Richlist

Will they travel for South Carolina to London England to fix my lock ?

2 hours ago, Carryon Regardless said:

I've been emailed by Bulb, and I'm in credit. No surprise we are at the colder end of summer.

But they are going to reduce my monthly payment, I haven't used the abacus yet but would expect my credit to disappear rather speedily.

They have included the Gov't assistances in their calculation. 

All energy companies are doing the same. They are applying a discount of £66/67 a month for the next 6 months which equates to the £400 Gov' grant.

This is how it works :-

* The tenant pays an increased rent if their energy costs are inclusive.

* The landlord pays the energy bill and that expense is reimbursed by them receiving increased rent payments from the tenant.

* Therefore the Gov't £400 energy payment has to be passed to the tenant(s) who are ultimately paying the cost of their energy.

Simples.

Can anyone explain why 13% of private accommodation is arranged in this way ?

Ok thanks for providing the link.

I'm surprised that as many as 13% (585,000) of all private rented properties have energy costs included in the rent .......why ? whatever is the advantage ? I dont get it ! 

I assume that the rent charged for a property that includes energy costs is higher than a property without energy costs. I assume a landlord would set the rent for this type of property not just higher but higher + a safety margin as they cannot accurately predict how much energy their tenant will use. As the tenant is paying for their energy thru increased rent I see that it is fair for the tenant to receive the benefit and not the landlord. But of course any landlord who finds him or herself out of pocket will just raise the rent at their next opportunity. This seems like an overly complicated way to let a property.

I haven't read that anywhere. Do you have a link to the story.

I've never bought so called 'landlord insurance' in the 23 years I've been letting property. The only insurance I bother with is buildings and rent guarantee......the rest is totally unecessary......in my opinion.

We've no boilers so we've no idea.

We're all electric and I've decided to go down the heat pump route. I believe its The future.....all electric running off renewables.

Gas & gas boilers running on dinosaur juice are so last year.

A rent freeze in Scotland has been announced today without consultation or discussion with affected parties.

Is this the shape of things to come ?????

18 hours ago, Carryon Regardless said:

Nice thinking.

It would make the bringing of such properties up to standard easier. After all it looks like we'll never be able to re possess.

Does anyone see a point to the RLA these days?

I've always thought Red Light Areas fulfil a worthwhile function although there are many who would disagree with me. 😉😉

Do you mean NRLA ?

I haven't read the details yet.....I will do later when I have time.

My immediate response would be......If there are 900,000 properties around the country that provide poor conditions, let's hope they don't try to introduce changes/ demands/ legislation/timing etc that are onerous or to difficult for the landlords to action quickly. If they do they are likely to have a lot of very unhappy landlords and/ or a much larger group of people who have nowhere to live. After all it was the Conservative party that chose to sell off the council housing stock which has contributed to the current problems.

I'm finding that there are more & more people pleading poverty when in fact their problem is mismanagement of their finances. Much of their expenditure goes on unnecessary items which leave them short of money in other areas. The media are equally at fault, continually raising the issue of affordability without looking at individual expenditure and management of their finances.

So many people seem incapable of prioritising correctly it almost needs to be one of the attributes landlords should be looking for when selecting suitable tenants.

I was in my local newsagents a few days ago and a guy in the queue in front of me was buying a tin of tobacco for £25. Yes, I know, incredible, I don't smoke so had no idea that's what a tin of 'roll your own' costs. He was also surprised but then said ......oh well I'll take the tin of tobacco and give me 10 lottery tickets to go with it, the rent will have to wait !

A tongue in cheek view of what we can expect :

The cost of living is starting to bite for some. Any landlords had rent payments missed as a result ? Perhaps we are all waiting to see what the new PM can offer to cushion energy bills. Anyone else expecting big problems ?......As you all know......rent payments will be way down the priority list, at least coming after eating, heating, credit cards, loans, transport costs and lottery tickets.

I guess some people will also still want to feed their dogs, pay for their mobile phone, keep their Broadband, Netflix, Sky & Amazon prime accounts going and ensure their regular visits to the nail bar, hairdresser and favourite restaurant continue. Smokers won't want to give up and those that like a drink will usually find a way to indulge themselves.

That leaves landlords......somewhere down, near the bottom of the priority list about on par with the paying of parking tickets and the repaying of money owed to friends & family.

Oh dear.......it's going to get tough shortly after the October energy price increase.

When I started renting property I bought 3 flats within a few months of each other. I installed 3 brand new basic washing machines and bought extended warranties. Those machines lasted between 9-12 years without a single call out. In my own home we have a Bosch washing machine that is over 20 years old that has never had a problem although it wasn't cheap.

I think it's a matter of luck. 

Why ask her to remove the item on vacating ?

It's going to cost you nothing, the incoming tenant might view a dishwasher as an incentive, let's face it, they are unlikely to want to bring their own and it's installation might mean you can squeeze another £25 a month.

We don't do dishwashers, never have or washing machines unless left by previous tenant. But, we do provide a space and the plumbing so the tenant can decide if they want one. If you have the type of property and attract the type of tenant who is likely to want/have a dishwasher then it makes sense to provide facilities. Only you know your property and type of tenant. A couple of holes for pipework in an end panel is easily covered neatly when/if not required. 

We have a 14 panel solar array that produces a max of 4 kw. We chose to have the additional domestic hot water feature. The sun comes up, the panels start producing energy which is distributed in the following order. First it runs the house, anything left over heats the domestic hot water. If the water has reached its thermostat setting any excess energy is automatically exported to the grid.

We chose not to have a storage battery as the price for a 4kw battery was £6K and not cost effective.  A battery would be useful in spring and summer as it would charge up from excess solar energy during the day and power the house after sunset. But remember, this is the UK, not California and autumn/winter barely produces enough solar during the day to power the house so there would be little excess to charge the battery.

The most we've had from our solar panels in a single day in summer is around 25kw......most of which is exported. Our house needs around 300w/hour to run when unoccupied (fridge, freezer, hot tub). Domestic hot water needs around 2kw  a day to maintain temperature.

I have solar panels on my own place.....Richlist Castle ......but have no idea what affect it has on an epc.

I suspect, in the the current energy crisis, that having solar panels on any rental property might provide an opportunity for a rent increase and certainly if it were empty then prospective tenants would be queuing up to take the tenancy.

Why do you think that a property purchased after 2020 cannot use the property income allowance ?

We know absolutely nothing about you so it's impossible to answer the question.

What is it that you're expecting will change ?

Generally & historically property prices have spiralled onwards & upwards and whilst there is never any guarantee , most experts would expect that to continue with the occasional hiccup.

There is, has been and will likely continue to be a massive shortage of affordable housing. Economic rules of supply & demand dictate the price point.

It's still important to pick the right property, in the right area for the right price.

I don't agree.

I think the problem for FTB's is of their own making.

When I was in my 20's there were no mobile phones or tv/ broadband packages etc. Life seemed much simpler. But now I can't believe what some are paying for these things. They consider them essential and that they must have priority over buying property. It's their choice......but if you want to buy your first home, you need to go without a few things and put yourself out. Many don't want to.

Aren't we all missing the elephant in the room ?

It certainly looks like there are plans that will require you to fit a co alarm in the bedroom with a boiler.

It says the Gov are amending the Regs......that means they intend to do it or are currently doing it......it doesn't say they have done it.

The Gov have a lot of rather important matters to deal with in the coming months so, I'd park any plans I had to purchase and install anther co alarm until you know they have actually completed and published the changes.

Currently the Gov aren't working.....The prime minister & chancellor are away on holiday, nobody is running the county, nothing is being done about anything.....in particular the cost of living crisis. I think they are gonna be far to busy soon with other stuff due to civil unrest, anarchy, mob rule, chaos, refusal to pay and worse.

I would think the reason that you can't find any details is because there aren't any .........yet. It's probably out for consultation so, its really at the planning stage.

Well as an Agent I do hope you are charging it the appropriate fee for using your drive. 😅