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Duncan Foster

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my expertise in the industry

Duncan's Recent Activity

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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