A portal dedicated to investment
and buy-to-let property has launched this week.
Buy2Let.com, which is the first of its kind, will be sourcing properties from agents
Northwood, Leaders, Aspen Woolf and Stirling Ackroyd, among others.
The portal says that over the
coming weeks it will be populated with thousands of property investment
listings. Yesterday, on launch, the portal had a total of 87 listings.
Buy2Let.com also has an exclusive
auction partner, Bamboo Auctions, offering live online auctions of investment
properties.
“We are delighted to launch the first and only B2B property listings portal
dedicated to the buy-to-let market. Buy2Let.com is designed to be the perfect
marketing partner for agents to reach investors directly, and encouragingly, it
seems our panel of forward-thinking early adopters already recognise us as
such,” said Martin Wilkinson, the portal’s founder. He said that the website aims to
cater to the needs of agents who don’t have time to dedicate to the investment
market and that existing portals are designed solely to sell to the
owner-occupier market.
“Buy2Let.com provides the crucial
pieces of information that investors need to make a purchasing decision –
uniquely, the portal allows them to search for and identify opportunities by
annual rental yield, as well as categorising each listing as vacant, instant
rental – or tenanted, and HMOs,” he added.
Wilkinson says he aims to provide
agents with an unrivalled direct market outlet for genuine buy-to-let
investment properties, and a dedicated resource of properties and market
analysis for investors.
I have met with Martin and I feel this new site could provide a useful stream of properties for the buy 2 let investor once it adds to its listing nationally.
A West Midlands landlord has been
ordered to pay costs and fines of more than £6,600 after a series of poor
living conditions for vulnerable tenants were found.
Dudley Council prosecuted
Balwinder Singh Dhadwal, from Hagley, for a number of failings at properties in
Stourbridge. They included mould on the walls
of the flats, electrical problems and not having smoke detectors fitted.
Council housing officials were concerned
about the health and safety of tenants, many of whom were described in court as
“vulnerable”. The council tried to get the 60-year-old landlord to resolve a
number of issues, but without success.
Dhadwal pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Housing Act and failing to
adhere an order preventing a property being re-let. Dudley Magistrates’ Court
ordered him to pay £1,065 for each offence and £1,190 costs. He was also
ordered to pay £120 victim surcharge.
In mitigation, Dhadwal’s
barrister said his client had been working to improve the property, including
fitting smoke alarms.
Councillor Gaye Partridge,
cabinet member for housing, said: “This sends out a clear message that we will
do everything we can to protect tenants living in private accommodation
wherever possible.
“Landlords who do not take advice
and fail to improve their properties can expect an expensive visit to court.”
http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/6/landlord-fined-%C26-600-for-health-and-safety-failings
New information has come to light
about the Government’s plans to licence landlords.
In a speech last week, Prime
Minister David Cameron called for a new licensing scheme to tackle landlords
who “cram” their houses full of illegal immigrants and powers to make it easier
for landlords to evict tenants in private rented housing.
There was widespread concern that
this meant that a new licensing scheme would be introduced for all landlords in
England. However, the National Landlords
Association (NLA) has sought clarification from the Department for Communities
and Local Government (DCLG), and was told the proposal for a mandatory
licensing regime relates to homes of multiple occupation (HMOs) or 'shared
housing’ only.
The proposal is to amend the
definition of mandatory licensable HMOs – currently three storeys and five
tenants. The DCLG intends to consult on the proposals before anything is
implemented, with the exact timeframes to be confirmed.
The Residential Landlords Association says this could mean lowering the
threshold of the number of people sharing a property, removing the three storey
requirement, or both. Removing the three-story rule
could mean controversial “beds in sheds” will require licencing.
The RLA says that while seeming
to dispel concerns over a general, national landlord licensing requirement, a
great many homes and landlords not currently covered by local additional
licensing schemes could find themselves caught under a new mandatory scheme.
This will also place local
authorities under substantial pressure as they will have to process the large
number of applications for new licences, assess the properties and carry out
further enforcement against those who have not sought licences.
The RLA has warned that as the
current local authority enforcement is often patchy, a new further area of
enforcement work may make the situation worse rather than better.
http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/5/update-on-mandatory-licencing
