Lettings

The sun is out (fingers crossed), the temperature is rising and there is the distinct smell of barbeques in the air. After one of the wettest UK springs on record, who can blame the nation for rushing outside as soon as possible?

Viewing a property you’d like to rent can be exciting and overwhelming in equal measure. You may be distracted by the aesthetics or focused on checking the condition of the rooms but there are 8 less obvious but no less important questions you should ask while at the property. Print these out if you think you might forget!

For those living in a rental property with an ever growing collection of items, storage can become an issue. On inspection, most tenancy agreements prohibit renters from drilling holes in walls, altering the layout in a property or installing fitted furniture, so adding extra storage will need more creative thinking.

National Empty Homes Weeks 2024 runs from 4th to 10th March this year and while the thrust of the event is to shine a light on bringing vacant dwellings back into use, the organisers offer support to all those who may have an empty property.

Buy-to-let has always been seen as a safe long-term investment strategy but over the last few years, the landscape has changed dramatically. As we move our way through 2024, however, the buy-to-let benefits are once again aligning. Here are five reasons property investment should be on your radar this year.

On the outside, selecting a good tenant may feel as simple as accepting the person who makes the highest offer, especially if the most recent news is to be believed. A survey undertaken for the New Economics Foundation found tenants were willing to go to extreme financial lengths to secure a rental property. As a result, landlords have had the luxury of waiting for the ‘highest bidder’ to emerge.

The safety of tenants has become of paramount importance in the private rental sector, and rightly so. One of the areas that has been improved immeasurably is electrical safety and now new guidelines have been issued to provide greater consistency when it comes to checks.

On 7th November 2023, the King’s Speech marked the opening of a new session of Parliament. In his first address of this nature, King Charles III announced the Government’s key priorities for the year ahead and with a General Election expected within the next 12 months, the contents were hotly anticipated.

There are millions of people in Generation Z – or Gen Z for short – and they are highly likely to need rental accommodation as this age bracket encompasses undergraduates, those leaving university and young professionals. 

What you think Generation Z want from a rental property and what they would actually like may surprise landlords hoping to target students, recent graduates and young professionals. A new survey of more than 2,500 people aged between 16-25, featured in an article published by PBSA News, set out to establish what was important to them in a rented home.

Lending experts have noted that landlords are increasingly considering new build homes for their next buy-to-let, as they tick so many boxes when it comes to changing regulations. Here are three reasons why buy-to-let and new build can go hand in hand:-

In the past, landlords would have been happy to purchase on older property stock and make improvements – perhaps adding value along the way. Today, however, there is a perfect storm of factors casting a cloud over investing in resale buy-to-lets. 

The latest research and data from BTL specialists, Landbay, has revealed that as many as 75% of all UK tenants are happy to rent, and a third of those are happy to rent forever.