Maidenhead Property Articles

Our executive director, Sarah Akkus, will be taking a maternity leave soon for the arrival for her second baby.

Sarah has reassured the valued landlords in an email in a recent email. Sarah has mentioned it will be “business as usual” while she is off. Sarah said “all the properties are in capable hands of Sue and Sophie. I am sure they will go the extra mile.”

According the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA),  residnetial andlords have increased their portfolio of properties over the past year in order to take advantage of the low property prices as a result of the economic downturn.

ARLA published the results of a survey they have recently carried out. The survey indicates that on average each landlord in the residential property market has increased their average number of properties from 6.3 to 7.0 in a period less than twelve months. In 2004, the average size of a portfolio was 4 per landlord.

Executive director of Appleton Estate Agents Marlow, Sarah Akkus commented: “I believe the main reason behind the surge is the higher rental yields  of the buy-to-let market. The lower interest rates increased the interest for the seasoned investors as well as people who are after some good deals.”

The government introduced a mandatory Tenancy Deposit Scheme on 06/April/2007, which governs all the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements in England and Wales where the landlords and letting agents take a deposit from the tenant.

This is a scheme design to protect the tenant’s deposit from the rogue landlords or agents following from a high number of disputes about the security of the deposit as well as significant number of cases where tenants felt their deposits were retained by the landlords unfairly.

However, this scheme does not remove the tenant’s duties in looking after the rental property beyond the general “wear and tear”. Neither does it ignore the landlord’s right of ensuring that the property is still in an acceptable condition at the end of the tenancy.

To start with, having an inventory at the check in is a crucial step. This is a document where everything in the property is listed and their conditions. It can be done between the landlord and the tenant but using independent professional inventory clerks further reduces the disputes.

When you decide to vacate the property, check if the property requires any repairs. Do get in touch with the trades people with enough notice to arrange repairs. If your landlord or letting agent has done a professional job, they would have inspected the property throughout the tenancy regularly, and would have pointed any potential issues.

Make sure that the property is cleaned to a “professional” standard. Most of the landlords arrange professional cleaners to clean the property prior to the tenancy, and rightfully expect it to see the same quality at the end of the tenancy. You can either do this yourself, call in professional cleaners or accept the cost to be deducted from your deposit.

If you decide to clean the property yourself, pay special attention to

• the cookers and ovens
• windows, carpets
• also consider re-decorating any walls, doors or skirting boards that may have been damaged during the tenancy.

When you confirm the moving out date, contact your utility companies and the local authorities to ensure payments are up to date.

Provide a forwarding address to the landlord (or the letting agent where applicable), the post office, the utility companies and the council.

When you move out, ensure to go through the inventory again to discuss the state of the property, any issues and resolve them

At Appleton Estate Agents Marlow, we have a good network of professional cleaners, inventory clerks and local tradesmen; all with good reputation. We would encourage both the landlords and the tenants to not take any shortcuts in these matters.

Zoopla.co.uk has recently published the results of a survey it has commissioned, which indicates that more than 75 per cent of homeowners believe house prices will increase in the next 6 months, while only 11 per cent are pessimistic about an increase over the same period.

Scots seem to be most confident about house prices (with 83 per cent) where are Northen Irish are the least confident (with only 31 per cent).
But, the Zoopla survey points out that nearly half of renters (42 per cent) think the house prices in their area will remain either unchanged or in a decline over the next 6 months.

On the positive side, despite all the uncertainties and the limited range of products within the mortgage market, more than half of the renters are planning to but a property in the upcoming six months.

Our Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead director Adil Akkus, commented: “There is a refreshing sense of optimism in the property sector again and we are expecting the market to return to its levels before the credit crunch over the next year.”

Also, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has also published some figures this week, which shows the steepest rise in the house prices since the the credit crunch began. RICS points to a lack of properties up for sale fuelling as the main reason for this.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sets out the standards on repair of property that is leased less than seven years.

A landlord, in very general terms, has a legal responsibility

• to maintain and repair the structure of the property as well as the exterior. This includes (but not limited to) the external pipes, drains and gutters.
• to keep the main utility supply installations (i.e. electricity, gas as well as water) in working order.
• to repair and in working order the installations for the provision of water heating and the heating of the property.
• to ensure the safety of gas, electricity and furnishings.
• to provide certain records of safety checks before the tenancy begins.
• maintain the general standard or fitness of the property for habitation as defined by the Section 604 of the Housing Act 1985.

However, the landlord is not expected to maintain or repair those items that the tenant breaks through misuse, carelessness or negligence.

The tenant is expected to behave in a ‘tenant-like manner’. At a high level, this implies that the tenant must look after the property and carry out small maintenance in and around the property.

As the landlord has a legal responsibility to carry out particular repairs and maintenance on the property, they, or people authorised by the landlords, can access it with certain provisions:

• the landlord must warn the tenant with adequate prior written notice; at least a 24-hour notice
• the visit must take place at reasonable times of the day

Of course, there may be certain exceptions; mainly the emergencies.

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

HMO is commonly defined as an entire residential property (flat or house) that is rented to more than two tenants who do not form a single household with shared facilities (e.g., kitchen, bathroom, etc.).

There are several tests to verify whether a property is an HMO or not. The most popular court case is known as the Barnes vs. Sheffield Council (1995), which provides 9 useful questions to consider:

1. did the people (who are living in the house) move in together as a single group, or did they move in separately?
2. which facilities do the tenants share?
3. which parts of the property are the tenants responsible for? The whole house or just their rooms?
4. Can or do the tenants lock other tenants out of certain parts of the property?
5. How is a replacement tenant found if/when people move out? Who is responsible for finding the replacement tenants?
6. How are the rooms allocated?
7. What is the size of the property?
8. Are the tenants a stable group?
9. What is the style of living? Is it communal?

The Housing Act 2004 introduced a number of complex tests to set out the meaning of HMO:

• standard test
• self-contained flat test
• converted building test
• HMO declaration in force
• converted block of flats

It also clarifies certain exceptions, including:

• buildings that are controlled or managed by public sector bodies
• student accommodation controlled or managed by the educational establishment
• properties used by religious communities
• properties occupied by owners
• properties occupied by two people

There are also a number of standards that the Housing Act 1985 specifies for the HMOs.

The local authorities have the power to control the HMOs, and in certain parts of the country the HMO licensing, governed by the local authorities, is in place.

Both Assured and Assured Shorthold tenancies are the most common methods of residential leases in the United Kingdom. They were introduced by the Housing Act 1988 in their current form. This Act initially set the Assured tenancy as the default, which has is more tenant friendly. The Housing Act 1996, which came into effect from 28th of February 1997, however, ensured that the Assured Shorthold tenancy was to be used unless otherwise stated.

There other types of leases and the following are the caveats where the assured or shorthold tenancy can be used:

• the tenancy is between the “private” tenant and “private” landlord
• the tenancy starts after the 15th of January 1989
• the property is rented as separate accommodation and it is the tenant’s main residence.

Both types of tenancy can be be in 2 forms:

• fixed term: this type of lease runs for a fixed period of time
• periodic: this type of lease runs indefinitely from one rent period to the next

Furthermore, a tenancy can not be a Shorthold or an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) if:

• the pure rental income is greater than £25000 per year
• the total yearly rent is less than £250 (this maximum limit for Greater London is £1000);
• agricultural tenancies
• a educational body such as a college or a university grants a tenancy to a student
• when letting a holiday property is involved (there are certain conditions on this)
•  the landlord is classed as a resident landlord
•  a tenancy where the landlord is the local authority, Crown or a Government Department (there are certain conditions on this)

For any queries, please seek legal advice from approved bodies in the UK, such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Adil Akkus is the managing director of the Appleton Estate Agents Maidenhead.

For the seventh consecutive month, the Bank of England has kept the UK interest rates on hold at half a percent

This move was widely expected by the analysts; which is a sign of the slow UK economic recovery even though the figures published last month may indicate that the UK economy is not in recession anymore, at least on paper.

The Bank also commented that it would keep a close eye on its quantitative easing program.

Analysts agree that the main issue is now whether the quantitative easing ends next month, or it is extended further.

Like the rest of the G20 countries, it is not yet possible to understand the impacts of the quantitative easing initiative on the recovery.

The Bank of England will have tough choices at the next meeting as there are several factors to take into account such as the increasing house prices against the high unemployment rates as well as the tight finance options for the individuals as well as companies. Easrly in October both Halifax, which is now part of the Llyods TSB group, as well as the Nationwide Building Society published figures that point to a slow recovery in the UK property market.

Unlike many of the G20 countries, the Reserve Bank of Australia raised its base rate just last week.

Sue Bilton joins the Appleton family. Sue has plenty of experience in the estate and letting agency sector; especially around Twyford.

Our executive director Sarah Akkus commented on our new team member: “Sue has plenty of experience in the property business; having previously worked for another agent in the area we cover. She is very easy to get on with. I am looking forward to working with her.”