Landlord Assist, the nationwide tenant referencing firm are urging landlords and letting agents to be vigilent when undertaking inspections of properties to see if the tenants are keeping pets in breach of their tenancy.
Stephen Parry, Commercial Director at Landlord Assist comments "If the landlord has specified no pets then the agent is obliged to try and ensure that those wishes are adhered to. Many tenants will go to great lengths to hide the fact that they are keeping pets however a diligent agent should be able to spot the tell tale signs"
Landlord Assist are calling for the Government to state their case with regards to the current Housing Crisis. Graham Kinnear, MD at nationwide tenant eviction firm Landlord Assist comments "Surveys recently conducted suggest that Landlords will be withdrawing from the housing benefit market over the next three years as a result of the reduction in housing benefit being paid to those under 35"
Stephen Parry, Commercial Director at Landlord Assist adds "We have seen statistics which state that 53% of landlords believe that letting to housing benefit tenants will no longer be viable and theat 69% of landlords state that by 2015 they will not let to anyone on housing benefit at all."
The deposit schemes have been slammed in a recent survey where not one single landlord felt that tenant deposit schemes were designed in their favour.
The report from Inventory Firm Imfuna states that 54% of landlords thought the current scheme favoured tenants and 35% stated that neither landlords nor tenants benefitted from the scheme.
Graham Kinnear MD at nationwide tenant eviction and tenant referencing firm Landlord Assist comments "We dont feel that the schemes work as well as they should. We have recently been involved in a case where the tenant vacated owing thousands of pounds worth of rent and having damaged the flat. She contested that the deposit should be given to the landlord and refused to cooperate with the Dispute resolution service offered by the deposit scheme. Consequently the scheme have advised that the landlord should instruct a tracing company to locate the former tenant and then issue a claim against the tenant in the county courts. This is clearly unsatisfactory"
Possession Claims at their highest since 2008. Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Business is booming at landlord Assist the nationwide tenant eviction service. Graham Kinnear MD of the firm that was established in 2007 reports "The business has grwon year on year. The economic downturn has meant that there has been an increase in the number of possessions taking place and according to the most recent Government figures up to March 2012 the number of possession cases has increased by 5% and is now the highest since 2008"
The private rented sector has experienced quite a boom since the economic downturn commenced in 2008 however the market has always been devoid of the really big institutional investors such as Pension Funds who have historically looked at commercial property to balance their portfolios.
Graham Kinnear, MD at nationwide tenant referencing firm Landlord Assist states that this could all be about to change "The market is certainly improving further indeed there was a 32% increase in gross lending for Buy to Let in 2011 a figure which mirrors our own findings that 60% of landlords are proposing to increase their portfolios overthe next six months."
Squatting in Residential Property is about to be made a criminal offence, a move which is likely to please landlrods throughout the Country.
The Legal Aid, Sentancing and Punishment of Offenders Bill covers a wide range of issues and is expected to be enacted later this year.
Under the new legislation a person will commit a criminal offence if the person is in a residential building as a trespasser having entered it as a trespasser, the person ought to to know or knows that he is a trespasser and the person is living in the building or intends to live there for any period.
Two local businessmen have joined forces to recreate the Derbyshire Landlords Network in a bid to make it the most popular networking group in its area for landlords and agents.
Graham Kinnear MD of nationwide tenant eviction firm Landlord Assist has offered the pair the support of Landlord Assist and has offered to provide the Associations members with access to its award winning email and telephone support facilities.
A London landlord has been fined for overcrowding his property and permitting 15 people to reside there. The landlord was fined £6,500 for letting the property which was unlicensed and was lacking in fire precaution measures.
Graham Kinnear, Director at nationwide tenant eviction firm Landlord Assist comments "Landlords should take responsibility for their property and ensure that the standard of accommodation meets the requirements of the 2004 Housing Act. In the event that it does not or that the property is overcrowded then the landlord coulld be liable to prosecution.
Cannabis Factory Landlord Jailed Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT This case concerns the landlord who let out a property which was used by the tenant as a cannabis factory. The landlord was initially unaware but later in the tenancy found out what the property was being used for.
At this stage he decided that to recoup the losses of the damage to the property that he would CONTINUE USING THE PROPERTY AS A CANNABIS FACTORY!
Confidence among Landlords is at a two year high according to nationwide tenant referencing firm Landlord Assist who report that over 60% of Landlords intend on acquiring at least one more investment property over the next six months.
Graham Kinnear MD at Landlord Assist comments "The strength of the private rented sector and the currently still depressed sales market makes it an ideal time for investors to expand their portfolios"
A Milton Keynes Landlord has been recently jailed following the death of a woman and her daughter in a rented property.
The fire which took place back in September spread throughout the first and second floors of the property . The lady sadly died from smoke inhalation as she could not get out of the property.
A recent case has highlighted the need for inventories to be correctly undertaken and signed by the tenant to avoid any problems at the end of the tenancy.
Graham Kinnear, MD at nationwide tenant eviction and tenant referencing firm Landlord Assist comments "The case concerns a landlord who provided photographs of teh condition of teh property at the outset of the tenancy all of which were dated via a date printing facility on the camera used. At the end of the tenancy there was a reported £7,000 of damage to the property and the landlord claimed to have the deposit returned to him."
Landlords and letting agents should be aware that from next year it will be mandatory to have a carbon monoxide detector in rented property.
Graham Kinnear at Landlord Assist is suggesting that landlords get the device installed when they are having the annual gas safety certificate carried out to avoid the expense of an additional visit by the engineers next year.
A staggering report has revealed that almost a third of landlords do not undertake any referencing on their tenants and yet in the same survey only 2% would consider purchasing a car without an MOT.
Landlord Assist the nationwide service provider for landlords and letting agents cannot understand this paradox. Graham Kinnear, MD at Landlord Assist comments "If one wouldn't buy a car without ensuring that it was broadly as it appeared then why allow someone to occupy your property who you know nothing about!"
Demand for rental properties will remain strong and continue well into 2012 says Landlord Assist, the nationwide tenant eviction and referencing firm.
Since the start of the recession the buy-to-let sector has witnessed a surge in demand as many would-be buyers have struggled to get on the property ladder due to the strict lending criteria imposed by lenders and the challenge of raising large deposits.
This unprecedented demand has pushed up the price of the average rent in the UK and enabled landlords to increase their rental prices to record levels.
Landlord Assist - Shortlisted for another 5 national awards Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT Nationwide service provider Landlord Assist has been shortlisted as a
finalist for 2011/12 in a record five categories of the prestigious
Landlord & Letting Awards.
Landlord Assist are baffled at the support which is being offered to
the Tenant Choice Alliance by landlords. The scheme is aimed at getting
an amendment to the Welfare reform Bill which would allow tenants on
housing benefit the choice of receiving the benefit themselves or having
it paid directly to the landlord.
Graham Kinnear, MD at Landlord Assist comments "This in my mind is patently ridiculous.
Landlord Assist the nationwide tenant referencing firm are working incredibly hard undertaking referencing on the many thousands of students who are about to embark on their university courses. Janet Herd one of the firms Senior Account managers states "the demand this year is incredible. Aside from those with guaranteed places we are undertaking some fast turnaround applications for some of the 40,000 students who are securing places at University through the clearing system".
Landlord Assist the nationwide tenant eviction firm are delighted with the announcement by Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister, who is proposing to make it easier to evict troublesome tenants.
Graham Kinnear, MD at Landlord Assist comments "We have certainly seen an increase in the number of landlords complaining about the anti social behaviour of their tenants and disillusioned about the length of the process involved in terms of getting the tenants removed”
The Electrical Safety Council has teamed p with the Association of residential Managing Agents and a number of other organisations to produce a new guide promoting electrical safety in the communal areas of residential properties in England and Wales.
There have been a couple of major fires in blocks of flats over the last few months which have tragically resulted in the deaths of a number of people.
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