Psst, Want a Well Paid Public Sector Job in the Property Field asks Lawrenson of LetttingFocus.com

Everyone knows that the public sector is the only bit of the economy expanding right now.
So much so that a flood of new graduates want to be civil servants too
And who can blame them?
Compared to the private sector, the public sector pays more (on average), offers longer holidays, has more job security and when you come to retire it pays a tidy final salary pension underwritten by the taxpayer. Who would not want a job there right now?
So here are some great jobs I saw advertised in the Sunday Times of 15th Feb.
A new public sector body (yes another one) has been set up called The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) which will have the job of “championing the needs of people in affordable housing”
There are 7 jobs advertised in the paper which involve you “managing relationships”, “preparing standards” and the like.
All are in Manchester (or London) and all pay…. wait for it… between up to £80K and £95K.
Now I know Manchester has some really posh bits down Hale Barnes and Alderley Edge Way but crikey, that really must put you in the top 5% of earners in the City that Gave Us Decent Music and Football As Played by British Players. (Ok, so do West Ham and Villa, I know, I know!)
A lot of the work looks like it will involve working with housing associations.
Well, I have one suggestion for the highly paid people who get these posts – which they can start on right away.
They could stop the silly nonsense whereby each of the private sector leasing schemes (for landlords wishing to let their properties for long terms to social housing providers) that are ran by local authorities and housing associations each have a multitude of different standards and procedures.
Centralise and streamline the whole process and make each body operate in broadly the same way.
You will save us taxpayers a bomb – and maybe even pay back those big pay packages too.

PETE THE POLISH PLUMBER STILL HERE
Remember the papers predicted that in April last year there was going to be a rush for the exit as landlords cashed in their properties to take advantage of lower CGT rates. Well, that did not happen.
A few months ago the same papers told us that landlords would now suffer as their many Central and East Europeans tenants headed home because the falling pound had now made the UK unattractive for them.
And if you watched the BBC news today you could be forgiven for thinking that there was a flood of people going back. But actually all that has happened is that the numbers coming in has slowed.
The same official figures now show 6.5 million people born overseas were resident in the UK in the year to June 2008, an increase of a whopping 290,000 on the year to June 2007.
People are not going home because because the economy of Poland and many other places in the rest of Europe are in an even worse state than the UK.
For example, the FT reported that Latvia is expected to soon have near 50% unemployment.
New landlords soon find they have to get used to the fact that the papers eternally predict the demise of letting as a business.
I advise you to treat such predictions with caution.
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ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com - the landlord and property letting advice experts. Read More Articles on Property by David Lawrenson.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting” which for the last 3 years has been the UK’s top selling property book - Buy Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let.
The new edition is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on sale and rent back.
I’m an expert freelance property writer and property speaker - and I run the well known property investment blog that you are reading now.
Come to Our Next Evening Property Event in London
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I provide general property letting advice for a fee to anyone looking to buy property for themselves or to let out. I can help private individuals with any aspect of buying property or buy to let.
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we are independent property investment advisors because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from these sources.
We simply give one to one unbiased advice and are often asked to evaluate other property investments.
In my corporate consulting role I also advise banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice and property training programme at my website.Copyright: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated once a week.
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Private Leasing Schemes & Guaranteed Rent - An Evaluation by Letting Focus

As some of you who read this blog will know, I’m quite a fan of the Private Leasing Schemes.
Indeed, I was recently quoted in a recent article in the Daily Torygraph saying how good the schemes are.
In a nutshell, the Private Sector Leasing Schemes are arrangements where you let out a property to a housing association or a council for anything up to 4 years and they pay you a guaranteed rent – usually whether the property is occupied or not by their tenants.
The rent is guaranteed at the outset, usually for the full term, and often the housing association or council will also look after some basic maintenance too.
You can read more about Private Sector Leasing Schemes if you read the article I wrote about them on the main website. Click here to read it: Private leasing Schemes

OK, I know the rent is less than you would get letting through a letting agent or privately and you have no control over the tenants they put in your place, but the scheme I had with my local housing association worked well overall. There were no voids, no need to furnish at all (even white goods) and no re-letting costs or hassle – the rent just got paid every month on the dot.
Now, however, the term (which was four years) has come to an end and I can evaluate it properly.
Well, there are some downsides.
The main one is that you have no control over who they put in your property.
Having just taken back my property it was clear that whoever they put in there had some er, “problems”.
Apart from very heavy smoking (the ceiling had to get three coats of paint and I hate to think what was happening to the tenants’ lungs) there was clearly some kind of nasty incident involving harassment from a former partner.
And the last person left with loads of unpaid debts - this despite being on benefits! Ever wondered where your taxes are going!
You see, by definition the people who the council or HA sublets to are homeless or on the waiting list.
Some of them will have problems – which is why they are in the benefit system in the first place, I guess.
Once I got the property back, it did need a very thorough redecoration – and much more than would be expected under the average private let. So, there was an extra cost there – because you see whilst they fix damages for you, they don’t guarantee the state of the walls, ceilings or carpets.
The other hassle is that you might occasionally have to deal with the housing association or council at the end of the contract – and they were in turns frustrating and occasionally downright clueless.
I personally know lots of people work hard in the public sector – lots of great teachers, doctors and a chap who works for a local council - but I’m afraid that with my landlord hat on, I have not come across any who seem to do anything much than get in each others way.
For example, there was the time when their contracted British Gas service engineers told me that I needed a new boiler at a cost of £2.5K. Mmm! I got it fixed with my own guy for £60.
Alas, the service standards of this particular housing association did leave a wee bit to be desired – lack of returned phone calls and a seemingly laissez faire anything goes attitude to their landlord customers.

Hassle Free
But still, it IS a pretty hassle free way of letting – and apart from at the end of the contract I did not have to talk to the housing associations at all. And hooray for that because when I did they drove me nuts!
I’m not going to be doing it again though.
And that’s not because they clearly housed some “problem people” in my property. It is because they want to pay the same rent to be that they did four years ago.
I know, weird isn’t it?
I have told them that rents are up by about 20% in the area.
But hey, mine is not to reason the wonders of the weird logic of a public sector body funded by the taxpayer.
After all, as a self employed landlord I have to make money, get customers and look after tenants – which I think I’m OK at.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of property investment expert lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling landlord book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert property journalist, property speaker and a well known landlord blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords coaching
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property mentor programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer you help as an independent property investors coach because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
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