Robert Brown

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Vote for Corbyn and his pals. After the cautious btl investors have sold up, rents will shoot up like they have in Scotland after the SNP's attempts to screw landlords have helped rents grow by 25 to 30% on new leases.

From: Robert Brown 23 September 2018 18:54 PM

Agreed. No need to force longer term leases as the norm. Good tenants can stay as long as they like. It's the dross we want out ASAP. Since in Scotland most dross vote SNP their heroes have tried (and failed) to remove our rights to get shot of them, but have helped us to increase rents by over 25% due to fewer decent properties available for rent. Sincere thanks Nicola and cronies!

From: Robert Brown 23 September 2018 18:48 PM

This understates the rent increases in Scotland on new rents following the SNP's crazy new PRS legislation last December. I now get £2100 per month for a. 4 bed student flat, which was £1650 last year and £1500 for several years earlier. SNP - sincere thanks! Just drop your crazy separist dreams and continue to find ways to help beleaguered landlords, then I might vote for you.

From: Robert Brown 23 September 2018 18:40 PM

Why not go the whole hog and suggest rent free properties? Wait a minute..... With housing benefits and not criminalalising rent dodging, rent free properties are already a reality in modern Britain!

From: Robert Brown 19 September 2018 16:32 PM

Or the tenant can simply ring or email the landlord or agent. In my experience many problems go unreported and then slow down the change over process when I finally discover them after the tenants have left.

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 17:30 PM

I like, but not sure this is legal nowadays?

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 11:10 AM

Best to budget for more blocked loos with these tenants?

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 10:56 AM

As long as the younger generation like expensive coffees, cars on pcp lease deals and clothes bought with store cards, they'll need to keep on renting as they don't think far enough ahead to raise the deposit needed to buy. BTL's future as a secure long term investment is safe in their hands!

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 10:52 AM

Last year I replaced some kitchens and bathrooms and incurred a lot of legal fees in remortgaging. Result? A tax loss. Response from tax man? An investigation - and lots of hassle! Lesson learned? Don't do anything that's not essential to improve your properties as the tax man would rather you spent less on maintenance and paid more tax!

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 10:20 AM

Councils and SNP need to realise that the more unattractive they try to make the prs, the higher will be their bills for the homeless and the higher the rents for the flats still available for rent! Rent control has never worked and never will. Stop meddling with people's lives, both landlords' and tenants'.

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 10:07 AM

In Glasgow, where the SNP "government" has added additional problems in removing all certainty in lease duration with its crazy new PRS legislation, rents for decent flats have gone up by 25% over the last 18 months. Heartfelt thanks to the SNP! Glad I'm a landlord and not a tenant!

From: Robert Brown 12 September 2018 10:00 AM

I like it but not sure it's legal to avoid the statutory deposit schemes?

From: Robert Brown 06 September 2018 20:19 PM

There are plenty of areas where too many tenants are chasing too few properties and this rents can go up to accommodate increased landlord costs. Why stick with areas where you have to subsidise tenants?

From: Robert Brown 06 September 2018 09:47 AM

Typically, landlords are very happy for good tenants to stay long term. Only a government as idiotic as the SNP one would risk forcing landlords to suffer bad tenants indefinitely or bail out of btl, causing a supply crisis and a huge increase in rents. Glad the UK government has shown more common sense - although I'm grateful to SNP for my recent 25% rise in my rents in Glasgow!

From: Robert Brown 06 September 2018 09:41 AM

Students make excellent tenants if parents sign joint and several liability guarantees as parents are usually solvent and sensible. Flats in Edinburgh and St Andrews can also be let as holiday lets in vacation times, although the SNP's recent removal of the landlord's right to determine lease periods threatens this opportunity which will lead to higher rents and reduced availability for these students. However, 4 bed student flats can now command £2100 per month, yielding 8 to 10% gross.

From: Robert Brown 15 August 2018 22:43 PM

Throughout our society, the "good" subsidise the bad. Much more use should be made of giving those who are "bad" or even rent defaulters etc. unpaid labour - picking up litter, painting public buildings etc to at least get some payback and act as a disincentive to the lazy and feckless and a possible way into paid work for the unfortunate or misled potentially "good" among them.

From: Robert Brown 15 August 2018 10:00 AM

I agree that's a real danger, which is why I'm putting my rents up as much as I can while I still can do so. Every attempt to control a market through legislation always backfires on the most vulnerable that the loony left claim they want to protect.

From: Robert Brown 14 August 2018 11:36 AM

This is already proving a disaster in Scotland. Tenants are moving in and then giving 4 weeks notice because they are only needing a short term let while on a short term contract. This along with the huge numbers of landlords selling up actually works against availability of long term let's. My letting agent advised me to ask for an extra 20% on properties recently vacated and I got it from the first viewers. My heartfelt thanks to the SNP and their fellow loony lefties in Holyrood.

From: Robert Brown 14 August 2018 09:21 AM

As I said in an earlier similar article, I wouldn't want to rent to tenants who aren't confident they will hand my properties back as they found them. As the article says, deposits are refundable. Insurance premiums aren't. These insurance schemes are the next generation ppi scams.

From: Robert Brown 14 August 2018 09:11 AM

My computer breaks. Do I blame computer engineers for not making better computers? No. I'm just happy they're available to fix it at high (if market) costs. My fancy new phone makes a huge profit for the world's richest company. Do I resent this? No. I'm actually perversely pleased to show other geeks I can afford this type of rip off. I need somewhere to live locally. Do I thank Landlords for providing high quality local accommodation at market rents? Anyone see the disconnected thinking here? BTW - the I here is not me but unfortunately is not just a figment of my imagination!

From: Robert Brown 07 August 2018 14:02 PM

All rogues - landlords or tenants - should be prosecuted. Pity it always seems to be one sided. A register of both lots would help both decent landlords and tenants.

From: Robert Brown 07 August 2018 10:55 AM

Sticks and stones! I know I'm a good landlord. More importantly my tenants know it too. Even more importantly I am now a rich landlord mainly due to market forces brought about by shortage of rental properties exacerbated by the lefties and gutter press. To both groups my heartfelt thanks. Keep it up!

From: Robert Brown 07 August 2018 10:48 AM

The directors should be held personally liable for all such things, especially the over paid plc directors of companies such as RBS, BHS, Carillion etc.

From: Robert Brown 06 August 2018 16:43 PM

If tenants aspire to be property owners they will surely welcome such a taster of the real world and being treated like actual owners! Next step is to make them pay for any repairs or replacement inventory items needed. After all that's what being a grown up property owner entails. Perhaps they'll have to cut back on new car pcp payments, fancy holidays and overpriced coffees. These things seem to be the priority spending for many tenants.

From: Robert Brown 06 August 2018 16:26 PM

There are still plenty of profitable btl opportunities around. In Glasgow a flat costing £80k can get over £6k in annual rent, yielding 7.5% gross. If fully mortgaged at around 2% Apr that still yields over 5%. Larger properties costing under £300k can get £25k annual rent or a gross yield of 8 to 9% and 10 or more groups chasing every such available rental opportunity. I don't like what Osborne has done but the squeeze on over extended landlords has helped my annual rental income grow by over 20% over the last 3 years without having to make any further Capital investment. More pain can mean more gain for those who can bear it.

From: Robert Brown 06 August 2018 16:17 PM

I have just paid £900 to a specialist letting agent in Glasgow for tenant find, but they are getting me £2100 per month for a 4 bedroom flat that I had only been getting £1500 per month for - so money well spent this time. Next time? We'll see what the benefit is then. Moral? If agents add value then I'm happy to use them, but not otherwise.

From: Robert Brown 05 August 2018 09:45 AM

If it were made a criminal offence and offenders properly prosecuted then it might deter some of them and at least the landlord would have the satisfaction of knowing that they hadn't got off scot free as currently happens.

From: Robert Brown 03 August 2018 17:26 PM

I tried to reply to the reply about Tory leeches. I'm not a great fan of them but they're infinitely preferable to the SNP zealots up here in Scotland and Corbyn's Loony Leftists. I think the base rate hike is due and will have a neglible effect on the prs, much less than the damage done by Osborne.

From: Robert Brown 03 August 2018 17:15 PM

This was done by the independent Bank of England and expected for long enough to get a longer term fix to avoid it. The Government is no friend of btl landlords but this is not their doing.

From: Robert Brown 03 August 2018 09:29 AM

Next story is about a rogue landlord being fined £15k - probably quite justifiably- but why are rogue tenants not fined for malicious damage? Why is continuing to live in a property with no intention of paying the rent not fraud or theft? Incidentally the charity shelter and student representative bodies also recommend staying put until the bailiffs come. The bailiffs should have the right to arrest those who have failed to comply with court orders and charge their fees to them and not the landlord victims.

From: Robert Brown 02 August 2018 12:25 PM

I don't know why someone would give up earning £4600 from a spare room just because they had to pay tax on the last £100 of that. The rent a room allowance has been hijacked by air BNB landlords avoiding tax and normal landlords providing homes are making up the shortfalls.

From: Robert Brown 01 August 2018 19:42 PM

This article is missing the real point which is that this relief was fair at around £4500 when landlords got tax relief on mortgage interest. It should have been withdrawn when the landlord tax relief was withdrawn and if kept should only apply where a room is let as a long term home, not as a holiday let. It's also crazy that all furnished holiday lets qualify for better mortgage tax and CGT relief than long term lets providing long term affordable homes.

From: Robert Brown 01 August 2018 11:23 AM

I don't agree that we need "independent" or professionally produced inventories, just accurate ones mutually agreed by landlord and tenants. This mob are just wanting to feather their own nests by pushing for yet another unnecessary cost to be borne by tenants (because they always pay in the end). What both landlords and tenants need is less bureaucracy, less unnecessary expense and more understanding of how vital the prs is in providing affordable homes to those with no other option.

From: Robert Brown 01 August 2018 11:09 AM

Effectively tenants are being charged a non returnable 1 week's extra rent because they don't think they can take sufficient care of other people's properly to ensure getting their full deposit back! Sorry but I prefer tenants who expect to take proper care of my flats and contents. So far, over 20 years and around 200 tenancies, while flats aren't handed back pristine, it's never seemed worth the effort in disputing refunding the deposit. Giving a good reference seems to be a better incentive than deductions from the deposits.

From: Robert Brown 28 July 2018 10:40 AM

The Association of Mouse Trap Suppliers, Purple Towel Washers and Yellow Bucket Purveyors have statistics to prove these items are essential in every flat. People die every day in flats with no clean purple towels! Why has Landlord Today not highlighted this indisputable fact? PS: I still have stocks of all such essentials at ludicrously high prices. Buy now before your local Council forces you to get them or evict your tenants if stocks run out!

From: Robert Brown 28 July 2018 10:25 AM

That probably makes all 3 of you happy as I doubt either would be keen to rent to you either! I wonder if the Ashford councillors would accept personal liability for such fines if their subsidised council tenants' boilers weren't fixed in 4 days.

From: Robert Brown 20 July 2018 10:04 AM

More potential tenants than available properties means market forces will allow rents to increase, even if landlords are unaffected by any of the increases cited above. Tenants might need to cut back on expensive coffees, holidays and pcp cars as finding money for a home has to come first. Tenants can forego a Crunchie or Morning Star some days if cash is short but rent needs paid for every day they live in a property. Happy Days!

From: Robert Brown 16 May 2018 09:41 AM

If tenants spent less on coffees, booze, eating out, holidays and leasing cars they would save up the purchase deposits much faster.

From: Robert Brown 27 April 2018 11:57 AM

So tenants are now having to submit sealed bids? Welcome to the real world! Landlords have had to do this for the best properties for decades.

From: Robert Brown 27 April 2018 11:19 AM

Surely the answer is to compel tenants to spend £15 or so on a CO alarm of their own? Teach them a bit of self sufficiency and to take some responsibility for their own lives instead of nicking the batteries out of the alarms that most landlords always fit?

From: Robert Brown 18 April 2018 16:02 PM

No need for us to lose heart as long as we can pass increased costs on to tenants. Only a drop in demand will stop this possibility and that's hardly likely given the millenial generation's preference for fancy cars and holidays, eating out and expensive coffee bars instead of saving for deposits.

From: Robert Brown 18 April 2018 15:56 PM

Things are a lot different than when Mary Barbour was alive. If she were a Glasgow councillor now she'd probably have a portfolio of her own to keep her until she got a safe seat in Holyrood beside Leonard and his out of date cronies.

From: Robert Brown 18 April 2018 15:48 PM

Lenders boycotting pensioners should realise that pensions are the safest from of income. High salaries stop when jobs are lost. Pensioners also tend to have more time and cash to keep properties maintained and tenants happy, further reducing the risk on rent losses due to voids.

From: Robert Brown 18 April 2018 15:40 PM

This man has cost decent Glasgow landlords (and therefore their tenants) thousands through Glasgow Council's over- reaction to that tragedy - and yet they have allowed him to continue his evil practices for the last 14 years! He should be jailed and Council officials fired.

From: Robert Brown 05 April 2018 09:03 AM

Many dampness issues are due to tenants failing to adequately heat or ventilate properties. Are landlords to be fined for tenants' indolence in such circumstances?

From: Robert Brown 24 January 2018 10:38 AM

Glad to hear of a landlord getting justice for a change. I hope this waster pays up and gets a real job actually working for a living, although I for one wouldn't employ him in any capacity however menial.

From: Robert Brown 16 January 2018 11:42 AM

Fined £1000 for not replacing light bulb and for not replacing a kitchen bin! Totally over the top. In any case surely Tenants should do these things themselves!

From: Robert Brown 10 January 2018 09:18 AM

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