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A very smooth move is taking place at The Letting People in Leamington Spa – from Euston Place to Regent Street – with new offices being prepared to offer all visitors and staff a much improved lettings experience.  

Most aspects will remain the same – same friendly staff, same email address, and same phone numbers – but the location will be much more central to the town centre and with the new buzz of Regent Street.

Anyone visiting the Leamington Spa office in the past few weeks, might be wondering if The Letting People are still in business behind all the scaffolding! Yes, they are still trading … and will open in the new office from Tuesday 29th October.

The next few weeks will see a lot of new changes, and visitors will gain from a new area to drop off keys and pick up documents, and a new confidential room where documents can be read and meetings can take place to discuss your letting requirements.

The new office address is: 1st Floor, 113 Regent Street, Leamington Spa CV32 4NU

Do you know anyone looking for an interesting new job based in Leamington Spa?  The Letting People are delighted to announce that they are now recruiting for a permanent, full-time job of a 'Lettings Co-ordinator' at the Leamington Spa office.  This is an important position, joining a small team at The Letting People – a specialist, local, and independent letting agency. 

They will be looking for the following personal requirements to fill the vacancy:
• Letting agency experience is essential.
• Clean licence and own car is essential due to varied locations.
• Local knowledge is an advantage.
• Computer literacy is a must.
• Clear understanding of bank procedures essential.
Duties will include:
• Coordinating the letting service to achieve lettings targets.
• To visit properties as required and communicate with prospective tenants.
• Arrange appointments as required, negotiate prospective tenancies and to take applications, coordinating the letting service from application to tenancy.
• To provide reception service.
• Update specialized computer software.
• To register tenants deposits and provide feedback of deposit claims.
• To arrange contractors for repairs and maintenance.
• To update and log all relevant communications in accordance with company policies and procedures.
How to apply
(Please note that all applicants should apply as below by post or e-mail only please.)  You can apply for this job by sending a CV/written application to:
Caroline Kempster at The Letting People, 1st Floor, 5 Euston Place, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 4LN, or to caroline@thelettingpeople.co.uk.

Closing date for applications: Friday 1st March 2013
 

From 1st April 2013 Warwick District Council are changing the council tax discounts and exemptions for all residential rented furnished and unfurnished properties that are vacant.  This means that the current discount of 10% for empty furnished properties, and the 6 month exemption for empty unfurnished properties will both be altered in a few weeks' time.

From 1st April The Letting People will continue to find innovative ways to ensure that all furnished and unfurnished rented properties are turned around between lets as quickly as possible.  They are able to do this by ensuring that the property is inspected and effectrively cleaned after tenancies, by keeping the rent at an attractive level to encourage the best tenants, and by introducing individually tailored special offers where applicable.

To ensure that your property is not left empty between tenancies, contact The Letting People as soon as your tenant gives you notice and an appraisal can be made of how to ensure you have a new tenant in place as soon as possible.

To find out more about Warwick District Council's council tax changes visit http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Your-Council/Council+tax/Council+tax+reforms+2013.htm

The last week was very exciting – with three prizes won at The Letting People!

The week started on a high note with Nick Holmes www.grumpychicken.co.uk/ setting up a professional photo shoot at the new offices in Regent Street, Leamington Spa. The superb new photos of all the team will soon appear in all the new publicity and promotional items – so watch this space!

Nick’s time was bid for and won by The Letting People at a fundraising auction of promises for The Willows Project www.thewillowsproject.org.uk/ which recently raised over £7,000 at the Radford Semele Community Hall. Caroline Kempster, Marketing Director attended the auction and auctioned a promise of a training session on Twitter!

The Willows Project provides horticultural, agricultural and nature-based day activities on a working organic farm a few miles from Leamington Spa. They work with a range of excluded groups and individuals, including people with mental health problems, learning disabilities, long-term illnesses, addiction recovery and disaffected young people. Through practical, land-based activity sessions they successfully help people to develop new skills, build confidence and connect with nature.

Caroline and Anthony Kempster also attended Jo Cameron’s Achievers Academy for Women (AAW) awards evening which was raising funds for The Philippine Community Fund (PFC) www.p-c-f.org/ and raised over £500 for this incredible charity aiming to end child labour. PCF’s mission is to improve the quality of life for impoverished Filipino communities, to bring stability and realisable potential through sustainable education, nutrition, health and community advocacy programmes, as well as livelihood training, regardless of religion, race or political boundaries.

Caroline was delighted to win a prize in the PCF fundraising draw of a gift voucher of golf lessons with PGA Professional Julian Mellor at the Julian Mellor Golf School in Warwick www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk … so watch out on the fairways of Warwick!

The week ended with a £25 premium bond prize was won by Caroline – what a wonderful week of winning!

The rental market is seems to be almost recession proof as a growing number of people cannot afford to buy their own home. Here are some recent key facts:

• The latest census results show that from 2001 to 2011 the proportion of UK households in the private rented sector has risen from 12% to 18% (1)
• 9% of tenants prefer the flexibility of renting and a further 9% say they can afford to rent properties they could not buy (2)
• Property investors are coming back into the market and buy-to-let continues to be a safe investment with property prices almost stagnant, interest rates remaining low, and average annual total returns of 6.4% expected over the next 5 years (3)
• Additionally, the latest figures from Rightmove (the UK’s number one property website) show that UK rents have risen by 13.6% since 2009, and they predict a further increase in rents of 2% in 2013. 
• Rightmove also found that 24% of tenants said they expect to become a landlord in the future, and 9% of tenants said they are a landlord already actively renting out a property

(1) Guardian article by Tom Smith, January 2013
(2) National Landlords Association, May 2012
(3) Sunday Times article by Anna Mikhailova, November 2012
 

In recent years, the Government’s Rent a Room scheme has become more popular than ever before. The scheme, which lets landlords earn up to £4,250 a year, can provide a tax-free benefit for private landlords looking to let out a single room or an entire floor within their property.

We’ve noticed a trend towards resident landlords who continue to live in their property while letting a room, or several rooms, to a tenant or lodger. With times being as they are, money is often tight and many tenants are beginning to see the benefit of taking on an inclusive rent package such as this, which more often than not will include heating, electricity and other amenities such as Wi-Fi and TV licence.

Here at The Letting People we’ve been approached by several home-owners looking to take on a tenant with most looking to put together an inclusive package for lodgers, designed to include the cost of gas, electric, water, and other items.  It seems that both landlords and tenants get the best from this alternative living arrangement. Landlords are content in the fact that they can put a spare room to work and gain tax free income, while tenants enjoy having their landlord close by to deal with any household problems which may arise.

If you are looking to become a resident landlord, you need to consider several factors before taking on a tenant. And it’s important to take into account your needs, as well as theirs. As a live-in landlord you’ll be living in close proximity, so compatibility is essential.

It’s also a good idea to think about the communal provisions which will need to be in place. As well as utility bills, you’ll need to think about laundry facilities, parking, use of an additional television or even rules about occasional guests – for both yourself and your tenant.

We offer our landlords full referencing of their prospective tenant using an insurance company, and preparation of a specialist tenancy agreement.  For more information about becoming a resident landlord, talk to your local branch of The Letting People.

Formerly a 'dragon' on the BBC's Dragons' Den, Doug Richard, the leading entreprenear is soon to give The Letting People top quality business advice. Caroline Kempster, Marketing Director, is the lucky winner of a session with Doug following a web business course she attended (the Web Fuelled Business bootcamp.)  Caroline says "I can't wait to talk to Doug about The Letting People's use of the internet for our business.  I learnt lots about web-based tools on the business bootcamp, and it's a great opportunity to have one-to-one advice from a real expert – especially as I won't have to go into the Dragons' Den!"

 We have recently had some interesting deals on new tenancies.  Many prospective tenants and some new landlords, are often surprised that we suggest a negotiation on the rental in order to secure a reasonable deal for both parties.  A few years ago it was the norm for tenants to pay the asking rental and both agents and landlords were surprised with the few tenants who dared to ask for a reduction!

Nowadays, with the growth in TV programmes showing property negotiations as the norm, many prospective tenants reckon it’s a worthwhile exercise to make an offer and see what the landlord is prepared to accept.  This is probably a good idea if they are able to move in quickly, or are prepared to take the property ‘as seen’ without any special requests for accommodating a pet, or the removal or supply of furnishings.

The only problem that then arises is when a landlord is not able to make a decision regarding the offer there and then, and comes back to us a day or two later to accept the offer or try to renegotiate.  Unfortunately, many prospective tenants, while waiting for a response, will then fear the worst, assume they have ‘lost’ the property, and therefore continue to view similar properties. These properties may be less expensive or the landlord might be able to accommodate their special request straight away and do a ‘deal’ there and then.

But fortunately, many of our professional landlords have already been through the heartache of unsuccessful negotiations and usually reckon that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.   In other words it is probably better to accept a reasonable offer from a good prospective tenant today, than to hold out for the higher asking rental which may take some time (sometimes several weeks) to materialize.  Additionally, tenants who believe that they have secured a good rental ‘deal’ often end up staying for a longer tenancy than those who feel like they have paid more rental than they wanted to.

Therefore, looking at the figures in detail, if you were advertising your property to rent at say £600 per calendar month and were offered £550pcm from a tenant wanting to move in next week for 12 months, we would highly recommend that this offer should be accepted straight away.  In effect your rental income for that year would then be £6,600 per annum.  If you had to wait a further month for an offer of £575pcm, your income for the next 11 months would then be £6,325 less any additional council tax or utility costs that may be payable during the waiting or ‘void’ period. 

Of course, the negotiations can go the other way and many landlords may turn down a low offer if they know that there are other good prospective viewings booked on the same property.  Good prospects might include tenants who can move in quickly or those who are currently renting properties with us who have a good credit and employment history.

I hope that some of the above tips will be useful for both new or seasoned landlords who want to negotiate quickly and speed up the next letting.  So good luck with deciding whether it’s a ‘deal’ or ‘no deal’!
 

It has been over a year since The Letting People launched the No fee guaranteed rent scheme and what a year it has been with a positive response from local landlords after the scheme was announced in January 2011
Are you a buy-to-letter looking to ‘let and leave’ with a guaranteed rent, no void periods, and no letting agency fees? Or, a landlord with a property now needing a makeover to attract the best tenants and highest rental
Savvy landlords and many sensible investors are now looking to become the next generation of buy-to-letters.  With bank interest rates expected to remain at low levels of 1-2% and well-managed properties yielding 5-6% of the whole purchase price (and sometimes more) 2012 is looking like a happy new year for landlords.
Added to this, as potential first-time buyers move into the area and find they are unable to secure a mortgage to buy a property, the demand for rented property is increasing dramatically.  This increase in demand is occurring across most of the country and therefore, landlords have rarely found it so easy to raise rents. Locally, this is probably the first sustained increase in rents for over ten years!  Also, many of those buy-to-let landlords entering the market in the last decade will also be seeing happier times ahead as historical fixed-rate (many over 6%) mortgages come to the end of the term and they can reap the benefits from the sustained and unprecedented low Bank of England interest rate.
All good news for potential landlords, but how do I take advantage? The Letting People are now offering a new letting service with a guaranteed rent, no void periods (over an agreed fixed term) and no letting agency fees.  Where required we will also offer a property makeover schedule. 
This new service is an alternative to our more traditional agency letting schemes and will ideally suit those investors wishing to ‘let and leave’ their properties with no fuss and hassle (no tenant change over, deposit disputes or void periods for you to worry over during the period!) and an agreed guaranteed rent which you can budget for a period of up to 3 years. All this includes a free management service provided by The Letting People.
Interested? To find out more about this service, please contact us to make an appointment for us to assess your property for the scheme
 

At our Leamington Spa branch. The next time you visit Homebase at Leamington or Warwick why not pick up The Letting People discount card. The Letting People discount card may be collected from the stand near the tills and if you are looking to let out your property, you could claim a £50 discount on our classic agency letting services!