A tenancy agreement is, or should be, an important document. It sets out the terms under which you agree to let your property to your tenant and, ideally, it should also set out all the legal rules that apply. The document can then stand as a reference manual – something to consult when problems arise…

If you are looking for a buy to let investment, we have the lowdown on the latest property hotspots! Location  Property Price  Average Monthly Rent  Average Rental Gross Yield  1. Southampton £138,311 £901 7.82% 2. Blackpool £75,943 £494 7.81% 3. Kingston upon Hull £69,519 £450 7.7% 4. Manchester £102,631 £650 7.60% 5. Nottingham £83,313 £524…

Letting agents are calling for Shelter’s charitable status to be withdrawn, and for the organisation to be reported to the Charity Commission. The call, supported by Martin & Co’s Ian Wilson, was sounded loudly and clearly in a number of comments made on LAT to our report of Shelter’s bid to get letting agent fees…

Leeds council has been using a loophole to avoid some of it’s tenants falling victim to the bedroom tax. They have reclassified more than 800 “spare” rooms in its social homes as “non-specific rooms”  in order to sidestep the controversial bedroom tax. This means that tenants in affected properties are no longer classified as underoccupying their homes, and…

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has accused Shelter of playing the ‘anti-landlord card’ with its campaign to end the fees lettings agencies charge to tenants. According to the RLA, the charity’s stance will only hurt tenants, as it will lead to increasing costs for landlords, which will result in rents rising. “Once again we have Shelter…

Housing and homelessness charity, Shelter, have described the fees charged by letting agents across Britain as “out of control”, and claim that they are forcing millions into debt. It claims that on average tenants are being charged £350 for everything from fees to set up a tenancy, administration fees, holding fees, credit check fees and check-in…

The Online Letting Agents are proud to be member of The Property Ombudsman Service. Why should you choose a letting agent who is registered with TPO? Registered agents must follow The Property Ombudsman Letting Code of Practice. This sets out the framework within which registered agents must operate and the standards of service they must…

In April 2007 it became law for all assured short hold tenancy deposits taken by landlords or letting agents to be protected in a Government-authorised tenancy deposit protection scheme. The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) runs the only custodial scheme authorised by the Government.  Their custodial scheme means that your deposit is paid to the…

Studies suggest it only takes eight seconds for someone to decide if a new property is for them, and most of us can recall a place we either fell in love with at first sight, or decided instantly that it was never going to work out. Of course some houses are so picturesque that they’ll…

The Bank of England has decided to keep its stimulus programme of quantitative easing (QE) unchanged and also announced today that interest rates will remain at 0.5%. The decision was widely expected, with most analysts not expecting any change in policy until the new Bank governor, Mark Carney, arrives in July. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has…