Tag Archives: Landlord Advice

04Nov 2011

Current Property News: Trapped renters equal half of the UK rental sector.

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By Mike Edwards

This information is taken from Rightmove’s Quarterly Consumer Confidence Survey out today. Trapped renters, tenants who would like, but cannot afford to, buy, make up 55% of the rental sector, with one in four of them over the age of 40, according to the portal’s latest Consumer Rental Forecast. Thus, this group faces the prospect of having to choose between a heavily reduced mortgage term to pay off any mortgage they do eventually take before they become pensioners, or continuing to pay off a mortgage into their 70s and beyond.

In rough terms recent surveys show that over half of those in rented accommodation would like to buy now, but can’t make the sums add up and, as a result, are trapped. The global economic woes that have left first-time buyer numbers at record lows will shatter the goals and aspirations of many as they face the reality of renting for far longer than they originally planned. Indeed those trapped and still renting when over the age of 40 could face the prospect of being an OAP mortgagee, or face difficulty getting a 25-year mortgage term if it takes them beyond lenders’ retirement age criteria. Generally most front line lenders will take age plus mortgage term to a maximum of 75

There is also a growing gap between demand and supply and demand continues to set records. But available stock is down 5% on the last quarter as the supply of new rental properties remains muted and tenants stay in properties for longer. The lack of supply means renters are resigned to paying more, with 53% of them expecting rents to rise in the next 12 months and 39% can see themselves still renting in three years’ time. On an Assured Shorthold Tenancy a properly served Section 13 notice to increase the rent leaves tenants with little option provided the newly sought rent is in line with local market levels for similar properties. The other danger for longer tenants is that it does not matter how much the rent is increased by, only that it reflects current trends. So any tenant that has been enjoying a fairly soft rent might find themselves with a nasty surprise if the Landlord or their agent monitors local rent and increases levels accordingly.

This of course is all good news for investors holding the type of property in demand especially in sought after locations. This combination of high tenant demand and upward rental pressure will be particularly appealing to long-term investors. Many investors say that attractive yields from rental returns, compared to returns on their other investments, are their main reason for investing in property. With the stock market continuing to offer the certainty of a stressful rollercoaster ride and safe cash investments delivering below inflation returns the solidity of bricks and mortar combined with high tenant demand and rising rents has growing investor appeal as a physical asset that could prove to be a better long term hedge against inflation.

01Nov 2011

Tenant advice: Correct procedure for end of Tenancy.

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By Steve Roulstone

One area that can constantly present problems to both Agent and Tenant (and subsequently Landlord) alike, concerns works needed after a Tenancy has ended, when the Tenant looks to re-visit the property to carry out garden maintenance, cleaning or removal of rubbish left. This is of course further complicated by the regulations surrounding the Tenants Deposit Scheme but for the purposes of this explanation, I will ignore TDS otherwise as a Blog this could become a Novel!

Correct procedure.

Of course what we have to work by is the legal requirements and therefore the legal manner in which Tenancies are considered. To explain, this means that the day of the check-out (for all Tenancies should be marked by an official visit to the property by the Landlord or Agent, otherwise no record can be made of state and condition) when keys are handed over and the last day that rent is actually paid for the property, the Tenancy comes to an end. The problem this presents is when the Tenant looks to re-visit to address issues as described above, because they can only do so with the Landlords permission!

Time to address the issues.

 It is the expectation and stance of many Tenants that can cause trouble here because if works are left to be done, such as cleaning or removal of rubbish, then it is perfectly reasonable for the Landlord or Agent to want to charge for the work to be completed, because the Tenant no longer has a legal right to access the property and of course the Landlord or Agent may be moving a new Tenant in as soon as the following day.

Not by right.

The main cause of any upset in my experience is the reaction from the outgoing Tenant to having access denied and the fear of charges that will arise from the work not being carried out in time. As I have stated, I am not going to bring TDS in too this scenario, so what we are talking about here are principals and the word of law. Therefore, any upset is because Landlords and Agents use the law as the basis of decisions made and subsequently it is the Law that the Tenant is questioning. Of course, the Law in such instances when applied correctly cannot be questioned and because Landlords and Agents know they are on sound footing very rarely does the Tenant receive any lee way, but even when it is granted, there can still be bad feeling, even though such access is purely at the Landlords grace.    

How to avoid problems.

Well of course there is no guarantee, because with people being people, there will always be some Tenants who do not wish to comply with the requirements of the agreement, but my advice to any Tenant is to understand what you are required to do at an early stage, then (and this is the important bit) when your Landlord or Agent confirms the end of Tenancy procedure and implications of the check out date (done properly this can avoid problems) it will not come as such a surprise. But rest assured, should you ignore the detail and expect to walk away with works remaining,  Agents will on behalf of their Landlords, pursue the Tenant for recompense, through and within the TDS legislation.

28Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: DPS sister Company applies to run the TDP scheme for Scotland

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By Mike Edwards

The Letting Protection Service Scotland the sister company to the Deposit Protection Service in England and Wales) has applied to run a tenancy protection scheme in Scotland. Though part of a tender process the DPS rightly emphasises it will be the only contender in Scotland to have had any experience of protecting deposits.

In its activities for England and Wales the DPS has protected more than 1.7 million to date, amounting to more than £1.3bn in value. Its application is fully expected to be approved and will trigger implementation of compulsory tenancy deposit protection in Scotland where, unlike England and Wales and argued by many very sensibly, insurance-backed schemes will not be authorised.

Instead, landlords and agents who take deposits must put the money in a banking or ‘custodial’ scheme and from the date the Scottish scheme launches from that date they will have 30 days (not the 14 as in England and Wales) to protect deposits for all new tenancies. Landlords holding deposits for existing tenancies will have nine months’ from the launch of the first scheme to protect their tenants’ deposits.

Under the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, which came into force in March 2011, landlords and letting agents will have a duty to protect tenants’ deposits as soon as the first approved scheme launches. This is thought likely to be from April 2012 or if not soon after.     
               
There has been constant criticism of the English decision to allow three schemes, two of them insurance backed and in effect promoted by vested interests. In reality The Dispute Service in effect is for agents and Mydeposits.com is for Landlords enabling both to hold onto the deposit monies.

This was seen by many objective commentators as rather defeating the object of TDP which is to keep the tenant’s money – and all too often it is forgotten just whose money the deposit actually is – 100% safe and protected from abuse by others.

25Oct 2011

Property Letting Update: Tenants Numbers Fluctuating

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By Craig Smith

We were having a conversation in the office just last week about how the number of tenant enquiries seems to have dropped rapidly. The number of telephone calls receiving asking about properties had fallen but Landlords are still as keen as ever to get their properties let, if there is no tenant there is no rent coming in to cover mortgages, insurance etc.

More Tenants on the Move

But wait, its not as bad as it sounds! By looking at the number of enquiries compared with the last 2 years there is still an increase in the number of tenants on the move. For example, on our website alone, the number of views from August 2009 to August 2011 had risen by more than 12,000. It is the same story comparing the number of views from March 2009 to this year with an increase of more than 13,000!

This doesn’t necessarily mean that there are 13,000+ more tenants moving. More and more people are now using the internet for everything from ordering their weekly shop, to social media, to finding a roof to go over their heads! Perhaps the increase could be blamed on a mix of properties being more easily accessible online and an increase in the number of properties in the rental market.

Higher Demand, Higher Rents?

There have been a number of news reports recently stating how poor the housing market is and that many people cant afford to get themselves onto the property ladder, so perhaps this is why more people are looking to rent instead? It has been reported on the ARLA website over the last couple of weeks that demand seems to be outstripping the supply of rental properties.

Well, we always have properties available and I very much doubt that we’ll ever see a day where we have absolutely nothing left to market but this isn’t quite what is meant by this term. Sometimes we see a high demand for family homes, such as 2 or 3 bed houses and as they get snapped up, the number still available will decrease. This is when tenants may be willing to stretch to pay a little more rent to make sure they get the house they want. At this time of year, there is always lower demand for rental properties and we can prove this by looking at the number of enquiries in October year on year.

Should We Be Worried?

It seems that the only news we see about property in this country is how about how poorly the market is doing and how the country is on its knees. Yes, it is true that a lot more people are trying to spend less wherever possible, not just in the property market but life in general. I don’t think we need to be worried but perhaps just a little more cautious. 

21Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: Utility providers recognize rental growth.

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By Steve Roulstone

For years the biggest issue Letting agents had with Utility providers was that they did not understand how the rental system works and that whilst a Landlord has Tenants in the property, any costs generated were not Landlords responsibility.  The end result was invoices sent willy nilly to all and sundry in an attempt to get somebody to pay for supplies. From day one we have always sent faxes at both the start and end of tenancies confirming changes, names and forwarding addresses.

Too busy.

This was always reliant upon utility providers supplying fax numbers where this information could be sent, but on one classic occasion the manner in which they addressed rental properties shone through, when I was faxing British Gas and because the phone was on a speaker rest, I quite clearly heard the BG employee at the other end say ‘we have had enough fax’s today I am going to turn this machine off’!! Sure enough, it took three days before we could get through again.

Change in approach.

It is hard enough sometimes to find out who Tenants have changes suppliers too, but typical of utility providers, who along with the practice of firing invoices right left and centre never mind how many times we sent them clear information (including on many occasions in the name of the Letting Agent, who of course can never be responsible for costs generated at any property) and sending highly inflated invoices for periods between Tenants (this is a particularly popular practice with the water companies, who when multiplying the cost out charged at up to twice the annual rate for one or two week periods) they have now managed to get legislation introduced which means they may now charge the property owner if they do not have sufficient Tenant details.

A justified approach?

Of course if the services are not contacted and it is the responsibility of the outgoing and incoming person who pays bills to advise of the change, then one can understand their motivation. But if a Tenant does not advise of a forwarding address when they leave, then Landlords could find themselves responsible for the Tenants failure to advise correctly. Because this is part of what we always do as Letting Agents, we should never fall fowl of this new legislation, but Landlords who manage property themselves can no longer hide behind the excuse that it is not their fault. They must now ensure that they supply the information at the end of a Tenancy, even if a property is abandoned, doing nothing is no excuse and contact and information known should be supplied.

Only for water.

The legislation is contained in section 45 of the Flood and Water Management act of 2010 and is therefore at present only available for water utility companies, but I am sure that once the electric and gas providers realize (if they have not already done so) that this is possible, they will quickly lobby for the same powers. For me the biggest problem is that for years they treated the rental industry as a nuisance and now that the figures are obviously much bigger, seek legislation to protect themselves. A pity they could not just be efficient in how they go about dealing with changes at property and adapt themselves to the market, because by using legislation they are implying that they are protecting themselves from people who wish to defraud them through the law, when I believe that the reality is that the legislation has been smuggled through the back door to save them money in coping with what is a major change in trend in this country through efficiency and having to introduce workable but time consuming solutions. How much easier just to invoice the registered property owner!

11Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: SAFEagent (3): At last friends in high places!!

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By Mike Edwards

The final stage in the initial creation of the SAFEagent scheme which soon launches to the public, will see it do so with a major endorsement from housing minister Grant Shapps. The endorsement includes displaying the kitemark on the CLG website, whilst Shapps has congratulated the industry for taking matters into its own hands and urged agents not signed up to the SAFEagent scheme to do so immediately. He announced the Government’s official support for the industry-led campaign at the same time as launching new factsheets for landlords and tenants. In them, both tenants and landlords are specifically advised that they should seek out a SAFEagent member. Shapps emphasised that he is supporting initiatives such as SAFEagent in preference to regulating the private rented sector. He has, however, has taken no convincing regarding the merits of the SAFEagent scheme. He said it was aimed at addressing a key area of concern for both tenants and landlords when it came to letting agents – making sure their money is safe. 

Shapps said: “The private rented sector provides a valuable source of accommodation for over three million people in England, and the vast majority of them are happy with the service they receive. “That’s why I have promised not to wrap the sector in red tape, but instead to work with the industry to help them develop their own plans to tackle those bad landlords, and with councils to throw the book at those who don’t live up to their responsibilities.” He added that with SAFEagent he was “delighted the lettings industry has taken matters into its own hands, and is launching a quality standard that will ensure that landlords and tenants know what to expect from their members.  These improvements could never be achieved by adding layers of pointless Government regulations.”      

He went on: “This is exactly the sort of measure the private rented sector needs – simple and sensible changes that are driven by industry and designed to deliver results.” The SAFEagent scheme has been mentioned in the House of Lords as an example of the kind of voluntary initiative the Government wants to see in raising standards. But mandatory regulation of the private rented sector was not ruled out. It happened during a debate on an amendment to the Localism Bill aiming to insert a new clause into the Bill that would enable the statutory regulation of private letting agents to be introduced at some point. The amendment was also supported by the British Property Property Federation, Residential Landlords Association and housing charities.           

Responding at the end of a lengthy debate, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, a Conservative peer and House of Lords whip, said: “I am delighted that the Government have been able to endorse the Safe Agent Fully Endorsed scheme – SAFE – recently launched by the industry which highlights a key risk around clients’ money. He went on: “I have considerable sympathy with those who have been caught out by bad practice, but we do not think that regulation now is the right answer.” September has been a good month for SAFEagent as apart from Government endorsement and passing 1200 agent registrations CFP Software, part of Guardian Media Group, is the latest industry supplier to offer its support to SAFEagent.  CFPwinMan is the most widely used lettings and property management software package across the UK and is installed in over 3,000 businesses, with tens of thousands of users. It is the first, and currently remains the only, property management software to be accredited by the ICAEW.

07Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: SAFEagent(2): A story of continued growth

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By Mike Edwards

Registration for the new SAFEagent scheme has consistently outperformed projections and expectations.

In June, the first full month of receiving registrations, over 500 agents signed up, keen to differentiate themselves by promoting  a simple kite mark for the consumer to recognise letting firms that protect landlords’ and tenants’ money through Client Money Protection schemes. By the end of June the figure had risen to 750 and the 1000 members mark was passed in July. Only agents covered by a CMP scheme can join SAFEagent, making it a fairly exclusive club. As commented on in our last item on this subject the premiums for CMP are way beyond an individual agent and it is only by being part of a group policy that an agent can obtain the cover.               

The initiative, which will be promoted to consumers by the end of 2011 following the initial push to agents, has received widespread support, including from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and Trading Standards Institute (TPI) and more recently Shelter. Shelter is very supportive of the SAFEagent scheme claiming their research has found that one million private renters have been the victim of scams and they welcome any initiative that helps tenants to make safe choices when they are looking for private rented accommodation thus avoiding avoid unscrupulous letting agents and landlords. They would also like to see letting agents doing more to ensure tenants are well informed when they look for a private let, assuring tenants that their deposit will be protected, providing written tenancy agreements and carrying out inventories. A professional and properly run lettings agency would do this of course, and much more, including having transparent fees schedules which can also help tenants to size up the additional costs of renting a home. Such processes and procedures can help to avoid problems later on that can lead to tenancy breakdown and problems for Landlords and tenants alike – not to mention their agents!!         .

SAFEagent marks a huge leap forward in the effort to eliminate the potential threat posed to consumers by uninsured agents, who are able to operate in the private rented sector without Government intervention though SAFEagent has always hoped to obtain Government recognition for the new mark. Whilst NALS, the Property Ombudsman, Council of Mortgage Lenders and Residential Landlords Association have been quick to back the SAFE initiative, both the RICS and ARLA have been notably tepid in their reactions.
Meanwhile August saw The National Union of Students, Which? and Citizens Advice Bureau placing their enthusiastic endorsements alongside backers which already included the likes of Shelter, The Property Ombudsman and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Trading Standards and The Residential Landlords Association.             

With the private rented sector continuing to grow so quickly and with more and more people relying on the rented accommodation, it is vital to have mechanisms like SAFEagent in place to make lettings a safe and professional sector, and ensure that tenants are not left out of pocket. CAB of course has a long history of seeking to protect the interests of tenants in the private rented sector, who are often among those who can least afford to lose money to the unscrupulous and clearly will see the SAFEagent scheme as helping to steer tenants towards reputable letting agents who are properly insured. The UK’s largest supplier of referencing to the lettings industry, HomeLet, became the first UK supplier to align itself to the SAFEagent campaign promising to raise awareness of the SAFEagent mark among its clients and encourage them to get registered.             

The message ultimately to consumers looks a simple one: be safe choose a SAFEagent when you rent or let 

Registration for the new SAFEagent scheme has consistently outperformed projections and expectations.

In June, the first full month of receiving registrations, over 500 agents signed up, keen to differentiate themselves by promoting  a simple kite mark for the consumer to recognise letting firms that protect landlords’ and tenants’ money through Client Money Protection schemes. By the end of June the figure had risen to 750 and the 1000 members mark was passed in July. Only agents covered by a CMP scheme can join SAFEagent, making it a fairly exclusive club. As commented on in our last item on this subject the premiums for CMP are way beyond an individual agent and it is only by being part of a group policy that an agent can obtain the cover.               

The initiative, which will be promoted to consumers by the end of 2011 following the initial push to agents, has received widespread support, including from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and Trading Standards Institute (TPI) and more recently Shelter. Shelter is very supportive of the SAFEagent scheme claiming their research has found that one million private renters have been the victim of scams and they welcome any initiative that helps tenants to make safe choices when they are looking for private rented accommodation thus avoiding avoid unscrupulous letting agents and landlords. They would also like to see letting agents doing more to ensure tenants are well informed when they look for a private let, assuring tenants that their deposit will be protected, providing written tenancy agreements and carrying out inventories. A professional and properly run lettings agency would do this of course, and much more, including having transparent fees schedules which can also help tenants to size up the additional costs of renting a home. Such processes and procedures can help to avoid problems later on that can lead to tenancy breakdown and problems for Landlords and tenants alike – not to mention their agents!!         .

SAFEagent marks a huge leap forward in the effort to eliminate the potential threat posed to consumers by uninsured agents, who are able to operate in the private rented sector without Government intervention though SAFEagent has always hoped to obtain Government recognition for the new mark. Whilst NALS, the Property Ombudsman, Council of Mortgage Lenders and Residential Landlords Association have been quick to back the SAFE initiative, both the RICS and ARLA have been notably tepid in their reactions.
Meanwhile August saw The National Union of Students, Which? and Citizens Advice Bureau placing their enthusiastic endorsements alongside backers which already included the likes of Shelter, The Property Ombudsman and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Trading Standards and The Residential Landlords Association.             

With the private rented sector continuing to grow so quickly and with more and more people relying on the rented accommodation, it is vital to have mechanisms like SAFEagent in place to make lettings a safe and professional sector, and ensure that tenants are not left out of pocket. CAB of course has a long history of seeking to protect the interests of tenants in the private rented sector, who are often among those who can least afford to lose money to the unscrupulous and clearly will see the SAFEagent scheme as helping to steer tenants towards reputable letting agents who are properly insured. The UK’s largest supplier of referencing to the lettings industry, HomeLet, became the first UK supplier to align itself to the SAFEagent campaign promising to raise awareness of the SAFEagent mark among its clients and encourage them to get registered.             

The message ultimately to consumers looks a simple one: be safe choose a SAFEagent when you rent or let.

03Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: SAFEagent (1) : New kitemark will 'clean up industry'

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By Mike Edwards

It is now 6 months since the first announcement of a new kitemark initiative for the lettings industry. Although I have previously commented on this initiative and expressed our wholehearted support for it much water has flowed under several bridges since the new kitemark initiative known as SAFEagent was launched for agent registration in May. It is free for agents in established client money protection (CMP) schemes to register, but just what is CMP? To the layperson in effect it is bonding, along the lines of ABTA where if your travel firm goes bust and they are ABTA bonded then ABTA steps in to bring you home.

CMP operates in the same way to protect Landlord and Tenant money held by agents with CMP cover. However the policy premium for CMP cover is eye wateringly expensive, and impossible for an individual agent or even a corporate chain to take out in their own name. So CMP cover is obtained by being a member of one of only 5 such group schemes in existence, these being administered by ARLA, NAEA, NALS, RICS and The Law Society. Because it is compulsory for CMP to be held by a member of SAFEagent so it follows that only members of the 5 organisations with the cover can become members. SAFEagent does not provide CMP itself and indeed to do so would be an expensive and unnecessary duplication as its members already have CMP in place.

SAFEagent was formed by a Steering Group of lettings agents and is administered by The National Approved Letting Scheme which in itself was created by the Government. It was the desire to deliver a simple message that led to the formation of SAFEagent – that by joining its members would have the means to differentiate those agents who operate with CMP and those who do not.           SAFE agent has some impressive friends and supporters. Apart from NALS which endorsed the scheme immediately and then offered to run the administration for it – an offer readily accepted by the Steering Group – the Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer also welcomed the initiative many months ago, as has the Residential Landlords Association who commended its “clear and recognisable brand”.           

The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) has bolstered the initiative with Ron Gainsford its chief executive endorsing the introduction and promotion of a single mark to identify letting agents who are in Client Money Protection insurance schemes. This is the objective of SAFEagent – that by having just one kitemark will increase recall levels of the scheme and enable consumers to make sensible and safe choices of letting agents based on a raised awareness of the importance of that agent being part of a Client Money Protection insurance scheme. This in turn of course will help trading standards services in the fight to reduce the number of rogue and ‘uninsured’ letting agents who disappear with consumer money – a move that all honest agents would support.        

However, of the industry organisations, only NALS has come forward to welcome the kitemark. NALS, NAEA and RICS have yet to give their support despite SAFEagent growing impressively as will be seen in the nest article on this subject.

30Sep 2011

Property Landlord Advice: Rents rising in August.

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By Mike Edwards

Rents rose by 1.2% in August – the largest monthly increase in a year – but tenant arrears increased for the first time since April, according to the latest buy-to-let Index from LSL Property Services plc. The average rent increase to £713 per month across England and Wales in August, surpassing the previous record high of £705 in July. This is the largest monthly increase since August 2010 with rents rising fastest in Wales and the South East, where both saw increases of 2.1%, closely followed by London (1.5%) and the South West (1.3%).

The only regions to see a monthly fall in rents were West and East Midlands where prices dropped by 0.4% compared to July. Annual figures show that London has seen the highest rental figures, with rents hitting a new record high of £1,025 per month in August, an annual growth of 6.6% equivalent to £63 per month. According to even more recent figures the average rent in Greater London according to tenant referencing specialist HomeLet has now increased to £1,202. This is an increase of 12.2% compared to the same time last year but over the same period; the average salary of tenants in the region has increased by just 2.4%.

LSL also report that annual returns on rental property improved in August after annual decreases in property prices slowed. The average total annual return in August rose to 2.6%, as capital losses diminish. However, there are signs that tenants are already feeling the strain of the rent rises as tenant arrears increased for the first time since April, with 10.7% of all UK rent unpaid or late by the end of August. This is up 9% compared to the previous month. Unpaid rent totaled £300 million across the UK in August, up 19.5% from the £251 million unpaid in July.

However, August figures always show an increase in arrears because the holiday season often takes its toll on tenant arrears, with many households squeezed by summer holiday spending. While arrears may be expected to fall back into line in the short-term, the growth is indicative of the mounting pressure facing tenants. With rents rising so quickly, soaring inflation and an uncertain economic outlook as evidenced by the recent turmoil yet again in the markets, over the long-term one can only anticipate that rental arrears will become a growing financial problem for landlords.

12Sep 2011

Current Property News: Property debate on 'You and Yours'

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By Steve Roulstone

Well it only lasted for ten minutes, but I for one would like to thank the BBC for actually doing what I have been pointing out for what seems like years – if you are going to discuss the Rental Industry, get a professional in to do it! Alongside a representative from Shelter and from a leading London Estate Agent, the BBC invited Ian Potter of ARLA to join the discussion about where the housing market is going in relation to supply and growing demand.

UK is larger than the South East.

It was also good to hear it being pointed out to the Estate Agent world, whose representative initially quoted facts and figures for the London market, that this is a larger Country and that what happens outside of London is not only different, but that it matters just as much – well done Ian!

Supply and demand.

The main points raised in the short debate (longer than would have been allowed on TV so not complaining!) was that the market is reacting to supply and demand and that availability and prices reflect exactly what is happening in the market at present.  The equality between wages and deposit requirements, now and thirty years ago when deposit requirements were approximately the same was noted with great interest and spoke volumes about where modern priorities now lie. It was also made clear that more Landlords would buy if the property was available to enable them to invest, but it was a shortage of property that was delaying them doing so.

Family needs catered for.

 It was also muted that more family homes were required, to enable couples to settle and start a family in the rental sector, rather than waiting until they could buy before they did so. This is a subject that I agree wholeheartedly with and have backed up with property that My Wife and I have purchased for our portfolio, which are all Family homes. Now here’s an idea, if the Government wants to do something to get the market moving and solve an issue which could if ignored have an impact on birth rates, how about encouraging the Landlords with the money to buy the family homes that are not selling?

The difference.

 The plea that Ian Potter of ARLA made loud and clear in the programme (although I am still unsure what level playing field was being talked about?) was that Estate Agents, Letting Agents and Landlords be given professional status through Government legislation. It was good to hear a plea for professionalism and to see that other agencies, in this case Shelter, agree. It would have been nicer if it could have been embellished upon, but I have to accept it was not the central theme of the discussion.

A good shout well made!

The point was however clearly there for all to hear, that through professional agencies, would come professional services and the minefield that can exist for Tenant and Landlord alike, should they suffer the consequences of dubious management by the rogue agents that continue to give our industry a poor reputation, could help to be avoided. So well done Ian, and thank-you BBC for bringing in a Professional from our Industry.