Nottingham Letting Agent Property Blog

A recent survey found a high percentage of homeowners in the UK would need to sell or rent out their property to fund long term care as they age. Partnership, a care annuity provider, found 41% of those surveyed, aged between 45 and 85 would be prepared to fund care in this way. According to the survey, using property to fund care was the third most popular way to purchase long term care, after State funding and using income from pensions. Just 4% would think about using an insurance policy to fund future care needs. In spite of the recent downturn...

Increasing numbers of tenants are choosing to share their homes as a way of coping with rising rents, according to property analytics company Hometrack. Although they found demand for rental property is still strong, many people are struggling to cope with the rising cost of living, and certainly cannot cope with increases in rent. This is particularly true in London, and couples who would have previously rented two-bedroom flat and kept a spare bedroom, are now choosing to let it out to another tenant. The rental market in the UK is split into two distinct sections, as rents in London are...

It looks as if buy to let will remain popular for a good many years to come, as more Britons are choosing or being forced to rent, but how do you choose the best investment property? As with any type of investment, doing your research is vitally important, and you need to decide if a buy to let property is what you really want. Investing money in rental properties is very much a long-term project, and it's worth remembering that your money is likely to be tied up for quite some time, and the value of the property could even fall.The...

Becoming a landlord carries a number of responsibilities; your property must be fit for habitation and all known problems must be fixed before it can be tenanted. It's quite possible you already know exactly what needs doing, especially if you bought a property which needs renovating as the survey should have shown up all the existing problems. Things which help rent a property more quickly are clean and modern kitchens and bathrooms, or you may be able to cheaply update existing fixtures.It is always preferable to have plastered walls which can be easily and cheaply redecorated whenever necessary, and to always...

Apparently the profile of buy to let landlords is changing, and, buy to let lenders are seeing an increase in the number of mortgage applications from first time borrowers. According to mortgage specialist John Charcol, growing numbers of middle-aged homeowners who have substantial equity in their property are choosing to let rather than sell, and are then using the equity released to either buy another property in which to live or are choosing to rent.Some of these new landlords are keen to move but are reluctant to accept a lower price for the property, while others now see their home as...

A new survey just released by the Association of Residential Letting Agents shows demand for rental property may finally be waning, and the market is showing signs of softening. According to the latest research for the last quarter of last year, some 55% of ARLA members still reported more tenants than properties, and while this figure is still good it is significantly less than the 74% seen during the third quarter of the year. Figures for people actually signing a new tenancy agreement were consistent with the previous quarter, but were slightly less in central London.During the fourth quarter 39.2% of...

The Association of Residential Letting Agents is predicting a mixed year for the private rental sector, and even though recent measures unveiled by the government could help to get the housing market going once more there are concerns that things may get worse before they get better. It will be quite some time before the full impact of the new measures can be assessed and in the meantime it is expected that there will continue to be a lack of rental property. A recent survey showed that nearly three quarters of ARLA members had more potential tenants than available rental properties,...

In spite of the fact that most people would prefer to own their own home, more and more are becoming resigned to renting property for the longer term, and it's likely attitudes towards renting will change. It's only during the last few decades that Britain has become a nation of homeowners, as at the end of the First World War just 23% of property was owner occupied, and those who owned property tended to be the middle classes or landed gentry.As standards of living gradually increased, so did the trend of buying your own home. This policy really took off when...

Even if you don’t own such illustrious properties as the gorgeous Highclere Castle which is currently "starring" in Downton Abbey, you might be surprised at the vast array of homes that are sourced for film and TV production companies, as they don't just look for period homes. Many films feature perfectly ordinary houses and flats, and if the film is enormously successful then the property becomes quite well known for featuring in that particular production.Anyone interested in putting their home forward as a film location first needs to register with an agency which is generally free. If a production company is...

The Prime Minister has announced his intention to look at ways of reviving the right to buy scheme, and he apparently plans to free up huge tracts of land to developers to promote the building of more new homes. His version of the right to buy scheme will differ slightly from Thatcher's, as he wants one new council house built for every existing home sold. He was speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr and pointed out there are still over 2 million homes which could be bought, and building new property could create thousands of jobs.He is due to lay out...

Gazanging is the newest word to enter the property industry, and is used to describe where a property seller changes their mind at the last minute, letting down buyers who have probably spent a considerable amount of money by this stage. A new survey has revealed that 54,000 buyers have been let down in this way during the first six months of this year, a 20% increase compared to the last six months of last year.Apparently buyers are changing their minds at the last moment for a variety of reasons, as they are often uncertain about the market or cannot find...

Renters have traditionally been younger people who require the flexibility of being able to move quickly, or who are unable to buy their first home just yet, but there is growing evidence to show that the older generations are choosing to sell up and rent. While there are a number of equity release schemes available, and some of them may be pretty good, it can often be far better for an older person to sell up and live off their equity.Apparently elderly Britons have an incredible £3 trillion tied up in property, and growing numbers need this money to fund a...

Since the smoking ban in public places was introduced five years ago, Britain has become a lot more intolerant of smokers, and this is also affected the property market. Recent research by a property website found that 24% of buyers would expect to pay less for a property if it was evident it had been lived in by a smoker, while another 8% wouldn't even consider buying the property. When it comes to the rental market, 40% of those looking to rent would think very carefully about considering a property that had been lived in by smoker. However smokers may find...

The latest Landlord Optimism Index has just been released by the National Landlords Association, and it found that 65% of those surveyed rated their prospects for the rental business over the next three months as being very good or good. They are also becoming more optimistic about the general state of the private rental sector with 54% feeling the prospects are very good or good, which is an increase of 8% compared to the second quarter of 2010. Unfortunately the same can't be said about the state of the financial market, as a mere 6% felt positive about this, which is...

The lease has just been signed for the most expensive rental property in the UK, and the billionaire businessman will be paying an incredible £55,000 a week which works out at £7,860 a day, although if you work out the yearly rental figures become even more mind-boggling, as it it equates to £2.86 million annually. The exact details have not been revealed by Harrods Estates who manages the property, but it is thought to be in one of the three most exclusive developments in London, which is either The Knightsbridge, Lancelot Place or One Hyde Park.One Hyde Park is already’ notorious’...

Property is one of the biggest investments most people make, and whether you are a landlord or just someone who is renting out their home while working elsewhere for a while it's really important to make sure you choose the best Nottingham letting agent you can find, who is prepared to get maintenance issues sorted out quickly.This doesn't necessarily mean choosing the cheapest service available, but rather one which will ensure your property and your tenants are well looked after. If your tenants complain about something requires fixing, then it's good to know that this will be done quickly and efficiently....

A report published by the Department for Communities and Local Government on July 5th  shows that more people are renting their homes as the shift away from home ownership continues. Figures show that in 2009/2010 67% of the 21 million households in the UK were owner occupied, with 16% being privately rented, and 17% being social housing rentals. Owner occupation has declined from 14.8 million in 2005 to 14.5 million in 2009/2010.The report found that just 33% of private renters had lived in their home for longer than a year, compared to 8% of social renters and just 2% of owner...

If you are looking to buy your first rental property, then it can be quite daunting trying to choose the correct area, and property, and you may well be swayed by something that seems like a great bargain, but it pays to think well in advance. For example, you should be thinking about its resale prospects.You may have found a cheap property in a cheap area which seems to be ideal, and indeed it might be absolutely perfect for your needs, but it may not be such a good long-term investment. Take a good long look at the area and ask...

At the moment landlords are perfectly poised to make the most of the UK residential property market, benefiting from both sales and lettings. Those who have built up buy to let portfolios are gaining through low interest rates and sustained tenant demand through Nottingham letting agents.One of the latest market trends is for landlords to offload already tenanted properties by selling them on to other investors . At first glance this may seem counter-productive, but it allows landlords to adjust their portfolios, and selling to another investor is often the easiest and most cost-effective way of doing so. The investor gets...

Most landlords who have properties with Nottingham letting agents, have probably considered selling their rental property at some stage or other but how can you really tell if it's worthwhile hanging on to? The easiest way is to calculate how much profit you would make if you sold the property after costs, then dividing this amount by the number of years you have owned the property which will give you your annual return. You could then look at your rental yield which is the total rent earned annually divided by purchase price, and then compare this return to other investments which...