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Andrew townshend
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Andrew townshend
when a property becomes available there is no shortage of viewings, or people wanting to rent it, but how many of those people do we want as tenants in our properties, that soon whittles the numbers down

From: Andrew townshend 25 April 2018 09:54 AM

Andrew townshend
surely it boils down to horses for courses, good working tenants with a good credit history will be looking for good properties from good landlords, on the other hand benefit claimants and those with poor credit histories will be looking for any landlord mug enough to take them in any property. as for pets, i am one of very few landlords in my area that will CONSIDER pets, however if i am not going to be allowed to take a larger deposits this will change , maybe there will have to be 2 rent levels.

From: Andrew townshend 24 April 2018 10:16 AM

Andrew townshend
i used to manage all mine, now i'm down to 3 that i manage myself, the rest are with an agent, i find it much easier, i'm still hands on though, doing my own repairs and using my own tradesmen when needed.

From: Andrew townshend 20 April 2018 09:27 AM

Andrew townshend
it's amusing to watch the estate agents out there desperately trying to talk the market up, in my area we have estate agents going bankrupt, don't have much sympathy, most of them are floating on cloud 9 living way beyond their means

From: Andrew townshend 20 April 2018 09:20 AM

Andrew townshend
go back less than 100 yrs and most people were renting, is it really a good thing for the young to buy, lets face it they need to avoid leasehold properties, that rules out flats, large mortgages if they fall behind , which with a big mortgage today is all too easy, they lose everything, the jobs market is very mobile, offered a better job in another part of the country, give 1 months notice and they are gone, own their own home and they have a problem, lot to be said for renting today for the young.

From: Andrew townshend 20 April 2018 09:14 AM

Andrew townshend
all speculation by those that think they know the lot, but know f***all. i'm certainly not worried.

From: Andrew townshend 19 April 2018 10:28 AM

Andrew townshend
well we can pull together or we can pull apart, this government, and labour, have made it very clear we will be pulling apart. the up shot is the homeless street sleepers will increase greatly

From: Andrew townshend 18 April 2018 19:26 PM

Andrew townshend
well where's the problem, why shouldn't they? look at mr blair he has a massive btl portfolio .

From: Andrew townshend 17 April 2018 09:37 AM

Andrew townshend
i'm sure the housing officer is right here, personally i have never got into the hmo market, i have a friend who has though, he is round there every week on bin collection day because the tenants are too bone idle to put the bins out, he finds fire doors wedged open and smoke detectors disabled, generally tenants in an hmo are their own worst enemy.

From: Andrew townshend 17 April 2018 09:33 AM

Andrew townshend
i do think these figures are exaggerated some what, but yes action does need to be taken in some areas, don't forget council and housing assocs though they are not whiter than white here, push for too higher standards though and that will push lower end rents up which will result in more people sleeping rough on the streets

From: Andrew townshend 17 April 2018 09:21 AM

Andrew townshend
the 3% stamp duty is not really an issue, it just needs to be factored into the purchase price, or the rent, the mortgage tax relief really only affects those that borrow too much, btl is still an excellent investment especially when making provision for ones old age, far better than a private pension

From: Andrew townshend 16 April 2018 08:47 AM

Andrew townshend
i found a cannabis farm in a shop i let out last yr, lucky i spotted it and there was no damage done, all my properties are local to me, i keep a regular close eye on them.

From: Andrew townshend 13 April 2018 09:23 AM

Andrew townshend
find this hard to believe, but then i expect those landlords that have borrowed too much wil havel sell.

From: Andrew townshend 12 April 2018 10:52 AM

Andrew townshend
i don't see the 3% stamp duty as a problem, just factor this in when deciding what to offer / bid if someone else wants to pay more let them.

From: Andrew townshend 10 April 2018 10:03 AM

Andrew townshend
landlords can only do so much, provide fire extinguishers, fire blankets, ensure wiring is safe, if a tenant is going to set fire to the place there is not much more we can do. and remember the block of flats here were council owned, and as such their responsibility solely, have we seen manslaughter charges brought against housing offeriers here? no, you can just imagine what would have happened had a private landlord owned the property, one law for them, another for us, stinks as normal.

From: Andrew townshend 09 April 2018 09:51 AM

Andrew townshend
put money into a pension, big fat commision to the spive selling it, annual fees, fees to access it, poor performing investments, then you will need to live to be 110 simply to get the money back you put in, not for me.

From: Andrew townshend 09 April 2018 09:39 AM

Andrew townshend
i agree terry i issue county court proceedings every time, 1) there is the satisfaction in knowing i have screwed their credit rating up, and 2) sometimes they come into money within 6 yrs, so there is always a chance, i had a guy open a pub up, flashed all over the local paper, i got my money after 4yrs.

From: Andrew townshend 06 April 2018 10:51 AM

Andrew townshend
just like the landlord of the disgusting and dangerous hmo on last night's program. bad tenants? if 10% of landlords are bad, then 20% of tenants are worse, but we don't get any help there do we?

From: Andrew townshend 06 April 2018 09:49 AM

Andrew townshend
do we need to compete with housing associations? i would like to study the small print in these insurance policies, would this insurance pay out? or look hard for a get out loop hole.

From: Andrew townshend 05 April 2018 09:14 AM

Andrew townshend
make it public, personally i would welcome it.

From: Andrew townshend 05 April 2018 09:08 AM

Andrew townshend
i look forward to it.

From: Andrew townshend 05 April 2018 09:04 AM

Andrew townshend
sold property prices are falling, in the past when this happens rents generally rise.

From: Andrew townshend 04 April 2018 17:16 PM

Andrew townshend
i'm very optimistic, but then i do have a bit of an advantage in that my properties are all bought and paid for, i started buying 30 yrs ago, my income exceeds my out going so every so often, when the piggy bank fills up, i buy another property for cash , it's not a get rich quick game, but it's the best pension you could wish for

From: Andrew townshend 04 April 2018 17:14 PM

Andrew townshend
tory or labour we aren't going to get any tax incentives , they are just going to make life harder and more expensive for all of us, no problem though, the extra expense will be passed onto the tenant.

From: Andrew townshend 04 April 2018 17:03 PM

Andrew townshend
no big surprise here, no matter what line of business, when overheads increase that increase is always passed onto the end user.

From: Andrew townshend 03 April 2018 09:09 AM

Andrew townshend
spot on steve, we can see it, why can't the government? i've got 2 that fail, but they are both let, so i have until the tenant leaves or until 2020, one is only just below an e, i have secondary glazing coming for that in a couple of wks, the other one is a g, but i have long term tenants there so i have a couple of yrs at that one

From: Andrew townshend 29 March 2018 09:44 AM

Andrew townshend
tenants with pets will stand no chance of renting from a private landlord when this cap comes in, young tenants will have to provide a cast iron guarantor, and as for anyone on uc, forget it, they will be sleeping under the fly over. the government really don't think these things through do they? money claims online will be busy to with all those ccj s, and as for anyone with a ccj they will be sleeping under the fly over as well, clever move.

From: Andrew townshend 29 March 2018 09:32 AM

Andrew townshend
but surely councils and government are shooting themselves in the foot here, there is an ever increasing army of homeless out there, councils cannot house them, when overheads increase it's always the end user that pays.

From: Andrew townshend 28 March 2018 09:53 AM

Andrew townshend
the only people to get rich here are the spivs in suits selling them, you would need to live to at least 110 to stand any chance of getting your money invested back, isn't this why most of us on here got into property investment, it's why i did 30 yrs ago, it enabled me to give up the day job 10 yrs ago at 54, i've never looked back.

From: Andrew townshend 28 March 2018 09:44 AM

Andrew townshend
not convinced, when the cap comes in i will be putting a bit on rents to cover any problems further down the line, i fully expect this is what most landlords will be doing, this is how insurance works, the higher the risk the higher the premium .

From: Andrew townshend 27 March 2018 09:54 AM

Andrew townshend
sorry work shy benefit claimants we don't want you and for good reasons, the ball here is in the government's court make it worth while for us to take benefit claimants, but i'm not holding my breath here

From: Andrew townshend 26 March 2018 11:23 AM

Andrew townshend
why not, you cannot take it with you, spent and enjoy it, get the timing right and die with nothing, government can't take it then, nor can the leechers waiting to inherit.

From: Andrew townshend 26 March 2018 09:35 AM

Andrew townshend
for someone in work wanting to climb the promotion ladder renting is probably best as their promotions can take them all over the country, give 1 month's notice and they are on their way. times change, people even rent their car now rather than owning it.

From: Andrew townshend 26 March 2018 09:29 AM

Andrew townshend
big fuss going on out there regarding the homeless, here is an easy solution to probably 90% of cases, pay housing benefit ellement of u c direct to landlord, for some unknown reason the government refuse to do so, so 90% of landlords refuse to take tenants on benefits, with the remaining 10% being the rouge landlords renting substandard properties to benefit claimants, the solution isn't rocket science is it?

From: Andrew townshend 24 March 2018 09:43 AM

Andrew townshend
the way i see it there are 2 ways around this, 1) build the extra deposit into extra rent to cover ourselves, 2) in the event of a tenant not paying their last month's rent county court them, we may well not get our money but if we all do this we will screw their credit rating making it very difficult for them to rent another property or get a loan.

From: Andrew townshend 22 March 2018 18:58 PM

Andrew townshend
yes a good idea, personally i always issue county court proceedings against anyone who owes me money, even if there is little chance of getting paid, easy to do online and not expensive, gives me great satisfaction in knowing i have just screwed their credit rating, also tenants talk to each other, so if you are a soft touch word soon gets about.

From: Andrew townshend 21 March 2018 19:25 PM

Andrew townshend
a cap on fees would be the best and fairest way for agents, landlords and tenants, the out come will be ,as said in this article, more expense for tenants as the end user always pays .

From: Andrew townshend 21 March 2018 19:13 PM

Andrew townshend
i expect some of those sleeping in shop door ways might quite like one of these empty rooms

From: Andrew townshend 21 March 2018 19:04 PM

Andrew townshend
but will this encourage people to take on debt that they will not be able to service either now or in the future, which would end up with their property being reprocessed, them to lose a lot of hard earn cash and make them bankrupt, ultimately back to renting.

From: Andrew townshend 20 March 2018 09:19 AM

Andrew townshend
there are some bad landlords and let properties out there, but no where near the number labour are saying, as terry above has said tenants are free to move, the simple reason that these living in bad conditions are not moving is that they themselves are bad tenants that no landlord with a good property would rent to.

From: Andrew townshend 19 March 2018 09:26 AM

Andrew townshend
there are bad landlords out there, and there are a thousand times more bad tenants out there, as our friend terry sullivan says above always push for a ccj against none paying tenants, it's only £60 online (tax deductable) and worth every penny, even though you cannot get blood out of a stone.

From: Andrew townshend 15 March 2018 19:37 PM

Andrew townshend
well i'm not selling up, i'm buying, less landlords, less properties to rent, can only be good news for us, supply and demand, up go rents, more tenants to choose from, suits me just fine, thank you mr osbourne, if you had a brain you would be dangerous .

From: Andrew townshend 15 March 2018 19:16 PM

Andrew townshend
where else can you get a decent return on your cash, but then if you haven't got the cash and are going to have to borrow heavily there really is no point. the 3% stamp duty isn't really a problem, just take this into account before making an offer or setting your max bid at auction, i will continue to buy as i accumulate the cash.

From: Andrew townshend 15 March 2018 18:45 PM

Andrew townshend
depends how you go about it and what you want to achieve, if you are having to borrow heavily then forget it, it's not for you. for me it was a long term cash investment to provide a pension, i bought slowly, and as i could afford it over the past 30yrs, and am still buying as i have the spare cash, has worked really well for me.

From: Andrew townshend 10 March 2018 18:46 PM

Andrew townshend
generally tenants get on well with me, the only one's that don't are the none payers i evict, however since i've stopped taking benefit claimants i don't have that problem anymore. when you have good tenants look after them, i carry out repairs swiftly generally myself.

From: Andrew townshend 10 March 2018 18:06 PM

Andrew townshend
as the government makes life more difficult and more expensive for us rents will increase as a result, it's the same as in any business it's the end user that picks up the tab

From: Andrew townshend 10 March 2018 18:00 PM

Andrew townshend
i look forward to having my say, but they probably won't like what i have to say.

From: Andrew townshend 01 March 2018 10:48 AM

Andrew townshend
fine if you live that way, or are happy to be an absent landlord, all of my properties are within 15 miles of my home, except one, which is 25 miles from home, i like to visit my properties regularly and carry out my own repairs where possible, i have slowly gained 16 rental properties over the last 30 yrs, no borrowings purchased when i have the spare cash, i'm more interested in yield than a capital gain, some will say i have done it wrong, but i'm an old fashioned boy who likes to own my assets, it works for me.

From: Andrew townshend 01 March 2018 10:44 AM

Andrew townshend
really what all this means is that landlords will have to be even more careful who we rent to, no benefit claimants, no one under 35, and no single mums, oh won't council housing depts, and social workers have a mountain of problems.

From: Andrew townshend 28 February 2018 09:35 AM

Andrew townshend
we all know where benefit claimants are concerned we stand a very high chance of not being paid, and this can be even more of a risk where single mums are concerned, u c is only going to make matters worse, maybe we should not put no dss in the advertisement, let them waste their time and ours we don't have to take anyone we don't like the look of, and we don't have to give a reason.

From: Andrew townshend 27 February 2018 09:14 AM

Andrew townshend
i like tenants that stay a long time, so long as they are paying the rent, when they they don't pay the rent they go, no ifs buts or excuses, section 8 is a waste of time, section 21 gets them out quicker, then issue a county court money order, may not get the money, but i have the satisfaction in knowing they have a ccj against them.

From: Andrew townshend 22 February 2018 07:57 AM

Andrew townshend
well i won't be mortgaging, i buy mine for cash, the rents come in when there is enough in the pot i buy another one, old fashioned? maybe but it's worked well for me over the last 30 yrs.

From: Andrew townshend 20 February 2018 10:35 AM

Andrew townshend
licensing will be coming to all of us at some time, i don't altogether object it should rid us of the rogue element who get us all a bad name, however there will be cost involved which no doubt will be high, another excuse to tax the landlord, so up with rents again to cover these costs, the government aren't doing tenants any favours at the end of the day are they?

From: Andrew townshend 20 February 2018 10:31 AM

Andrew townshend
i aim to attend to problems same day where possible, and it's normally myself that's knocking at the door to put problems right, this goes a long way to keeping good tenants happy

From: Andrew townshend 19 February 2018 16:24 PM

Andrew townshend
property has been my prefered investment and has paid off really well over the last 30 yrs, you need to be very clever and lucky to make money out of the stock market, and i certainly do not trust these financial advisers. auctions are a good way to buy and sell, but they are not altogether transparent as there are often bids coming off the wall to run the biding up.

From: Andrew townshend 16 February 2018 09:02 AM

Andrew townshend
if we keep our properties to a reasonable standard and attend to faults quickly, as we should, then surely we have nothing to worry about. there's a cost, but as always this will be passed onto the end user, probably for round figures around £10 wk increase in rent.

From: Andrew townshend 14 February 2018 10:05 AM

Andrew townshend
link rents to inflation, that's at present a 3% increase every yr, i'm happy with that, if labour get in inflation will go through the roof. landlord bashing? no i don't like it, but i'm not going to roll over and let them win, they normally end up shooting themselves in the foot.

From: Andrew townshend 14 February 2018 09:58 AM

Andrew townshend
i'm one of very few landlords in my area that will consider pets, a single cat or small dog with an extra deposit, i have found over the yrs that tenants tend to ignore the term no pets, that's if they even bother to read the tenancy docs, so what's the point, alright you could evict them, but that's going to be very expensive and take months, so once again the tenant has got the landlord by the short and curlies, if labour get in in 2022 they are going to be after us landlords but we will just have to wait and see how it all pans out, labour could well end up shooting themselves in the foot.

From: Andrew townshend 14 February 2018 09:50 AM

Andrew townshend
deserved all he got, had a chance to get the licence, if he had repaired the boiler the tenants would not have had the need to complain and the council would likely not have found out, most landlords operate properly, it's idiot landlords like this one that gets us all a bad name.

From: Andrew townshend 13 February 2018 08:56 AM

Andrew townshend
the flash with no cash landlords, we know who they are, there the ones that pull up outside their rental properties in their leased range rovers.

From: Andrew townshend 12 February 2018 14:44 PM

Andrew townshend
landlord licencing fine but no doubt there will be a cost which will be passed onto tenants by way of increased rent. data base for rouge landlords, no problem with that. rent controls would need to be fair and based on similar properties in the area. advice on tenants rights, no problem there. not a ban on upfront fees but a cap on them would be fair. longer term tenancies, fine but only if we can get non payers out more quickly and cheaper. direct communication with landlords, fine. credit score, fine. decorate property, with in reason, and to a good standard.

From: Andrew townshend 02 February 2018 13:35 PM

Andrew townshend
a cap on letting fees would be a better idea, to ban them all together will simply mean that they will be passed onto landlords who in turn will increase rents to cover their extra expense.

From: Andrew townshend 02 February 2018 13:19 PM

Andrew townshend
there are many council owned houses that stand empty for yrs, i've purchased some of them when the council finally agree to sell.

From: Andrew townshend 01 February 2018 08:55 AM

Andrew townshend
''to address the uk shortage of housing'' no to generate a decent return on money same as we do

From: Andrew townshend 01 February 2018 08:47 AM

Andrew townshend
rogue landlords and unsafe conditions do need sorting out, longer tenancies? fine, but what happens when the tenant stops paying the rent? at present we are looking at a long drawn out process with very expensive court fees, so how about a quick cheap way of getting non paying tenants out? ain't going to happen is it?

From: Andrew townshend 30 January 2018 09:31 AM

Andrew townshend
we are of course responsible to see that our properties are safe and that boilers are checked every yr, but when you see the filth some tenants live in i would say they are their own worst enemies, from experienced teachers and nurses seem to be among the worst

From: Andrew townshend 25 January 2018 17:59 PM

Andrew townshend
i am one of very few landlords in my area that will take a pet, within reason, i also allow walls to be painted, but not until i have ok ed the colour, i find generally i get better tenants that stay longer.

From: Andrew townshend 19 January 2018 09:06 AM

Andrew townshend
£181 wk housing benefit? max in my neck of the woods is £92 for a person over 35.

From: Andrew townshend 19 January 2018 08:50 AM

Andrew townshend
so basically the ' flash with no cash boys' who have borrowed far too much will be selling, good, should be some cheap properties to be had in the auction room then.

From: Andrew townshend 18 January 2018 09:31 AM

Andrew townshend
i do not see that as a problem, seems fair enough to me, many councils will find they have problems, the state of some of their properties.

From: Andrew townshend 15 January 2018 08:54 AM

Andrew townshend
i agree terry, but then we are no different to any other business, when costs increase they are passed onto the end user, there is no shortage of tenants in my area, or come to that any other area of g b

From: Andrew townshend 12 January 2018 10:20 AM

Andrew townshend
cannot see any letting agents simply reducing their charges, they will pass them onto landlords who will pass them onto tenants by increasing rent, really clever move by government??

From: Andrew townshend 11 January 2018 08:48 AM

Andrew townshend
a move in the right direction? let's hope so. i have one tenant left on housing benefits who will go over onto u c later this yr, at present i will not consider any new tenants on benefits until i am happy with the way u c pans out, we will have to wait and see.

From: Andrew townshend 09 January 2018 10:03 AM

Andrew townshend
waste of time having cash in the bank, investment into property seems to be the only way to get a decent return, but to borrow heavily to purchase property investment seems like a mugs game.

From: Andrew townshend 03 January 2018 15:52 PM

Andrew townshend
interest only = flash with no cash fool

From: Andrew townshend 29 December 2017 22:01 PM

Andrew townshend
hands on long term property investment has worked really well for me, short time get rich quick it is not.

From: Andrew townshend 28 December 2017 11:13 AM

Andrew townshend
i have slowly built up my portfolio over the past 25 yrs with no borrowings, i'm still buying, in fact i bought another one just last wk, i think the problem comes when landlords borrow too much.

From: Andrew townshend 14 December 2017 09:27 AM

Andrew townshend
i'm 64, i was able to give up the day job 10 yrs ago, i enjoy being a landlord and get on well with my tenants, it helps because although most of my properties are let through an agent all tenants are able to contact me direct, also when there is a problem it is me who turns up with my tool box to put things right. i first got into buy to let in the 90s because i had no faith with private pensions or the suits that sold them, i have never looked back.

From: Andrew townshend 14 December 2017 09:20 AM

Andrew townshend
less rental properties = bigger chose of tenants and increased rents for us landlords that are left, i'm not selling, i may even buy more, after all where else do you put your money to get a return on it ? i expect the landlords that have borrowed too much are the ones that are selling up.

From: Andrew townshend 05 December 2017 08:49 AM

Andrew townshend
i have made it my policy to always issue a county court summons for unpaid rent or costs involved in repairing damage, it's easy to do online and not expensive, the tenant gets a ccj, i thing it's worth every penny.

From: Andrew townshend 04 December 2017 09:22 AM

Andrew townshend
when any business over heads increase it's the end user who pays the price, so it follows that rents will increase to cover these additional costs, government really thought this one through didn't they? shot in foot comes to mind.

From: Andrew townshend 01 December 2017 10:23 AM

Andrew townshend
yes it takes time and hard work for most of us, i started my portfolio in the late 80s as an alternative to the rip off private pensions, run down terraced houses and corner shops out of auctions and renovated, today my portfolio is probabley worth around 2 -3 million, all paid for and earns me a good income, in fact it enabled me to retire from the day job 10 yrs ago aged 54, i'm still hands on though, clearing up the mess some tenants leave behind and repairs as needed. it's not a get rich quick game, but it is well worth it over time.

From: Andrew townshend 16 November 2017 14:25 PM

Andrew townshend
i am happy to give longer term contracts, but i want something in return, a way of getting non paying tenants out quickly and cheaply, give us that and tenants can have long term contracts.

From: Andrew townshend 15 November 2017 19:58 PM

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