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This year The Letting People have been delighted to celebrate over 10 successful years in business, thanks to the continued support of both their new and long-term property investors and landlords.

What a year 2012 has been!  Everyone will probably always look back in wonder at the incredible feats of the Olympics, and be motivated by the return of pride in British achievements.  The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations were also a huge success.  And, 2012 also saw the phenomenal growth in the demand for rented property which has meant that The Letting People have celebrated their busiest year to date!

Congratulations to all winning landlords!  Each month The Letting People have been delighted to help Myton Hospice and to thank a lucky landlord in the free prize draw to win 52 entries in the Myton Hospices weekly lottery.  As long as you are a landlord with The Letting People you could be in with a chance to win up to £5000 with the monthly draw!

The new franchise investment opportunity!   The Letting People are looking to share their winning formula with like-minded people with an interest in the property business who want to open the next The Letting People branch. The fully developed business model ensures that each new franchise branch will be profitable quickly.  Benefits include a memorable brand name, tried and tested new technologically, specialised training, an advanced website, and low start-up costs for quicker profitability.  Is this for you?…or for someone you know?  Just contact The Letting People for further details.

Did you know that you can always ask The Letting People for property business advice such as:

*Residential buy-to-let property investment advice
*Property refurbishment, upgrades and makeovers with project management
*How to increase rental income potential
*Property marketing
*New tenancy negotiation

The Letting People would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
 

The Letting People are delighted to announce their £100 discount  leap year offer!. This discount offer is per property application and available for applications fees taken up to and including 29/2/2012. Terms and conditions apply specific to individual properties and are available on request from our letting and management offices

The Letting People are proud to be supporters of the Dogs Trust’s ‘Lets with Pets’ scheme.

As the Lets with Pets website says:

“Finding privately rented accommodation that allows pets can be very difficult. Many pet owners are forced to live in unsuitable properties or keep their pets without consent from their landlord. In some extreme cases, we know that owners are even having to give up their pets or else face becoming homeless.”

In order to join Lets with Pets The Letting People needed to agree to the following three principles:

• To ASK all landlords if they will consider pets
• To ADVERTISE which properties consider pets on the website and property details
• To ADD a pet clause to the tenancy agreement when a pet has been agreed

Fortunately there has been many success stories of landlords who have seen the benefit of allowing cats and dogs (and even a snake!!) to reside with their owners on the basis of additional pet clauses in the tenancy agreement that safeguard both parties.  Obviously some additional ‘wear and tear’ (over what is contractually called ‘reasonable’) might be expected and this can often be offset with the payment of additional rent. 

The Letting People usually recommend that the tenant pays a modest £20-40 per pet, per calendar month additional rent so that the landlord has an additional ‘cleaning fund’, should it be necessary, at the end of the tenancy.  (This is considered to be a reasonable cost as it is now also usual for holiday lets to charge a £20-£30 per week additional cleaning charge for each pet.)

As 48% of the UK population now own a pet it, and more people are unable to obtain a mortgage to buy their own property, there is a huge growth in tenants looking for properties that will take pets.  The Letting People are pleased to encourage landlords to consider the importance of Lets with Pets and to highlight the benefits to them. 

More information at www.letswithpets.org.uk

The Letting People have just witnessed the busiest month on record, welcoming employees relocating to wonderful Warwickshire.  With the arrival of new employees taking up jobs at Jaguar Land Rover headquarters in Gaydon, Tata Motors Ltd at the Warwick University site, and a relocation of employees to Volvo Group UK Ltd head office in Warwick – there has been a continual interest in new tenancies in Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth and the surrounding villages.

Many new graduates are also relocating into the computer games companies and other small and medium sized businesses in the area in the process of expanding their workforce.

The Letting People are proud to be one of the first companies to welcome new employees into the area and always like to offer a warm reception to everyone moving into their new homes.
 

We have often found that, after a few years of tenancies in a property, quite a few of the walls and woodwork need repair and repainting, carpets start to get worn and therefore more difficult for the tenants to keep clean, and sometimes even the outside of the property starts to look a bit neglected. Many tenants will turn up very early for a viewings appointment, and not bother to look inside the property if the outside of the property or the front garden and drive look neglected.

Fittings such as kitchens and bathrooms can also be in need of professional cleaning, repair or replacement – particularly cookers, fridges and kitchen sinks, but also shower and bath seals, grouting and even the loo seat! (We have even seen a flat that after six weeks’ of many viewings we suggested changing a green shower curtain for a new white one. This helped the bathroom to look more bright and appealing – the flat was then let within two days.)

Furnishings too, such as sofas and mattresses, can start to sag, fade, and get stubborn marks which will sadly detract prospective tenants from wanting to live at the property. I sometimes recommend that a landlord considers removing all the furniture (particularly in two- or more bedroom properties) as older furniture may be more off-putting than no furnishings at all.

Even new light fittings or lamp shades, and new curtains or blinds can really spruce-up a property. This can make the prospective tenant feel that the property has a more stylish feel to it and that the whole property is therefore a bit more modern.

Fortunately, the Inland Revenue does make a tax allowance of 10% of the rental income towards the cost of repair and replacement of furnishings in furnished properties. Therefore, in effect, if you were able to rent your property for £600pcm you would be entitled to claim a tax allowance of £720 per annum towards the costs of repairs or a new mattress, sofa or other furnishings. Always worth recouping what you can on your tax return!

It is always sad when a landlord decides to neglect their property and therefore has to decrease the rental in order to attract new tenants. I hope that some of the above tips will be useful for new or seasoned landlords who want to add some zest to their property and speed up the next letting. Good luck with those paint brushes!
 

Almost half of landlords are reporting rising rents in their locality according to a recent survey undertaken by BDRC Continental undertaken in partnership with the National Landlords Association (NLA). Commenting on the trend, Anthony Kempster of The Letting People said “in Leamington Spa and the surrounding area we are experiencing rents rising across the board for well presented properties with some rents rising 10% or more over the last 12 months”
 

The letting People are all set and ready to go to announce the launch of a franchise opportunity at the Warwickshire Business Expo event on the 25th November 2011. Commenting on the launch, the founders, Anthony and Caroline Kempster said “this is really the most exciting day for us in the nearly 10 year history of The Letting People.

We have developed to become one of the leading residential lettings and management companies in the area and this latest development, which has taken over 12 months to prepare, takes the business on to the next level providing a tried and tested model for our franchise partners to follow to participate in our success.”

We will shortly be releasing full franchise package details. In the meantime, further information and the opportunity to register your initial interest is now available on our brand new web site under the heading ‘franchising’.
 

Looking for a rent guarantee? The Letting People – Leamington Spa are offering a FREE 6 months rent guarantee* for all new landlords signing up to our Letting and Management Service by 31/12/2019

*Terms and conditions apply and this offer can not be used in conjunction with any other offer. Please sign up below to register your details for this offer. Please note that you will need to complete your registation details below to be eligible for this offer.

As every prospective landlord and tenant probably finds, patience is a great virtue unless you’re keen to get moving. First time landlords are pleased to learn that the residential letting process runs relatively smoothly having very straightforward agency and tenancy agreements. There is therefore rarely a reason why a tenant should not take up tenancy within seven working days of submitting their application. Occasionally we are asked to rush through an application, and it has been known for a tenant to move in only two days after viewing a property! But fortunately not every tenant is ready to move that quickly, or is able to complete all their paperwork, or we would be burning the midnight oil every night!

Here at The Letting People both company lets and assured shorthold tenancies regular go through the paperwork process. We have also completed successful house-share agreements. These are three very different tenancies that landlords often ask us to explain in more detail. (Other tenancy agreements are extremely rare these days but details are available from most legal advisors.)

There are several ways a landlord can speed up the paperwork process in order to start the new tenancy as soon as possible:

The Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) is currently the most common tenancy agreement. This agreement gives both the landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities. It gives both parties reassurance of a tenancy for a minimum period of six months (although this is often extended to a 12 months). We always send a draft tenancy agreement for the landlord to check through and make any amendments – so getting any changes back to us without delay will certainly speed up the process.

The Company Let Agreement This is when the tenant is a company who pays the rent and takes the responsibility for the tenancy. (The occupier of the property is responsible to the company with whatever agreement they have in place between them.) Each company can provide their own tenancy agreement (although we have standard company let agreements) and these can have quite onerous landlord responsibilities. Again, we would send a draft out for the landlord’s approval, and often the company will not sign the agreement until after it has been signed by the landlord or agent.

House-share agreements are used when there are shared areas of a house with both the landlord and tenant living in the same property. The properties we have let on this basis tend to be large Victorian houses with a converted attic which offers the tenant complete privacy, apart from a shared front door, hallway and staircase. Both landlord and tenant tend to have fewer rights on these agreements as many responsibilities can be particular to each individual tenancy. (for example it is common for household bills to be included in the rent). Again, We would ask the landlord to return their draft agreement with any amendments they require before the start of the tenancy.

The Agency Agreement This is basically the agreement made between the landlord and ourselves which agrees the terms of how the property will be let. These should be completed and signed by all owners of the property before the tenancy commences. We will require proof of the ownership so we can ensure that all the owners of the property are happy to proceed with a tenancy of their property.

Providing that all safety certificates are in place that is basically all the paperwork that the landlord needs to check and complete before the start of a straightforward residential tenancy. Additionally, landlords who want their property to be managed would have to provide property information – but this can usually all be dealt with within a week. So, if you would like your property tenanted before Christmas, let us know and we will do our best to get all the paperwork sorted out quickly.
 

According to a report by the Council of Mortgage Lenders an increase of 17% in the number of buy to let mortgages was reported and a 20% increase in the total value of the loans. Anthony Kempster of The Letting People comments “this is welcome news as in the Leamington Spa area we are still experiencing a shortage of good quality rental housing stock for prospective tenants”

If the trend is repeated here in Leamington Spa, we should expect the frantic searches of prospective tenants particularly before the start of the university term being eased.