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May 21st –25th is Walk to School Week. Every day nearly 4.7 million primary school children undertake the school run of which close to 2.5 million walk. Across England and Wales properties sold within a 10 minute walk of an outstanding primary school attract a 17.8% price premium compared to the average price of a property, the equivalent of £51,688. The premium is highest across the East of England and South East, where properties sell for as much as £70,000 more. Premiums across the North East and Wales are the lowest of all the regions, but even here a short, walkable school run can boost sales prices by several thousands. 

As part of the new government housing bill, one of the items under discussion, is capping the size of a deposit to a maximum of 4 or 6 weeks rent. For many landlords, the current average deposit of 6 weeks can seem inadequate if your tenant causes significant damage in the property or has failed to pay their rent. For many tenants, the cost of moving into a new rental property can be substantial, on average around £2,000 for their first months’ rent and deposit. On top of this, if they are moving from an existing rented property, they are unlikely to receive their deposit back from their previous tenancy, before having to pay the deposit for their new tenancy. As a result, a number of schemes have started to emerge that offer tenants a deposit free option to renting a property... But this is a good thing for either the landlord or the tenant? There are a few schemes that have emerged: 1. Tenants Pay an Insurance Rather Than a Deposit In this instance, the tenan...

  The government has announced that it’s launching a review into the requirement for carbon monoxide alarms in homes across England. The review will address whether alarms should be required for all methods of heating, including gas and oil, the cost of alarms and new research on deaths caused by carbon monoxide. There has already been a recent formal government consultation specifically into smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the private rental sector - that process has ended although it appears unlikely that it will trigger any change in the current regulations. As they stand, regulations require landlords - or agents acting on their behalf - to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their properties on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room wholly or partly used as living accommodation containing a solid fuel burning appliance. This latest consultation - which will ...