Investment Property Blog by David Coughlin

What Are Tenants Looking For in a Rental Property?

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Rachel

Savvy landlords are concerned about what their tenants are looking for in a property. They realise that this matters, as it can increase the demand for their property and helps them target their rental property more successfully at the right target group of tenants. But how do you find out what tenants are looking for in a property?

The traditional method of getting a finger on the pulse of what tenants really want is to get to know letting agents or estate agents and find out what people are asking for and which properties have let out quickly. It’s also worth asking prospective tenants too.

But now that so many people use the Internet to advertise their rental properties, and tenants use property and lettings websites to search for their perfect rental home, there are new ways of finding out what people are actually looking for.

Many of the property listing websites periodically release details of their top search terms, so you can suss out what people are looking for. As well as getting an insight into the minds of potential tenants, it’s also really useful as an idea for keywords, that you can add – if relevant – into any online ads or listings you create for your property.

The Zoopla website has recently released details of their top 10 property search keywords on the site during April 2011, made by both property renters and buyers. The list makes interesting reading.

The top 10 property search keywords made by people searching for a property to rent were:

1. Garden
2. Garage
3. Parking
4. Studio
5. Detached
6. Furnished
7. Rural
8. Balcony
9. Bungalow
10. Bills included

(Source: www.zoopla.co.uk)

It’s not surprising that desirability for a garden is high, especially with summer weather issues on people’s mind at this time of the year, but since so few people use garages for the purpose of parking a car these days, it’s a bit of a surprise to see a garage ranking as the second most popular search term for property renters. It’s not surprising to see parking ranking in the top three though.

What do you think of the results? Are there any other terms you’d expect to see in the top 10?

Could housing benefit cuts increase rent arrears?

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Rachel

The government cuts to housing benefits could put extra pressure on tenants and increase the risk of rent arrears, a national organisation claim.

The National Landlords Association carried out a survey involving nearly 600 landlords and found that 52% of people have experienced rent arrears in the last 12 months alone. The average amount of money owed by a late paying tenant was revealed to be £730.

When asked about the ease of being a landlord and letting property, 62% of landlords said the business was becoming more difficult. Coupled with the news that the government are planning to cut housing benefits, some property experts are concerned that this will put extra pressure on tenants who are already struggling to pay their rent on time.

This could put landlords in a difficult position, as it’s not financially viable to support tenants who are unable to pay their rent, especially for those who have their own mortgage repayments to meet.

No landlord wants to be faced with tenants who can’t pay, so could concerns about housing benefit claimants not being able to pay up reduce the number of landlords accepting tenants on benefits?

What are your thoughts on accepting tenants on housing benefits and do you think the payment cuts could be a problem for landlords? Share your views in the comments section below.

Posted in Property news | Tagged housing benefit, landlord survey, landlords, rent arrears | Leave a comment

Landlords: are you cashing in on the Olympic effect?

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Rachel

We’ve often blogged about the benefits of cashing in on property hotspots and how major events, such as international sports, can hike up property prices and increase the demand for property rentals. Although it’s still early days, the first signs of the Olympic effect on property rentals are beginning to be noticed in London.

Some visitors attending the 2012 Olympic Games in London, especially those travelling from abroad, are already beginning to suss out available rented accommodation in London. In response to demand, landlords with properties in the areas around the main Games venues in south east London are marketing their properties and pricing them for the event.

Landlords are even reporting being offered prices 250 to 300 per cent more than their usual fees to let their properties during the Olympic Games and the rental prices make interesting reading.

A one bedroom flat in Greenwich, which would normally be about £1,229 a month is available to rent during the Games for £1,692 per week.

A three bedroom property in Stratford, east London, close to the Olympic site, which usually rents for £1,800 a week during the holiday season, is being let for £3,500 a week during the Games.

In Blackheath, a minute from the entrance to Greenwich Park, which is hosting the equestrian events, the owners of a five bedroom house are trying their luck with acquiring £10,850 per week rent during the Olympic Games.

Luxury properties with additional features, such as a swimming pool or gym, can command much higher prices.

If you’ve got a property in the London area and want to cash in on the Olympic effect, then now is definitely the time to give it some serious thought!

Posted in Renting a Property | Tagged event, hotspot, international, London, Olympic Games, property, rental, renting, sport, sporting | Leave a comment

Landlords – don’t forget the digital TV switchover

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Rachel

If you’re a landlord who provides rental properties that are partly or fully furnished and include electrical products such as televisions, don’t forget to ensure you’ve tackled the digital switchover.

It’s an easy issue to miss, especially if you’ve had a digital TV at home for some time. But the long-planned digital switchover has begun in many parts of the UK, with more to follow over the coming months. It’s all due to be completed by 2012.

You can find out when the digital switchover is happening in your area, by keeping an eye on the Digital UK website. It’s also worth bearing in mind that, although the switchover may go smoothly for some people, it can cause some issues for others.

As well as buying a new TV or box and upgrading to digital, you may need to do a bit of work with tuning in the TV, especially for older tenants. It shouldn’t take too long to iron out the tuning details (there’s help available on the Digital UK website if you need it) and your tenants should be pleased with the help, so it could score you some brownie points too!

Posted in Tips for Landlords | Tagged digital, digital UK, furnished property, letting, switchover, television, tentants, uk | Leave a comment

Property Demand and Rent Rises – Insight from RICS

Posted on April 8, 2011 by David Coughlin

Demand for property lettings in the UK is continuing to rise and rents have gone up at the fastest pace in history, according to the latest Residential Lettings Survey from RICS.

The survey by RICS, which uses data obtained until the end of January 2011, found that tenant demand has been steadily accelerating since late 2009. Although there has been a fall in the supply of properties to let, there has been very strong demand from tenants, which has resulted in rental fees and rental yields increasing nationally.

The strongest increases are reported in London and the South East, as expected, but they’ve also gone up in the North and North West too, which will be good news for landlords and property investors in those areas.

Interestingly, tenant demand over the surveyed period continued to increase at a greater rate for houses than flats, adding further emphasis to the idea that investing in houses at the moment is a good move.

In terms of the type of tenants taking up lettings, RICS found that new lettings to private individuals rose to 72% and lettings to companies rose to 7%. The number of lettings to students dropped to 5% and the share of social tenants remained about the same at 10%.

Posted in Investment Properties | Tagged demand, lettings, property, RICS, tenants | Leave a comment

A to Z of Property Investment I is for Inventory

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Rachel

Our A to Z of Property Investment series has been exploring a variety of issues that property investors are wise to be aware of. So far we’ve covered issues from A to H, and now it’s time to look at I. As well as being linked to the all important issues of making a property investment and getting insurance, I can also stand for inventory.

Many property investors who are buying property for investment purposes intend to rent it out, either on a short or long-term basis as renting a property can provide a good return on an investment. For anyone who’s going to have tenants living in their property, it’s essential that you produce an inventory first, before anyone moves in.

An inventory is a detailed list of everything that you supply within the property and needs to be completed by all landlords, whether you’re letting the property on a furnished, part-furnished or unfurnished basis.

The inventory is useful for tenants, as they know what is and isn’t included in the property, but it’s also very important for you, the landlord, as it helps you keep track of items that are missing, damaged or have changed when tenants are leaving. The inventory can be used as evidence for tenant deposit claim issues and a copy should be signed and kept by you, your tenants and a letting agent from the start of a letting period.

As well as details of particular items in the property, it’s also useful to use the inventory to make a note of serial numbers, models and manufacturers of electrical and household goods, plus details of any existing scrapes or damage to items.

For more details on the importance of inventories, read our previous post, on how to create an inventory for your rental property.

Check out the other posts in our A to Z of property investment:

Posted in A to Z Property | Tagged A to Z, insurance, Inventory, investment, landlord, property, property investment, rental, tenant | Leave a comment

Are your rental properties up to broadband speed?

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Rachel

As we’ve explored before, property location can be crucial to tenants, but have you considered whether or not the broadband speed is up to scratch? According to a survey of house hunters, the speed of broadband does matter and now a leading property website is set to list broadband speeds alongside property details.

The average speed of broadband in Britain is 6.86Mbps (megabits per second), but despite this, speeds can vary considerably depending on location. The slowest speed in Britain, for example, is in the village of Farningham in Kent, which only gets an average of 1.30Mbps. Although it might not mean much to you, when you consider that it would take someone 12 hours to download a film in Farningham, compared to an hour or so in high speed areas, the frustration does become apparent.

A survey by ISP Review found that nearly 75% of people would be put off a property if it didn’t have access to high speed broadband and over half would be prepared to pay more if it had fast broadband.

With more people working from home and the Internet being such a huge part of our everyday lives, property experts are beginning to recognise that broadband speed does matter.

A well known property website is teaming up with BT to list broadband speeds alongside all the other standard property information they provide on their listings, so perhaps considering the broadband speed your properties offer may be a useful new addition?

Posted in Tips for Landlords | Tagged broadband, connection, Internet, location, property, property appeal, speed, tenants | Leave a comment

Property Issues Raised in the 2011 Budget

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Rachel

It’s budget time again, and Chancellor George Osborne has delivered the news of his budget for 2011. We take a look at some of the issues of interest to property investors, property buyers and property owners.

For once there was some encouraging news for first-time buyers, who are to be helped on the property ladder by a shared equity scheme and £250m fund. First-time buyers in households earning less than £60,000 will be offered interest-free loans to help them get a foot on the ladder and buy a new-build property.

Since 2008, it’s been increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get that break into buying property, so this could eventually help take some of the strain off demand for rental housing.

Although benefits from this may seem unlikely for landlords, the void is not going to be filled immediately, it will only apply to new builds and there should still be a strong demand for rental property. Industry insiders believe that if this move helps aid the recovery of the market, it could have a positive knock-on effect for other areas of the property world.

George Osborne’s budget made the announcement that the government will begin to look at introducing easier ways for property owners to convert commercial buildings into residential properties. The idea behind it is that it will help increase the number of new homes in the UK, helping to ease the shortage of sought-after housing. This could well be good news for property investors and landlords, as it opens up more potential for creating rental properties.

Not everyone is convinced that the government have thought it through though, and some people are concerned that the plans could be damaging in areas where local councils don’t think new homes are required. This is one issue to keep an eye on though, to how the plan develops further and the scheme that is eventually introduced.

There was also news on the much-debated stamp duty front, with the government revealing that it will reform the stamp duty land tax rules that apply to bulk purchases and crackdown on stamp duty land tax avoidance schemes. In the autumn, they also plan to announce their review of the stamp duty relief scheme for first time buyers.

Posted in Property news | Tagged budget, budget 2011, building, commercial, George Osborne, government, housing, property, property issues, stamp duty | Leave a comment

How Property Investors Can Benefit From Police Crime Data

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Rachel

There’s been a fair bit of publicity recently surrounding the launch of the Police.uk website, which contains details of local crime and policing information in England and Wales. In the first few days of launch, the website crashed under demand, but now it’s been up and running for a while, it’s a lot quicker and easier to use.

We’ve previously discussed the benefits for property investors and buyers of using information gleamed from sources such as Google Maps, Google Earth and Ordnance Survey data, and there are benefits to be had of using police data too.

The Police.uk site focuses on reporting local crime and you can access information that tells you how many crimes have been reported in a certain area each month and maps showing you where each type of crime has been committed.

It’s the street-level detail which can be really useful to a property investor. When you’re researching property that you’re interested in buying, it’s a good idea to look at all the issues that may affect the price of the property and crime in a particular location can have a negative effect on property prices.

It can also affect who might want to live in the property and, if it’s in a high crime area, then it could put off some prospective tenants.

The site is very easy to use – you should pop in a postcode, town or village name, or street name, hit the search button and, voila, the results pop up.

If you need more convincing of how beneficial it can be, then have a look at this post by property developer, Sam, as it illustrates how useful checking the crime stats in an area can be and how sometimes, the results can be surprising.

Posted in Where to Buy Property | Tagged crime, data, free data, police, property investor, resources, statistics, tips for investors | Leave a comment

4 Ways To Improve the Green Credentials of Your Property

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Rachel

Property investors are increasingly being encouraged to improve the green credentials of the homes they own. The government are aiming to reduce carbon emissions by up to 34% by 2020 and both tenants and property buyers are getting more savvy when it comes to identifying ways in which properties are environmentally friendly.

Although it may not have been a high priority in the past, gone are the days when you can overlook green issues. If you’re keen to improve the green credentials of properties you own, then here are four practical ways in which you can reduce the environmental impact your properties have.

1. Install loft insulation

Having the loft insulated can significantly reduce the amount of lost heat in a building and improve the energy efficiency, as well as reduce fuel bills. The recommended thickness for loft insulation is 250mm to 300mm and it’s relatively cheap to have done.

2. Get cavity insulation

Another great way of insulating a property and improving the heat retention is to have the cavities insulated. This needs to be carried out by a professional cavity insulation firm and preferably a member that is qualified with the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency. It’s a bit of a noisy process (the neighbours may not be impressed for an hour or two!), but can make a huge difference to the insulation abilities of the walls of your property.

3. Replace the boiler

Old boilers can be a huge source of emissions and are typically found in older properties. A new boiler can be a big investment to make, but as savvy tenants are getting more and more aware of the effects of old boilers – not least that they can end up costing them more in bills – it’s well worth considering.

4. Invest in draught protection

Windows and doors can be a major source of draughts, caused by poorly fitted window frames or frames that have suffered a bit of movement through wear and tear. To help reduce the amount of heat that is lost from a home, and the amount of unwanted that gets in, consider investing in draught protection around windows and doors.

Depending on the amount of draught proofing you want to have done, this shouldn’t be too expensive and you can save even more costs by installing it yourself.

Posted in Tips for Landlords | Tagged boiler, cavity, draught, environment, environmentally friendly, green, insulation, loft | Leave a comment