Private Rented Sector Buy to Let Consultants
Synopsis: David Lawrenson of www.LettingFocus.com points out how recent experiences of “rogue landlords” letting out “sheds with beds” goes to show why more regulation would probably be a waste of resources. As if any more sign was needed that there is a huge shortage of accommodation it must be the emergence of the “sheds with beds” story. It now seems […]
Read moreSynopsis: The media and the FSA catch up on an emerging scandal we first wrote about 2 years ago. It’s nice when the media catches up on an emerging scandal that we at LettingFocus first wrote about almost 2 years earlier. This is the summary of one such news story. Sound familiar? “Property investors are willing to buy peoples’ homes. […]
Read moreSummary: The government’s plan to normally pay the Local Housing Allowance part of the planned Universal Credit to tenants (not to landlords) reminds us of the film “Groundhog Day”. Haven’t we been here before and did we not learn from what happened last time? The Universal Credit was first announced at the Conservative Party Conference in 2010, though the idea […]
Read moreAn interesting new report from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the British Property Federation (BPF) disputes claims from some in government that past rises in the housing benefit bill were caused by landlords increasing rents in order to take advantage of pre-determined benefit levels. The report is called “Leading the Market” and it concluded that a more likely […]
Read moreSummary: Landlords are being ripped off by freeholders for “Consent to Let” fees that the freeholders are not entitled to levy. Readers of this blog will know that all things being equal, I far prefer to buy a freehold property rather than a leasehold one. The many reasons for this are explained at length in “Successful Property Letting – How […]
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Synopsis: David Lawrenson, owner of private rented sector consultancy www.LettingFocus.com explains how tenants can jump the queue and get the best rental properties simply by getting organised. He also highlights how they can avoid becoming victims of “fictitious lettings frauds.” This week, I thought I would give something back to the “community of tenants” by writing a short piece on […]
Read moreI was recently quoted by “The Independent” newspaper in connection with whether Stratford was a potentially good place to buy and let. The article is entitled “East London First Out of the Blocks” if you want to look it up online. In the piece I said that the key drivers of any area – the things that make a place […]
Read moreLandlords (or indeed anyone buying a property) face ever rising costs to buy and sell property. On the buying side, stamp duty and the now ubiquitous “mortgage arrangement fee” are both much higher than in days gone by and local councils also charge more for searches. On the selling side, estate agency fees continue to rise. On both buying and […]
Read moreWhy do some people dislike private landlords so much and are their complaints valid? Back in the 1970s, in the last days of rent control and tenant lifetime security of tenure, landlords akin to Peter Rachman were still flourishing. These guys didn’t worry about legal niceties to get their property back. They just used threats, sent the tough boys in […]
Read moreAcross the UK, home ownership is expected to fall to under 64 per cent in 2021 from a peak of 72.5 per cent in 2001 – not far from a 10 percentage point drop. This is according to the National Housing Federation, using data from recent research by Oxford Economics. At present, 67 per cent of the UK population own […]
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