Welcome to the Basingstoke Property Blog

  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...

As we move into the traditionally slow summer holiday period, has the Basingstoke property market ground to a halt. In the past week, two large estate agency chains have reported dismal results. Countrywide reported a decline in profits for the first half of 2017 to £6.5m from £28.3m the year before. Foxtons similarly announced a 64% decline in profit for same period. There are many contributors to these results: • The rush to purchase properties before the changes in stamp duty came into force in April 2016 which are reflected in the 1H2016 figures • Continued uncertainty in the market due to the general election, Brexit and overall political uncertainty • This has resulted in a continued slowdown in the sales market month on month during the first half of 2017 In the case of Foxtons who are largely London based, whilst their lettings business remained largely resilient to these market conditions, their sale revenue declined 29% and their sales volume by 33%. By cont...

Brand New Apartments Open Day - YouTube Video

According to the Halifax House Price Index released in July, UK average house prices fell by 1.0% in June, with house prices in the three months to June down 0.1% compared to the previous quarter. This brings the average price of a house or flat down to £218,390. This is the third successive quarterly decline.   Measured on an annual basis, the average growth in house prices fell to 2.6% which is the lowest rate since May 2013.   Nationally, house prices are now 9% above their peak in August 2007, and 41% higher than their low point in April 2009.   The volume of house sales dropped by 3% between April and May, however, however sales in the three months to May were actually 1% higher than the preceding three months. We are likely to see a similar drop between May and June due to the general election.   Mortgage approvals between April and May edged up 0.2% suggesting that house sales are likely to remain steady over the coming months. ...

Further to our newsletter last week, please find attached a letter that was sent to a number of bodies representing the private residential sector following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London. The letter offers support to owners of private residential buildings in England to carry out tests on cladding. This is only relevant to you as a landlord or property owner, if you own a property in a building over 18m high which has, or appears to have cladding on the exterior. If you do, queries should be directed to your block management company. The government has confirmed it is offering: •                   In addition to the checks on residential blocks owned by social landlords, DCLG are offering private owners of residential buildings an opportunity to test cladding on blocks over 18 metres high through arrangements put in place with the Building Research Establishment (BRE). ...

  We have had a lot of enquiries over the past week from both landlords and tenants, following the awful fire at Grenfell Tower on June 14 th , to find out if their particular apartment block has a sprinkler system.   Although there is clear evidence to show that these systems can dramatically reduce the potential for damage to the property and potential loss of life or injury, regulations in England mean that only buildings constructed since 2007 and which are taller than 30m are required to have sprinklers fitted. This requirement wasn't applied retroactively so it does not apply to buildings that were built or modified before this date.   Whether a building is required to have these systems can also be influenced by when planning permission was submitted. So, if planning permission was submitted before April 2007 when the new regulations were introduced, but the building was not completed until afterwards, the building would not be subject to the...