Noisy tenants and the complaining neighbours that go alongside them are every landlord’s nightmare, but is it really your issue to deal with? Essentially the answer is no, you are not responsible for the noise your tenants may make. That said it often pays to try to resolve noise related issues amicably if at all possible.

I recently let one of my properties to a young couple and had no issues at all for the first four months, rent paid on time and the three month maintenance visit revealed my flat looking better than ever, perfect. Shortly after that visit I received a call from the lady who owns the flat below complaining that my previously perfect tenants had turned amateur DJ overnight and were driving her insane with late night bass booming through the ceiling.

I called my tenants and spoke with them about the complaint explaining that specialised music equipment would be far louder than a standard iPod dock and that at 3am it wasn’t really acceptable behaviour in a shared period conversion property. I was very pleasantly surprised by the response I received, completely understanding and rational; job done! A quick phone call to the lady downstairs to say my tenants were very understanding and the noise issue wouldn’t happen again and I considered the whole matter done and dusted…

Not the case as it turned out, within the week I had the same complaint of late night music noise coming through to me. Unfortunately it seemed my tenant had no real intention of changing their behaviour and the complaints from downstairs just kept on coming. I then spoke with my tenant again calmly explaining that the other residents within the property had a right to quiet enjoyment and that should this issue continue and be taken to the council I would be within my rights as landlord to terminate their tenancy agreement. A few weeks after this conversation I checked in with downstairs to check up on the situation, I was informed that no music noise from my tenants had been heard after 9pm which was far more reasonable.

As a landlord dealing with noise issues is always a tricky business, on one hand you don’t want to alienate your tenants and cause them to leave; after all they are paying to live in your property and they must be able to live as they wish and see fit within reason. On the other hand dealing with constant complaints can become stressful and highly time consuming. Usually the best strategy to start with is to try and get both parties to talk about the noise issues and air their views; normally rational tenants can make slight adjustments which resolve the issues without any further problems. Occasionally this will not be the case. In situations where complaints regarding your tenants escalate to involve the council and verbal conversations are not producing results it may be worth considering a formal letter warning that if the problem is not resolved you will be forced to end the tenancy under a Section 8 notice, ground 12.

Written by Sarah Male, Urban Sales and Lettings

Local Landlord Property Investment Shows have launched and are visiting 5 of the Buy To Let “hot spot” areas around the Country in 2013!

Buy To Let has never been Stronger!

The latest rental industry figures show us why Buy To Let is set to be 2013’s favorite investment opportunity!

Great time to Invest!

According to Rightmove, UK rents have risen by 13.6 per cent since 2009, while capital values in most places have stagnated or fallen. The property website predicts another two per cent rise across the country this year.

Upon the growth of the “Buy To Let” market we are delighted to announce the launch of The Local Landlord Property Investment Show, reaching out to your local target market.

We will be taking the Local Landlord & Property Investment Shows to the top 5 hottest Buy To Let Investment areas.

Why a property Road Show?

The buy to let market is big business and through our research and recent published industry reports, we know that each of the areas above have huge potentials for landlords to extend their buy to let portfolio or indeed for those who are looking to get into the market.

2013 Road Show time table & Buy to Let hot spot destinations are…

• Surrey Local Landlord Property Investment Show – Thursday 16th May 2013 – 10.00am – 4.30pm
Venue: Croydon Park Hotel, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 5AA
Followed by (Gala Evening Dinner) at 7pm

• Brighton Local Landlord Property Investment Show – Thursday 20th June 2013 – 10.00am – 5pm
Venue: Thistle Brighton Hotel – Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2GS

• Cambridge Local Landlord Property Investment Show– Thursday 19th September 2013 -10.00am – 5PM
Venue: Cambridge City Hotel – Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DT

• London, Grand Connaught Rooms – Tuesday 15th October 2013 – 10am – 5pm

• Milton Keynes Thursday 14th November 2013 venue TBC

Why focus on the local areas?

Each “Local Landlord Property Investment Show” will focus on the investment opportunities for that local area, including new buy to let developments, investment properties for sale and the future development of the area including public transport & retail. In general the show will provide an all-round informative guide on why it’s a great time to invest within that area.

Speakers confirmed to date are:

Mark Nathwani (Property Investor & Entrepreneur)

David Tillyer (Easy Property Solutions)

Marie Parris (George Ellis Property Services)

Steven Hanbury (Tenants History)

Peter Littlewood (Southern Housing Association)

Simon Wadsworth (Croydon Council)

Here’s what our show associates have to say about the launch of Local Landlord Property Investment Shows:

Marie Paris – George Ellis Property Services

This is a must “save the date” for any Landlord to visit one of the five property road shows this year in order to retain or grow your buy-to-let investments. Take advantage of the wealth of experience, advice, service providers and exhibitors that are there to help and want YOU to succeed.

Chris Greaves – Alan Boswell Insurance

Alan Boswell Insurance is delighted to be part of these unique Local Landlord Property Investment Shows, what a great way to promote our brand and our Landlord and Letting Agent Services direct to our target audience. We will be on hand to offer our expert advice to both established Landlords/Investors as well as those who are embarking on becoming a Landlord. We are also keen to talk to Letting Agents who may be looking for a new Insurance Partner.

Mark Nathwani – Property Expert

I am excited to be speaking at the Landlord Property Investment Show for several reasons:
The first being that I have huge confidence in the team and their ability to execute an outstanding event, which I am confident that the visitor will find most rewarding.

The other reason is that I believe Real Estate remains one of the most profitable and secure investments in this uncertain economic climate.

Finally, I am honoured to be asked to add value to a “game changing” event in terms of how these events and seminars are offered.

I have a lot of offer and since I am now part of a team that really cares, I am even more enthusiastic to share my knowledge and investment skills.

Lisa Beale – Checkaprofessional.com

We are both proud and delighted to be supporting our members on the first of 5 roadshows!

The Landlord & Letting industry is receiving a lot of press at present and the idea of a show aimed at bringing the industry together, to explore what is available is a fabulous idea! Tenant History have identified a need for landlords in this ever growing market and have taken the initiative to bring other businesses on board to exhibit further benefits at these shows.

Checkaprofessional.com look forward to meeting landlords who wish to display trust, honesty, confidence, quality and transparency to their prospective tenants as well as other businesses. This is a unique marketing tool courtesy of Checkatrade.com proud to be serving the UK since 1998.

Simon Wadsworth – Croydon Council

Croydon Council are pleased to be a sponsor of this event. As a keynote speaker I am looking forward to showing how through as an investor in buy-to-let you can benefit from a long term, secure return through working with local authorities.

Welfare reforms introduced recently by government bring both challenges and opportunities, as a speaker I will provide you with tips on overcoming the challenges and I trust confidence in the opportunities available…”

Local Landlord Property Investment Show – Connecting Property Professional’s with Industry experts.

Landlords will also benefit from meeting expert suppliers who will be exhibiting on the day including:

Credit Referencing: BTL Mortgage’s: Landlord Insurance: Landlord Deposit Schemes: Financial Experts: Legal Services: Vetting: Health & Safety: Property Management: Property Lettings + much more.

To Book your FREE tickets for our Surrey Show please go to:

http://local-landlord-expo.eventbrite.com/#

If you would like to pre-register for any off the other dates & venues please contact Tracey Hanbury on 07931 308 875

To download a visitor pack or exhibitor pack please visit: www.tenantshistory.co.uk/membership

Local Landlord Property Investment Show in Association with…

Show Sponsors

With commercial property, the relationship between landlord and tenant hinges upon the terms and conditions of a tenancy, commonly known as a ’lease’ (a lease is the document). When a lease is granted, the onus is on the landlord to draft the wording and the tenant to approve. When the lease contains a rent review, with the rent to be reviewed to the market rent, as distinct from a formula such as index–linked, the lease will incorporate a ’second’ lease known as the “hypothetical lease”.

The hypothetical lease is all about how the market rent is valued. Rent is the product of the terms and conditions of the tenancy upon which the premises are let. The object of the hypothetical lease is to replicate those terms and conditions, but it does not have to replicate precisely. The wording of a hypothetical lease requires careful thought. When landlords and tenants leave the drafting to their respective lawyers, as happens invariably, the draftsmen are likely to follow precedents, often slavishly. Use of precedent is widespread and time–saving, but the snag in following what someone else has agreed involving other circumstances is that the consequences in practice for the parties in question may not be appropriate.

Whether the landlord’s or tenant’s intention could back-fire depends upon whether the wording attracts positive or negative connotations of material importance. Amongst issues where the landlord’s intention can back-fire involves the method of dispute resolution. There are two different methods, commonly known as ‘arbitration’, but whose rules differ. When the procedure is arbitration, any wording in the lease requiring each party to pay half the arbitrator’s costs is void under the Arbitration Act 1996. Also, while an arbitrator can award costs to the winner, it is not only the arbitrator’s costs that the loser could end up paying but also the loser’s costs. Where the procedure is determination by independent expert, whether the expert has jurisdiction on costs depends upon the wording of the lease: where the lease is silent one party could end up paying the whole of the expert’s costs.

If at review the rent cannot be agreed then the prospect of having to shell out an extra several thousands pounds plus vat to have the rent fixed by a third party can be daunting. It may become a question of extra costs versus worthwhile. Since ’armchair’ landlords tend to regard the dispute procedure as a last resort to be avoided if at all possible, many landlords tell their surveyors they do not want to go to ‘arbitration’ it doesn’t take much for a well–advised tenant to prey upon landlord fear by using the ploy of extra costs to obtain no increase. The same goes for tenants that concede more rather than pursue the (lower) market rent, only to find themselves stuck paying the higher amount for the duration of the term.

Costs ought not be considered in isolation. For a landlord, any increase will, provided the rent payable is ‘upward-only’ (not less than rent payable before the review) stay at that minimum level for the remainder of the term, possibly longer. Any uplift in rent can increase capital value and indicate investment performance. For a tenant, paying more than absolutely necessary will, assuming the upward-only proviso, endure for the term and possibly any holding-period after expiry of the tenancy, and can affect the marketability of the lease and sale of the tenant’s business as a going-concern.

Allowing the drafting and approval to lawyers working in isolation without input from surveyors can be a mistake. A lease is a fixed document, whose content may only be changed by mutual agreement (or rectification should a genuine mistake made by the original parties) but the market is continually changing. Wording from the past may not be such a good idea now or in future.

A prudent landlord will want a surveyor to assist the lawyer in drafting the lease, likewise a prudent tenant. Lawyers may have the theory at their finger–tips but surveyors deal with the practicalities. The difference is between the subjective and the objective. The lawyers represent the subjective, namely the actual landlord and tenant respectively, but at rent review the actual parties take second–place to the objective, the hypothetical landlord and hypothetical tenant. For subjective aspirations at rent review to be achieved, the hypothetical lease must be complementary.

Where a property is bought already let, the new landlord could be lumbered with a lease whose terminology is unfavourable to the investor’s expectations. Appraising a proposition without considering the impact of the terms and conditions of the existing tenancy can result in overpaying for the investment. For example, of a building that has been structurally enlarged, the question to whom does the rental value of the enlargement belong can be answered by the documentation.

Ideally, the hypothetical lease should allow for changes in the market, but predicting is not easy even if you think deeply and long-term. For matters shown to be contentious the tendency is to include the best of both worlds. For example, whether the term in the hypothetical lease is the original term or the unexpired term; should the original term run from the commencement of the tenancy or the review date.

Of course, any intention one party has via the hypothetical lease is only likely to succeed when those on the other side are inexperienced or have no choice at the drafting stage. At rent review, anyone can barter but for negotiating a rent review to market rent one needs a grasp of business tenancy law, rental valuation, and tenancy-psychology. For those of us surveyors whose job is to scrutinise ‘small print’ with a view to finding lucrative angles and loopholes for clients to exploit, the leaving the drafting of leases to lawyers can provide rich pickings.

Michael Lever
The Rent Review Specialist
Established 1975