Richlist

Are you located in the UK ?

I'd be happy to buy them at 2012 prices. 😇

4 minutes ago, Grampa said:

Well regarding the accounts its only "not correct" if the lease states otherwise and I have never seen a lease that does however, I acknowledge its possible. There is no requirement I believe to provide accounts if the building is 5 or less units (though most agents will) anything over take a look at note 3 ICEAW Service Charge Accounting 2011.

And as I stated earlier  It isn't standard practice to provide evidence/receipts to leaseholders unless formally requested/asked. I know of no Managing agent who sends copies of receipts and invoices to leaseholds on the yearly basis without a request.  

Quite agree.

My experience is that annual accounts are signed off by an independent  accountant......something I have been involved in, in the past. These are then sent to individual leaseholders. In recent years it's been acceptable to issue a summarised version of the annual accounts but even this can be quite difficult to understand and not in enough detail for some. Only the profit & loss sheet would provide a high level breakdown of expenditure.

Its entirely usual and legally acceptable for managing agents to require individuals who wish to inspect in more detail to make an appointment to view the detailed documents, receipts, invoices etc at their offices. They would be most unlikely to provide sight of detailed documents on any other basis and in any case there is no legal requirement for them to offer any alternative.

Purple Bricks, sponsor for Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics have shot themselves in the foot.

GB = England, Wales & Scotland......it doesn't include N. Ireland. But the team includes Irish athletes.

It should be called Team UK = all 4 nations.

So, if you are Irish  you have every right to be upset at being left out of the description.

The media are reporting a slight relaxation of rules & restrictions have been agreed between the Gov' & mortgage lenders for properties under 18 metres high.

I don't wish to be pedantic but I'm gonna be anyway, because I can on an internet forum and it sometimes adds a bit of fun to an otherwise very boring subject.....the MHCLG arent telling us anything we don't already know.

In fact, one could argue it's missing, perhaps, one of, if not THE most important piece of information. That is, has the December 2020 version been updated or not ? My understanding is that it has, although I refuse to check it because I always fall asleep before I get to the end.😴😴😴

It's important because I suspect, like me, others print out a few paper copies so they are readily to hand at the appropriate time.

Now come on, surely you are experienced enough to realise the the Gov' can, will and have in the past updated this document without applying a later date to it. You have to set aside all your common sense and expectations......this is the Government you are dealing with. Any application for an MI5 job expects you to know this. 😁

Apparantly it does contain some changes......something to do with COVID19 I believe.

The NRLA have said we should continue to issue the Dec 2020 guide to tenants. The new update can be issued in addition & would be useful to help people who might have difficulty understanding some of the terminology.

Yes it applies to all properties now. As far as I know only those with no external cladding will escape scrutiny.

Properties with minimal cladding and an appropriate fire safety report/ certificate may be acceptable to lenders. But......as there are lots of people on this forum who are property investors, I'm just giving you a heads up that if you are persuing the purchase of a property that has cladding.....do check very early in the process that the property has an acceptable fire safety document.

There are some anomolies.......I did read of a block of flats that looked like it was brick built from the outside. It did in fact have a thin outer skin of brick covering the cladding on the outside. So, what looks as something without cladding is just there to trick you. BEWARE.

I guess if the buyers solicitor doesn't ask you if the property was originally built with or currently has cladding.......you aren't going to volunteer the answer. 

The title says it all. New one released 21/7/2021

Landlords should make sure they issue the latest guide to new tenancies.

As you can imagine, there are many blocks of flats, some built quite recently which have the wrong kind of cladding so they will never get an EWS1 certificate. Therefore, there is no point in paying many £000's for a specialised survey to tell you what you already know or suspect and which will never be accepted by mortgage lenders anyway.

My heart goes out to those leaseholders who are 'stuck' in properties that they want or need to move from but cant. Hopefully action will be taken in the next couple of years that will help to resolve the issues.

I was very nearly caught up in all of this but feel very fortunate that I was able to find an escape route.

Has anyone else had experience of EWS1 requirements ? Apparently there are 10's of thousands of affected home owners around the country. So this is really a heads up as it's been quite a shock for me recently. It's something that's developed from the Grenfell disaster.

Any property with cladding is likely to need an EWS1 certificate (External Wall Safety) in order to sell. Mortgage lenders won't lend without the certificate. If there isn't a certificate leaseholders cannot arrange one. It can only be arranged by the freeholders or the managing agents. It's very, very expensive and there are a limited number of surveyors qualified to carry out this specialised survey, so many properties don't have one rendering them virtually unsaleable.

Initially it affected only properties over 18 meters high but was quickly extended to cover all properties.

My agents told me recently that a flat had just come on the market with them. Normally it would sell for around £185K but the owner was asking £140K for cash buyer.......no EWS1 certificate.

Duplicate

I usually put them on Ebay or Gumtree to sell.

If you want to give it away you could use Freecycle.

5 hours ago, Carryon Regardless said:

Any electrical equipment needs to be PAT tested, more responsibility..

 

I wasn't aware of that. 

Does a brand new one need a Patsy test ?

A new electric mower isn't a lot of money.

When you say cleared, I assume you mean tidied up i.e. long grass cut as opposed to cleared of rubbish, debris and dumped items.

If it's just long grass and generally overgrown, I don't believe there is any way you can be forced to cut it. Tell the neighbours you have decided to turn the area into a wildlife haven and they will just have to accept it. 

By way of example......the property next to me has a 200ft back garden and there are 2 pensioners living there with one of them seriously disabled. Their family visits regularly and mows & strims the garden for them. But they have given up on the bottom 80 ft and have left that to rewild. We just ask them to mow along the border fence so that we don't get any growth into our garden. It works fine.......I've even offered to buy the bottom of their garden off them (negotiations ongoing).

I think provided you consider the neighbours issues and work towards a compromise you should be able to arrive at an acceptable solution. Try to understand exactly what their issues are and offer a solution that doesn't involve cutting the whole area back.

Presumably you have something in your Tenancy Agreement about keeping the garden maintained/ looking after the whole of the property in a tenant like manner etc ? You could try reminding the tenant of their obligation in this respect and point out that when they vacate any cost of tidying up said garden will be deducted from their deposit.

What I find is that sometimes landlords let property with gardens but don't supply any equipment to ensure the tenant can maintain it. Tenants are usually quite reluctant to go buy a lawnmower to maintain a garden they aren't interested in.  Did you provide a lawnmower ?

You might get some idea of how it works if you watch Channel 5 at 9pm tonight (Monday 19/7).

It's ' Call the Baliffs: Time to Pay Up'.

There are professional firms that will deal with this in the quickest and most efficient way. It removes any risk of you getting something wrong. If you want to go this route try Landlord Action.....they are easy to find online.

I guess it depends wether you want to spend money on a management system or not. If you only have a few properties it's hardly worth it, even if it is tax deductable. Most people already have MS Excel which can be easily arranged to provide spreadsheets at no additional costs.

This thread is over 18 months old.......

Thats a relief, Billybob tells me he was beginning to think he was being singled out for special treatment.

This sounds like a load of trouble and wouldn't be something I'd be interested in. I wouldnt touch an HMO and this seems like a slightly different version of what I usually recommend people avoid at all costs.

As a landlord I've never looked to make 'a meaningful change to someone's life'. That's not what landlording is about. People need to take responsibility for their situation not rely on a landlord to do it for them. We aren't social workers and I resent the Gov' and others trying to make out we are. 

I've been a landlord for 20+ years and never ever heard of Co-Living. Your post doesn't give any clues for those of us in the dark.

Is it something I can either make a lot of money from or have a lot of fun with ? 

I can't remember the last time I actually saw a policeman or policewoman in real life.

I've seen them on TV, read about the police in newspapers and seen the 'occasional' police car on the roads but I've not seen one in uniform for months. Do they still exist ? No, that's far to cynical........or is it ?

The police don't have time to deal with all that nonsense they are to busy dealing with real criminals i.e. electric scooter riders.😕

Anyone can find a tenant. There is a massive shortage of rental property in most areas of the country. You don't need a lettings agents to find someone who wants to rent your property. That's never ever been an issue for any landlord. I could have 20 applicants available in a week........but they are all likely to be unsuitable.

Finding the right tenent, one that ticks all the boxes and meets your list of critetia.....that's the difficult part.....and that's where you need to prioritise.

There are a growing number of potential tenants that will not be prepared to go thru an agent. They will search for a property elsewhere........Gumtree, local press, local employers etc. So, going to agent is not a magic bullet and is no guarantee of finding the tenant you want.