Would My Client Rent a Flat Like This?

Emma Fletcher

It’s a Monday morning in January and I’m waiting for an estate agent to arrive to show me around a 3 bedroom flat in a leafy part of Central London. On first impressions I’m feeling positive; the road is in a great location and the private entrance looks good. Once we go inside I’m impressed by the large drawing room, and a kitchen bigger than any of the last 10 places I’ve viewed. I’m not so impressed by the more than slightly dated bathroom and the garden that looks like it hasn’t been lucky enough to be visited by a gardener in a few years. Out comes my camera, and my notepad.

Sadly I’m not looking for myself, but on behalf of a client with a lack of time and a long list of requirements that need to be fulfilled. I search for properties for my clients, email them detailed property summaries of what’s available and view the places they pick out. I even take my own set of ‘candid’ photographs of each property which I then send through to my client as soon as I leave the front door. It appeals as my clients cut out the long hours of viewing properties that would never make it to their short list and are just left with things that really match their requirements. It’s perfect for the person who doesn’t want their limited spare time on a Saturday spent visiting a list of properties as long as their arm!

What can be the problems of searching for property on behalf of someone else? A client that has an unrealistic view of what is available can be difficult, along with a budget that is too low to come up with what they have in mind (although I’d like to, I can’t perform miracles). It’s also important to get into the mindset of the client; what we might like personally can be a million miles away from the preferences of a client.

Searching for property is greatly rewarding and one of the favourite parts of my job. I enjoy finding out exactly what’s on the market, viewing some wonderful properties in London, and reporting back to my clients. The best part though is when a client calls to say that they’re going to rent something I have found. Then the work starts organising their move…..

A guest post by Emma Fletcher, Director of a London based Lifestyle Management company, providing PA & lifestyle management services to clients on an hourly basis with no membership fee. Follow My Lifestyle PA on Twitter or call 0300 900 1000 for more information.

Share this post:

Posted in Renting on March 5th, 2010 | No Comments »

What References do I Need to Rent a London Flat?

Image via Wikipedia

What references will my landlord want?

Before you move into a new property, it’s almost certain that your landlord will want some form of reference to check that you’re who you say you are , and that you’re not going to move in and immediately stop paying rent.

If you’re prepared for this and have your referees primed, you’ll stand a better chance of moving into your desirable property sooner rather than never. Let’s take a look at what you’re likely to be asked for.

Proof of ID

This is basic but essential. Have a passport or driving licence, plus a utility bill or bank statement to prove your current address. Make copies that you can give to your landlord: it shows you’re organised and business-like – and will definitely help you stand out as a prospective great tenant!

Employers’ reference

This is the other essential. Your landlord will want to know that you can afford the rent (i.e. you’re being paid enough) and that you have a stable job that you’re not about to lose.

Do your homework. Know who in your organisation should be contacted, and tell them you’ll be needing a reference shortly. Or better still, ask them to write you an open reference confirming your employment status and salary. You can still expect your landlord to contact your employer to verify it, but it might save a day or two if you need to move in quickly.

Previous landlord

Your previous landlord can – I hope – confirm that you pay your rent on time and haven’t trashed the place. The problem here is likely to come if the reason that you’re moving is that your current landlord is a shark who never completes repairs, or they’re uncontactable. You might consider offering your last-but-one landlord as a referee (best to ask them first) instead – though of course you’ll need to explain to your new landlord why you’re doing this.

Financial checks

If your prospective landlord wants a bank reference, be prepared for some delays

banks take a long time to complete references, and are understandably vague

Have 6 months of bank statements handy if you need to prove your financial status.

Expect credit checks – if there are problems, admit them up front and explain them. It’s better to say “I had a business that went under; I’m sorting things out”, than hope no one notices a CCJ or three.

Guarantors

In some circumstances, landlords may prefer to have a guarantor rather than a reference. A guarantor is someone who signs to say that they will pay your rent if you don’t: often a parent if you’re in student accommodation, for example. I know some landlords of HMOs who say they will only deal with guarantors: they typically rent to people who have little employment or renting history, and to have someone with their own home stand surety is, they say, easier.

Whatever references your landlord asks for, be open with them if you can’t provide them. It’s much better to be honest and offer an alternative than have a friend pretend to be your boss. Most landlords have taken plenty of references in the past and will see through that in minutes – meaning you’ve lost the property you wanted.

James Davis - Upad

A guest post by James Davis, the CEO of Upad.co.uk, the UK’s leading online lettings agent. Upad lists your rental property on 100+ sites and portals – including Rightmove – for just £59: tenant guaranteed. Follow the Upad blog and on Twitter for rental industry news and tips for landlords on making the most of your properties

Share this post:

Tags: Financial Services, Flats, Landlord, Property, Rent, Rental, Studios
Posted in Renting on March 3rd, 2010 | No Comments »

Deliveries to your London Flat

Image via Wikipedia

If you are having goods delivered into Pimlico or other London based apartments, then make sure you have some details to hand that will be useful for your delivery company.

Pimlico is in the congestion zone so the congestion zone fee will be added to your bill unless your delivery company has exemptions. Motorbikes and LPG vehicles are exempt at present. You may want to ask the courier / delivery service at the time of booking, so that you are not caught unawares.

Some flats or apartments in Pimlico are two or three floors from the ground. Make it clear whether you want the courier to bring up the item or leave it in the hallway or reception area. As many Pimlico Apartments have ‘residents only’ parking, you can understand the drivers reluctance to deliver the door – it may mean he gets a parking ticket.

By the same token, if you are a person who is not very mobile just let them know at the time of booking so the courier/delivery driver can leave a sign on the dashboard to let parking wardens know he will be back in a few minutes.

The biggest problem your courier will face when delivering to you will be the traffic. Apartments in central London are highly sought after so the resident can avoid the queues around Victoria and other stations but that means someone else will drive through the very same traffic to reach you.

Some same day courier companies will deliver out of hours which is great for avoiding London traffic and avoiding the congestion charge / traffic wardens. If this kind of service suits you better, just let your company know at the time of booking – then your day won’t be wasted waiting in for a delivery.

Sarah Arrow
Sarah Arrow is a director of a same day courier company based in Essex. They deliver in and out of London daily and help companies deliver in a sustainable, greener way. They can be contacted on 0844 884 3331 (local rate).

Share this post:

Tags: Central London, Couriers and Messengers, London, Parking violation, Pimlico, Transport, Transportation and Logistics
Posted in London, Renting on February 18th, 2010 | No Comments »

Renting a London Flat – Don’t Get Mugged from a Gumtree Advert

Image representing Gumtree as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Be careful about carrying large amounts of cash. Admittedly this scam is less common with Flats, but beware taking large amounts of cash to meet someone that you don’t know, or to an isolated place, especially at night. It’s not just your money that you might lose, but also your life – a man was stabbed in the heart and left for dead after replying to a bogus advertisement for a car on listing website Gumtree. The 42-year-old victim took £5,000 in cash with him to a rendezvous in a street in east London with a man he believed was the seller. When he arrived he was punched and kicked to the ground by two men before being stabbed six times, his life was saved by a passer-by who intervened in the attack and the skills of air ambulance doctors who carried out open heart surgery at the scene. More recently a man was beaten and stabbed in east London when he went to buy a BMW car advertised on Gumtree. Now it is very normal for a landlord to ask for advance rent and deposit in cash, but be careful that you know the situation well. Best of all is to ask a Landlord requiring cash to meet you at your bank – withdraw the cash and hand it over on the premises. Don’t forget to get a signed receipt!

Share this post:

Tags: Advertising, Gumtree, London, Money, Scam
Posted in Renting on February 17th, 2010 | No Comments »

Embarrassing Moments Renting a London Flat

Image via Wikipedia

Reading a Letting Agent describing her embarrassment at slamming a door on the fingers of a prospective tenant, and then walking into the flat to see on the walls framed full frontal nude pictures of the current tenants, reminded me of my own flat hunting funny and embarrassing moment. We had arrived at the flat promptly at 10:00 on a Saturday where we were met by the agent. Ringing the bell the agent was a little flummoxed when the tenant opened the door in dressing gown, clearly having just rolled out of bed. She assured us it was fine to view as arranged and asked the agent to conduct the viewing for her, but said it was fine to come in the bedroom where she was going back to bed. The agent took us round the flat, which was actually very nice, but a little spoilt by wedding photos absolutely everywhere – framed on the walls, free standing on the coffee table, mousemats, coasters, mugs, whatever it was there she was with her new bridegroom.

Finally as our last port of call in the viewing we knocked on the bedroom door and walked in. As expected she was back in bed and dozing. The big surprise was – the man in bed with her wasn’t the man in all the wedding photos!

So what has been your funniest viewing?

Share this post:

Tags: Add new tag, Fun, Hunting, Property, Rent
Posted in General, Renting on February 4th, 2010 | No Comments »

Rent London Flats – Facebook to Replace Gumtree?

Pimlico Flats on Facebook

Last year I wrote about the changing face of London Flat Rental Advertising. In a series of 3 articles I traced the history of how to find a London Flat to rent informing both tenants and landlords where they should be looking for flat rental.

In particular I predicted the death of Gumtree, dragged down by the predominance of scamming adverts. Originally Gumtree’s success was founded on a combination of free advertisements, and community, basing itself around cities and providing newcomers with a source of information on everything that they might be looking for. Gumtree still continues, with the new Beta version being commented on, and it’s charges ever increasing to cover the costs of the site revamp. It continues to succeed because it’s only major competitor – Craig’s List, – is just as plagued with scammers, and considerably harder to navigate, but now there is an alternative that might just sink Gumtree for all it’s new investment. Facebook Marketplace.

OK – I’ll be honest, not new – just new to me. Facebook Marketplace was set up in May 2007, and in March 2009 ownership transferred to Oodle, a specialist Internet Classifieds website. It runs integrated with Facebook, and listings on Facebook Marketplace are syndicated onto Oodle’s website as well. The reason that I have chosen to highlight Facebook’s Classifieds as the website that will sink Gumtree is …… trust.

The biggest problem with trading on the internet is that of trust, and maybe Facebook have cracked the problem. A Facebook/Oodle Classified Ad comes vouched for by the Facebook ID that listed it, so the advertiser is no longer as anonymous as a Gumtree Ad. with a Hotmail eMail contact.

That strikes me as a powerful USP when you are looking to rent a London Flat.

Share this post:

Tags: Add new tag, Advertising, Craigslist, Flats, Gumtree, London, Rent, Rental
Posted in Renting on January 20th, 2010 | 4 Comments »

Rental Deposits: what tenants should know

It seems incredible, but the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) has said that it has almost £5 million of deposits which it is unable to repay because it can’t get hold of the tenant to whom the money is owed.

The Director of the DPS, Kevin Firth, said that “some tenants are not keeping their contact details up to date – resulting in this large number of unpaid deposits”. For security reasons, once the deposit has been lodged with the DPS, only tenants can update their contact details.

The DPS now requires either the email address or the mobile phone number of the lead tenant – and preferably both – to be supplied with any new deposit held. It will shortly be launching an SMS service to notify tenants when their landlord has released the deposit for them to claim back.

Of course, this isn’t going to be a foolproof system either. People’s emails and mobile phone numbers change. Tenants need to be aware that it’s their responsibility to keep these details up to date.

Back in October, more figures from the DPS revealed that a third of landlords are prepared to admit they’re flouting the law on deposit protection. Whatever your opinion on deposit schemes, it’s not good to have headlines like this fostering the same old shabby image of the private rental sector. And part of the problem – again – is the tenants aren’t necessarily aware of their rights. While tenants don’t insist on protection, dodgy landlords will continue to get away with being dodgy. So here’s our quick guide to what tenants need to know about deposits; don’t rent without it.

1) When you pay a deposit to your landlord, s/he must register it with one of three deposit schemes. This may be the DPS, who hold the deposit themselves, or mydeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Service, which are insurance-based schemes where the landlord or agent will hold the deposit during the tenancy.
2) Within 14 days, your landlord must give you the details of which deposit scheme they’re using. This will include details about how to recover your deposit at the end of the tenancy.
3) If your landlord hasn’t given you this information, ask them which deposit protection scheme they are using. If they are not protecting your deposit, you can apply to your local county court who can require them to either protect it, or pay it back to you. If they have not protected your deposit, the court can order them to repay up to three times the amount of the deposit to you.
4) During the life of the tenancy, keep your details up to date with the person or organisation holding your deposit.
5) When you move out, agree with the landlord or agent how much of the deposit is to be returned to you; you should receive the agreed amount within 10 days.

James Davis - Upad

Share this post:

Tags: Deposit, Rent, Tenants
Posted in Renting on January 18th, 2010 | No Comments »

Westminster is the best place to live

Judging by house prices in 2009 the best place to live is the London borough of Westminster where House prices rose +18.2% (Average house price £953,542) against a National Average of+0.8%.

This news and further national data is available from Findaproperty

Westminster property

Share this post:

Posted in Renting on January 9th, 2010 | No Comments »

2010 will be a year of opportunity for Landlords

A new year, a whole new bunch of predictions for the property market. And let’s face it, after 2009 we need some cheering up. The ‘year of the accidental landlord’ saw oversupply in many areas of the property market, which pushed down rents through much of the country, even in London.

The good news is that there are already signs of recovery in the market for 2010. Rents in central London are rising, and there are some interesting new BTL products available. There’s still bargain property to be had, so now could be a good time to buy to let, for those who’ve done their homework. Lenders’ criteria will be stricter than ever, so it will be important to have a business plan, and the figures to back up your mortgaging plans.

And of course, we have a general election on the cards. Though there was disappointingly little in the Chancellor’s pre-budget report for the private rental section, both main parties are now making noises suggesting that Local Housing Allowance rules may finally be changed to allow payment direct to landlords. The government’s insistence on paying LHA to tenants might have been a nice idea, but for many landlords, it’s been a nightmare in practice.

Upad is supporting the “Raise the Roof” campaign to get the tax-free allowance for the rent a room scheme raised to £9,000. Considering that 91% of rooms in London have rent higher than the current allowance of £4,250, we’re long overdue an increase. Encouraging more people to rent out part of their main home would help cash-strapped families avoid mortgage arrears, as well as freeing up affordable housing stock.

And there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that renting itself is becoming more normal, not just a stop-gap before owning your own home. We expect to see longer term rentals becoming more popular, and landlords who treat their tenants well should really benefit from less frequent void periods.

The era of the get-rich-quick landlord and the accidental landlord is over; in the teenies (or whatever we’re calling this decade), landlords will need to manage their rentals as professional businesses.

James Davis - Upad

Share this post:

Tags: Landlords, London, Rent
Posted in Renting on January 4th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Renting a Flat through the Mayor of London

London Rents Map

The Mayor of London has opened a new website to help Londoners rent their flats. The idea is that Londoners will be able to compare average rent levels for homes across the capital, using a new interactive website. I can’t comment on it’s effectiveness yet, because currently the website isn’t giving any results (presumably glitch to be fixed shortly).

The idea is that – unlike existing search portals which show asking prices posted by estate agents and individuals rather than rents achieved – it is based on actual market rents, however it’s data source is “lettings information gathered on a goodwill basis from agents, landlords and tenants.”, so I would think that it won’t add to the information currently available - but any additional information is always welcome. Based on data for the 12 months to December 2009, average rents across London are £92 for a room in a shared property, £150 for a studio flat, £185 for a one bedroom home, £230 for a two bedroom home, £277 for a three bedroom home and £395 for a home with four or more bedrooms.

Given that the data is based on the data from the old Rent Officer agency which routinely assessed “Fair Rents” at 30% of market rents, the output from the website should be taken with a pinch of salt. Perhaps more contentiously the website goes on to give renters specific advice as to where they should look to find rented accommodation, recommending the National Association of Estate Agents website to look for registered estate agents rather than the largest and generally recommended ARLA agency. The website also goes on to recommend certain specific website portals for search which rather smacks of commercial bias, or a lack of research. Obviously I need to write a blog giving the insiders view as to better ways of finding a flat to rent!

Anyway – it may give incomplete advice, and not work yet, but nevertheless I hope the Mayor’s new rental website will make Flat hunting a happier and more successful experience. I can’t help wondering whether this new website is as a result of the Government consultation paper recommending Local Authorities set up Letting Agencies.

Share this post:

Tags: London, Rent
Posted in London, Renting on December 22nd, 2009 | 4 Comments »

This Blog

Blog Categories

Blog Sponsored by:

Archives

Meta

Pimlico Flats on Twitter

Buying Agent on Twitter

Would My Client Rent a Flat Like This?

What References do I Need to Rent a London Flat?

What references will my landlord want?

Proof of ID

Employers’ reference

Previous landlord

Financial checks

Guarantors

Deliveries to your London Flat

Renting a London Flat – Don’t Get Mugged from a Gumtree Advert

Embarrassing Moments Renting a London Flat

Rent London Flats – Facebook to Replace Gumtree?

Rental Deposits: what tenants should know

Westminster is the best place to live

2010 will be a year of opportunity for Landlords

Renting a Flat through the Mayor of London

Search Blog

Pimlico Flats Vacancies

Recent Posts

Topics

Deal Drivers on Twitter

March 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Feb
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31