Lettings

Are you never happier than when your home is spotless or are you a tad on the slovenly side? If you own your home, this question is elementary but if you live in a rented property, the level of dirt you’re comfortable with can affect whether you get your full deposit back.

Tenants are increasingly asking private landlords for properties with good green credentials. That’s the findings of the latest Handelsbanken annual Property Investor Report.

For those living in a rental property with an ever growing collection of items, storage can become an issue. On inspection, most tenancy agreements prohibit renters from drilling holes in walls, altering the layout in a property or installing fitted furniture, so adding extra storage will need more creative thinking.

National Empty Homes Weeks 2024 runs from 4th to 10th March this year and while the thrust of the event is to shine a light on bringing vacant dwellings back into use, the organisers offer support to all those who may have an empty property.

Buy-to-let has always been seen as a safe long-term investment strategy but over the last few years, the landscape has changed dramatically. As we move our way through 2024, however, the buy-to-let benefits are once again aligning. Here are five reasons property investment should be on your radar this year.

On the outside, selecting a good tenant may feel as simple as accepting the person who makes the highest offer, especially if the most recent news is to be believed. A survey undertaken for the New Economics Foundation found tenants were willing to go to extreme financial lengths to secure a rental property. As a result, landlords have had the luxury of waiting for the ‘highest bidder’ to emerge.

The safety of tenants has become of paramount importance in the private rental sector, and rightly so. One of the areas that has been improved immeasurably is electrical safety and now new guidelines have been issued to provide greater consistency when it comes to checks.

On 7th November 2023, the King’s Speech marked the opening of a new session of Parliament. In his first address of this nature, King Charles III announced the Government’s key priorities for the year ahead and with a General Election expected within the next 12 months, the contents were hotly anticipated.

We have been charting the progress of the Renters’ Reform Bill since it was announced in 2019 during Theresa May’s tenure as Prime Minister. In late October 2023, a little more progress was made and the Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons.

The features we assume tenants are looking for and what actually ticks their boxes can be two very different things. To establish the most in-demand aspects, Rightmove examined more than 600,000  property listings, looking at what was mentioned in the property description in relation to the homes with the highest number of enquiries.

Subletting is a recurring subject in the world of rental property. For those who are not familiar with the term,subletting is when the original tenant named on the legal agreement moves out and rents the entire property to someone else. Alternatively, the original tenant stays in the property and rents out a room or multiple rooms. Unless the landlord has agreed to subletting, the act will be a breach of the tenancy agreement and constitutes grounds for eviction.

The Renter Reform Bill is a crucial piece of
legislation aimed at addressing the challenges faced by both renters and
landlords, with the primary objective of promoting safer, fairer, and higher
quality homes in the private rental sector. Although the bill has not been
passed yet, its significance has been highlighted as a once-in-a-lifetime
change by the government. Let’s explore the reasons behind the bill’s existence
and the changes we can expect once it becomes law.