So you have sourced your ideal tenancy agreement and have found a suitable tenant. Lets take a look at the information you need to put in your tenancy agreement.
The property
It sounds obvious, but you need to correctly describe the property being let. This is particularly important if you are renting a room in a shared house as the tenancy agreement needs to make it clear which room is being rented. Continue reading Tenancy agreements – Essential information
LetRent.co.uk have a special offer for Property118 readers and are giving both landlords and letting agents an opportunity to trial their new lettings portal FREE OF CHARGE for a whole year.
LetRent hopes one day to compete with the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla, however, the owners recognise the need to prove their concept before they can charge for the service. Continue reading Special Offer for Property118 Readers via Let Rent
Students living at universities in London and Manchester face the worst crime rates – according to a survey of offences reported to police over the last year.
The figures were compiled by The Complete University Guide for the year to May 2012. They list 103 further learning institutions by numbers of burglary, robbery and violent crimes including sex crimes. Continue reading Is your shared student house in a uni crime hot spot?
Inconsistent planning policies for student landlords are making some cities no-go zones for property investors.
The problems arise from ‘article 4 directions’ for small shared rental properties – where three to five tenants share a house. Continue reading Student landlords face planning postcode lottery
Beds in sheds landlords are the target of a new government campaign to crack down on shoddy housing.
Housing minister Grant Shapps is spearheading the battle against the spread of ‘suburban shanty towns’ by injecting £1.8 million into a fighting fund for nine councils. Continue reading Task force targets criminal ‘beds in sheds’ landlords
On the 12th January, Councillor Jeremy Moulton set out the Southampton perspective in relation to Article 4 Directions taking away permitted development rights to change the use of single dwellings to small HMOs such as shared houses. The Residential Landlords Association, of which I am the Policy Director, has campaigned vigorously against the use of Article 4 Directions in this way and has called for a return to the old definition of a Class C3 dwelling which includes shared houses such as those occupied by groups of students, young professionals etc. Over 30 authorities have now made such directions, including Southampton City Council. Where these directions are in force a property owner has to apply for planning permission because they can no longer rely on permitted development rights. Often this will be refused. In our view 19 of these directions, including that made by Southampton, are far too wide and contravene Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) Guidelines. Continue reading Article 4 Directions – Different Perspective
A university had to take on extra staff to deal with complaints about a landlord who stole deposits on student housing.
Detectives claim 18 theft charges admitted by Tariq Zaman, 42, at Leeds Crown Court were just a ‘representative view’ of the money he stole over several years letting houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) owned by him and his family in the city. Continue reading Crooked landlord admits stealing student deposits
Tenants are calling for tighter action against criminal landlords who badly manage their homes or charge rip-off fees.
The protest group was formed after several members had bad experiences with buy to let landlords who allegedly trampled their housing rights.
Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Group (EPTAG) is campaigning for the city council to toughen up on enforcing housing law against bad landlords, who they say keep hold of deposits without good reason, fail to deal with repairs and illegally evict tenants. Continue reading Tenants call for tougher action against criminal landlords
The countdown has begun to the start of the UK’s first HMO blanket licensing scheme that starts in Oxford.
From January 30, every landlord letting a house in multiple occupation (HMO) in the Oxford City Council area must apply to licence the property.
The order covers small HMOs for three to five unrelated tenants as well as larger HMOs that already need compulsory licensing. Continue reading First Blanket HMO Licensing Scheme Starts in Oxford
Student landlords are bearing the brunt of protests from residents fed up with noise and rowdy behaviour.
Residents from neighbourhoods in major university cities all over the country are voicing their anger at student developments and shared houses.
In Fallowfield, Manchester, residents have started an anti-landlord poster campaign after they encountered problems selling homes. Continue reading Fed-up Residents Start Anti-Landlord Poster Protest
