LandlordZONE Newsletter April 2010 – Avoid the Voids

Avoid the Voids

Digital Book version: http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/digital-book/Apr10/index.html

Editorial:

Have the days of the amateur landlord really come to an end? Well, it’s certainly more difficult than it was to make landlording profitable, but it’s by no means impossible.

Being in one of the few remaining “cottage industries” – and likely to remain so given that lettings management does not scale-up in quite the same way as does retailing – the small guy can compete on equal terms with the big corporate investors.

How many councils or corporate managers will turn out immediately at 10pm on a Saturday evening to deal with a power cut, as I did only a few weeks ago?

Given the likely growth in the market over coming years the government (national and local) will increasingly encourage corporate and professional investment, but they must still rely to a very large extent on the Private Rented Sector (the small to medium sized landlording businesses) to satisfy demand and to supplement a much needed national housing pool.

Renting is a UK industry with a total asset value many times in excess of industries such as motors; it provides employment for up to 1m landlords, both part-time and full time, and a large army of letting agents and property managers.

Furthermore, private renting contributes so much to government objectives – a flexible and mobile work force and much needed accommodation to the immigrant and down-and-out population.

But, to remain viable, as in most walks of life in an advanced society such as ours, landlords must adapt and learn to be more professional in their approach to running their lettings businesses.
The industry is notoriously let down by a relatively small band of “cowboys” – those who flout the law and are largely ignorant of the rules and regulations which the more responsible in our industry follow to the letter.

It’s this band of irresponsibles that is largely the cause of the surge in legislation brought in or planned by the current government. Much of the recent legislation has been rushed and ill-thought through, plus some does not make sense in business terms.

Inevitably, it’s the law abiding that bear the brunt of the costs for all this; the reckless carry on in the same old way, largely unchallenged due to the lack of local government resources to interpret and enforce all the complex new legislation.

In this issue of the LandlordZONE Newsletter we take a look at some of the strategies landlords can use to improve the way they manage their lettings.

Avoiding voids is of course paramount for the average landlord as even short void periods when no rent is coming in and costs increase (insurance and coucil tax etc) can reduce the overall profitablity of the business dramatically.

This month’s Avoid-the-Voids Webinar – a new kind of meeting attendance where you can do so from the comfort of your own office or home, sat in front of your PC. The event is hosted by London based on-line lettings specialist Upad and chaired by the respected seminar speaker and editor of Property Investor News, Richard Bowser.