On a day to day basis, as an agency we spend a huge amount of our time researching, evaluating and letting properties. We have found that the better a property is presented there is more of a likelihood of it being let quicker than the competition.

From time to time, we come across landlords who are renting or looking to rent their properties but have failed to acquire the appropriate licence. The most common rationale we hear is that they were unaware of such requirements. Whilst this may be the case, this will sadly not prevent a local authority from prosecuting a landlord for this mistake.

Most disputes that arise at the end of tenancy are based around cleaning. Statistics available confirm that this is the most common issue that deposit providers deal with as dispute cases. 

The difficulty in this situation is that everyone has a variable view of what is deemed as clean and an acceptable condition on how a property should be left.

Winter is fast approaching ... and with that comes a list of things for landlords to watch out for in terms of property maintenance. We have compiled a short list of key items to check off to help winter (& Christmas!) go without interruption.

Often times we have landlords approach us at property meetings for some advice on how to get the best rent as well as reducing their void periods. One of the key things we immediately look at is their (or their agent’s) property advertisements.

Winter Is Coming. Many readers will be familiar with the famous line from the cult series Game of Thrones which has some resemblance to the lettings market.

Whilst being a nation of animal’s lovers, where do you stand if you have a prospective tenant who wishes to let your property and have a pet?  Taking into consideration that 25% of the UK population own a pet and that this 25% will be a cross selection of professional occupants.

We have trailed, praised and thrown out many software solutions over the years. We thought it may be useful to provide a summary of some of the software tools that we think will make a significant difference for Landlords.

The constant thing that worries most landlords most is a long and costly void period.  Whilst most landlords acknowledge that voids can occur for a number of reasons, they are always keen to minimise this. 

We discuss some pointers to help reduce void periods.

So you have a multi-let property (HMO), you’re doing viewings but it's no one is snatching it up? This can be puzzling (and frustrating) for many landlords and agents. However, there’s usually a bit of science behind it. Let's take a look at some ideas surrounding this. Please note, these notes are specifically for the professional market.

Watching Nightmare Tenants/Slum landlords this week, the under-riding thread that kept cropping up, was the extensive arrears that tenants had accrued.

It is every landlord’s nightmare to have a tenant who will not or cannot pay their rent. In the hour long episode there were  landlords who were owed in excess of a year’s rental!

There is a store in the UK that everyone loves. A store that has been serving their clients diligently for 150 years. A store that is known for its faithful ethos and its commitment to integrity. Even after all this time in operation, it is hard to find a naysayer, let alone a damaging story on them. 

This is a store you go to if you are shopping on value, not on price. Have you guessed it already?

As of the 1st of June, Landlords and Agents are unable to charge the majority of fees due to the tenant fee ban. Great for tenants but not so for Landlords & Agents

We recently had a tenant who left his set of keys at his workplace and came home to realise he could not gain access. Our office was closed and he gave our out of hours line a call asking to be let in. Most of our properties have key safes (which are amazing leverage by the way) but this property did not unfortunately.

Yes, even we loath (the majority) of estate agents! Now to be clear, we’re putting letting agents and estate agents under the same banner. We all know the image - a slick, cocky, blue-suited, over-smiley and most certainly over-slimy agent who has more excuses than solutions up their sleeves.

Founding twin brothers (The Property Twins UK) have been best friends and business partners since selling sweets to their friends at their primary school playground. The brothers always had a fondness of property. Whether it was from their love of beautiful architecture, to the excitement of witnessing a vibrant development site - they always knew this was an industry they wanted to be a part of.

If you are converting a property to an HMO or perhaps already run an HMO, we have compiled a list of the main safety certificates and documents that you will likely need. 

Landlords deem the tenancy agreement to be the most important document when they are starting a new tenancy. In terms of importance, the property inventory is certainly one of the next most important documents for any landlord.

Without this crucial document being in place, a landlord could experience severe difficulty in confirming the condition that the property given to the tenant and proving any dilapidation incurred during tenancy.