After the success of the first seminar and due to high demand from landlords, LandlordAction have added three more Local Housing Allowance seminar dates:

14/May/2010: Manchester
11/June/2010: Birmingham
02/July/2010: London

Learn how to make the system work for you: www.LandlordAction.co.uk/LHA.

In association with Settled Housing Solutions, LandlordAction have designed a comprehensive Local Housing Allowance Seminar for private landlords, professional lettings agents and temporary accommodation suppliers who are either already operating or considering entering into this important sub-market.

If you deal with tenants who receive Local Housing Allowances, this seminar will be essential for you in order to understand the techniques that will maximise your rental returns and avoid costly problems that are commonly associated with LHA tenants.

The programme for the full day seminars will include:
• How to successfully set up a LHA tenancy.
• The new Department of Work and Pensions/Communities and Local Government guidance on safeguard policies and direct payments to landlords.
• How LHA rates are calculated.
• Evidence required for housing benefit claims.
• Understanding Broad Rental Market Areas.
• How to avoid rent arrears.
• Local authority ‘Landlord Assisted Schemes’ – how do they work.
• How to get claims paid much quicker.
• Understanding the legislative protocol to manage housing benefit claims.
• Understanding the role of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
• How to deal with overpayments.
• How to increase rental profits by knowing the system.
• Utilising local floating tenancy support services
• Ongoing LHA monitoring and performance: how it can be improved.

Also general advice relating too:
• Effective tenant referencing.
• How to avoid bad tenants.
• Eviction procedures.
• Recovering rent arrears and debt recovery.

Price: £250 per delegate

Included: Four seminar-sessions; full information pack, containing comprehensive how-to guide for everything relating to LHA; speaker’s slides; 3 course lunch; networking sessions.

For more information, or to book a place, please visit our website: www.LandlordAction.co.uk/LHA

The service allows landlords to access the buy-to-let mortgage finder which, based on a landlord’s personal circumstances, will search all of the available buy-to-let mortgage schemes from all leaders in the market, to find the best deal for them.

“We are always looking to develop new services that add value to our clients. With the launch of Martin & Co Mortgages we can now offer landlords one of the most comprehensive services in the industry.” commented Mark Burdge, Sales and Marketing Director.

“The mortgage finder is not just a marketing gimmick. Landlords can search all of the available deals and get full details of any scheme they wish. The mortgage finder will also tell you how much monthly income you have in surplus or shortfall with a particular scheme!” added Burdge.

“We are confident that the service will help landlords across the UK save time, and more importantly money. The service is completely free of charge and also has a free helpline, giving landlords access to our buy-to-let mortgage specialists, who will be happy to help.

We are not re-inventing buy-to-let mortgages, we’re just re-inventing how landlords search for them.” concluded Burdge.

Landlords wishing to access the buy-to-let mortgage service should visit www.martinco.com

Occupancy levels in rented property reached an all-time high in 2009, with rents set to increase even further in 2010 as a result, according to Edinburgh-based Cullen Property.

The flagging property sales market and reduction in approved mortgages has had a positive effect on the city’s rental market, with 97% of Cullen’s 300 properties fully occupied going into the New Year. In comparison, occupancy levels were 2% lower between 2004 and 2008.

An increase in those keen on the flexibility of renting, and home owners buying property at a later age, has also boosted rental figures with rents increasing at an average rate of 2.7% as a result.

“Despite the devastating effect of the recession on the property sales market, 2009 was a good year for us in the rental market” says Steve Coyle, Cullen Property’s Operations Director.

“Our occupancy levels have been competitive since we started in business 12 years ago but last year was our best yet and this has been down to a rise in popularity of renting property rather than buying. Renting is more flexible and, with people now waiting until their mid to late 30s to buy property, there is a huge demand for high quality rental accommodation, meaning great opportunities for existing and potential landlords. And with rents increasing at an average rate of 2.7% last year, this bodes well for the long term progressive rental growth.”

Cullen Property specialises in letting, acquiring and managing properties for clients looking to invest in and let residential property to both the student and professional markets in Edinburgh.

PADZ has been developed from the ground up to provide a flexible platform which can cater for all types of residential property rentals. Properties can be let on a standalone basis, grouped into development blocks, or broken down into individual rooms for rent including flat and house shares. This approach provides flexibility to advertise anything from large institutional landlord portfolios through to individual rooms and even holiday rentals. A calendar for each property and room allows users to set flexible pricing and to manage availability for short lets and holiday rentals.

The PADZ search technology uses a unique global indexing system which allows properties to be listed in any location in the world. Users can also tap in to their social network by promoting properties on Facebook and Twitter.

The founders noticed that they were getting fewer responses from their property adverts on traditional free classified sites as tenants were being turned off by the volumes of spam and scams appearing on these sites. To address this problem, PADZ has been designed with a strong social networking element which allows users to build their credibility and trust online.

Tenants can leave reviews about the property that they stayed in and feedback about the landlord. Similarly landlords can leave reviews about their tenants which can then be used as a reference for future rentals. In houseshares, tenants can check the profiles of the other housemates already living in the property online.

Landlords and agents are charged a daily rate of £0.20 per listing and an initial listing fee of £3. This means that users only pay for the days of advertising that they actually use. PADZ currently offers a free trial with every listing.

About PADZ.com

PADZ is a property rental network that provides advertising services for landlords and agents to list properties and rooms for rent. The site was initially launched in public beta trial in June 2009. Tenants looking for properties to rent can add their requirements and search for free. The site currently lists properties in over 20 countries and with 40,000 unique visitors per month and rising.

The company was founded by Matthew Wilson, 34, and Thomas Karcher, 35, who are both property professionals and private landlords. Matthew is a chartered engineer by training and Thomas is a qualified architect.

The Private Rented Sector is a vital and growing part of the UK housing market, representing around 14 percent of all households in England, or around 3 million homes. The Government is keen to ensure that the sector plays its part in meeting the UK’s housing needs.

Commenting on the publication of the consultation document, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Sarah McCarthy-Fry said:

“The Government has provided significant support for the housing sector through the downturn, with around half of all new builds in the last 12 months having benefited from government support.

But the recent housing market downturn has had a significant impact on housing supply, and as our economy recovers we need to ensure that we look to all areas of the housing sector to meet these pressures.

The Private Rented Sector has been the most affordable, flexible and responsive segment of the market. We need to build on this to ensure it can play its part in supporting the recovery and meeting these urgent needs.

The consultation we are launching today will ensure that we fully understand the contribution the PRS can make, and identify any substantive barriers to investment.”

This Treasury consultation is complemented by the Communities and Local Government policy statement  “The Private Rented Sector: Professionalism and Quality: consultation responses and next steps” also published today.  Taken together, steps to raise quality and identify any barriers to investment should reinforce each other and create a better Private Rented Sector that can become the tenure of choice for a wider range of people.

• Consultation on Investment in the UK Private Rented Sector

Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

2010 however looks like it’ll be a very different picture according to Belvoir! Peterborough owner and award winning letting agent Terry Lucking. “We have seen a lot of the excess rental stock disappear over the last few months and tenants have to compete for properties again. Undoubtedly this will push up rental prices, especially in popular areas by as much as 5-10% in 2010.”

The long term prospect is even tougher for tenants. Despite falls in property prices, the need for deposits up to 25% has meant many people still can’t afford to buy, which is why people renting now dramatically exceeds the number of people buying. And with Opportunity Peterborough predicting a population increase of over 20,000 in the coming years, competition for good quality rented property is only likely to increase, and if supply doesn’t so will rents!

To help increase the supply of quality rented property in the Peterborough area, Terry is running the first Peterborough Buy to Let Conference on Thursday 25^th February 2010 and has put together great contributors, including Steve Bowyer, Strategic Director of Opportunity Peterborough; Kate Faulkner, Property Expert and author of Which? Essential Property Guides and Andrew Chatterton, a finance expert from St James’s Place.

“My aim with running this event is to ensure landlords and investors understand the amazing opportunities that Peterborough offers so we can provide more good quality rental properties to tenants. Despite the economic downturn and credit crunch, there are still thousands of landlords keen to invest and let good quality properties – and we need them!”

BOOK YOUR FREE SPACE NOW: enquiries@buytoletinpeterborough.co.uk or call 01733 286939

Editors Notes:
About the Peterborough Maximising Buy to Let Conference http://www.buytoletinpeterborough.co.uk/
The conference is organised and funded by Belvoir! Peterborough to help promote the region to new and existing landlords. The seminar format is a series of short presentations followed by Q&A discussions with property experts. There are two sessions, one from 1pm to 4pm and another from 6pm to 9pm.

About Terry Lucking

Terry is an award winning letting agent who is consistently voted the top performing agent of the Belvoir! Group and in 2007 received the coveted award of Franchisee of the Year 2007, voted by the British Franchise Association.
Terry is always keen to take part in business networks and volunteers his spare time to support franchising and is currently setting up the first National Landlord Association in the Peterborough area.

Belvoir! Peterborough and Corby expands into Cambridge
Belvoir! is one of the UK’s biggest franchised letting networks across the UK with over 140 offices, all of whom are members of the government backed National Approved Lettings Scheme. Terry Lucking, one of the group’s leading agents took over the Belvoir! Cambridge office in January 2010.

Over the past 12 months Landlord Action, a company specialising in tenant eviction, has seen a 15% increase in the number of overcrowding cases they are dealing with, with more cases in London than anywhere else in the country which, they believe, is a direct result of the recession.

Paul Shamplina, director and co-founder, explains, “the most common cases appear to be organised gangs looking for an easy money making scam. They take out a tenancy and then sublet to multiple occupants. The worst case we have dealt with was a three bedroom, one bathroom, semi detached house in North London which was found to have had 53 occupants, all illegal immigrants.

There were mattresses literally littering the floors from wall to wall in every available space. The sanitation issues were stretched to say the least. Another case was of a lady who had a lovely two bedroom flat in Victoria. Her tenant paid six months up front but she later discovered that 18 sets of bunk beds had been put into her property and it was being used as a youth hostel. A website in China was offering students visiting London accommodation at £20 per night. ”

Paul’s recommendation to landlords is to ensure that they have a good relationship with neighbours or caretakers so that anything untoward is brought to their attention as soon as possible. Most cases are reported by vigilant observers who often complain about noise levels or disrepair to the property due to excess occupants. Depending on what available time and resources the local police have, they don’t always want to get involved, often classing it as a civil matter.

If a landlords only option is to deal with the issue themselves, he has a stark warning, “if a landlord suspects subletting is happening in the property, whilst I would advise that the sub tenants are spoken to directly to clarify the situation as they may well be unaware of the circumstances themselves, a landlord should never accept payment direct from this source as this would be seen to be giving them authority to be in residence.

I would suggest that, if they are happy for them to remain, they cut out the middle man by going through the proper procedures to have the tenancy negated, then draw up a new tenancy for each resident. Under no circumstances should they accept payment of rent until the matter is sorted.”

He also recommends that both landlords and tenants use a reputable letting agency and landlords use a referencing company. Both parties should ensure that they are dealing with someone who is actually who they say they are by insisting on seeing photo ID and, in the tenants case, proof that the property is available for rent by the legitimate owner. If a landlord does decide to handle it themselves, they should ensure that due diligence is carried out.

Landlord Action is a UK based tenant eviction trouble shooting agency, focused on helping landlords with bad tenants, problem tenants and tenant evictions.

Landlord Action was set up by landlords for landlords, offering Landlords fixed fees to evict bad tenants nationwide, with a free advice line. Landlord Action have successfully evicted 15,000 bad tenants since the company started in 1999.

Paul Shamplina is co founder and co director of Landlord Action and has more than 20 years experience in the legal field, originally working as a clerk, private investigator, debt collector and certified bailiff. He has appeared regularly on TV and radio and travels the country speaking, giving advice and presenting “How to avoid a bad tenant” seminars. He believes passionately in the rights of the landlord and is always available for comment on any landlord/tenant related matters.

Landlord Action website www.landlordaction.co.uk free advice line 0800 856 7878 to landlords

Far from resting on their laurels the company has signalled their intent for 2010 by expanding their head office team for the 9th time in the past 12 months! Dean Gill, who has over 20 years experience in the property industry, has been appointed in the role of CFP Trainer, and will join the ever growing Martin & Co Training Academy.

“Dean will be assisting in the training and final implementation of CFP software across the network. He is a competent and experienced trainer who will be a great asset to the Training Academy team. Dean’s addition to the Training Academy sends out a clear message that we are committed to investing in our franchise owners and their staff.” commented Brand Standards Director Sue Hopson.

Dean is clearly relishing the chance to get started and work with franchise owners and their staff. “I am delighted to be joining the UK’s market leading letting agent. I’m excited at the opportunity to work with a national operation which is growing at a record rate. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and delivering useful and effective training to the Martin & Co network.”

Ian Wilson, Managing Director said “People want careers and not just jobs. Our Training Academy will aim to deliver over 2000 delegate days of training this year to both franchise owners and their staff. Because we provide great training, at convenient regional centres, our franchise owners find it easier to recruit and retain the most talented staff. And as a result our landlords and tenants are able to benefit from a level of expertise and customer service that is second to none”

• Martin & Co is the UK’s leading dedicated residential lettings specialist with over 170 offices throughout the UK.
• Started in Yeovil in 1986 by Chairman Richard Martin the company was franchised in 1995 and is a full member of the British Franchise Association.
• In recent years the company has been recognised with awards such as Franchise of the Year 2008 and Best Large Lettings Chain 2009.
• Martin & Co are continuing to grow and are on track to have over 200 offices in the UK in 2010.
www.martinco.com www.propertyfranchise.co.uk

Today sees the launch of the Boiler Scrappage Scheme[1], underlining the Government’s aims to upgrade household heating systems, cut carbon, save money on fuel bills and sustain work for the heating industry.

Up to 125,000 households across England with working ‘G-rated’, or worse rated boilers can now apply for a voucher from the Energy Saving Trust [2], which will entitle them to £400 off the price of a new ‘A-rated’ boiler, or renewable heating system.

Aspect Maintenance, (www.allaspectsltd.co.uk), a boiler installation and property maintenance and refurbishment specialist, which works in partnership with the Energy Saving Trust, is fully in support of the Boiler Scrappage Scheme. William Davies, Managing Director, comments:

“The scheme, which forms part of the UK’s ambitious CO2 emission reduction programme, will encourage householders to save money in the long-term. New boilers have rated efficiencies of 90 percent, or more, which means they use less fuel and result in lower CO2 emissions. Homeowners who upgrade from a ‘G-rated’ to ‘A-rated’ boiler could typically reduce the cost of their heating bills by around a quarter per year.

“By launching the scheme, I also believe the Government is showing its support for the property maintenance sector, as well as for manufacturing. It will undoubtedly result in an influx of homeowners looking to cash in and upgrade their boilers, which will inevitably create more work, and help to safeguard jobs.”

In a previous statement issued by Aspect Maintenance[3], Davies underlined reservations relating to possible delays between the announcement of the Boiler Scrappage Scheme and its implementation. He adds: “Initially I was concerned that the announcement could result in a possible lull, where homeowners may delay their plans until a launch to coincide with the Budget in April 2010. However, I am pleased to see that the scheme’s implementation has been brought forward to January. If a boiler needs to be replaced, then it is better to have a new one installed during the harsh winter months, when it has to work its hardest.

“We are also keen to highlight that homeowners should not be waiting for their boilers to die before looking to take advantage of the scheme. Unless they are over 60, their existing boiler must be fully functional to be entitled to the £400 incentive. And if a boiler is more than 15 years old, then it is likely to need replacing soon.”

Fraser Winterbottom, Chief Operating Officer, Energy Saving Trust said: “We know that people will act on larger energy efficiency measures like replacing boilers when they are both good for the environment and cost effective for them. They also need to be able to trust the claims that are made around energy efficiency measures. The Energy Saving Trust is impartial, can provide this assurance, and can provide information to help people assess whether their boilers are eligible. If you have access to the internet you can go on line to check whether your boiler is G rated or if you prefer, our expert nationwide advice centre staff are also available to advise you over the phone. We are here to help.”

1 http://www.decc.gov.uk
2 http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Heating-and-hot-water/Boiler-scrappage-scheme
3 http://www.allaspectsltd.co.uk/about-aspect/press/government-encourages-growth-property-maintenance-/

Aspect Maintenance is a leading property maintenance and refurbishment company operating across the domestic and commercial sectors.

Specialising on all areas of maintenance, from the drains to the roof and anything in between, Aspect Maintenance sets new, modern and highly professional standards. The company provides both reactive emergency breakdown maintenance and planned and estimated works.

Aspect Maintenance prides itself on the fact that its engineers turn up on time for their scheduled two-hour appointment window. The company does not charge hidden costs, such as parking, congestion charge or travel time, and jobs are completed as professionally and promptly as possible.

The company boasts an impressive list of accreditations including: Gas Safe, HVCA, Federation of Master Builders, the Guild of Mastercraftsmen, the Painting & Decorating Association and many more.

Founded in 2004, Aspect Maintenance has grown at over 100% year-on-year. The company is based in South West London, and operates primarily across the city and all areas inside the M25.

The first reading of the bill yesterday (16 December) was an initial step to becoming law and, the RLA maintains: “it’s important that action is taken at the earliest opportunity to protect the interests of tenants.”

The association – whose members own over 100,000 private rented properties throughout the UK – is backing Bolton South East MP Dr. Brian Iddon’s bill because “it does not help the reputation of the private rented sector for tenants to lose their homes in this way, often with little or no warning,” says the RLA secretary and solicitor Richard Jones.

“We responded to recent consultations by urging the government to introduce appropriate legislation and, despite the many legal issues involved, this needs to be kept as simple, straightforward and non-controversial as possible.

“We are more than willing to provide assistance or comments, as the bill is drafted, because a solution to the mortgage defaulting problem can only benefit landlords and tenants alike without creating undue consequences for commercial mortgage lenders.”

The Residential Landlords Association is a leading national organisation with members owning over 100,000 properties in the UK’s professional private rented sector. The range of members’ services – on www.rla.org.uk – includes legal advice, insurance, financial services, credit referencing and training.