Want to make sense of all the property news chatter? You do, then I have some great news - as I have done the heavy lifting for you! I personally review between 300-400 daily news stories, blog feeds, social media and other online content in the world of residential property investment. I now … [Read more...]
Rent Control or ‘Rent Tax’ – The Debate Continues
The proposed 'rent control' idea put forward by Generation Rent is as follows: Have a rent control at 50% of the annual council tax rate for that band of property but as the monthly rent. For example, annual council tax = £1000, therefore rent controlled level = £500 per month Allow landlords … [Read more...]
Desktop Property Research to ‘Road Test’ Rental Investment Areas
OK, so we know we want to buy a property investment and we have our funds lined up ready to go...so the next question is: where should we invest? We could start by undertaking some simple desktop property research. One way to do this is to start at a more macro-level with our property research … [Read more...]
Letting Agent Agreement Terms…Small Print – Big Bite!
Ah yes the small print trap...it can give us quite a nasty shock when suddenly the print in the letting agent agreement terms is not-so-small, as I and plenty of other investors can no doubt testify. In a parallel story, I have heard of several software license providers to slip in the odd … [Read more...]
Rental Affordability in UK Cities – Top & Bottom 5
Would you have put Glasgow, Leeds & Cardiff in the top 5 cities in terms of rental affordability? Perhaps. What about the least in rental affordability?...London & Edinburgh are gimmes though? If you picked Oxford or Manchester, you would be wrong it seems... Interesting, if not wholly … [Read more...]
It’s a dog’s life at times…letting to tenants with pets
I have written in the past about the potential benefits and pitfalls of letting to tenants with pets This article today goes a stage further as it is a website resource called Lets with Pets pulled together by the Dogs Trust and it is fair and balanced I am happy to report. The tip off came in a … [Read more...]
Sensational talk of so-called “Revenge Evictions” being a major problem makes me mad!
Given that the majority (at least 64%) of possession claims came from social landlords of one type or another, it is difficult to see how the statement "Benefit cuts and the growing trend of “revenge evictions” have been blamed..." can be wholly accurate. The social landlord and benefits cuts link … [Read more...]
New Buy-to-let index from Lendinvest
If you have followed my insights for any time at all, you will know that I love to uncover good sources to go to for housing market data and so when I heard about a new BTL index I had to take a look. LendInvest have started a new index looking at yields, house prices / capital growth and a couple … [Read more...]
Reigning in the new kid on the block: Bid to stop airbnb-style lets…but would it work here?
Short-term rentals are a trend on the increase and worth keeping an eye on. Over the past week or two I have stayed at a couple of airbnb and other rental listings providers’ properties and will do the same again next week. I have also stayed in a similarly priced room in a lodge sourced through … [Read more...]
Holiday rentals: where is the most profitable location and is it that simple?
Holiday rentals in general is one niche within the investment property market that does not get a lot of media attention from an investment point of view. This survey is useful therefore in raising awareness if nothing else, although given that it is generated by a holiday rentals agency, we have to … [Read more...]