Landlords Gas Safety Certificates – Please check them!

Regulations state that on a  landlord’s gas safety certificate for  an appliance to be ticked  “safe to use”  the appliance must be serviced .  In a nutshell if an appliance is not serviced a “N/A” will appear  in the box which says “safe to use”.

It is not a legal requirement for appliances to be serviced but the manufacturers’  warranties do usually state that it should  be serviced every year.

We are very keen on this subject as the welfare of our tenants and landlords are at stake. We STRONGLY encourage landlords to service their appliances on an annual basis for commonsense reasons…..and particularly as we all want the gas man to state in black and white that the appliance is safe to use!!!!

 

 

New Government Housing strategy.

Just received this from the NLA…very interesting.

Alex Marsh, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Bristol, talks about the Government’s Housing Strategy, published last month.

The long-awaited Housing Strategy for England – Laying the foundations – has now arrived. The headlines were dominated by the mortgage indemnity guarantee, restarting “shovel ready” developments, and revitalising the Right to Buy. But what does the strategy have to say about private renting?

The chapter focusing on private renting opens with a statement of support for the sector, which the Government identifies as playing a key and increasingly important role in the housing market. The sector has witnessed significant recent growth, but high levels of demand mean affordability is deteriorating in some areas. The Government’s strategy has a dual focus: boosting overall supply by encouraging investment and tackling the minority of rogue landlords. In fact, rather more space is devoted to discussing investment.

Private renting in Britain is increasingly dominated by landlords operating on a small scale. So the Government continues to pursue the Holy Grail that has eluded housing policy for the last 30 years – greater institutional investment. We’ve had the BES, which gave the sector a short-term boost. We’ve had HITs, which sank without a trace. We’ve had the recent arrival of REITs, but largely to the benefit of commercial property investors. The Government is going back to the idea of REITs to see if it can be tweaked to entice investment into residential property.

It may be that this time things are different. The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement raised the possibility of new financial vehicles to encourage pension funds to invest in infrastructure. The broader investment environment is currently hostile. The risks associated with more exotic investment strategies are considerable. Residential property may be looking like an increasingly plausible option for a dependable income stream, especially as the Government strategy explicitly acknowledges the need to ensure that welfare reform does not unduly disrupt investors’ income expectations.

There are already some interesting developments occurring – such as the Build to Let Fund created by Bouygues and Grainger – in the search for appropriate vehicles for investing in private renting. The boundaries between tenures are blurring in other ways: for example, Sovereign, one of the largest housing associations in the country, have just announced an expansion of its operations in the market rental sector.

There is the potential for some large organisations to enter private renting, bringing with them professional property management expertise and the scope for brand recognition and reputation. This could alter the competitive climate in interesting ways.

The strategy reaffirms the Government’s commitment to avoid unnecessary regulation on landlords, but then goes on to state that:

we are … looking at measures to deal with rogue landlords and encouraging local authorities to make full use of the robust powers they already have to tackle dangerous and poorly maintained homes.

It says little more than that.

Pressure on the Government to act here is undoubtedly building. The Localism Act will mean more homeless people being housed in the private rented sector. Welfare Reform will mean those people are likely to have less money to pay the rent. Yet, budget cuts mean local authorities have less money available to take enforcement action. Any reputable landlord watching Channel 4’s Dispatches programme last Monday will no doubt be concerned that the action – or inaction – of rogue landlords puts the sector under the spotlight and damages its reputation.

We await further details of the Government’s thinking.

Alex Marsh is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Bristol

Student numbers drop with fee increase

A decrease in student numbers could be bad news for landlords who have been relying on the student market. With fees of £9000 a year on the cards for undergraduates starting their studies in autumn 2012, it seems that there could be a significant drop in the number of young people choosing to go to university.

Figures released by UCAS, the organisation that administers university admissions, says that to date the total number of applications is down 9% for 2012 and is down 11.9% for UK applicants.

Deposit Protection.

Landlords…..please please ensure your deposit is registered! If you don’t comply with the law you can’t issue a section 21 or a section 8…which means you can’t get repossession!

Holiday Cover for Landlords!

Please contact us if you would like us to look after your rental properties and tenants whilst you on holiday.

We will be the point of call for your tenants whilst you are away enjoying your holiday!

Please be assured if it is for a week or for 12 weeks we will give your tenants the utmost care.

Our fees to cover your holiday period are £10 per week.

Property Sales, Lettings & Management in Birmingham

The Smart Alternative was formed to raise the current standard of customer care provided to landlords and tenants by letting agents.
Julie Apps – The Smart Alternative

As landlords ourselves we were frustrated by the poor service we received from letting agents over the years and we identified a niche in the lettings market to offer a decent service to like minded landlords focusing on “better properties for tenants”

We offer landlords the best service by being

• Non VAT Registered so our costs are cheaper
• Having a small and responsive team
• Being professional at all times

Our proposition/mission statement

“To treat landlords and tenants like we want to be treated”