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Duncan Foster

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I never thought I would say this because I have had some great tenants on benefits over the years, but I will not be taking anyone on benefits and I will be looking at the potential tenants work history to show they are unlikely to claim. Sorry to all the great single parents and disabled people that I have accommodated over the years, you will have to ask the council for a house now! 🤷‍♂️When I scaled back from 100 to 20 houses, I was unsure if it was a good decision, now I know!

From: Duncan Foster 16 June 2022 08:56 AM

This is simple. If the council want to change the property from one dwelling where the landlord is responsible for the council tax to multiple dwellings, then the tenants should become liable for their individual council tax like any other property. The council can then do all the chasing and leg work to collect, leaving the landlord to collect his rent without worrying about council tax bills!

From: Duncan Foster 02 March 2022 07:54 AM

So I had a long conversation with a building regs officer yesterday, and following that I now understand why infrared panels have not been the easy go to solution for anyone unable to fit heat pumps. It’s the way that SAPs are worked out because they are still assuming that electric panels use fossil fuels to create the electric. They are in the process of updating the way they work this out based on the amount of renewable energy that is now created, so when this is adopted next year, I think you will find these infrared panels will be the go to for anyone not wanting to fit a heat pump. Solar and infrared panels throughout an average 100m2 house would only cost around £6-10k and you would get the added benefit of reducing electric bills across all usage. Watch this space! .

From: Duncan Foster 22 October 2021 08:09 AM

Your right, We'll end up with them all hanging on the walls outside like they do abroad with air con units,. Another option is to install infrared panels, they are cheap to run and work very well. Cheap to install as well.

From: Duncan Foster 21 October 2021 10:41 AM

£5k towards a heat pump, then you have to install solar to run it efficiently, or super insulate the house. This doesn’t go far enough, if they truly want to get people to change, they need to assess each case, and give grants on a case by case basis. Might be better incentivising the gas companies to produce bio-gas and bio-oil with tax breaks!

From: Duncan Foster 21 October 2021 08:45 AM

Isn't that what social housing is for, and nearby less expensive areas?

From: Duncan Foster 20 October 2021 13:44 PM

As usual, a labour councillor going way beyond a sensible solution to what he is trying to achieve. I’m sorry if you can’t afford to live in the Lake District, I can’t afford to live in Knightsbridge, so I live somewhere else. The Lake District is a superb tourism hotspot creating lots of jobs and keeping businesses going, all of who pay lots of tax. What’s more, it is not just the super rich who stay in the Lake District, plenty of average income families enjoy the area every year. Maybe a proportionate measure would be to make everyone pay Council tax whether you are a business or not.

From: Duncan Foster 20 October 2021 09:30 AM

I have tenants who have been in my houses for over 10 years, they look after the house because it is their home, I look after the house to protect my investment. That is a simple business arrangement that suits both parties. If there were no landlords, where would the people who can’t afford a house live? Perhaps this group could build some refugee camps for them and they can all live in tents together! Complete morons!

From: Duncan Foster 11 June 2021 08:23 AM

If Lloyds start a property investment fund to do this, allowing savers to invest in their property portfolio and get decent returns, then this is a good idea. I cannot see any other way they can justify this new move, so keep an eye out for the new “Lloyds Property bond”. It will be interesting what rates they are offering on investment!

From: Duncan Foster 08 March 2021 12:09 PM

I had a lady rent a house from me years ago 3 doors down from a primary school. She allowed her son to stay there and he was a registered sex offender. I had to get her out and the council helped because of the proximity of the school. It’s only by fluke I found out and this guy could have been there for years without me knowing. It’s a worry that you cannot check these things prior to letting a property.

From: Duncan Foster 10 February 2021 11:47 AM

Well, I’m glad I mentioned the cat story! 🤷‍♂️🤣

From: Duncan Foster 03 February 2021 09:45 AM

I have now gone down this route for the downstairs, but in order to get a quality and warm feel upstairs, we like to put proper carpet and underlay in. 99% of tenants respect it but if pet tenancies become standard, I will be putting laminate in everywhere.

From: Duncan Foster 03 February 2021 09:30 AM

I have been with DPS since it’s inception with over 100 properties registered, and only made 1 claim in all those years, I could not believe it when I was told I could only get 50% of a carpet! It’s unbelievable.

From: Duncan Foster 02 February 2021 09:24 AM

The DPS use a set of rules that is biased to the tenant. For example, they assume carpets have a 10 year life span, so if your tenant has a cat and moves out leaving your carpets clawed to pieces, they will only pay out 50% if the carpets are 5 years old, nothing if they are 10 years old. I recently experienced this scenario where the tenants went in with perfect 3 year old carpets, left 2 years later, and I had to replace them because their cat tore them to pieces. DPS would not give me the full cost of replacement even though I had reports, photos, etc. I also have a house that has carpets over 20 years old and they are still like new because they cost a lot initially, so what happens if the tenant ruins them? The deposit protection system has become just like anything the government gets too involved in, completely over regulated!

From: Duncan Foster 02 February 2021 08:53 AM

I never thought I would say this, but following Covid 19 I actually think this is "part of" a good idea! Those who are happy to stay put in a house because they are not prepared to pay 10% of their unearnt profit can do so and never better themselves. Those who need to upsize or downsize will not be bothered about 10% of a profit they have not had to earn as long as SDLT is abolished on purchases which will wipe out £10bn/year of government income, so £250bn over 25 years. So the £421bn gain still becomes a healthy £170bn increase in tax to help pay back the national debt. This is a really easy and simplified way of getting rid of SDLT, and collecting a few quid more. Somehow the National debt needs to be paid back, and this seems a fair and reasonable way of doing it because it leaves the choice to the homeowner on whether they really need to move or not.

From: Duncan Foster 27 July 2020 18:56 PM

why is it that landlords are perceived as these hugely profiteering megalomaniacs. Two thirds of my income is from rents, they stop and I can’t put food on the table, and I can’t get 80% of my income from the government because they are rents. The government is doing enough with paying 80% of income and as a back up fast tracking Universal Credit. The writer of that article sounds like they voted for Jeremy Corbin!

From: Duncan Foster 15 April 2020 08:47 AM

We have been discussing this all morning and have come to the conclusion that in the event of "no deal" being taken off the table, Boris will call an election, do a deal with Farage and the election will be between Brexit and remain, remain having 2 parties, Labour and Liberal. Therefore Corbyn will never run the country and this poilcy is irrelevant. That said, if he somehow gets in, I'm emigrating!

From: Duncan Foster 03 September 2019 10:57 AM

They will need to target the mortgage and insurance companies first, because it is them who have been driving the “no DSS” culture. I remember a few years ago I had to really push to have some of my tenants accepted by my insurers, and ended up paying a premium to keep them.

From: Duncan Foster 05 March 2019 08:59 AM

We had a similar case, won a CCJ but after chasing the tenant through 3 properties, and lots of PI costs to find her, she moved again. We gave up spending good money after bad

From: Duncan Foster 10 January 2019 09:06 AM

Although this seems heavy handed, the tenants were there illegally and no doubt had claimed their rent from benefits and spent it. Whilst I sympathize with some people who end up in a financial mess, to have 9 kids and not be able to afford your rent is their own fault. I had tenants like this once who destroyed a property and didn't pay rent, and you do get to a stage where you feel they are just taking you for a ride, and I can see why the landlord acted the way he did. Frankly, they got what they deserved and no-one should be expected to house people who cannot be responsible for themselves. In order to warrant having 9 kids you would need to be a multi millionaire, so irresponsible!

From: Duncan Foster 10 December 2018 11:12 AM

Disgraceful and constant interfering by the government just continues to destroy the rental market. Maybe they should concentrate their efforts of interferrance on bringing the notice for non-payers in line with the deposit. I normally charge 1 months deposit but If someone wants a dog or cat, I double the deposit, so not I will not be able to allow any animals at all. Equally, the last non payer who destroyed a house, took months and months to get out through the courts, leaving me with a £5k bill which I have never collected because the tenant kept moving and did not have a job. Where is the protection for landlords?

From: Duncan Foster 05 December 2018 09:12 AM

anyone with half a brain can see Labour’s policies will destroy this country and send us back to the dark ages. If Corbyn ever gets into No10, I’m selling up and leaving the country because there is no point staying where genuine businessman are not wanted.

From: Duncan Foster 26 September 2018 08:43 AM

I am just selling some property in Wales, and I think you will find that you pay 0% up to £180k + 3% if second property and over £40k. There is a sliding scale much like the UK for amounts £250-500k 3.5%, £500k-£1m 5%, etc. Most BTLs in Wales should be captured under £180k I would have thought so all you will pay is the 3% extra. Not sure about the sliding scale up to 6% extra that you refer to but it’s still wrong and will stifle the already struggling Welsh property market.

From: Duncan Foster 13 September 2018 09:11 AM

I agree they have closed, but they need to be aligned to really get some traction. I do not see what the difference is to the lender if there is a PG. Also, there are not as many lenders who want to do multiple units. We have 5 houses all on the same title in a Ltd company and yet there are very few who will do it, and those who will penalise you with a higher rate. If they were on separate titles it would be no problem and a lot cheaper but that will cost a fortune in CGT and SDT. Catch 22!

From: Duncan Foster 13 September 2018 08:55 AM

What happened to the 3% being scrapped for landlords with over 10 properties? The government said they were trying to drive the rental sector out of the hands of inexperienced landlords and into experienced landlords. To avoid the income tax restrictions you can buy in a Ltd company, but you are penalised on the mortgage BTL rates. Lenders need to align Ltd company rates and personal BTL rates by adding a PG to Ltd company borrowing, and the 3% needs to be scrapped for investment property or for landlords with over 10

From: Duncan Foster 12 September 2018 12:15 PM

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