006Z

I’m interested in the recent decision by Skipton BS to unilaterally change the way the Standard Variable rate (SVR) is applied on their variable rate mortgages.
It could set a precedent to other mortgage companies.
In their mortgage agreements it was apparently stated that the SVR would be at a set amount above Bank of England base rates but it seems there was also a clause which in the event of “exceptional circumstances” allowed them to alter this.
So they have now invoked this clause and bumped up their rates.
Nice!
I guess they have checked that the mortgage agreements with their customers really allowed them to pull this trick but I wonder if this was made crystal clear within the main part of the original mortgage agreements when their customer signed.
If not, then how legal is this move?
Indeed I wonder if there is a case of an Unfair Contract term here.

PARALLEL IN THE FOXTONS CASE?
In the Skipton case, I’m wondering if there is a parallel with the recent case of the Foxtons letting agency renewal fees.
Here, Foxtons got into trouble with a judge because the renewal fee (or repeat fee) it charged landlords when a landlord extended their tenancy was hidden away and not made clear to the landlords when they signed up with the letting agent.
The judge ruled that in cases where the possibility of repeat renewal fees on lettings was not made clear by Foxtons (and indeed any other letting agent) it acted as a kind of “trap” for consumers.
Indeed, the judge actually used the word “trap.”
The Foxtons ruling has opened the way for landlords to claim back years of overpaid renewal fees with letting agents. (We have commented extensively about the Foxtons case in other posts – click on the Categories at the bottom of this post for more on this.)
So far, I see no one in the main stream press has really bothered to question the action of Skipton Building Society in invoking an odd clause to up their SVR rate.
Perhaps they should.

MORTGAGE CUSTOMERS OF OTHER BANKS SHOULD BE WORRIED TOO
I have to declare a particular interest here.
One of my buy to let mortgages is on a lifetime tracker of 0.69% above base for life; another is on 0.89% above base - also for life. Others mortgages have neatly defaulted to 1.5% above base for the rest of time.
I do hope the lender who issued those - in both cases for a one off mortgage fee of much less than £1,000 (ah the good old pre credit crunch days!) - will not be able to wriggle out of what is a great deal for me! And a duff one for the banks!
Many other people with mortgages which were taken out in the good times will be in the same boat as me and will be wondering if they could also get shafted by their lenders in the same way as Skipton has hit its borrowers.
Someone needs to look into this before the rest of the banks and building societies follow Skipton’s lead.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling commercially published property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At a corporate level, I provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies.
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the media.
I have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.

We still do a bit of work for private landlords too.
We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that really work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show investors how to manage tenants properly and fairly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our CORPORATE CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both from companies and from private landlords click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Off Plan Developments – It May be Getting Harder to Walk Away

2010-01-22T13:02:00.003Z

I see that some property investors who walked away from off plan deals face being prosecuted by the developers after a test case which a developer won.
In the last few years, lots of purchasers have tried to walk away from duff off plan property deals - figuring it was better to lose their deposits than complete purchases on properties where the values had fallen heavily (and they were effectively overpaying.)
In some cases, willing buyers were unable to complete their deals anyway as their mortgage lenders had pulled financing as prices of these types of properties collapsed.
(Not terribly bright valuations done in the first place then by the banks!)

High Court Case
The recent High Court test case was won by Prestige Homes and this case could lead to lots of other cases being taken to court by developers.
However, at least one group of investors is resisting, claiming one developer recommended customers use the developers own preferred solicitors who presented purchasers with lists of valuations supposedly carried out by other surveying firms which miraculously matched the sales list”.
Somehow, this all seems very familiar.
I have to say that it really is a case of buyer-beware in property, especially where new build was concerned.
Back in the early and mid Noughties, many new and green investors got mugged by so called "property clubs" into buying a lot of new build stuff that was way overpriced.
We are still seeing the fall out today.

Keys
When I buy a property I love it if the previous occupant leaves lots of keys behind.
Getting new keys cut seems to be getting rather expensive these days and even worse, takes up lots of time as the keys you get copied often don’t fit, necessitating extra trips back to the locksmiths.
This is one of the really irritating nitty gritty aspects of being a hands-on landlord.
If any locksmith can guarantee that he can cut an EXACT copy of a key that he guarantees to fit my locks perfectly, then he can have all my key cutting business.

BBC International – Why Bother
I’m just back from a lovely business -cum-holiday break in Mexico.
And as I always when I’m abroad I watched CNN to keep up with the news - not the much inferior BBC TV service.
If the BBC cannot put out a decent international product, maybe it would be best to shut it down completely.
The BBC Radio service overseas is great… but the TV…. Well, I wouldn’t bother.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling commercially published property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At LettingFocus.com, we help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.
At a corporate level, we also provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies.
We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.
We have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

Back on 23rd Jan

2010-01-06T10:40:00.002Z

We will be taking a break and will be back blogging again on or around 23rd Jan
Happy New Year from David Lawrenson and LettingFocus.com

A Word on the Best Property Commentators

2010-01-05T08:05:00.005Z

I thought it best to qualify my forecast about house prices in my pre-Christmas blog post.
Those forecasts I made don’t allow for any really crazy stuff that may happen – like the UK deciding to waste more money (and sadly more lives) in yet more unwinnable wars, a terrible pandemic or an earthquake leveling some major financial centre or other.
Or indeed, the so called “Masters of The Universe” in their red braces up in the square mile could come up with some other daft financial instrument that no one, not even their own bosses and certainly no financial journalist either knows about or understands – which leads to another economic meltdown.
Stuff like that is hard to quantify, allow for or to take account of in one’s calculations mainly because the probability (of it happening) is so hard to predict.

Personal Finance and Journalism
Talking about predictions, one of the curious things in 2007-8 was the fact that so few financial journalists saw the credit crunch coming.
Hardly any of them had an understanding of how the financial alchemy being practiced in the city (the CDOs and the like) worked and how it could end up hurting all of us so much.
You cannot blame them too much for this though.
As I have said before, it was pretty obvious that tne directors of the banks did not have a clue either.
The FT was better than most though at seeing that something was amiss and I am very indebted to whomever at the FT wrote that it would be best to pass up on the Royal Bank of Scotland’s ludicrous rights issue at 200 pence a share (now the subject of legal action against directors).
Thanks FT.
Thanks to you, I passed up on that rights issue and have you to thank when RBS sold my rights at 227 pence - a profit of 27 pence a share.
When it comes to personal finance investments I highly rate the commentary of John Authurs and Mathew Vincent (both at the FT), David Smith (Sunday Times), Nick Hasell (Times) and David Kuo (Motely Fool).
Many other commentators leave a lot to be desired.

Property Experts
And what about the property experts?
I have to say that when it comes to property predictions over the years I have noticed that there are some regular journalist-commentators who are always more right than wrong and whose analysis of the true situation in the residential property market is first class.
They are David Smith again (of the Sunday Times), Claer Barratt (of the FT and Investors Chronicle), Anne Ashworth (Times), Jeremy Gates (PA) and Michael O Flynn (FindaProperty.com).
There are some other good people too - but these are the regular writers whose work I most admire.
Many other writers, I’m afraid, are often terribly wide of the mark with one “quality paper” in particular always hopelessly wrong about property. (Sorry, cannot name them in case they read this and get mad at me.)
Non journos who also understand the market well are Ray Boulger, anyone at Savills and Knight Frank and Stuart Law of Assetz.
In the professional landlord magazine / website arena you will know that I greatly admire Tom Entwistle (of Landlord Zone) and Richard Bowser (of Property Investor News)
Listen to all these experts and journos for your tips and you won’t go too far wrong.

Here We Go Again
More snow is expected today and we will no doubt see the usual hopeless response as some City Hall staff and schools up and down the land take the opportunity for yet another day off. (Is it me but do kids get more days off anyway for holidays than when I was a nipper?)
Last year our brilliant Mayor of London walked off from a grilling when someone suggested that perhaps it might have been a bright idea to have the gritting and snow plough people staying somewhere close to their vehicles ready to work overnight as soon as last years' snow started.
They weren’t and so the whole of London ground to a halt for 2 days.
Pathetic!

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At LettingFocus.com, we help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.
At a corporate level, we also provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies. We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.
We have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009.

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Buy to Let Tips and Advice from Letting Focus and David Lawrenson

2009-12-28T17:32:00.002Z

I found something on the Internet that I had written a few months ago for Kate Faulkner’s site over at Designs on Property and thought it would be good to put in on the last blog of the year as the advice still makes good sound sense and should really be the first principles for anyone new to buying property to let out. So, here they are - my top ten tips for buy to let.

1. Buy into the right location. Look at areas that are getting or have just got faster transport links such as Folkestone in Kent or regeneration money such as Elephant & Castle in London. Also, look for areas where new employers are moving in or existing employers are hiring workers. There is lots of information on all this on the Internet and the publication Estates Gazzette, available in most libraries, has lots of news on planned regeneration. Do your research.

2. Use today’s weak market to make “hard ball” offers at below the asking price. If the vendor won’t play, simply walk away and make a cheeky offer somewhere else.

3. Buy the type of property that is in demand from tenants and for which there will be a strong resale market when you eventually come to sell. Ask letting agents for their view of what type of house is in demand locally.

4. Read up and understand your legal responsibilities as a landlord. Get my book – still the UK’s top selling property title.

5. Try to build up a deposit of at least 25 per cent to allow you access to the best mortgage rates.

6. Carefully check all prospective tenants’ references to avoid the “tenant from hell”. If your agent does this for you ask to see the references they obtained. Don’t fully trust to an agent until you have worked with them for a while and they have aerend that trust.

7. Treat tenants as you would like to be treated.

8. Keep all receipts and invoices and have a good administration system.

9. Have a sense of humour. You’ll need it from time to time.

10. If you need advice, make sure it is independent advice and not provided by someone also looking to sell a property or finance package to you.

Happy New Year to all you LettingFocus.com blog readers.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.

Hi, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At LettingFocus.com, we help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.

We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.
At a corporate level, we also provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies. We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.
We have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Predictions for 2010, ALL Change on Housing Benefit and the Pre Budget Report. News from LettingFocus

2009-12-21T18:56:00.003Z

‘Tis the time of year to make predictions about house prices and the like.
As I have said before there are so many different micro markets in UK property market, it is more or less impossible to make a sweeping forecast about house prices which will apply in every locality.
However, my general view is that the story of increasing population / increasing number of households combined with a lack of housing supply is more important than the opposing factors constraining growth in property prices - like unemployment, debt and lack of mortgage finance.
And because of this I expect prices to increase overall in 2010.
However, there will undoubtedly be areas of the UK where local unemployment and business failures will mean house prices will fall.

Local Housing Allowance – All Change

The Conservatives have said they will reinstate direct rent payments to landlords (where housing benefit tenants choose it) if they should become the next Government.
And now the current Government has put it under review too.
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) came in for new tenancies in April 2008 when it replaced the old housing benefit system.
With the old system where rent could be paid straight to landlords in the private sector, it now goes direct to the tenants who are then responsible for passing on the rent money to their landlord. (Only in special circumstances like where the tenant is deemed vulnerable or if the payments to the landlord are over two months behind can rent be paid direct to the landlord – but even then it can take longer than two months before LHA is paid direct by some councils.)

Big Sums of Money

Faced with a big wodge of money which they are not used to having, some tenants spend the money on other things and often fail to make their rent payments - so increasing numbers of landlords are now refusing to let to tenants who are in receipt of Housing Benefit.
According to research from the National Landlords Association (NLA) of 1,000 landlords operating 13,000 LHA tenancies, the total rent arrears bill accumulated by these landlords since LHA started is a whopping £4,400 per landlord.
It is thought there are about 675,000 LHA tenancies which means that total rent arrears across the UK could be in excess of £220 million.

Temptation

It is claimed that many tenants would prefer not to be put in the way of temptation and would rather the LHA was paid direct to the landlord.
At LettingFocus.com, we have also been critical of the way the LHA is set – as it is based on very wide Broad Market Rental Areas.
This means that in some areas the rates of LHA are too high and in other areas they are too low – with knock on impacts for tenants who don’t qualify for LHA.
My old pal, Tom Entwistle of Landlord Zone has criticized the way landlords were used as guinea pigs in the current system - which does not apply to council tenants.
Check out the Government’s consultation document for more on this….…www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/hb-consultation.pdf

Pre Budget Report

No real news here.
Stamp Duty Land Tax went back to being applied for all properties over £125K
And there is so some money to replace old inefficient boilers – but not a lot – and we don’t know if it will be available for let properties yet.

Merry Christmas to all our readers.

ABOUT US

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.

Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.

We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on a one to one mentoring and coaching basis as well as through occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it.
We also show you how to manage tenants properly.
We also do consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies. We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
SELLING SERVICES TO LANDLORDS – YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Tips for Getting Good Tradesmen and Repairing Appliances at Christmas by LettingFocus.com

2009-12-13T19:20:00.005Z

Following my appearance on BBC2’s “Working Lunch” programme, here are our tips for a hassle free Christmas.

If you need something repairing, whether it is a white good like a washing machine or a semi-fixed installation like a boiler, first check if it is covered by the warranty or guarantee period first - and also what the extent of cover is.
For example, is the machine only covered for parts or is it covered for both parts and labour. Is it covered under any extended warranty you have taken out?
Check if you have a service contract with British Gas or another provider such as your home insurer? Some of these contracts offer a service line that is open on Christmas Day – though you may have to wait a little longer than usual for someone to actually come out to you during the festive period.
As I said on the programme, I would always advise people to have white goods fixed by a tradeseman supplied by the manufacturer of the machine. They will know what they are doing, be familiar with the machine and if they don't fix it right you can always go back to the manufacturer and complain to their Service Help Desk. You cannot do that with a man you plucked frrom the Yellow Pages or the Internet.

Preventative Steps

But even before you get to Christmas get things checked out well in advance because if you are not covered by a guarantee or warranty it will probably cost more to get stuff fixed at Christmas (and even if you have a warranty it will take longer too.)
So, if the boiler is making a wheezing noise or the washing machine is clanking, have it checked out now.
Check gutters to ensure they are clear of leaves and other debris and have your roof checked for missing slates.
Make sure you know where the water stop valve is (and that you can turn it off) – this is useful in the event of a flood.
Make sure you know where the fuse box is and that you know how to turn off the gas.
Keep a note of the number 0800 111 999 – you should call this if you smell a gas escape.
Ask friends for names and phone numbers of good plumbers, heating engineers and other tradespeople.
Have some portable electric fan heaters you can use to keep warm if the heating conks out and no one can come out and fix it promptly.

Getting the Work Done

Only use properly qualified tradesmen who are member of a national body of association. Check what membership of the body gives you and check they really are members by asking for ID
For example, all gas engineers should be listed on http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/ (the new name for Corgi)
Decent plumbers and some heating engineers should be in http://www.ciphe.org.uk/ (which also has a list of plumber and heating engineers who are available over the Christmas period) or the Association of Plumbing and Heating Engineers.
Some white good suppliers are closed for only one day at Christmas.

Agree Fees

Assuming you are not covered under a warranty, agree a call out fee. Check if it includes VAT or not. Never agree to “payment by the hour.”
The call out fee is your payment to the contractor to diagnose the fault. As it is Christmas, you may have to agree to pay a higher call out fee than at other times of year. Don’t be surprised about this – after all how would you feel if your boss insisted you come into the office.
Once the problem is diagnosed, decide if it is worth getting it fixed anyway.
You need to decide if it may be better just getting a new machine in - (make sure you have checked out prices of new models in advance from local suppliers as well as the Internet) - this is especially true if the machine is old anyway.

Fixed Price Quotes
Get fixed-price quotes in writing (not an estimate) showing how long the job will take to complete.
If a contractor says you need to replace an expensive machine like a boiler, get a second opinion first, if you can. We have heard of lots of big firm service engineers saying boilers cannot be repaired when they can be. Often it is just a question of someone having the right part!
If you are getting something fixed, only pay when the job is complete and materials and debris cleared away.
If it is a big job ask for references from others or from sites like RatedPeople.com.
Always check installer ID and finally pay on time, so they come quickly next time and you are front of the queue when the next big freeze comes or your white goods break down.

ABOUT US

At LettingFocus.com we are experts on landlord issues.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.

We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.

At LettingFocus we pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice for property buyers and landlords both on a one to one mentoring and coaching basis as well as through occasional group seminars.

Property syndicates and property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.

With no link to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers, at LettingFocus, we can advise you on where and what type of property to buy for investment, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. We also show you how to manage tenants properly and in ways that take up as little of your time as possible.

We also do consultancy and write for companies such as banks, local authorities, property websites and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting

TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
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Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Buy to Let Maintenance Issues – How to Plan for and Deal with Them

2009-12-08T10:22:00.004Z

Well, it has been that kind of week - a week where I have spent a lot of time running about after tenants to get things fixed.
The facts are that November and December are usually the hardest months for landlords because of two factors.

Cold, Wind and Rain – the Enemies of Landlords
First, this is the time of year when it starts to get really cold, windy and when it rains a lot too.
Cold and rain have a habit of “finding out” old boilers and badly looked after roofs and gutters. Once the thermometer drops a bit and tenants put on their central heating a lot, it is then that boilers break down.
And heavy rain (when combined with cold and wind) will find its way through bad and blocked gutters and loose tiles.
So, I would say it is essential that a landlord simply must have a good plumber, heating engineer and roofer / gutter man on their books and ready to come out at “reasonable notice.”
Landlords should also have some emergency convector heaters to give to tenants in case the central heating cannot be fixed for a few days (perhaps because a part is not immediately available.)
I say “reasonable notice”, because whilst you have to deal with things reasonably quickly, you are not there at the tenants’ beck and call and cannot be expected to get a heating engineer there on the same day, especially if it is at the weekend.
You are not running a hotel, after all.
So even if you can reply the same day, I’d hold off replying for 24 hours unless it was an emergency.
To keep good roofers and heating engineers on your side and ready to come out to you first when the big freeze is on, pay them promptly and treat ‘em well.

Dead Time for Finding New Tenants
Second, this is the time of year when I dread getting notice from a tenant because it can be very hard work trying to find a new tenant in the run up to the Christmas and New Year Holidays as few people wish to move house now.
Thankfully none of my tenants are leaving but the weather has made it a busy week.
But if any did want to give notice now, I'd probably look to offer an incentive to stay for another month or two.
It is when I have weeks like this last one that I have to go to look at my healthy bank balance and convince myself that yes, being a landlord is really worth it.
I’m pleased to say it is - that the rents more than cover the costs and the hassles – and it beats wage slavery any day.

Crisis What Crisis?
It is sad to hear about all the people losing their jobs – unless they are Fred Goodwin and the like - but if I never read the news and had to go on my own experience then I would have to wonder if the newspapers are making this whole recession thing up.
Right now, here in rainy London, I have had to wait weeks to get work done because materials have all sold out and even my trusted contractors are all booked up.
I’m sure it may be different in other parts of the UK, but here I am forced to ask, crisis, what crisis?

Useful Article
You may also find this related article useful.
It looks at the things you can do to reduce the chances of tenants contacting you and how to plan preventative work to reduce the number of times you get call outs from tenants: Landlords Need to Plan Maintenance

CHECK OUT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTING click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting

TO READ PAST CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!
IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?

ABOUT US

LettingFocus.com are experts on landlord issues.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson. I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.

We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk.

At LettingFocus we pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice for property buyers and landlords both on a one to one mentoring and coaching basis as well as through occasional group seminars.

Property syndicates and property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.

With no link to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers, at LettingFocus, we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. We also show you how to manage tenants properly and in ways that take up as little of your time as possible.

We also do consultancy and write for companies such as banks, local authorities, property websites and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord or buy to let product strategies.

SELLING STUFF TO LANDLORDS – YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009.
If you have a website & are thinking of reproducing material here, that’s fine but we DO require a link to the blog to be included, including also all the links in this section. (The full article including all links must be available to ALL VIEWERS of your site and not restricted.)

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Mortgage Fraud Danger in Below Market Value (BMV) says LettingFocus

2009-12-01T12:03:00.003Z

Is making money in property as easy as some people say?
Well, it’s not hard, that’s for sure, providing you know what you are doing.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is very hard (e.g. running a kids football team as I do and having to deal with some of the parents) and 1 is very easy, I would rate buy to let as a 4.
To keep it simple, it is really just about doing a few things right.
First, you find a property in an area where there is currently strong and ongoing future strong tenant demand for that property.
Second, you buy the property at a good lowish price and third, you find good tenants who will look after it and pay the rent on time.
Sounds simple – and yet so many people try to overcomplicate it.
Usually the companies who overcomplicate it are trying to sell property that is supposedly dirt cheap and which does not require you to put any or much money in.

Too Good to Be True
If you see a deal that looks too good to be true, it usually is.
Very often you will see such companies trying to promote “no money down deals.”
But please keep in mind these important facts……
Mortgage lenders will ALWAYS want to see that you have put some money into the property you are buying. They want to see that you have a stake in it.
And this cannot be funny money – it has to be YOUR money – not money you have borrowed from someone else or from another company.
It has to be YOUR money and you have to tell the mortgage company where it has come from – i.e. the source of the funds.
If you don’t tell the truth about where the money comes from, you have committed mortgage fraud and if you don’t tell the mortgage company the true price you are paying for the property – with all the kickbacks made clear – then you are again liable to be done for mortgage fraud.

Use Your Own Solicitors
Lots of companies specialising in marketing no money down deals will require you to use that company’s own finance arm and legal advisers.
This is because they will make some money from the legal team and finance co. Nothing wrong with that, of course.
But you should check out the cost first as it is often not cheap – and always make sure you have the deal and the property checked by your own solicitors and valuers.
Finally, if you are paying someone to source leads you ought to check out their track record very carefully indeed. Look at the Internet and ask for references.
There are some good firms sourcing below market value property -and we can help with that too - but there are some whose leads have proved to be not so much “below value” as “very poor value.”

Final Thought
It is important to have a mix of investments.
I always laugh when I see how people who manage equity and bond funds are very keen that investors avoid direct property investments like buy to let.
And many who promote buy to let often gloss over the risks and hard work involved to make it work.

CHECK OUT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTING click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS on a range of products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting

PAST CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon

ABOUT US
LettingFocus.com are the experts on landlord issues and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.

We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, that are ethical and which involve minimal risk.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
We also show you how to manage tenants properly and in ways that take up as little of your time as possible.
Finally, we advise companies such as banks, local authorities and social housing providers with their landlord or buy to let facing strategy.

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!
IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?

Selling services to landlords and property investors and have a national coverage? You could be a partner, please get in touch!

Realted article: BMV or Below Market Value

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Buying an Investment Property - A Checklist and a word on Inflation

2009-11-24T12:40:00.003Z

It still amazes me how some people blindly believe what they are told by property firms.
So here are some things you should keep in mind….
1. Find out whatever you can about the property company you are buying through. What does it say about them on the Internet?
2. Do they stand to lose money if it turns out to be a bad investment?
3. Get your own valuation for both rental potential and property value. Don’t ever trust theirs.
4. Even with your own valuations, you must still do your own research - remember, lots of surveyors working for banks once thought all the shiny new builds going up 5 to 10 years ago were worth 50% more on both rental potential and value more than they are actually worth now.
5. To avoid making the same mistakes these valuers and mortgage lenders did back then, you should think about supply. If there are ten thousand more units going up locally and they are just like yours and are all chasing a limited pool of tenants, I suggest you get a text book on GCSE level Economics from your library and re-read the bits about demand and supply.
6. Visit the area!

Inflation and Property Outlook
If you don’t study history you are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past.
If you do, you’ll just make new mistakes.
I’m not sure who first said those things but looking at investment - whether investing in property or anything else – it is always interesting to look at the past.
Twenty years ago, in 1989, the Japanese main stock market index, the Nikkei, was roughly four times higher than it is today.
Since then there has been a steady deflationary trend in asset prices in Japan and despite a few short lived revivals the Nikkei stays as low as ever.

UK Inflation and Government Policy
Could we see a long term low inflation or even continuous deflation in the UK? Where are we headed on inflation in the UK?
This is an important question to ask for anyone investing in property, because as a real asset, the neat thing is that in an inflationary environment, property should go up in value.
And so, the thinking goes, it can make sense to borrow a bit to buy property because in time your loan becomes worth less relative to the capital asset, the property.
I am asking this question right now because there was a small tick up in inflation in the last round of figures (although many think this could be temporary and is simply a reflection of very fast falling prices a year ago starting to fall out of the figures.)
If we have inflation coming back, how good inflation is for property investors depends, I think, on whether the Government uses fiscal (tax or spend) or monetary (money supply and interest rates) policies to control it.
Given the weak state of the corporate sector my bet is that, whatever Government is in power, they will be more likely to cut public spending and raise personal taxes than put up interest rates.
Although this will keep a lid on property prices a bit, it won’t hurt property as much as if we had to face hikes in interest rates.
If we saw a sustained period of deflation, property prices will make headway much less fast, but will still be underpinned by lack of supply.

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON

LettingFocus.com are the buy to let experts and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work and which are of minimal risk.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.

At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased advice for landlords and property investors on a one to one mentoring and coaching basis as well as through occasional group seminars.

You should know that property clubs and property advice in the UK is still mainly unregulated and advice is often poor.
With no link to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we at LettingFocus can give unbiased independent advice on where and what type of property to buy for investment, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price.
We also show you how to manage tenants properly and in ways that take up as little of your time as possible.

CHECK OUT THESE PAGES AT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS on a range of products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTING click here: Property Mentoring
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

Have you read this related article? Buy to Let Hotspots

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Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

Auction & Repossession Property Lists – A Guide for Landlords by Letting Focus

2009-11-16T16:38:00.003Z

Many people think that the only way to buy a repossessed property is via an auction.
But the fact is that the vast majority of repossessed properties go through an estate agent first. Indeed, they only go on to auction if they fail to sell via an agent.
In my opinion, especially for those who need mortgage financing to buy one, it is a lot less risky for a buyer to find which estate agents handle repossessions (they don’t all do so) and then go and do some viewings and put a cheeky offer in with the agent.
The problem with buying repossessions at auctions is that at an auction you can get outbid so easily, and if you are, you can kiss goodbye to the cash you spent on your survey valuation fee and the legal costs you have already incurred.

Estate Agents and Repossessed Properties
Dealing with an estate agent, is in many ways so much better because the agent is bound to pass the offer on to the mortgage co who is repossessing and often the lender will accept low offers.
And whilst lenders usually insist that estate agents keep on marketing a repossession up until exchange, in practice I know that most stop effective marketing once they have found a good buyer (especially given the fact they don’t earn much from mortgage cos for marketing these repossessed properties)
In my opinion, auctions are great for residential property providing, 1) you are happy to buy a wreck or something that needs a bit of work doing on it and / or 2) you don’t need a mortgage.
They can be good for more standard properties when the property market is down on its proverbial bottom but the wider market has not cottoned on yet - as during the period from September 2008 to February 2009.
For all other periods of time and type of situations, you need to get out there and play hard ball with estate agents or source motivated buyers using your own efforts.

Repossession Lists
Oh, and still on the subject of auctions, now and again I hear some supposed expert claiming that for a few pounds you can get access to Repossession Lists from mortgage lenders before anyone else does.
Using this mythical list you can, of course, get in first and get these “below market value properties” for a song.
You may a s well send £30 to Prince Whatever who emailed you today from some dodgy state somewhere in return for which he will supposedly send you a load of money from his currently frozen account in Switzerland.
The fact is that Special Repossession Lists are as rare as a straight man who likes “Sex and The City” – which is to say, they are actually non existent.
Mortgage companies repossessing properties are legally bound to get the best price for the property they are repossessing.
As such they have to be squeaky clean about how they do it – and this means they have to do widespread marketing - which usually means marketing through estate agents first.
There are no secret lists – only people after your money.

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the buy to let experts and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased advice for landlords and property investors on a one to one mentoring and coaching basis as well as occasional group seminars.
Property clubs are property advice is still mainly unregulated.
As I am not linked to a property company, developer, estate agency or bridging loan provider I am able to give unbiased independent advice on where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. I can also explain how to reduce the risk of getting a bad tenant.
In a nutshell, we help you make money in property by showing you the ways that work and which are of minimal risk to you.

CHECK OUT THESE PAGES AT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS on a range of products for landlords too, click here: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
Selling services to landlords and property investors and have a national coverage? You could be a partner, please get in touch!
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
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Lease Options and Let to Buy in Property by Letting Focus

2009-11-09T16:11:00.007Z

As ‘No Money Down’ financing for buy-to-let investors has virtually been pretty well ended by the UK’s mortgage lenders (when they finally wised up to how much they personally had to lose in such transactions), so other ways for property investors wanting to make money out of property with less than full financial commitment are being marketed.
One of the latest “kids on the block” is so called Lease Option Property Schemes or Let to Buy or Rent to Buy Schemes.

LEASE OPTION PROPERTY SCHEMES
How it works is like this.
I, as a property investor, set up "a lease option scheme" with a tenant in which the tenant gets to move in and buys option to buy the property from me, say 12 months hence.
Why would I do this, you ask?
Well, the idea is that the tenant turned possible buyer will pay the investor not just the rent under a tenancy agreement but also a premium for a separate option contract under which the tenant can (provided always that he meets all rent payments) exercise the option to buy the property at some future set date or dates.
They should also have an incentive to look after the property better - being as they will eventually own it.
The advantage to the tenant is he gets to fix the house price now (and so before property prices race away completely out of his reach.)
The advantage to the investor is that I get more money from the tenant – because I get a Lease Premium on top of the normal rent.
The advantage to any marketer of such a scheme is that he gets to teach me how to do it and no doubt also a cut from the legal fees associated with setting up one of these fairly complex schemes.

DEFAULT RISK
But what would happen if I, as owner default on my mortgage payments to my lender?
Does the tenant - buyer’s option also lapse? Where would that leave him?
I wondered what the Council of Mortgage Lender’s (CML) advice on this would be as it seems quite a people are interested in these kind of schemes now.
And sure enough they did have a view.
They said, and I quote, “(Our) understanding is they are two separate agreements. First there is the mortgage between the landlord and the lender – if the landlord defaults, they may be subject to possession proceedings, and if the property is taken into possession it will be sold to recover the debt. The second agreement between the landlord and then tenant will be secondary to this. The lender has first charge on the property.”

NO SECURITY
So there we are, straight from the CML’s mouth as it were.
What the CML are saying is that “the tenant turned possible buyer” has no REAL security at all where the owner has a mortgage and defaults.
Maybe I missed something very obvious which means these schemes can work.
I'm assured by a few people in the industry whose opinion I respect that they can work if they are set up right.
I hope so or in about 5 years the press may cotton on to the story that lots of tenants have lost out under lease option contracts that have been set up wrong or unfairly.
I predict that in 8 years time the FSA will end up banning Rent to Buy and Lease Options as they have already effectively banned some of the old practices in Sale And Rent Back.

NO TAKERS
With house prices going up more slowly now I cannot see too many takers for these schemes among the tenant population, right now.
However, I can see the attraction (to the tenant / would be buyer) when house prices are rising fast.
But right now it seems a bit of a stretch to tie yourself to a specific property and a lease option with a private owner (which has no security anyway and which appears to be subordinated to the mortgage) when you can instead just rent and have more freedom and the flexibility to buy a property when and where you want - and when you are ready to do so.
If you are a tenant and you are interested in doing such a deal with a private landlord you should check what happens to your Lease Option to Buy if the landlord were to default on his mortgage.
If you want to find out about the more simple and proven ways to make money in property, please ask us at LettingFocus.com

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the landlords’ expert and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased seminars for buy to let investors and landlords as well as one to one advice covering all aspects of being a landlord and investing in property.
Unlike many in the still largely unregulated buy to let and property “advice” business I am not linked to a property company, developer, estate agency or bridging loan provider.
As such I am able to give unbiased independent advice on where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. I can also explain how to reduce the risk of getting a bad tenant.

CHECK OUT THESE PAGES AT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
Our Events only take place twice a year.
For our NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS for landlords too, Click here: Services and Products for Landlords to see our Landlords Resources (Useful Links) page. (Selling services to landlords and property investors and have a national coverage? You could be a partner, please get in touch!)
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Local Letting Agency and PRivate Rented Sector Access Schemes. Local Authorities Engage With Landlords by Letting Focus

2009-11-05T12:11:00.004Z

One of the findings of the Rugg Review into the private rented sector was that local authorities should be actively encouraged to explore ways in which to “improve their engagement with private landlords” in their area.
Hooray, say many landlords.
The fact is that local authorities need landlords to house people on Local Housing Allowance (Housing Benefit) and whilst some councils have a negative view of landlords, some other local authorities actually do a very good job of trying to think of innovative ways to get landlords on board in such a way that the landlords worries about tenant default are reduced.
But even in the better local authorities, all too often, the ways and means that the councils have devised are not really what landlords want.

Understanding the Needs of Landlords
At LettingFocus we think we understand the needs of landlords.
As a landlord for over 20 years and the author of the UK’s best selling book on property – which happens to be all about the subject of letting from a landlord point of view - I do claim to have an understanding of what landlords actually need.
And since the Rugg Review was published a growing number of local authorities have found me via the internet and asked to consult with them and benefit from my advice on how to set up Local Letting Agency Models and Choice Based Lettings schemes so they can better engage with landlords and meet their needs.
I do find public sector employment / consulting contracts and the rather long winded process of being hired as a consultant by a local authority rather daunting - but it is fun and it is nice to do something which is for landlords and the social housing sector and which will, I hope, be to the benefit of all.

Local Housing Allowance Payments and Default
Of course one of the problems for local authorities is that the present government decided that Housing Benefit would in future (unless the tenant was classed as vulnerable or other special circumstances were in place) be paid to the tenants rather than direct to the landlord.
(This was to encourage tenants’ financial responsibility, since you ask.)
Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action at our seminar last night said that this move has led to a huge increase in his workload of evicting non paying tenants because all too often tenants spent the money on other things rather than hold it and pay the rent due to the landlord.
As a result, a large number of landlords have completely stopped letting to people on Housing Benefits.
The Conservatives have said they will, if elected; once more offer the option of having Housing Benefit paid direct to the landlord.

Housing Benefit Bill Growing
All the while, the bill for Housing Benefit is growing and lots of landlords are still be prepared to let to people on benefits, despite the higher default risk.
(They know that good Housing Benefit tenants tend to stay a long time and often make model tenants. The hard bit is finding such good tenants.)
With the continued growth of people on Housing Benefits, it is imperative that local authorities do all they can to make letting to people on benefits attractive to landlords.
Through my consultancy with RSLs and local authorities I can help them with this objective.

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the landlords’ expert and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased seminars for buy to let investors and landlords as well as one to one advice covering all aspects of being a landlord and investing in property.
I am able to give unbiased independent advice on where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. I can also explain how to reduce the risk of getting a bad tenant.
I also do a lot of corporate consulting work in the private rented sector with banks, property websites and local authorities and RSLs - helping with their buy to let and landlord facing products and services.

CHECK OUT THESE PAGES AT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
Our Events only take place twice a year.
For our NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS for landlords too, Click here: Services and Products for Landlords to see our Landlords Resources (Useful Links) page. (Selling services to landlords and property investors and have a national coverage? You could be a partner, please get in touch!)
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

Related Article:
http://www.lettingfocus.com/pages/myarticles_Local_Housing_Allowance.html

Also, have you seen this article on Choosing a Letting Agency?
http://www.lettingfocus.com/pages/myarticles_ChoosingaLettingAgency.html

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Property Seminars and a Word on HMOs by Letting Focus

2009-10-27T10:00:00.011Z

For our NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
Our latest seminar event took place on 4th November 2009. Sorry, if you just missed it!
These events take place only once every 6 months and at each event we have somewhere between 18 and 30 people - so it is all very small and informal and a world away from the big property shows.
At our events, unlike some "Landlord Meets" and "Property Meets", no one will try a hard sell on you but you will learn a lot from our very eloquent speakers and from other attendees in the hour before we start the talks, in the short breaks between the talks and afterwards.
To reserve a place at the next event, please email me David@LettingFocus.com

Speaking At the Property Shows
As usual, over the autumn, I have been speaking at the big property and landlord shows.
They are well worth going to but you sometimes do have to work hard to find the good people to listen to.
If you go, the Old Grand Daddies of property investment and fountains of knowledge Tom Entwistle and Richard Bowser should not be missed.
And it’s always worth listening to Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action too. I’m pleased to say that Paul came down to speak at our Seminar Event on the 4th November.
Paul’s business is mainly about recovering property for landlords from defaulting tenants for a fixed fee but recently he has also been recovering money from property firms too who supplied less than value "below market value" leads on property to wpuld be investors.
You an see Paul on BBC1 Iplayer on the "Inside Out" Programme. He is seen doing a recovery from a property sourcing firm who supplied leads for below market value properties for investors.

Duff Property Leads
Some of these property firms have been in the business of supplying leads for what were supposedly below market value property.
What happened was that would-be Landlord-Investors seeking the Holy Grail of “financial freedom fast” paid property firms up front cash for access to high quality “below market value” property deals –which turned out not to be er, well, not that much below market value at all.

Paul Shamplina’s Talks
Paul Shamplina is a real mine of information. He usually talks about how to recover property from non-paying tenants, how to avoid getting a problem tenant in the first place and also on the danger of using property finders and sourcing companies to get access to “great property deals”
(There are good sourcing companies - just make sure you use one.)

Tax and Landlords
Another speaker, Geoff Everett talked about tax and how it affects landlords.
And this is an area that has got very interesting recently.
In my view, taxation on landlords is relatively light.
Capital gains tax was reduced 2 years ago to 18% and there are lots of legitimate ways a landlord can ameliorate (and often completely reduce) the impact of tax with a bit of forward planning.
Now that there is real talk of the Government stopping higher rate tax relief on contributions to pension schemes, property as an investment will become relatively more attractive still.

HMO, Houses in Multi Let Properties
Finally, I would like to say something about HMOs
Many people think you can get a much greater return by letting rooms in big houses individually to tenants (i.e. room by room) rather than putting them all on one agreement.
Well, I have done it both ways over many years with a “mid market, nothing special” 6 roomed house in S London.
I can tell you that the excess on NET RENT of individually let rooms compared with doing it via a “single let” is about 18%.
But what about net PROFITS?
Well, the downside of letting room by room is that there is definitely more work as tenants change over quite a lot and you sometimes have to get involved when they don’t “get on” - which is a a real pain, very time consuming and a real “no win situation”

Disputes
You also have more wear and tear and more disputes over inventory with singly let rooms, sometimes an HMO licence fee to pay too (though on the plus side you do normally have less voids overall).
Based on my long experience and the type of property I have, there is not much in it profit wise, certainly after allowing for the cost of your own time.
Letting individual rooms in big multiple let properties is not a panacea to riches, nor a way to huge yields compared to other property investment opportunities.
But it would be good to hear what others experiences with singly let rooms in HMOs is in different types of market is – especially more up market places and properties in different locations.
Click on the Categories box at the bottom of this post for more posts by me on HMOs and Houses in Multiple Occupation.

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the landlords’ expert and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased seminars for buy to let investors and landlords as well as one to one advice covering all aspects of being a landlord and investing in property.
Unlike many in the still largely unregulated buy to let and property “advice” business I am not linked to a property company, developer, estate agency or bridging loan provider.
As such I am able to give unbiased independent advice on where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. I can also explain how to reduce the risk of getting a bad tenant.

OTHER PAGES:
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?

TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.

Dont miss the NLA Conference:
http://www.landlords.org.uk/conference/nlaconference.asp

WANT TO ADD A COMMENT OR VIEW OLD COMMENTS?
To add a comment to this post, simply click on “link to this post” to add your comment and to view comments of other people.

FSA Regulation of Mortgages. Landlords News by Letting Focus

2009-10-20T10:43:00.003+01:00

I see the FSA is proposing changes to the regulation of mortgages that will probably ban self certificated (or so called, “self cert”) mortgages.
These are mortgages where the borrower is granted a mortgage without having to prove their income.
These types of mortgages always came with a higher interest rate and a higher loan to value requirement than would be the case on a standard residential mortgage.
Self cert mortgages have always been very useful for the self employed, who whilst their earnings might be OK, had not yet filed three years of accounts to make a would-be mortgage company happy enough to give them a mortgage.

Poor Mortgage Lending In the Past
As you will know from reading this column I think that the control of mortgage loans, especially on buy to let has been very poor over the last 10 to 15 years.
You will know that I am especially critical of the poor lending decisions made by lots of banks and building societies where they lent money to new and inexperienced landlords to buy duff new build identikit flats - many of which were hard sold by property clubs.
My contention was that it should have always been pretty obvious that the value of many of these flats would plummet as a result of oversupply.
And sure enough, plummet many of them did!

Blanket Ban on Self Certificated Mortgages is Wrong
The blanket banning on self certified mortgages will be, in my opinion, the wrong move.
There are lots of self employed people who earn well but cannot yet prove 3 years of income. (Yes, yes, I know, some of these are people who let’s say are less than straight about their earnings but that's a minority.)
A more sensible way forward would have been to have said that a self cert mortgage can only be granted where a borrower puts in at least 30% of the equity – i.e. the maximum loan to value is set to 70%. (Actually, in these post credit crunch times, that is pretty well what it is right now.)
That would at least have ensured that self cert mortgages were only being issued to people who are not “men and women of straw.”

Bad and Good for Landlords
One other proposal from the FSA is that buy to let mortgages could be regulated in the future in the same way as standard residential mortgages already are.
We don’t have all the detail yet so we will just have to see how this will work out.
But I do fear the FSA may be thinking that a minimum personal income requirement could be required for all buy to let loans in the future.
This would be bad for landlords of more limited means who may find themselves shut out of entering buy to let. That would be shame.
However, if the banning of self certificated mortgages means more self employed people are frozen out of getting a mortgage that could increase the demand for rented accommodation from that particualr group of people.

No one at Home at the FSA?
Last December I had dinner in Pizza Express in Canary Wharf and from their restaurant you can see right into the FSA’s offices.
It was 6pm and naturally all the lights were blazing away (which seems the norm in public sector buildings) but even at 6pm there was no one at home. Everyone had already left for the evening. Was there anyone at home when these proposals were put together?
Rather than increased regulation of buy to let mortgages the authorities would have achieved more by banning some of the more reckless property syndicates who hard sold lots of duff new build flats to inexperienced would be landlords.

Make Property Letting Sippable
As you know from other posts I don’t think much of the government’s idea to crack on with their “build to let” ideas.
“Build to Let “is the daft idea that the government has where they dole out juicy new tax breaks to city institutions and big property firms to encourage them to build and manage rabbit hutch blocks for tenants – think Identikit Flats Mark 2.
(The Rugg Review was pretty much against this not least because small landlords are doing very well, growing the sector fast and have largely happy tenants - but the government, it seems, can’t wait to get their big property pals in on the buy to let act so has ignored Rugg on this.)
Over a pie and a pint, a follower of mine, a Mr. Peter D, said the government should instead dust down their plans to allow people to invest in certain types of property via a tax efficient SIPP.
A very good idea Peter and if only us small landlords and our representatives could afford the canapes that the city institutions can provide, maybe the government would listen to us.

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the landlords’ expert and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased seminars for buy to let investors and landlords as well as one to one advice covering all aspects of being a landlord and investing in property.
Unlike many in the still largely unregulated buy to let and property “advice” business I am not linked to a property company, developer, estate agency or bridging loan provider.
As such I am able to give unbiased independent advice on where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. I can also explain how to reduce the risk of getting a bad tenant.

OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
Our Events only take place twice a year.
For our NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS for landlords too, Click here: Services and Products for Landlords to see our Landlords Resources (Useful Links) page. (Selling services to landlords and property investors and have a national coverage? You could be a partner, please get in touch!)
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

Featured Article: We have recently updated this article on Local Housing Allowance and Housing Benefit: http://www.lettingfocus.com/pages/myarticles_Local_Housing_Allowance.html

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.
If you have a website & are thinking of reproducing material here, that’s fine but we DO require a link to the blog to be included, including also all the links in this section. (The full article including all links must be available to ALL VIEWERS of your site and not restricted.)

WANT TO ADD A COMMENT OR VIEW OLD COMMENTS?
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Property Investment near London and Transport by Letting Focus

2009-10-13T10:46:00.003+01:00

I was going through my blogs from two years ago to see how well my predictions have done - and generally I’m pretty happy.
One interesting blog post from that time looked at how house prices might change in the area around Ebbsfleet following the future completion and opening of the new international station there which would connect North West Kent to Brussels and Paris in a couple of hours.
This new line also connects Ebbsfleet with Central London - journey time less than 20 minutes - compared with local station Swanscombe to London which takes about an hour.
When I wrote the blog two years ago, I had just done a little tour around the area.
At that time the station was still being built - but it is now finished and smart new trains now whiz up and down the line at great speeds.
What interested me then and what had bought me down to Kent that day was the fact that this was a really great transport connection which would normally be expected to push house prices up nicely as it brings in demand from people to live in an area (as well as from businesses to set up business there).

New Build v Transport Connection
But what also interested me as a property investing buyer way back then was the huge amount of new build that was coming on stream and I was fascinated to see how this would play out - because lots of new property adding to existing stock can obviously soak up demand and hold prices back.
As an example, think about how the oversupply of lots of identikit new build flats in the years 1997 – 2005 clobbered prices of flats (and rent levels) in many of our inner cities in the period from 2000-2008.
When I wrote the blog two years ago, I felt that the new supply in the local area was of such scale that it was likely to negate most of the huge positive effects on house price growth which would come from the new international station.
So, I decided against buying there.

Back to Ebbsfleet, Swanscombe, Gravesend and Northfleet
Last week I went back.
My partner had insisted we went to the nearby Bluewater Shopping Centre to get a new sofa. “Your tenants would not put up with a broken sofa for 6 months” she said. “And neither will I”
As Hater in Chief of Shopping (and especially of Bluewater) I offered to do the house cleaning for three weeks. But no, she wanted me to see the new sofa.
So, I went and consoled myself with taking the opportunity to see what’s happened to prices of houses in the area near Ebbsfleet.
Well, I have to say the oversupply seems to have won (so far).
Offer prices of the sort of two up two downs I had looked at in Swanscombe and Gravesend were down from about £175K two years ago to less than £150K generally now, a fall that is greater than other areas I know well - in the more central suburban parts of south east London.
It’s not a scientific study I know, but right now there seems that all the new build stock around the area has easily soaked up the boost to house prices from the new station.

The Future for House Prices in North West Kent near Ebbsfleet
Things could yet change.
When the economy improves, new businesses will invest in that area which now has great transport connections. Whether there is enough effect from this to push up house prices very much remains to be seen.
The message is - always look into the effects that future new stock of housing will have on house prices. You can find this out from the local planning dept at the local authority.
Check out also, this article from my Articles page: http://www.lettingfocus.com/pages/myarticles_BuytoLetLandlords%26RentedSectorGrowth.html

The Old Post
Here is a link to that post from two years ago:
http://www.lettingfocus.com/2007/11/should-you-buy-in-area-near-to-new.html

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the landlords' experts and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
What’s unique about us is that we offer independent unbiased
seminar events for property investors and one to one advice covering all aspects of being a landlord and investing in property.
Property is largely unregulated and in the buy to let and property “advice” business I am fairly unique not linked to a property company, developer, estate agency or bridging loan provider.
I advise where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy, how to buy property at a low price, how to eliminate the risk of getting a bad tenant and more. I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.

THE PAGES AT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
Our Events only take place twice a year. For our NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here:
Next Property Seminar and Networking Event
Find out about GREAT DEALS we have arranged for landlords by clicking here: Partner Services for Landlords and seeing our Landlords’ Resources (Useful Links) page.
If you sell products to landlords and property investors and you have national coverage and would like to be on this page as a partner, please get in touch!
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING programme click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!
IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR OUR WEBSITE?
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

WANT TO COMMENT OR BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
Over on the right hand side under all the previous blog entries you will find a button which says “Site Feed.” Simply copy the site feed link into your News Reader or News Aggregator.
If you have a website & are thinking of reproducing material here, that’s fine but we DO require a link to the blog to be included, including also all the links in this section. (The full article including all links must be available to ALL VIEWERS of your site and not restricted.)
TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.
To add a comment to this post, simply click on “link to this post” to add your comment and to view comments of other people.

Rugg Review Government Response by Lawrenson of Lettting Focus

2009-10-06T14:39:00.005+01:00

In this bog I will look at the Government Resposne to the Rugg Review
But first, did you know that 90% of UK households are potentially eligible to access state aid to cover their housing costs?
I have to say that surprised me too when I read it in a piece of research from Knight Frank.
So, no longer do you need to be a key worker to get help. Knight Frank say that £60,000 of household income is now the accepted limit for eligibility for access to most shared ownership schemes and they add that there is talk of this limit being raised to £74,000 in London where Mayor Boris Johnson has “equated eligibility to cover everyone paying basic rate income tax.”

Front of Queue
Of course, just having a household income of £60K won’t cut you to the front of the queue for one of the many schemes.
A friend of mine who tried to find out more was told that most of the schemes were already fully “sold” out of cash within a very short time of getting the money in from the state.
Mmm, what a strange state of affairs it is when money for housing is rationed to those fastest off the mark for one or other of the subsidised or shared ownership housing schemes?
It all show that we really need a fresh debate and new thinking on housing.

Government Response to Rugg Review and Consultation
Talking of fresh thinking, if you ever have a few hours to spare you really ought to read the generally excellent and well observed Rugg Review into the Private Rented Sector.
For the most part it is full of good ideas and reasoned arguments.
Also, worth a read is the Government’s Response to the Rugg Report and Invitation to Consultation. Put "Government Response to Rugg Review" in your Search Engine.
Whilst I liked the Rugg Review, I did have a few issues with the Government’s Response to it.
In particular, the Government does not think that landlords have to “wait too long to get a possession hearing.”
Well that is a matter of debate.
What they don’t seem to understand is that once a landlord has an order in his favour, it does not end there.
If the tenant does not go by the end of the period in the possession order notice, then the landlord has to appoint a bailiff – and this all takes a long time.
In the experience of one of my clients (who by the way got his tenant from hell from one of the many fly by night letting agents), at least another 6 weeks can be added to the process.

Section 21 and Section 8
Also, they don’t understand that you can only use Section 21 (the so called accelerated possession procedure) when the fixed term in a tenancy agreement has ended.
If it hasn’t ended and is not is nearing the end soon, then you must use the Section 8 notice and normally you cannot even start proceedings until at least 2 months is overdue in rent.
This actually means that from the last time you received rent to having a bad tenant forcibly evicted by bailiffs can easily take 5 to 6 months. I’m sure most people - even the Government - would accept that this is an unreasonable period of time.

Government Fixation with "Build to Let" Won’t Die
Also, unless I have got this wrong, I recall that Dr Rugg recommended against the involvement of big institutions in “build to let” given that she found that small landlords did a pretty good job as it is on the whole. (All we need to do is weed out the rogue landlords – a thing we are all agreed on!)
So, given the good growth of private rented sector (from 8% of all housing stock in the late 80s to about 12% now) and the generally happy view that most tenants have of their experiences in it, why does the Government seem to be so determined to get the big institutions involved in the sector?
Is there something we should know? Is it just me, but I always smell a rat when a Government wants to give something to big business even when its own advisors have indicated it may not be such a bright idea.
There goes the gong for my dinner. Must go!

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Do You Want to be on Channel 4 News - Urgent

2009-10-06T09:49:00.002+01:00

Channel 4 news are looking for landlords with just one property or people who are thinking of becoming landlords for the first time to go on their programme on Thursday evening.
If that is you please get in touch ASAP. Email david@lettingfocus.com and give your full name and contact details.