Richlist

No I don't have a recommendation, my local Agent provides the rent guarantee insurance within their pricing structure. No doubt someone will be along shorty to offer a recommendation or you can find insurers online.

With all the legislation required with letting its a good idea to check whoever & whatever you choose as Agents are going to handle the necessary work of drawing up and administering requirements e.g...... * AST (contract) & any extra clauses. * Deposit protection & prescribed information. * References/ rent guarantee insurance/ guarantors. * Inventory & schedule of condition. * Standing Order form for rent payments. * EPC certificate * Gas & electrical safety certificates. * Government booklet ' How toRent'. * Legionella - tenant advice sheet. * List of restrictions of leasehold property. * Smoke alarm working form. * Instruction books (detailed on inventory). * Template for reporting repairs in writing. * Immigration / Visa checks. * Carbon monoxide alarm working form. * How to control condensation booklet. Etc. .

Have you decided to ask for a home owning guarantor for your tenants instead of taking rent guarantee insurance then ? Surely you are not considering having neither of these choices ? If you go for rent guarantee insurance then the insurers will carry out and ensure your tenants pass the reference criteria before providing the insurance.

I agree with previous posts. It clearly has the potential to go horribly wrong but......it also has a very good chance of keeping both tenant & landlord very happy indeed. The tenant may be inclined to stay longer if given the opportunity to decorate. The landlord is saved the cost, effort and admin involved with decorating. You being very involved in the planning, details and inspection afterwards is going to reduce the risk of it going wrong.

I agree but if there is a serious problem anywhere in Government policy or responsibility, it invariably gets fixed (and when that's fixed another problem will likely appear). Fixing problems is generally a war of attrition with good outcomes for the majority. In my view it's not that there are problems that need fixing its that the fix often takes a long time.

This country's legal system is what half of the countries around the world base theirs on.......so it's something to look up to. 2 things * You need to accept that nothing but nothing is ever perfect. Most things anywhere near it are continually evolving. * Think yourself lucky that you are privileged to enjoy British justice and not that dished out in many other corners of the globe.

Surely there is nothing to stop little old you or me from forming an offshore company which we can use to buy our next investment property. Then, when we decide to sell, we can advertise it as free from SDLT. This might result in the property commanding a small premium, which could be way more than the initial cost of setting up the offshore company ?

Seems that the ' Pandora' papers have done us all a favour. They show that the Blair's avoided SDLT on their £6.45 million pound property purchase in quite an ingenious way. The property was owned by an offshore company. They formed a uk company which bought the offshore company so the property came with it. Then they dissolved the offshore company.......result......no SDLT, which would have been way over £300K. Now, where's my little book on offshore property deals.......

The first priority is surely to ensure your tenant is a serious buyer by requesting written evidence that he can raise the purchase price by way of a mortgage & the deposit. Then you can exchange solicitor details and start the ball rolling. Just because he wants to buy it doesn't mean he understands.....the criteria for obtaining a loan, the process, the costs involved, the timeframe etc. I assume he's a first time buyer so probably all of that applies. There might be a way to go yet before you can feel confident that you have secured a buyer. I wouldn't bother with serving notice unless he is not a serious buyer.

Check if there is a landlord group or association in your area. If there are other landlords who will recommend their agent it will, at least, give you a lead or a degree of confidence if you choose them as well.

Then I guess the only way to obtain the information is from the person himself. If I were the tenant i'd probably say no you can't have it, just give me a cheque. It might be advisable for the landlord to get the tenant to sign a receipt to say it has been repaid if a cheque is accepted. What a big, expensive, time consuming, stressful and totally unnecessary problem to sort out. Sounds like it could cost the landlord many months of effort and thousands of pounds to resolve.

That still doesn't answer the question as to why nobody has the tenants bank details. We're no references obtained ?

When you let a property the landlord or their lettings agent or their rent guarantee insurers take references ........their employer, bank account and previous landlord. So, why are the bank account details unavailable ?

Landlord Action are a well known eviction company. You can find them easily by doing an online search but there are others that will deal with this.

You have to roll with the punches in this industry. Residential letting is considered far to profitable for landlords at the expense of poorer people. Why else would the larger organisations like the recently announced Lloyds bank plan to build an enormous property portfolio even be considered it they didn't think they could make a good return ? The industry has always been subject to changes and they are going to keep coming......just as long as our profits are high, the housing shortages exist and the Gov' can achieve political gain from milking it. Complaining won't get you anywhere, the secret to a happier life is to roll with the punches by making changes to the way you operate to counter their affects. .........and almost every piece of adverse legislation introduced to our industry has resulted in the same cry......landlords will sell up, there will be a shortage of property, rents will rise.......BUT in reality, it has little or no affect. The bigger picture shows business virtually as normal. Stop complaining......become pro-active!!!

Why is it that tenants seem to think they are entitled to compensation because they pay rent instead of a mortgage ? It would be bad enough if the boiler had broken down and the tenant wanted compensation for the inconvenience BUT the work is actually being done at the tenants request. I wouldn't be paying compensation. Ask them if they think you might be entitled to compensation by way of a rent increase to cover your costs for the renovation.

There is no particular advantage with one property. Here are some considerations, there are many others :- * It will cost you to set up a Limited Company. * Ltd Co' mortgages have a slightly higher interest rate. * The Company will pay corporation tax instead of income tax. * You will still pay income tax on anything you take above the nil rate allowance. * Corporation tax rates are more prone to political changes. * The decision to go Ltd depends on your individual circumstances.....best to get professional advice.

I haven't read the whole link. But, apart from doing tax returns digitally as opposed to paper returns it's also, more importantly, really about keeping digital records which for many of us is likely to be more of an impact than the actual tax return itself. I suspect a very large proportion of us already do our returns online, I certainly do. But I often do the preparation etc on paper and that's what is going to need a change on my part. If you employ an accountant I suggest you talk to them about what they intend to do, how they see their responsibilities, what they expect from you and how it will work in reality. We know someone who hands his accountant a shoe box of paper receipts every year for his tax returns......I suspect his bill will rise significantly unless he starts to be a little more proactive.

Yes that's correct.

But it's a false and inaccurate premise that is not supported by the science. An unvaccinated person doesn't present any greater risk to visitors than a vaccinated person. Id argue that it's the unvaccinated tenant who is more at risk from the visitor. I think a vaccine rufusnik, many of whom are well read on the subject, would see through your argument immediately. But there is nothing to stop you trying it.

No I don't need to concern myself with that. The various vaccines have all been approved by people who know far more about the subject than us. Stick to what you are good at......eg..mitigating unnecessary risk from your businesses.

Bring it on, I love a challenge.

If you mean that they may get sick with non Covid illnesses, you are correct. But that risk has always existed and will continue to exist. Covid is different, its in addition to normal illnesses, it can cause serious problems, result in long periods in hospital, occasionally death and if you recover it may be a long time before you can return to work. So, as I already said it increases the landlords risk of a default in rent payments. Why would I let my property to an unvaccinated person when I have a queue of fully vaccinated waiting to move in. Finding fully vaccinated tenants isn't ever going to be a problem for me but you are free to make your own choices.

I agree it's an issue where we all have a freedom of choice. My original post was actually asking if we are allowed to refuse unvaccinated applicants....& assuming there is no legal reason, I am going to choose to refuse them a tenancy. I believe I can develop an argument that proves it increases my risk vs reward to a point that is unacceptable. This winter we are likely to need to show proof of vaccination for all sorts of activities or be refused.

I think you may misunderstand. The danger with an unvaccinated person is mainly to themselves and far less to fully vaccinated people. A fully vaccinated person can still carry and catch Covid but there is far less chance of them being hospitalised or worse. The issue here is not that the unvaccinated tenant will pass Covid to contractors, visitors landlords etc but that if they do contract the virus it might seriously impact their ability to meet their obligations towards paying rents.