Property
Trick or treat. Harmless fun or a homeowner’s worst nightmare?
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent This weekend our streets will fill with ghosts, ghouls and zombified celebrity look-a-likes. Halloween is upon us and kids everywhere will be buzzing at the chance to partake in the ghostly Halloween custom of trick or treating to get some free sweets. But is trick or treating a harmless bit of fun or a homeowner’s worst nightmare? A recent survey by eMoov.co.uk revealed a monstrous 72 per...
52,000 Londoners Helped Into Mayor’s Low Deposit Shared Ownership Homes
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent More than 52,000 Londoners have moved into new homes across the capital, as part of the Mayor Boris Johnson's First Steps housing scheme. The scheme targets low and medium income Londoners and helps them purchase a home at a lower cost than buying in the same neighbourhood on the open market. With many potential buyers struggling to save the large deposits required to get onto the property...
Manchester will need to build more houses…
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent A detailed report of the Manchester 2025 vision projects a prosperous future for the city at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse. The city is likely to attract 'significant investment' over the coming decade, and create more than 5,000 new jobs per year. The most interesting point in the report set out by global investment firm BNY Mellon is Manchester’s population prediction by 2025. The report states...
Forget AirBnB, there is an easier way to make money from your property (and you don’t need to provide breakfast)
THE time is 7am, and a large lorry is arriving outside an Edwardian terrace house in Kensal Rise. When the children are packed off to school, a dozen people file in, the floor is covered with plastic sheets and boxes of equipment are unloaded. Then another ‘family’ arrives - the husband, wife, teenage son, grandparents and visiting friends - while giant daylight lamps are rigged up in the garden and over the kitchen skylights to give the impression of a...
The Property Ombudsman issues revised Codes of Practice
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent Today, The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has issued amended and updated versions of all its Codes of Practice for UK and Scotland, to support the introduction of new legislation that has come into force within the last 12 months. The review process involved trade associations, representatives from large and smaller agents in both sales and lettings and a representative from The Property Ombudsman’s independent Council. The Property...
Deadline approaches for smoke and CO alarms compliance
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent Tomorrow, 1st October is the deadline for landlords and managing estate or letting agents (on behalf of landlords) to ensure all rented residential properties comply with the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations. The legislation – which applies to England - requires the installation of working smoke alarms on every floor of a rented residential property, where there is a room used wholly or partly as...
Are you the winner of the best or worst office view?
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent A couple of months ago we featured a competition launched to find the best and worst office view around the world. Snapshots were wide and varied, with some of the best views including the open ocean from a yacht to the dramatic London skyline. On the flip side, some of the worst views included looking out onto a sodden oilrig to brick walls, air conditioning units and...
‘Rent Tent’ Advertised as Spare Room in London
By Grant Bailey (@GrantDBailey) The rise in the cost of renting in London has led to many enterprising tenants subletting rooms in their homes. One such household in Gipsy Hill have taken the concept one step further, however, pitching a tent in their living room to offer to interested lodgers. The ‘room’ will set you back £550pcm (excluding bills) but comes fully furnished with ‘drawers, sleeping stuff and a chair’. Boasting views of a nearby houseplant, the tent is pitched...
Tenancy disputes now the norm for renting Londoners
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent New research shows the growing number of tenancy disputes in London. Research conducted by Weroom.com found that 60 per cent of tenants have experienced a tenancy dispute - illustrating how tenancy disputes with landlords and letting agencies have become the norm for London renters. The research also revealed: 67 per cent of London renters do not know their legal rights. 53 per cent of non-Londoners decided to...