Record breaking levels for rental properties.

Countrywide has reported a record breaking 50, 480 people wanting to rent a property registered with them during the three months running up the end of June.  This is the highest amount since they started collecting data back in 2003.

It was June that saw the highest demard, seeing 18 000 plus potential tenants registering for rental properties.  This figure was 22% higher than June figures.

However, this increase of rental searchers was not met with a rise in properties available, but saw a 6% drop in properties available to rent during that period

This has seen a rise in the average amount of tenant competing for a property at one time, moving up from 4.9 tenants during the first quarter of the year.

This has seen a trend in properties being snapped up quicker, with an average of 2 weeks.

Great news, loads more tenant, all competing for your property!!!  But you need to make the right choice- which one is best!!!

Get an tenant reference, employer reference and landlord reference to make an informed choice on your new tenant.

All you need to know about online tenant referencing.

Does it give me the information i need?

Online tenant referencing will give you all the information you need to decide if you want to accept a tenant into your property.  Most importantly you will see if a tenant has any active CCJ’s, which are county court judgements.  CCJ’s are for people who have not paid their debt, so may not be a suitable tenant as their credit rating will be bad.  You will also see if a tenant is on the electoral register and if they have had any bankruptcies in their past.

 How long does it actually take to get a credit score?

Its super quick to get a credit score, where it takes pretty much no time at all.  All you need is the tenants details to input into the online tenant referencing system you chose.  Most good service providers will give you a form which the tenant should fill out so you know you have all the details you need.  Once you have this information, and popped it into the online system, which maybe takes 5 minutes, you click for your credit check and get instant results with detailed information.  So getting your tenant credit check reference  online is quick and easy.

 Can i get references from employers and previous landlords when i apply for the credit score?

You can get references checks for previous landlords and employers on an online system, if you do your research some online providers will do this service for free!!  Most of these reference services are thorugh online email systems which generate and reference questionnaire for the referee to fill out online.  The great thing is that these online questionnaires are quick and very easy to complete, making chances of getting your response back much quicker.

Edinburgh gets tough on ‘party flats’ with ASBO’s

It seems that Edinburgh has become tired of its Stag and Hen status and is now looking to crack down on the noisy partiers by hitting the landlords with ASBO’s.  Sarah Boyack, Edinburghs Central Labour MSP said the Scottish government has agreed to look at changes in the law to make it easier for local council to handle the problem.

Within the law currently those tenants in short-terms and holidays lets can be served with anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO’s).  As stag and hen parties only stay in the town for a weekend – it is deemed that ASBO’s have not been a practical way to deal with the problem.

Sarah Boyack said: “The minister has agreed to examine options which would mean amending the Anti-Social Behaviour Act to extend the capacity of serving notices not just to tenants but to landlords and owners of short-term and holiday lets

Stan Player, who petitioned the Scottish Parliament for action against party flats knows only too well the situation and how out of hand it can get as a neighbour to a party flat.  He experience noise until 6am in the morning and called the police twice for assistance.   It night ended or morning started with doors banging and screams in the stairwell, with the police and an ambulance turning up. It was believed that a woman had been seriously assaulted.

Maybe there will be a party flat reference system where you can reference your weekend tenants for too much parting behaviour.  Or perhaps landlords should step away from stag and hen rental and leave it to the hotels.  Maybe these landlords should just rent long term apartment and reference tenants properly and keep their neighbours and possibly once friends happy.

Manchester conman scammed landlords inspired by hollywood movie.

A conman in Manchester earlier this month was jailed for three years and 11 months for scamming landlords in Manchester out of thousands of pounds.

Alexander Da Silva managed to con owners of luxury Manchester apartments by using false identities. Not very original, but the unoriginality by no means stops here.  He based his conman look on the focal character in the Hollywood flick ‘Catch me if you can’, yes thats right – he even pretended to be a pilot and said he worked for an airline- dream on buddy!

The scam amounted in £20,000 and he admitted to 11 counts of fraud.

Mr Da Silva had secured false references and multiple passports, which on is reported to carry the name Romeo DiCaprio – serious identity crisis.  He would rent luxurious apartments but never paid the rent.  It was also reported that that Da Silva used to walk around the building dressed as a pilot, I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure pilot outfits would be quite expensive, I guess that’s an affordable luxury when your living rent free!

As always these stories show how imperative it is for landlords to reference their tenants properly and thoroughly, and if they have a name such as Romeo Dicaprio and their  dressed as a pilot and it all seems a bit de ja vu the run then reference your tenant online quickly.

Finally landlords are happy?

The National Landlords Association has reported that 57% of landlords are rating the overall prospect for their lettings business over the next three months as good or very good.  Maybe it’s the sun in the air and lighter evenings setting in, or it is argued that it could be down to an increase in tenants looking for properties in conjunction with a property value increase across the UK ending in better capital gains.

So its smiles all round, finally some positivity for us all to enjoy.

Always use tenant referencing to make sure positivity and smiles last well into the year!!