Signs of a good letting agent

A good agent will keep the Landlord up to date at least weekly with what marketing they are performing on his/ her behalf, a summary of how it worked, viewings created, performed and planned and feedback on how any viewing went.

New builds in Guildford

Over the last 2 days we have joined up with Haydon Place and Boxgrove Gardens show home teams. These fantastic new build flats and town houses in central Guildford represent a great invetment opportunity for buy to let landlords. I would expect an annual rent of c21,600 for the Hornbeam at Boxgrove at a sale price of 375,000 (3 bed town house, garden, parking etc) which crudely predicts a yield of 5.77%!! Belvoir Guildford offer a full Buy to Let advise scheme whether you are looking to enhance your portfolio or start from scratch for the first time we can help you through the process and inform you of your obligations, predicted costs and most of all point you in the right direction on what to buy!

Electrical tests in your property

Are they mandatory? Well no, the law only insists on the EPCs and a gas safety record however i would advise any Landlord that if anything ever happened in their property due to the electrics they are still going to be liable. It makes great sense and gives the tenant peace of mind to have all appliances PAT tested annually AND have an electrical wiring check. At Belvoir we strongly urge this with all our properties.

Get value from your Letting agent in Guildford

All letting agents share the same passion to let their properties quickly but do they all reference the tenant comprehensively? A good agent will not only check credit history and have firm guidelines for when a guarantor is required but they will also check current employers and previous Landlords. Belvoir Guildford carries out all 3 checks and is therefore able to offer excellent value Rent,Legal, Building and Contents Insurance as the underwriter is aware of our great track record.

Contractors

Today we are meeting with are pool of contractors to check their identification and certificates for Gas safe register and Electrical NIC EIC, we will discuss how our Landlords need any repairs to be carried out as a priority and at special rates. As we are able to offer regular work to these contractors we pass on the savings to the Landlords and the tenants feel well looked after. Remember, Belvoir Guildford insist Landlords only pay the price on the contractors invoice, creating a big saving for them.

Tenancy news - ASTs

The Housing Act Rent Threshold Increase (England and Wales)

Please note that this legislative change does not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland

The Government have announced that the Rent Threshold Limit will be raised to £100,000 per annum as from 1st October 2010. What this means is that the tenancy agreement used for any rent below a monthly figure of £8333.33 will be the assured shorthold (AST). By introducing this measure the government envisage that more tenants will have their rights strengthened and protected by legislation. Any rent over £100,000 will be subject to the normal contractual tenancy practices.

For reasons not fully explained by the Government the rise will apply retrospectively but the full legislation has not been published so this phrase may be misleading. What is likely to happen is that existing contractual tenancies up to £100,000 per annum will become ASTs from the date of the legal change.

There are 2 main consequences arising from this legislation - the deposit and notices.

1. The deposit
Tenancies that fall into the Act from changeover date are likely to need their deposits protected immediately and the necessary prescribed information issued.

Commentators are divided on possible problems arising from this as it could be argued that all tenancies falling into the tenancy deposit regime after 1st October 2010 will automatically be in breach of the requirements to protect deposits as they will have had their deposits placed into protection more than 14 days after they were received. However, we did not have to protect existing deposits when TDS legislation first came in but it was required for renewals and it is uncertain how the law will adjudicate on this matter. Certainly courts have given short shrift to the argument that ASTs existing prior to the introduction should have had their deposits protected at that stage.

Potentially, the various tenancy deposit protection schemes will face a sudden rise in the number of tenancies being registered with them and, presumably, in the number of disputes they have to resolve. Those disputes will, naturally, be for greater sums of money and will inevitably be more complex. This may prove hard for schemes to deal with under their current financial and business constraints.
2. Notices
The procedure for evicting tenants will be the procedure laid out in the Housing Act 1988, so you will need to serve a section 21 or section 8 notice rather than a notice to quit.

However there may be a problem with tenancies which are due to end less than two months after 1st October 2010. Agents/Landlords will not be able to serve valid section 21 notices giving the statutory minimum two months notice to end the tenancy after the date to bring such tenancies to an end at the end of their fixed terms. It is not clear if a notice served before changeover would be valid for the purposes of section 21 and it could only be so if the deposit had already been protected prior to service.