Is your letting agent just letting you down? Don’t let them become a nasty habit.

Start the New Year with Atlas Lettings and a smile!

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All the Best.

Julian England (Property Manager)

Although the wind is starting to subside now and the forecast predicts a gradual improvement the clean up job is going to be quite substantial.Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require the services of recommended trades-persons.
I am going to need a bit of assistance myself having lost two trees to these gales.

Keep safe!

All the Best,

Julian England (Property Manager)

On a lighter note, I would like to share a few amusing encounters I have had over the last year. I would like to stress that I have changed the names to spare their blushes.

Shattered

Jane, a long term tenant of ours had got in touch to inform me that a bulb had blown in the lounge of her flat and that she was having a bit of trouble replacing it. I could see her point,as a large glass bowl light fitting made for difficult access.
Having positioned my ladder I managed to remove the old bulb without difficulty, but the new bulb just wouldn’t locate properly. I carefully removed the retaining screw under the bowl while supporting it with the other hand.
In an instant the bowl had slipped from my grasp, its journey to the floor appeared in slow motion as the tenant made an incredibly brave attempt to catch it.
In cradled arms the light fitting shattered into a thousand pieces and the horrified look on the tenants face only added to my dismay.
Visions of lacerated arms and severed appendages flashed through my mind as we both stood transfixed in the fallout.
Luckily no damage was done as the bowl was made of safety glass and a replacement was quickly found.
Note to all Landlords: Ensure tenants are out of the way when performing any maintenance tasks.

A Room With A View

Three young student ladies contacted me to arrange a viewing at one of our properties, so I made the necessary arrangements with the current tenants and was informed that everybody would be out for the day.
The young ladies talked excitedly amongst themselves as I showed them the kitchen and the bathroom. As we made our way to the master bedroom I informed them of the flats great location, its sunny aspect and its excellent double glazing.
Giving the bedroom door a good positive shove to overcome the self-closer I ushered the ladies into the room.
Stopping in their tracks they let out an audible gasp as Joe struggled to pull his bed covers over himself and his amorous girlfriend.
Joe’s unknown change of plan for a romantic afternoon had been scuppered. To peels of laughter we gave the red faced couple some privacy and continued the viewing.

Litter Problem

Sarah, a new tenant of ours complained that her boiler had suddenly failed. There was no hot water and the central heating wasn’t coming on. As the weather was a bit chilly I made it my priority to visit the flat to investigate.
Sure enough, she was absolutely right. The boiler fault light was flashing and wouldn’t reset and it looked like we had a real problem on our hands.
I thought I would check the basics first. Was the gas cock open?
My “Eureka” moment had arrived. The gas cock was fully closed and pressed firmly against it was a huge bag of cat litter which had been heaved into position two hours earlier. I was delighted to have fixed the problem without involving the Gas Engineer and Sarah was suitably embarrassed and apologetic for her unfortunate error.

Please contact us if you have any amusing landlord stories.

Wishing you all a trouble free New Year.

All the best.

Julian England (Property Manager).

A few simple steps can safeguard your rental property against the elements and keep your costs down this winter:

> Try to schedule your Gas Safety Check and boiler servicing for the months preceding winter as repair costs are typically higher during the winter period.

> Operate your radiator thermostats over their full range with the central heating on. This will reveal any leaking or defective valves which could cause problems later.

> Make sure that your water stopcock is working and be sure to tell the tenant of its location and purpose in the event of a burst pipe.

> Provide the tenant with an instruction book for the heating controller or you might experience regular call outs to adjust the settings for them. Most instruction manuals can be downloaded from the internet free of charge.

> Make sure that the water pipes are lagged especially the ones located in the “cold areas” of you property e.g hallways etc.

> If your rental property is going to be left unoccupied for any length of time instruct your tenants to leave the heating on continuously at a setting of 6 C. This will consume very little energy and ensure that your water system remains frost free.

> Test the batteries on your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and set up a routine test on these items for the tenants to carry out.

> Inform your tenants of the indicators of carbon monoxide release and the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and establish a course of action should there be a fire in your property.

> Ensure that all your windows and doors are water-tight.

> Inspect your gutters for blockage as water overflow can cause damage to brickwork and encourage damp penetration.

Ok I know I’m going on a bit now, but these checks don’t take too long.

Keep your properties safe and secure. Its good for business.

All the best.

Julian

Rental growth has been experienced across the board with 2 bedroom flats showing the greatest rental increase of 5.1% over the last year. This takes the average rental figure of a 2 bedroom flat up to an impressive £720.00 pcm.

 However, please be sensible when considering a rental increase as the location and condition of your property plays a huge part when it comes to rental assessment. It is also important to factor in the the duration of the current tenancy, as responsible and loyal tenants should always be rewarded with a small discount. Please get the advice of at least two experienced letting agents when it comes to rental assessment as they can refer to a property data base and obtain a more accurate figure. Good reliable letting information can be obtained from Lettingweb (www.lettingweb.com)  where a large number of letting agents will contact you with any details you might require.  Please beware that your inbox might be overwhelmed with responses and you will have to cherry pick the best replies!

Anyway back to the property report. Smaller 1 or 2 bedroom flats have been growing in popularity over the last year as they now constitute 75% of the total lets in Edinburgh. Although 1 bedroom properties experienced the lowest rental growth over all, it is reassuring to see that their average time to let decreased by 3 days.

Good rental growth was also experienced with 3 and 4 bedroom flats over the last year, showing an improvement of 4.1% and 4.4% respectively.

Kind regards, Julian (Property Manager)

It has been predicted by reliable sources that copy-cat rate slashing by other mortgage lenders is on the horizon. The tsunami of cheap credit is on its way. David Newnes of LSL Property Services who own Your Move and Reed Rains estate agencies has urged borrowers not to wait too long or they will miss out. Stuart Law who is the chief executive of property investment firm Assetz also stressed that borrowers should move quickly.

This is true, there is a very real possibility that these excellent mortgage deals will dry up next year as growing inflation might eventually prompt the MPC to increase the Bank of England base rate. However the economy is in such a state of flux that nobody can make an accurate prediction concerning the Bank of England base rate.

Don’t hang out the bunting however until you have read the mortgage conditions. Leeds are looking for a maximum LTV (Loan to value) of 75% and charge a combined booking and arrangement fee of £1,999.

As a result of increased mortgage activity there is also a good chance that we may see a slight recovery in the housing market which in turn may help to stimulate the economy.

A small chink of light in the gloom!

Regards from the team at Atlas Lettings

The waiting lists for social housing have lengthened and the amount of private new builds have decreased dramatically.This is good news for landlords who have seen their rental yields increase steadily over the last year.The greatest gain can be seen with 4 bed properties with an annual growth rate of 7.6%, while modest growth rates of 3.3% have been shown for 1 bed properties.

Time to let properties in Edinburgh has decreased over the last year as demand has outstripped supply.Our average time to let has reduced to under 2 weeks with 1 bed properties and we are experiencing multiple applications from first viewings.

Landlords cannot hope to enjoy any profits unless the the banks relax their lending criteria. Many of our landlords have just come off of fixed deals which averaged around 5% and are now enjoying SVR’s (Standard Variable Rates) of around 2.5%. We strongly advise these clients to pay down their mortgage with the profits they are now making, as the most favourable Buy to Let fixed mortgages require 70% LTV’s or lower.

Most landlords must now be aware of the imminent introduction of the Scottish Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). This scheme will be of huge benefit to tenants who are exploited by dishonest landlords, but will increase the workload of landlords and Letting Agents quite considerably. An independent arbitrator will have to be entirely convinced that a tenant has neglected the rental property before the deposit is deducted. This means that the inventory will have to be a lot more detailed, including photographs or maybe even video footage to prove deterioration through neglect.

We are pleased to announce to our landlords that Atlas Lettings will still not be charging for generating inventories.

We will keep you posted on the developments of the TDS.

Scotland’s rapidly expanding population coupled with the property building industry’s collapse during the credit crunch has led to a housing crisis. Statistics have revealed that an extra 20,000 homes a year need to be built to cope with increasing demand. Unfortunately there is little incentive for construction companies to increase their output as the first-time buyers market has dried up. This can only lead to a substantial increase in rental prices over the next few years.

Landlords should take extra care when it comes to signing up new tenants as there has been a notable increase in tenant arrears over the last few months.Unpaid rent totalled a staggering £296m across the UK in February.With the contraction in the economy, tenants are starting to feel the financial pinch as the cost of living escalates and wages stagnate or drop. A thorough background check on prospective tenants, combined with a credit check is essential at all times. Please don’t leave these things to chance.

Regards, Julian England (Property Manager)

A number of top economists have recently been polled to provide their expectations of house price changes over 2011. Over 95% of them expected prices to continue falling.

There have been some considerable peaks and troughs in property prices over the last 3 years, with an average drop of 20% in 2009 and then a gradual recovery which saw that figure half. Fragile consumer confidence and tight lending criteria coupled with still relatively high property prices have produced this negative forecast.

Home owners must make every effort to secure their property over the next year but maintaining a good credit record and keeping ahead of the mortgage market by checking mortgage trends and the Bank of England base rate. Using the basic principles of supply and demand I anticipate a robust and healthy property market in the not too distant future.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments.

Regards from the team at Atlas Lettings.

Figures obtained from the Bank of England have shown that borrowers increased the equity in their homes by a staggering £7 billion during the last quarter of 2010. This indicates a dramatic turn around in Britain’s spending habits considering that three years ago a similar sum was being released from home owners properties to finance large purchases.

Austerity measures and the constant dismal economic forecasts in the media has brought this all about by by frightening the general public into tightening their purse strings. Paying your mortgage down is of course a very sensible plan of action considering that savings rates offer very few rewards. It also places homeowners in a better position once base rates begin to increase again.This is all well and good until you consider the fact that consumer spending accounts for about 60% of Britain’s income.

The fragility in the economy will however dissuade the Bank of England from increasing the base rate in the short term especially with inflation starting to stabilise at the moment.