Members, We Need Your Help!
We wonder if we may ask members for some assistance please? We have a bug in our new software which seems to email members to say your subscription is due to or has expired despite you being fully paid up. The worst is that it doesn’t do this to all members and this is why we need your help. We have installed some code which should assist in finding the bug and importantly determine which members get the emails in error and which don’t. We would be soooooo grateful if you could email us if you get an automated reminder about your...
read moreHotel guest,licencee or tenant?
I have read somewhere that it makes a difference as to what terms of occupation may or may not exist if the premises is licenced for the sale of alcohol . Is this true? I have just bought an hotel and found your previous posted answere on this subject most helpful . Tweet
read moreLaunch of the all new Debt Collection Service
As many know, we’ve had a couple of attempts at providing a debt collection service. In fairness it’s a very difficult thing to provide because of course if the tenant or guarantor is not going to pay you why would they pay someone else? Anyway, after suspending the service for a short while, we have had a recommendation from one of long standing members (so if this fails, I know who to blame!) We are therefore very pleased to announce the launch of our all new debt collection service (again). Hopefully we will get some good...
read moreFire Safety Guidance – Purpose Built Blocks of Flats
The Local Government (LG) Group has led work to develop important new sector-led guidance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats. This was after landlords articulated a number of concerns about how best they can deliver an appropriate level of fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats. LG Group has worked alongside local authorities, private sector landlords and management agents, housing and environmental health professionals and fire and rescue services to produce this guidance. This sector-led guide has been developed by and...
read moreGuarantor deed and unfair terms
From Tessa Shepperson’s “School for Landlords” I’ve learned that if you take a guarantor for a tenancy then, once the initial fixed-period AST has expired, the guarantee is subject to the law on unfair terms, and is automatically terminated if there’s an increase in rent (or any other change to the terms of the tenancy). I see that the GRL Deed of Guarantee pre-empts this by stating that the guarantor obligations include(s) any rent increases, but how would that stand up if the landlord asked for an increase in...
read moreForeign Tenants
Having heard of the difficulties you can have when trying to evict a foreign tenant where English isn’t their first language because all of a sudden they claim they don’t understand the paperwork/legal process etc. Even though they spoke, read and understood English well enough before any legal proceedings started but the process is now dragged out for months longer with interpreters etc. Would there be any benefit in getting foreign tenants to sign a declaration (written in English and their native language) words to the effect that they...
read moreLand Registry launches top tips to help owners protect their property from fraudsters
Thanks to the painsmith blog for this one Property is usually the most valuable asset people own. It can be sold and mortgaged to raise money and is therefore an attractive target for fraudsters. The properties most vulnerable to fraud are usually empty, tenanted or mortgage-free. Individuals at a higher risk of fraud include owners who are absent for whatever reason; for example because the owner may live abroad, buy to let landlords, the elderly not living in their properties because they may be in long term hospital or residential care, and...
read moreEnergy Act 2011 – An Overview
The Energy Act 2011 is the result of the much talked about Energy Bill receiving Royal assent. You have probably heard of items contained within the act without perhaps realising that that’s where they originate. In particular, the Energy Act 2011 enacts the following: Green Deal Landlord not to refuse reasonable request for energy efficiency improvements Landlord not to let property unless meets minimum energy efficiency Green Deal The green deal is to be a new financing model to enable the provision of fixed improvements to the...
read moreSEIS govt. tax break
Have any members noticed the CGT and income tax breaks from Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) and does anyone think it would work to sell off long held properties with high CGT which could then be put tax free into an SEIS. Anybody know if this works please? see Daily Telegraph and govt web site. Tweet
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