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  Renter's Rights Bill - Exclusive Basingstoke Landlord Event Join us at the  Hampshire Court Hotel & Spa  for an exclusive event tailored for Basingstoke landlords. Learn about the latest updates on the  Renter's Rights Bill  and how it impacts you as a landlord. Network with fellow industry professionals and gain valuable insights to navigate the changing landscape of rental laws. This in-person event is a must-attend for landlords looking to stay informed and ahead of the curve. Secure your spot today! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/renters-rights-bill-exclusive-basingstoke-landlord-event-tickets-1541329280369?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl 

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 ...

It’s a boy! Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their new arrival, the fifth in line to the throne. While we await a name, in property terms which are the most valuable, or familiar of the bookmakers favourites? Over the last year properties sold on streets bearing all the names with the exception of Frederick exceed the UK average house price of £225,047. Properties sold on streets bearing Albert, Elizabeth and Mary attracting the highest price premiums. Victoria is the most popular girls street name, Albert for a boy, over 3300 and 1300 sales respectively taking place on streets bearing these names, compared to less than 40 for Alice and just 130 for Philip. And what of George and Charlotte? Properties sold on streets including George, sold on average for over twice the UK average at over £483,000, while Charlotte attracts a premium of over £70k compared to the UK average.

The National Housing Federation recently published their report “Home Truths 2017/18” which offers an interesting insight into the property market across the country. Although the data is based on figures from 2017, and is therefore 6 to 9 months in arrears, there were some interesting figures for the Basingstoke and Deane market. The report highlighted the following concerns for the Basingstoke housing market   ·          Between 2012 and 2016 there was a short fall of over 2,343 homes – the second highest in Hampshire after the New Forest. 
 ·          At over £326,000, the average home in the region now costs over 10 times the average salary. 
 ·          A family seeking to buy the average home in Basingstoke now requires an income of more than £74,000 
 to afford a mortgage, making home ownership unattainable for many. 
 ·  ...

Over half (55%) of owner occupiers across England own their homes outright. Meanwhile, house price growth means that homeowners have amassed significant amounts of equity in their homes. Many, having climbed the housing ladder, are now realising the potential of this huge wealth tied up in property by downsizing from their existing large properties. The Annual Retirement Confidence Index from McCarthy & Stone in 2017 revealed that 38% of over 65s would consider downsizing now, equating to around 4.5 million pensioners. We calculate that, if owners moved from their existing 4-bedroom detached home to a 2-bedroom flat, they could release, on average just under a quarter of a million pounds. The amount varies by region from £155,000 in Wales to £466,750 in the South East and £815,000 in London. While freeing up under occupied homes to help ease some of the housing stock issues in the market, downsizers will reduce their ongoing running costs and also be left with a large pot of...

Last year we looked at the most popular day to complete on a home purchase and found that around half of sales complete on a Friday. We have now looked to see how this compares with tenants starting a new lease. Unsurprisingly, the end of the week and weekend is the most popular time to move into a new home. However, with finance transfers not required in the same way as when buying a property, tenancy starts are spread over Fridays and Saturdays. The most popular day of the week to begin a tenancy is Friday, accounting for 24% of tenancy starts over the last three years. The next most popular day is Saturday with 22% of tenancy starts. Our analysis also reveals that the three most popular days of the year to begin a tenancy are 1st July, 1st August and 1st September. This year the 1st September looks set to be the busiest day of the year, falling on a Saturday.  

    Failure to serve the correct information to your tenants could result in you never being able to serve notice to vacate to your tenants!   A recent court decision has highlighted the need for all letting agents and landlords to serve the correct information to their tenants, BEFORE the start of a tenancy.   Most landlords and agents will be aware that the following documentation must be provided to their tenants before the start of a tenancy:   Deposit Registration and Prescribed Information A copy of the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for the property The government's current How to Rent Guide  Any relevant licences required A copy of a current Gas Safety Certificate if the property ...

  The latest figures from the ONS, would suggest that average property prices in the Basingstoke area increased by 8% over the course to 2017.       By comparison, average prices across the South East increased by 6.1% and across England & Wales by just 3.0%. Although the property prices have performed well over this period, the number of sales transactions (as we have reported before) have declined over the same period by 10.6%.   Over the last 12 full months there have been 2,797 sales in Basingstoke. This is a –11% change on the previous 12 month period. The average sales price was £309,024.   17% of sales in the past 12 months were flats, achieving an average sales price of £173,572 . Houses achieved an average price of £346,755 . The total value of sales was £863,202,193 . The highest value recorded by the Land Registry over the past 12 months was £420,000 for a flat and £1,870,000 for a house.   Mort...

A chance to buy a Freehold property which was converted in 2012 to four individual apartments. Each of the apartments is rented and provides a rental income of £2650 per month so a yield of 5.8%. The property is producing income from day 1 and this is a rare chance to add to or start building a property portfolio.  Here is the link https://www.martinco.com/property/for-sale/319968

Earlier this week, Jeremy Corbyn used his leader’s speech at this week’s Labour conference in Brighton, to commit the party to introduce rent controls when it next forms a government. “Rent controls exist in many cities across the world and I want our cities to have those powers too and tenants to have those protections” he told delegates. Residential Landlords’ Association policy director David Smith said “Rents are high due to the continued failures by successive governments of all stripes to build enough new homes in the right places. Instead of attacking landlords who are helping to provide homes, it would be better to treat them as part of the solution and to supplement their efforts with a sustained and well thought out building programme overseen by government” Surprisingly, even Shelter has warned that this could indirectly “end up harming” the very tenants which Corbyn and his colleagues seek to protect.  Shelter chief executive officer, Polly Neale, says: ...

jordy Gillard     Now that everyone has returned from their summer holidays, and the new school terms have started, it is a good time to assess the market.   Since May 2017, the market in Basingstoke for both sales and lettings has been one of the most challenging in recent years. The number of new properties coming to the market is currently around half that of 12 months ago.   There have been many factors that have contributed to this as we have discussed before, not least of which are Brexit, the impact of the general election on the housing market, and the seasonal impact of the holiday season. During this time, we have seen a number of properties on the market reduce their pricing in order to achieve a timely sale or let.   On top of this, the Bank of England have made their strongest hint yet that a rise in interest rates may be likely, sparking a rise in the value of the pound against other currencies, and yet onl...

  As a landlord, it is your responsibility to ensure that any appliance you provide in your property are safe for your tenants to use.   However, there are have been a number of high profile property fires recently, where the source of the fire has been identified as being a faulty appliance. Not least of these was the recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower.   Nationally, less than half of adults (43 per cent) register their appliances with a manufacturer, leaving many owners untraceable if a product needs a safety repair.   As a result, the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA), set up Register My Appliance (RMA) as a not-for-profit safety initiative, in an attempt to increase the number of appliances that are registered, and therefore improve the ability for manufacturers to communicate to owners if a safety repair is required.   Register My Appliance is an easy to navigate online portal where landlords, th...

Many landlords are still unaware it would seem, that failure to carry out a Gas Safety check on all the gas appliances and flues in a rental property at least annually (by a Gas Safe-registered engineer) is a criminal offence. It is also a criminal offence to allow there to be a gap between valid gas safety certificates during any part of an active tenancy. A gas safety certificate can expire in between tenancies, as long as a new one is carried out before the start of a new tenancy, and a copy of that certificate is provided to the tenant. Failure to carry out these checks and ensure they are safe for the tenant to use can result in a custodial sentence, or a substantial fine. Landlord Fined £17,500 This was recently highlighted by a case where a landlord was fined £17,500 for failing to maintain gas appliances at a domestic property in Haverfordwest. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the landlord failed to obtain a Landlord Gas Safety...