Page 840 – Property118

Can I stop repossession with a lease option offer?

22nd May 2013

I need some advice on stopping a repossession for a motivated seller with a view to getting the property on an option. Property is listed as a 3 bed but has been converted to a 4 bed. £285000 on an interest only mortgage + £17000 in arrears. 4 beds in this area range from £330000-£400000. […]

The Ombudsman has ruled, fair or not, you decide ….

21st May 2013

I previously posted information about a problem Estate Agent who had let my property in Dover to a family on DSS with 7 children contrary to my instructions of no DSS tenants and no pets. I was very specific about my requirements due to a nightmare and costly experience with a previous tenant on DSS who trashed […]

Property Tribes

Harry Oatten – Words of Wisdom from a landlord of 50 years

21st May 2013

Thank you to Vanessa from Property Tribes TV for allowing me to share these Words of Wisdom from Harry Oatten, a landlord with 50 years experience. This video was recorded at the Welsh Landlords Day on 20th May where the youngest landlord was 21 years of age and the oldest was 80. I particularly enjoyed Harry’s […]

The latest on the BOI Tracker rate scandal

21st May 2013

Bank of Ireland issued the following press release and wrote to 1,200 borrowers today:- “In February this year Bank of Ireland UK wrote to 13,500 mortgage customers to advise that their base rate tracking differential would increase on 1st May.  This increase is permitted by a specific clause in these mortgage contracts, which allows an […]

Capita enter Tenancy Deposit Protection Price War

21st May 2013

If you didn’t already know, there are now four Deposit Protection providers in England and Wales and between them they have seven schemes, all with different rules! The new kids on the block are a corporate giant called Capita, a FTSE 100 company. You may not have heard of them before as they generally service […]

Smoke drift between flats

21st May 2013

I am aware of a potential dispute regarding smoke drift between flats. The block in question comprises 24 flats in three blocks. One of the leaseholders on the first floor has recently taken up smoking.  The resident on the second floor immediately above has lodged a formal complaint with the managing agents citing intolerable levels […]

Rent increase – your thoughts on this idea please

21st May 2013

I normally only increase the rent when I have tenants move out of the property and new tenants move in. However, over the last few years I have noticed tenants remaining longer and longer. I have a tenant that is now running behind with the rent and the rent is quite low for the style […]

Problems dealing with utility companies when the students leave?

19th May 2013

Every summer I have to sort out the new names and contact details for my 120 plus students in all my HMO properties for the Gas, Water and Electric. Council tax is pretty easy as the University send these across to the council automatically. The process I go through is checking who the utility provider […]

MMR

Do you trust the Financial Conduct Authority with your personal data?

16th May 2013

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), partially taken over from the FSA, is to collect the personal information from mortgage applications for use by its policy risk and research division to monitor the lending of banks. This raises serious Data Protection act questions and we are also asked to trust another body Phoenixed out of the […]

Help! – My Letting Agent didn’t tell the Council I was renting to students

16th May 2013

My house is rented to students and is managed by a letting agent. Now as we know, students are generally excepted from Council Tax. However, neither my tenants nor my managing agents appear to have informed the council. I have now received a summons. Please let me know what I should do in this situation. Thanks in […]

Landlords Life Insurance Calculator

16th May 2013

What is the minimum amount of Landlords Life Insurance we really ought to purchase? I suspect the reason most property investors choose not to purchase Landlords Life Insurance is cost. For example, if you are 40+ years of age and your buy to let mortgages balances are £1 million plus the premiums can appear to be very […]

SAFEagent Awareness Week 2013

16th May 2013

This week is SAFEagent awareness week. Property118 has supported SAFEagent since its inception just two years ago. The concept is very simple, a Letting Agent displaying a current SAFEagent badge has purchased client money protection and is also a member of one of the 5 best recognised professional bodies in the UK Letting Industry. What this means […]

The GOOD Landlords Campaign

Christine Price of Chelmsford

16th May 2013

Christine Price of Chelmsford I am a Landlord and currently let out a 10th floor studio flat in Salford, a 2 bedroom ground floor flat in Hull and a 2 bedroom ground floor flat in Bletchley (Milton Keynes), using letting agents local for the properties. The studio flat is fully furnished in a block with […]

Firefox is landlords favourite browser

14th May 2013

40% of landlords visiting Property118 use Firefox as their favourite browser according to our analytics. I was quite surprised at this as I’m a massive fan of Google Chrome but only 9.9% of our visitors seem to agree. In second place was Internet Explorer and to be honest I thought that would come up number […]

Tenant Deposit Dispute Figures Looking Good

14th May 2013

The ratio of deposit disputes in England & Wales is just over one per cent according to official figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The Government figures show that of the Seven million (7,052,255) deposits that have been protected since the launch of the legislation in 2007, only 91,802 have […]

The GOOD Landlords Campaign

Rowena Turner of Didcot

13th May 2013

Rowena Turner of Didcot I rent out a two bed property and a 4 bed HMO in Didcot to young professionals. The four bed should be available from July 2013. I aim as a landlord to provide a good service for my tenants so that they stay for a long period- a win win situation! […]