A Deed of Assurance is a legal solution to many problems and trust issues which arise between landlords, letting agents and tenants. Use of a Deed of Assurance can reduce administration, increase goodwill, improve profitability for landlords and letting agents and reduce costs for tenants. The basic principles are simple, a Deed of Assurance is […]

The GOOD Landlords Campaign badge is available for all Sponsors to use on stationery and websites. The GOOD Landlords Campaign attracts significant media and press interest as the number of sponsors increase. Tenants will soon learn to look out for The GOOD Landlords Campaign badge and ask for a “deed of assurance”. In the early […]

The GOOD Landlords Campaign is a concept born as a result of a community of like minded professional landlords sharing best practice on the Property118 internet forum. These professional landlords wanted to differentiate themselves from inspired amateurs who rent out their properties with no real long term strategy or regard for their tenants desires to […]

Apparently “shades of grey” now means something different to what it meant a year or so back. I chuckled when I read a comment left on this forum last week by a landlord who suggested it was the hair colour changes an average male landlord experiences when dealing with his first tenant from hell. This made me […]

I’m honoured to have been invited to be the closing speaker at the NALS Conference this year. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to share details of “The GOOD Landlords Campaign“ with so many of the letting industry elite. Attendees include regulators, politicians, trade bodies, mortgage lenders, various trade exhibitors and of course letting agents. As […]

The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) is warning landlords that they are exposing themselves to a greater risk of deposit disputes if they carry out their own inventories. This is supported by recent research which shows that half of landlords have experienced a dispute over the return of the deposit when their tenant comes […]

Following last week’s article on setting up an HMO from scratch I’m reporting on the last week’s activities which were pretty much devoted to finding tenants. As promised I have also included pictures of the HMO post refurbishment at the bottom of this article. A second ad in the local paper has elicited some interesting […]

In the coming weeks and months we will be inviting PRS Centres of Influence to appear in “Spotlight Articles” and to engage with the Property118 community. Invitees will be at officer level position or above in Landlord Associations, housing charities, tenant groups, mortgage lenders, regulators and other key providers of products and services to the […]

Who runs The GOOD Landlords Campaign? At the moment the campaign is run by Mark Alexander, founder of Property118.com. In due course a committee of volunteers will be appointed to form a steering committee with a view to running the campaign as a not for profit organisation, probably as a company limited by guarantee. What […]

Housing Charity Shelter appear to want to build bridges with the PRS by “looking for solutions as well as problems”. Following a conversation between Shelter Policy Officer Robbie de Santos and Mark Alexander, founder of Property118, the housing charity very quickly produced an article on the Charities Policy Blog recognising The GOOD Landlords Campaign.

All GOOD Landlords want to differentiate themselves from the rogues and criminals which seem to get the lions share of media attention. Well now they can! The GOOD Landlords Campaign is officially launched. The GOOD Landlords Campaign is sure to be the talking point amongst all landlords and everybody associated with the lettings industry. So why […]

Like most landlords I have tenants who don’t open windows, dry their washing on radiators and cause mold and condensation problems. I give them a leaflet on how to prevent mould and condensation when they first move in and we also discuss the subject on move in day. Nevertheless, I, like most landlords, continue to […]

The Universal Credit, due to be introduced in October 2013, is a new scheme which aims to simplify the benefits system by combining all in-work benefits( jobseeker’s allowance, tax credits, income support, employment and support allowance) into a single monthly payment rather than combination of a number of benefit payments as is currently the case. […]

House shares with six or more bedrooms are the fastest-growing property type on the SpareRoom website as landlords react to increased demand for lower rents. But as the cost of living soars and demand for rooms in larger properties increases, the trend could lead to a growth in unlicensed ‘houses in multiple occupation’ (HMOs). Over […]

With the National Approved Letting Scheme “NALS” conference being held on Thursday 4th October, the recent offer from Ombudsman Services is certainly well timed. In a Press Release issued by Ombudsman Services today, Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said “we are delighted to offer NALS firms access to our services at a very cost effective rate. […]

Richard Cubitt, a reader of Property118 has submitted the following summary of Private Rented Sector Licencing. In an email to the Editor or Property118 Richard said “All of this information is all in the public domain but I think that the wider implications are worth bringing to general attention. Thin edge of the wedge!! The application […]

So, I’m doing what I promised I’d never do – manage some else’s HMOs. Over the years I understood why lettings agents were sniffy about HMOs and the amount of time managing the house demanded in proportion to the 10% management fee. But I yielded after a friend decided to invest his inheritance and asked […]

As the number of renters rise year-on-year, the number of deposit squabbles increase. Though just two per cent of tenancies end in a dispute over rent deposit refunds.. However, “cleaning costs is the top reason why deposit money is withheld when a tenant moves out of a rented property” according to the Association of Independent […]

Housing Charity Shelter is proposing 5 year rental agreements but this is not viable as most landlords would be in breach of their buy to let mortgage conditions if they were to offer anything other than 6 or 12 month Assured Shorthold Tenancies. However, I believe I’ve found a solution. Some landlords want long term […]

At NPG, from time to time we get tenants calling about pest control. It can range from mice, to rats, ants, fleas, bed-bugs, cockroaches and even wasps nests. By the way, if you start scratching whilst you are reading this, don’t worry – it happens to me! There’s a lot of confusion as to who […]

I will get around to talking about legacy protection in this article but first I want to set the scene by sharing my very happy news with you. I’m getting married next month! I’m a very lucky, very happy man 🙂 The picture to the left is of my wife to be, Svetlana. It was […]