RUBEX Lettings Ltd

29/11/2021

Do you know how important photography is in the serviced accommodation business?

Images are one of your key marketing tools. Capture images that set the scene for out-of-season guests. Such as outdoor photos that show golden autumn leaves on a crisp winter morning, views from your property capped with a light dusting of snow or the local Christmas markets.

Unforeseen weather conditions may keep guests from exploring the great outdoors, so show them what they can appreciate indoors. Photos show a selection of board games and books, mugs of hot chocolate and homemade cookies that guests can indulge by a cosy fireplace.

If you aren’t confident in your photography skills, consider hiring a professional photographer to take amazing photos. Once you have a selection of photos, update your website, listing site ads and social media accounts, showing how great your property is during the low season. Conveying your holiday home as a homely, warm and cosy place to retreat to will be a huge incentive.

If you or anyone you know would like to find out more about what we can offer, please do get in touch for a chat on 0118 901 4250 or 07961 960200.

26/11/2021

Getting knocked down in life is a given: getting up and moving forward is a choice -Zig Ziglar

24/11/2021

Did you know?

Landlords to be offered subsidies of £5,000 from April to help replace old gas boilers with heat pumps.

It has been confirmed that landlords and other homeowners in England and Wales will be offered subsidies of £5,000 from April to help replace old gas boilers with heat pumps.

The grants are part of the government's strategy to reduce carbon emissions from heating homes and other buildings. While landlords and other property owners will be encouraged to switch to a heat pump or other low-carbon technology, there will be no obligation to remove boilers that are still working. Currently, an air source heat pump costs £6,000 to £18,000, depending on size and energy generation.

The government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy says homes are a large contributor to the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, representing 21 per cent of overall emissions. They have also declared that new gas boilers will no longer be sold after 2035. Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says the grants to support the adoption of heat pumps, available from next spring, would help reduce the cost of the relatively new technology by 2030. "Through our new grant scheme, we will ensure people are able to choose a more efficient alternative in the meantime."

22/11/2021

Unpaid Council Tax Bill – Who Is Responsible?

Given the difficult financial circumstances that have faced many tenants over the past two years, sometimes tenants leave behind unpaid utility and council tax bills, which can find their way to the landlord’s door.

What Is Council Tax?
People living in domestic properties across the UK need to pay council tax to their local authority. The money collected helps pay for local services such as social care, waste and recycling collections, education and planning. It also includes a precept to pay for local police and fire services.

Council tax can be paid annually or in instalments.

Who Is Responsible For Paying The Council Tax Bill – Tenant Or Landlord?

Council tax is payable on all residential properties across the UK, paid by residents over the age of 18. In most cases, tenants, not landlords are responsible for paying the tax.

In multiple occupations (HMOs) the landlord is liable for council tax, where a number of unrelated tenants live in a property, sharing communal areas. Landlords are also responsible for paying the tax in other, rarer cases, such as if all their tenants are under 18 if they are asylum seekers or renting the home for a short-term emergency period.

As Landlords, you should also make it clear in the tenancy agreement, that the charge must be paid by the tenant.

If you’re a new landlord, just getting to grips with the difficulties renting out homes can present, talk to us. We’d be pleased to tell you more about how we work with landlords and the full range of services we offer. Please do get in touch for a chat on 0118 901 4250 or 07961 960200.

19/11/2021

17/11/2021

Previously, we have posted on what to look at a student HMO. Now we have a relatively different topic on the 10 DO's and DON'Ts for student landlords.

From 'why you should never take a retainer over the summer months' to how to make sure your rental is kitted out with the latest on-trend furniture.

DO's

•Take the time at the start of the tenancy to chat with the students. As a landlord, it is always a good idea to gently remind your tenants of their obligations at the start of a tenancy.

•Apply for a licence if you need one. When you have 3 or more students living in a house together then you will have a house in multiple occupations (HMO).

•Make use of NRLA partners and recognised suppliers when it comes to furnishing your property.

•Remember that when a property is entirely occupied by students, then no council tax will be owed. If you have a HMO with five occupiers, and one of the tenants is a working young professional but the rest are students, then you would not qualify for the council tax exemption.

•Do get to know other student landlords.

DON'Ts

•Forget to remind your tenants about the inventory and inspections. At the start of a tenancy, it could also be useful to gently remind your tenants to complete the inventory you have provided them as soon as they can, and remind them about the frequency you are planning on carrying out inspections.

•Take a retainer. Some students would half move into a property over the summer months, landlords historically charged tenants half the rent for these months, otherwise known as a 'retainer'.

•Don’t forget you must carry out Right to Rent checks on student tenants. This must be done before move-in day, and this is a requirement for all tenants over the age of eighteen.

•Don’t use the same key/s for the property for years. In house shares, by law, each bedroom door must be fitted with a thumb turn lock, and tenants must be able to lock the door from the inside of their room.

15/11/2021

Is your property ready for the winter?

Whether you’re a landlord or tenant, we’ve listed a few handy tips to help keep your homes safe and cosey during the winter.

• Protect your pipes
• Loft insulation
• Clean the gutters
• Show tenants where the stopcock is
• Bleed your radiator
• Check the boiler’s pressure
• Seal draughty areas

At RUBEX Lettings we are fully experienced and always commit to caring. For further guidance on any part of the lettings process during the winter, please contact us today for a chat on 0118 901 4250 or 07961 960200.

10/11/2021

Landlords: How to Keep Your Rental Property Safe and Secure

A rental property is a big investment. Ensuring your rental properties are safe and secure can help you avoid most issues.

Door Locks for HMOs
HMOs need a different type of lock. Main entrance doors must not have a key lock operated from the inside as well as the outside, or tenants could end up being locked out.

Lock Bumping
Locks installed prior to 2008 are vulnerable to a common burglary method known as ‘lock bumping’. Thieves use master keys and gently ‘bump’ the key in the lock to align the pins inside the lock cylinder. Doors installed between 2008 and 2012 should be checked. Sub-standard lock hardware can be replaced by a locksmith.

Windows
Windows are a vulnerable area of any property, especially ground floor windows. Any window on the ground floor or easily accessible via a flat roof or shed is a security risk.

Exterior Lighting
Installing security lights around a property is basic stuff. You can pick up motion sensor lights from any DIY store.

CCTV
With a CCTV system in place, you have evidence if needed in the event of a break-in. Be careful if considering the use of CCTV, your tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment of their rental property.

Security Cameras
Cameras are useful for monitoring front and rear entrances, gardens, sheds, bike stores, driveways, and garages. They act as a good deterrent, but if there is an incident, you can hand over the footage to the police, which might facilitate an arrest and conviction.

Video Doorbells
Video doorbells are another useful home security gadget. They can be used by tenants to monitor visitors in shared houses and HMOs and will provide an extra layer of security for nervous or vulnerable tenants. It’s also useful if a property is empty and you want to monitor visitors.

Security System
A home security system offers the full package. It can be a useful selling point for high-end properties and any property in a less reputable area where crime rates are higher than average.

Property Inventory
A property inventory documents everything the property contains, as well as its condition. A full inventory check should be carried out at the start and end of a tenancy.

Tenant Screening
Effective tenant screening is a critical factor in keeping your rental property safe and secure.

Safety Checks
Landlords must conduct regular safety checks.

Routine Maintenance
Routine maintenance can go a long way to ensuring your rental properties remain safe and secure.

Landlord Insurance
Landlord insurance protects your property from damage caused by Acts of God, inclement weather and other perils.

08/11/2021

Stand Out in the HMO Market with a Virtual Tour

You’ve booked the appointment in your diary, taken the time out and driven to a viewing.
Tenants often set hopeful expectation when they see professional photographs using cameras with wide-angle lenses. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always provide a true representation of the property. When that happens, it can lead to disappointment and the property is not what the potential tenant was looking for.

A virtual tour of a property allows potential tenants to conduct a viewing in their own time, focusing in on key areas which are important to them before they ever set foot in the door.

Why use Virtual Tours, not Videos?

A virtual tour engages the user immediately. They control the tour from the moment they virtually enter it. They will go to the areas and parts of the tour which they are most interested in at their own pace. In contrast, videos will only show a potential tenant whatever it is that the Landlord or Agent wants them to. Videos can skim over areas which are important to the potential tenant and that can create frustration.

If a user feels that a video isn’t getting to the point or is going on for too long, or simply isn’t giving them what they want to see, they will skip through and/or exit the video content. By giving them access to a virtual tour instead, they have the control and they get to choose how they interact with the information.

03/11/2021

The New Fire Safety Act 2021 and how it affects landlords???

The Fire Safety Act 2021 has been enacted in Wales since 1 October 2021 and will be followed by England in the near future.

So what are the key changes and how will this affect landlords?

The new legislation clarifies that where a building contains two or more sets of domestic premises, the areas to which the Fire Safety Order applies include:

The building’s structure and external walls. All doors between domestic premises and common parts are now needed to be added to any fire risk assessment undertaken by the landlord.

The landlord or managing agent must assess and mitigate the fire safety risk associated with both the structure and external walls of a building and entrance doors to individual flats and communal parts of the building. The fire risk assessment must be updated to cover both.

The responsible person refers to anyone who owns or manages the building, so in a private residential property, it is likely to be a managing agent or the landlord.

In addition to this, there are also these further changes:

The act requires the responsible persons to reduce, assess and manage the fire risks posed due to the structure of the property.

In addition, Landlords being responsible for the risks associated with the structure and external walls of the house seems like a very sensible move seeing as under section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, the landlord is responsible for repairing and for the upkeep of these two parts of the property.