Breaking News
More landlords forfeiting rent arrears
It appears it is increasingly more to the landlords avantage to forfeit the rent owed in the case of an eviction of a tenant than it is to chase that money through the courts. Landlords simply do not have the time to go through the potentially lengthy process of recovering unpaid rent, it has been…
Allen Walkey
£1.26 million for garden in Primrose Hill
Small garden just 20 metres square sells for £1.26 million plus £68,750 in stamp duty in Primrose Hill, North London and it does not have planning permission. The small plot went up for sale by auction at a guide price of £100,000 – £150,000. Gary Murphy from Allsops reportedly said “that this was one the…
Allen Walkey
June 2015 land registry transaction data
Data providing information about the number and types of applications that Land Registry completed in June 2015 released by Gov.UK 21st July Land Registry completes 1,521,327 applications South East tops the table of regional applications with 348,139 Birmingham tops the table of local authority applications with 23,755 The Transaction Data shows Land Registry completed over…
Allen Walkey
Housing associations failing to build homes
David Orr, Chief executive of the National Housing Federation recently said, ‘The election didn’t make any difference to the underlying fact that we hadn’t built enough new homes,’ ‘We had not focused sufficiently on regeneration; unless we start doing both of these things very quickly we will not be able to house our children.’ Housing…
Allen Walkey
Agent helps landlords prepare for the latest fire safety regulations.
Townends Estate Agents is urging landlords to implement new fire regulations now to ensure they are compliant before the new legislation, relating to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, comes into force on 10th October 2015. Townends’ Home Safety Kits, which go beyond basic requirements, give landlords the reassurance they are fully compliant, avoiding a heavy…
Christopher Walkey
House prices rising faster than income?
According to the Centre of Economics and Business Research the affect of the shortage of homes available will cause house prices to rise faster than income this year. The CEBR see house prices this year rising by 4.7%, that is in contrast to the figures given out in March when they set the forecast at…
Allen Walkey
Have a Go Hero Holly Chases off Mugger.
An estate agency employee has been praised by police in Pinner after her brave response to witnessing an elderly woman being mugged. Holly Pendred, 25, works for Gibbs Gillespie, in Pinner, Middlesex and was leaving her office at around 7pm on Tuesday 15th (July) when she saw what she thought was two people fighting. Holly…
Set back for right to buy
The House of Lords yesterday voted in favour of a crossbench ammendment to the Charities bill that could see Government plans to extend the right to buy to housing association tenants being scuppered. This is definately a seback for the Tory government who made clear their plans in the election party manifesto, even though the…
Allen Walkey
Sellers returning
According to new research by online estate agents HouseSimple.com the numbers of houses coming on the market for sale has increased by 7.1% in the last month compared to the previous, in the same period 67% of major towns and cities across the UK have seen a rise in the number of new instructions. These…
Allen Walkey
The Property Ombudsman expels Allen & Crane Estates for two years following landlord complaint.
Allen & Crane Estates, a sales and lettings agent based in Burnham near Slough, has been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for a minimum of two years after failing to comply with numerous elements of the Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents and subsequently failing to pay an Ombudsman’s award made…
Christopher Walkey
New series on housing fraud
This week we see the start of a series of 5 programmes on BBC1 showing how frontline housing officers are dealing with local authority and housing association fraud, “Council House Crackdown will run all week starting at 9.15am each morning. Tenancy fraud in now a criminal offence and carries with it if convicted heavy fines…
Allen Walkey
Legal action may happen
Legal action may be the only way forward for Housing Associations if the Government extends right to buy to their tenants, said the former head of the Civil Service. Sir Bob Kerslake, the chair of Peabody Housing and secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government reportedly said “We haven’t ruled out the possibility…
Allen Walkey
Chief Executive of FCA resigns
The head of the Financial Conduct Authority Martin Wheatley has resigned as chief executive with effect from September 12, this comes on the back of him reportedly learning that his appointment to the FCA Board would not be renewed by the Treasury, it is a requirement to be a member of the board to hold…
Allen Walkey
Interest rate warning from Mark Carney
The Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney has put out a warning that interest rates may rise soon, saying that they could rise within the next couple of months. Interest rates have remained at a record low of 0.5% since March 2009. Has the period of ultra low mortgages come to an end?…
Allen Walkey
Rents rise higher faster
According to a recent buy-to-let index rents in the private sector in England and Wales have hit an all time high of £789 a month on average. Adrian Gill, Director of Your Move and Reed Rains reportedly says, “The pedal is pressed to the metal in the rental market. Not only have rents hit an…
Allen Walkey