ALL Buy to let landlord you must read this

[househunter]

From 6 April 2007 (61 days away) letting property rules with regards to holding a deposit all change.

This is going to effect the whole property market, I certain lots will off load their portfolio's.

www.tds.gb.com/downloads/TDS_Rules_of_Membership.PDF

or if you then want a broader outline then

www.tds.gb.com

Edited by househunter on Friday 2nd February 08:54

[stevieb]

Its about time Lnadlord were regulated of how they make deduction from deposits!!!

All helps in returning the buy-to-let stock back on the market. Keep the regulations coming for professional landlords.

[FUBAR]

stevieb said:

Its about time Lnadlord were regulated of how they make deduction from deposits!!!

All helps in returning the buy-to-let stock back on the market. Keep the regulations coming for professional landlords.

Here here

[househunter]

But there are bad tenant's as well. if you read this entirely, It's unworkable as an owner of 400 properties the admin will make the system collapse, this has been rushed out after a practice scheme that failed with the level of disputes rising weekly.

Two schemes one insurance backed, one custodial (money held by third party)and three players, this one is mainly for agents, Hamilton fraser insurance who have not put out anything yet and Computerserve (custodial) who's claim to fame is they run the scheme in Victoria, Aus (totally different market) where bad tenants are placed on a secure passworded website and non payers are hoofed out from 14 days not the 3 months it takes here.

The easiest way around this is no deposit and take a local guarantor but a grey area when visiting the Court system which is at braking point, Its a sledgehammer to crack a nut job......

[victormeldrew]

househunter said:

But there are bad tenant's as well.

Oh yes! Friend of mine was working away long term so he started renting his apartment to offset some of his costs. Basically after the deposit and first months rent he got NOTHING (other than excuses) from his tenant. At one point the tenant had basically abandoned the apartment so my friend gained entry to find pretty much all his furniture gone, and an unplugged fridge full of rotting food. He contacted the police who said they could do nothing to get his furnuture back, as technically the tenant was still renting (even though he was paying nothing) and may intend to return the furniture. By the time the legal gears have churned and the tenant is officially evicted I suspect the furniture will be rather difficult to trace.

Friend has accepted that he has lost thousands, plus his furniture, plus almost £1k legal fees and hundreds to get the place cleaned up again, and put the apartment on the market.

Tenants, salt of the earth eh?

[stevieb]

If its unworkable because of the admin burden of having 400 properties then the profit margins will ahve to come down and employ a few more staff to go through the admin hoops. All of us who have worked in IT have had a life made more difficult with IR35 regs, so now they just branching out to different sectors to get more money and to place more red tape in the way.

I have rented 2 properties in the last 12 months and the landlord has been an ar5ehole. and has taken deductions for no reason. and has never bothered to go through why he has done so and both times i have gone to small claims and won.

If you are complaining about bad tenants then thats the risk you take, i you do buy all of the affordable housing and let it out at stupid prices then so be it, you can not expect all the reward of owning a property with no risk. With the reduction in social housing has placed a need on private landlords to provide for the people who are assisted by the state.

[stevieb]

victormeldrew said:

househunter said:

But there are bad tenant's as well.

Oh yes! Friend of mine was working away long term so he started renting his apartment to offset some of his costs. Basically after the deposit and first months rent he got NOTHING (other than excuses) from his tenant. At one point the tenant had basically abandoned the apartment so my friend gained entry to find pretty much all his furniture gone, and an unplugged fridge full of rotting food. He contacted the police who said they could do nothing to get his furnuture back, as technically the tenant was still renting (even though he was paying nothing) and may intend to return the furniture. By the time the legal gears have churned and the tenant is officially evicted I suspect the furniture will be rather difficult to trace.

Friend has accepted that he has lost thousands, plus his furniture, plus almost £1k legal fees and hundreds to get the place cleaned up again, and put the apartment on the market.

Tenants, salt of the earth eh?

Gaining entry to property without giving prior warning breaks the tenancy agreement and in effect the tenant then owes nothing! The landlord has got to obtain a court order to reposses the property.

me the wofe and 2 kids were living in a apartment in south london and we were always interupted at weekends by the landlord for stupid reasons, and had given no prior warning to turning up. I had then left the property without paying rent and then proceeded to reclaim through court the previous 6 months rent at 975 per month on the basis that i had a right to live at the property and that we were entitled to a private and peaceful life free from disruption by the landlord.

[stevieb]

I have no problem with the small time landlords who we rented our last proeprty from who was honest approachable and even agreed deductions from the deposit due to the carpets not being cleared prior to us leaving the property. Soem people are actually honest its the pro landlords who are in it to make there money the easiest way and Run.

Edited by stevieb on Friday 2nd February 12:00

[Vesuvius 996]

househunter said:

From 6 April 2007 (61 days away) letting property rules with regards to holding a deposit all change.

This is going to effect the whole property market, I certain lots will off load their portfolio's.

www.tds.gb.com/downloads/TDS_Rules_of_Membership.PDF

or if you then want a broader outline then

www.tds.gb.com

Edited by househunter on Friday 2nd February 08:54

Good.

It's about time that piss taking landlords got regulated properly. They've brought this on themselves - not all of them - but a good number.

[victormeldrew]

stevieb said:

Gaining entry to property without giving prior warning breaks the tenancy agreement and in effect the tenant then owes nothing! The landlord has got to obtain a court order to reposses the property.

You are quite right, but he was given repeated prior warning as it happens, and was also told when access would be made. He "turned up" while friend was in the house and pretty much made it clear he wasn't living there any more and wouldn't be back. He hasn't, and technically he has abandoned the tenancy. He was subletting anyway, in breach of tenancy agreement; his daughter had been living there, not him. No sign of the landlords property though.

Wifey is a Housing Officer for the Council so I kind of know how the game works!

[stevieb]

I have been through all this renting stuff for 18 month while in the Southeast and there are some good one but there are a lot of bad ones. The ones who care have brought there proerpty for the pension fund others have just got into it for the money and taken advantage.

All i can say is thank god i have now got my own new Place!

[superlightr]

More red tape, regulation and cost.

If the tenant doesnt like a deductions they can go to court. Simple.

[stevieb]

superlightr said:

More red tape, regulation and cost.

If the tenant doesnt like a deductions they can go to court. Simple.

But the question is do some tenants ever get there money back!

[POORCARDEALER]

r

The term is "quiet enjoyment" , its what tenants are entitled to, so one of mine who wasnt paying his rent told me!!!!!!!!!!!

[selmahoos]

I've been letting property for 30 years. Try this: If a residential property is returned in reasonable order and the rent is up to date, the deposit is given back. "Reasonable order" is my/our judgement, and takes into account a level of wear-and-tear commensurate with the length of the tenancy.

[deevlash]

Good, Ive twice had a terrible boother getting my deposits back on the 2 flats I rented. One guy was a cowboy who'd shafted himself and clearly didnt have any money to give back to me and taking him to the small claims court wasnt worth the bother. He tried to claim £300 of paint to repaint the entire property etc. The second lot wanted me to prove council tax and bills were all paid up to date which Im fairly sure was none of their business as to prove it would have been a breach of the data protection act, in the end I jumped through their hoops anyway and have actually got my deposit back this time, 4 months after I moved out and bought my own place. About time this was regulated properly.

[whoami]

selmahoos said:

I've been letting property for 30 years. Try this: If a residential property is returned in reasonable order and the rent is up to date, the deposit is given back. "Reasonable order" is my/our judgement, and takes into account a level of wear-and-tear commensurate with the length of the tenancy.

Exactly.

Still, there a plenty of ways that tenants who don't pay, or ruin your property get their comeuppance.

[martin hunt]

I think any regulation to protect both parties is good.

But this is not a regulation it is link to a third party setting up a scheme and is not legislation or Law so "househunter" maybe misleading with the law is changing.

Not wishing to insult "househunter" but this looks like a scam forum post to generate links to a website to me....

But a good topic nonetheless

[superlightr]

sadly its not a scam. Well it is but a government sanctioned one. But arnt they the best scams of them all.