Acura

Always had good rates and excellent experiences with these guys

hfis.co.uk

8 minutes ago, Richlist said:

I have never understood the attraction of trying to let a property to an applicant who doesn't conform to normal tenant standards, in this case, a foster carer. The whole country has a very large number of people looking for a tenancy at the same time as the whole country has an enormous shortage of suitable property. The result is that under normal circumstances there are lots of applicants, many of whom will easily meet a landlords criteria. Unless there is some financial incentive e.g. higher rents, why would anyone consider letting to anyone with increased risks in favour of all the other suitable applicants.

 The days of advertising a property and letting it go the first person who shows an interest have long gone. I had a long list of people who I wouldn't let to. I've posted that list on here before:

Property not let to ......smokers, pet owners, non English speakers, anyone with children, in receipt of housing or disability benefits, Company lettings, anything that results on overcrowding, people running a business from the property, long lead times for moving in, disabled or infirm, non working tenants, under 25, anyone with poor refs or who don't qualify for RGI, lettings for less than 6 months, self employed with less than 3 years of audited accounts, shift or night workers, anyone in dirty trades, same sex couples, no 12 months in advance applicants etc.....

Didn’t think we were allowed to discriminate or disallow any of those in your list Richlist 🤔

We had foster carers as tenants and I don’t remember any specific requirements other than the norm as their foster children were under 18. 

Their ASTs alone are worth joining for. An agent charges £120+ for those and often aren’t up to date whereas the NRLA ones are included in the fee and are always bang up to date with new legislations. 

28 minutes ago, Petra said:

Acura and Grampa,  Thank you for your input , it's always good o get somebody else's opinion.    I will check both of them out.  Thank you.

You’re welcome! 

20 hours ago, Petra said:

 I am looking for recommendations for a landlord association. The main reason I would be joining would be for legal advice/assistance, and to keep up with any new regulations that may be introduced.  Many thanks for your assistance.

I’ve been a member of the NRLA since I can’t remember … decades. Would recommend it for all the reasons you’ve stated 

https://www.nrla.org.uk/join?gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriK3AM3zsjFKIPVDxsGBdLlEU62JqiQtAIeU6N4pjj-i_SWJEz3oj0UaAvGiEALw_wcB

Thanks all. 
 

We will see how the MA got on this evening talking to them and decide tomorrow. Might just cut our losses and let them go. All previous tenants have said we’ve been the best LLs ever. This pair call us the worst when actually, we’ve acted immediately as we’re back in the UK compared to previously in the US with a huge time difference. 

So saying all that, we want them out but mindful they are trouble. No sign of that AT ALL when we let to them 2 years ago. 

It’s as clear as day in the contract and the MA informed them prior to them giving notice too. 
 

They wanted the house for 3 years minimum. We took out a mortgage so we could start our build. With them leaving at 2 years we have a hefty redemption as we have decided to sell rather than re-let. Not their problem but it’s another dent in our bank balance. 
 

They are being difficult stating we have been terrible LLs as they had no heating for 2 weeks. We gave them £200 towards their electric for that. Not our fault the boiler broke down and we acted within the hour of them reporting. 
 

Dishwasher broke down last Boxing Day. It’s not fixed yet because they don’t want the engineer there as they had a screaming match apparently due to him finding a water leak onto the electrics. Due to said screaming they didn’t want him back so demanded another engineer. Then the replacement got Covid. Ugh. He’s going tomorrow now but not good enough. When they move into their brand new home I’d like them to see just how owning a house works. Nothing is done instantaneously!!

Do you hold tenants to the contractual date (16th for this instance) or date they gave notice (6th)?

Thanks everyone. Very insightful, as always. 
 

Personally I’ll be glad to get out of private renting as it has been a 35 year project for me. My husband has always found change-overs stressful, and wants to throw the towel in whenever things need doing. So I’ll be glad to get shot just for a quieter life in that respect, never mind how things have become increasingly more difficult over the years with all the legislations etc. 

Anyhow, thanks again for your input. Food for thought I will pass on. Cheers! 

If you were about to inherit a sizable chunk would you invest in 10+ BTLs right now? 
 

I’ve done my best to get out of the BTL market, so when I was asked this weekend about investing in property I personally advised against it. However, what else reaps the same rewards? 
 

They're thinking of university towns. Definitely not my personal choice but it’s not my money!

WWYD? 

On 11/11/2021 at 9:35 AM, Rye said:

We have a sliding door from dining/kitchen area to the lounge area is that OK or does it need changing?

Are you asking as a LL or as a tenant?

We lived in the States and had a pool in 2 of the 3 houses we lived in over there. It’s practically a necessity, and at our first house we had someone come to maintain it once a week. When we moved rom that rented property to our own house my husband took over the maintenance. Oh god, the rows we had over it as he didn’t want to do it every weekend! We ended up with problems and huge efflorescence issues. Cost a fortune to put in. Cost a fortune to run. Hardly used considering those costs and that was in Texas where the sun always shines!

We are debating whether to even get a hot tub here in the UK as that too needs maintenance. In my humble opinion I wouldn’t have one unless you have children who will use it every single day. 

2 hours ago, Richlist said:

Well I'm going to post something that I have posted a few times previously.....and it goes like this :

Tenants, by virtue of paying rent, are not entitled to any special treatment over and above that which an owner occupier could expect it they were in the same situation.

So, provided you have acted quickly & applied the appropriate level of urgency in order to arrange repairs then the tenants are NOT entitled to anything.

Some landlords might like to provide them with a small treat.....bottle of wine, box of chocs, bunch of flowers etc  but it really comes down to how much you want to promote a good relationship vs your in the business to make a profit.

My sentiments exactly RL. My husband and I disagree on this one as he feels we should be keeping them sweet. So I called the NRLA and asked them their advice, and they said the same as my husband ... we should compensate them. So I’ve gone back to the agent and asked her to find out what they are expecting. It grates me as we did everything we could to get it sorted. If we were living there we too would have been without heat all that time. 

Hello all. 
Our agent contacted us on the 10th March saying there was a problem with our boiler. It’s only 2 years old and under warranty, as well as us having a BG service agreement. We called BG and miraculously got an appointment for the next day only to find out when he got there he was only authorized to perform a service, not fault find and repair so he left. Tried to rebook but BG didn’t have any availability until end of April. The appointment I got was fluke - someone must have cancelled at the exact same time as I booked. 
Fast forward a few weeks ... we had an engineer out who said it was a blown fuse. Tenant didn’t want to change the fuse so we said we would as we were going to be in the area. He ended up doing it in the end as they don’t want anyone there due to shielding their sick and elderly parents (who were supposed to be visiting for Christmas and have never left). The fuse didn’t work so we arranged for an electrician to visit and install a new controller. That didn’t work and he said it was the PCB. As the boiler is under warranty we called Worcester Bosch out. They said it wasn’t the PCB, it was the electrics as it wasn’t installed correctly. Ugh. We then called the company we bought it from who installed it and they sent someone out who said it was the boiler. Ugh. Agent kicked up a stink as did we and Worcester Bosch insisted it was the installation electrics, so we got them to talk to the installers. Finally they arrived yesterday and fixed it. 
 

As you can imagine everyone is more than fed up with the situation, not least the tenants who have had no heating since March. They’ve had to use electric heaters which cost more to run. They’ve had hot water as there’s an immersion heater. 
 

The tenants are requesting compensation after talking to their solicitor friend who has advised them we should compensate. Said friend also told them they were entitled to being put up in a hotel for the whole of this period at our expense. Have things changed there as I was only aware that was correct if there had been a fire or something? Trying it on? They stayed in the house as they still have their elderly parents and also their cat. We wouldn’t be paying for them!

What do you say about compensation? We’ve gone back and asked what they’re looking for with the view we will compensate for the time they were without heat, so just over a month. Bear in mind there are 2 additional people in the house since early December and these are the same tenants who are refusing to let the BG engineer in to clear the hob for the GSC. 
 

Thanks for your replies

22 hours ago, Melboy said:

That is quite remarkable. I wonder what the back story is behind these ultra low selling prices?

They are on the site where a pub used to be. The bottom flats are right next to the paths and roads. I’d not buy there personally. 

22 hours ago, Carryon Regardless said:

Scary,

is this receivers that are selling?

Is this an investor with an out stretched arm slowly sinking into the water?

Of interest, where?

I feel for those that did buy. Are the light areas cladding?

I don’t know if the it’s builder, receivers or investor. All I know is they’ve been empty a very long time. 
 

Don’t know if it’s cladding, and they are in Buckinghamshire 

I have alerts set up on Rightmove for the postcodes where I had rental properties. Had them set up for rent alerts, then when I was selling up, sales alerts. I’d not taken them down so got notification last week of two flats that had been reduced in one of the areas. 
 

When these flats were built at the end of 2018 they were selling them in the £300s. They’ve not all sold, so stood empty all this time. This is what the not-so-brand-new-but-never-lived-in flats are going for now. Shocking! 
 

The first picture is from 2018. The pictures have been taken down, but they are exactly the same properties. 

31 minutes ago, bil8999 said:

Hi to all.

When i acquired my first property let some 40 years ago, i fully furnished plus all white goods, now if i do supply any white goods i tell the tenant they are responsible for breakdowns, also i agree with them an amount they can afford each month to purchase the white goods, then when they leave they can take them. Job done

Good plan 👍

1 minute ago, Melboy said:

That is just 1 story of my 3 washing machine horror stories. I haven't put a washing machine into any of my properties now for nearly 20 years. Funny enough I do have a very nice Beko washing machine in my storage stash of "Useful equipment for Landlords."

How many stories do we have between us I wonder?!

Don't even get me started on no-smokers and no-pets 😬

But yes, back in the day it was normal to provide everything. Ever-y-thing. I had one tenant who wanted bedlinen too but I drew a line at that. I did provide him with a mattress protector for the brand new mattress and a brand new pillow. When he stopped paying the rent (he lost his job) and I asked him to pay or leave I found a human-sized grease stain on the mattress and pillow where he slept with no bedlinen for however long he was there. Can’t remember now. Guess who had to make a trip to the skip that day?! 🤢

When I bought my first rental in 1987 I provided everything. Not anymore. Like the others above have said, appliances can be, and often are, a huge pain and some tenants often expect ridiculous service with machines repaired or replaced overnight. 
 

Lots to learn about letting. Consider joining the NRLA which gives invaluable advice 

https://www.nrla.org.uk/

I agree with you CoR. My husband less so as he tends to be more lenient. 
 

If we tell them ‘GSC or leave’ we will then be saddled with a void period (we won’t be able to show the house with them in it), all the costs of getting it re-let and GOKs what other costs we’d face. It’s our old home - a 4 bed detached property - so it’s a substantial rent we can’t afford to lose at the moment. 
 

So, we have little choice, but that doesn’t stop me being incredibly annoyed at the whole situation, not least because there’s the added “I don’t go to bed until 3 am so I refuse morning appointments”.

47 minutes ago, Richlist said:

That raises the question.........are they still allowing regular inspections ?

* See my link further up the page.....I don't know  if that adds anything to what you already know.

* My attitude would be ....If they want to cause me problems then I will reciprocate.  I'd let them know the tenancy will be ended at the earliest opportunity and...

* That I would be mentioning it on any reference I'm asked to provide.

Letting property would be so much easier if there were no tenants involved !

Happy New Year.

I did see the link RL. Thanks, and sorry for not acknowledging it yesterday. 
 

This is more a case of them being petrified of the virus than being obstructive about access. There was a family emergency before Christmas so they had to go overseas to visit her family. They were gone far longer (5-6 weeks we believe) than we thought they would be so that caused a worry with security and temperatures. At least with constant nagging we got an inspection done during that period but they insisted they had a family member attend at the same time. Only issue we could see was they let the new shower doors get completely scaled up but that’ll clean up hopefully. 
 

They've brought her aging and unwell parents back with them and they are isolating. We cannot gain access to the house if they are isolating so all we can do is get the boiler serviced and checked and we’ve done our bit. We cannot force them to let the inspector in, so as long as there’s evidence we have tried to complete the GSC we wouldn’t be penalized according to the GasSafe link in my post above. 
 

Tenants. Who’d have ‘em?! 

We’ve found this 

https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/covid-19-advice-and-guidance/landlords/

We’ve made attempts to get the GSC arranged but the tenants refuse access to the house now. They’ll allow the inspector into the garage but not the house. Not a lot we can do other than document it all.