Buy to Let Insurance
Environmentally Friendly Drain Cleaning Methods
Environmentally Friendly Drain Cleaning Methods
No matter if you have a buy to let insurance policy or one of the many other policy types available, there are still some dirty jobs that as a landlord even your insurance policy can’t help you with. A blocked drain is one of those jobs.
For many landlords, there is usually only one solution for a blocked drain – industrial chemicals. But as more and more landlords are finding, you don’t need to use potentially dangerous chemicals for simple blockages. There are in fact a number of far less toxic ways of clearing a blockage.
Baking Soda Drain Cleaner
If the drain hasn’t reached the stage where water has backed up the pipe, try pouring a cup of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), swiftly followed by 3 cups of boiling water. The heat of the water will change the chemical composition of the baking soda, with the ultimate effect of making it more alkaline. If the drain doesn’t clear straight away, repeat the process a few more times.
Vinegar and Baking Soda: The Bubbling Method
When vinegar and baking soda are combined, gas is created; lots of bubbling and fizzing. This reaction can help to unclog blockages. As with the baking soda technique, add the baking soda, the three cups of boiling water – and then the vinegar.
Enzyme Drain Un-blocker and Rubbish Disposal
Natural living enzyme drain cleaners break down organic matter. It’s a good idea to use such an enzyme cleaner roughly once a month – as well as cleaning the drain it will also reduce unwanted smells. Colonies of enzymes will remain in your drainage system, breaking down matter as and when it passes through the pipes.
The above are widely known/used and click4quote.com do not accept any liability whatsoever for their use.
Letting to Students – a Safe Bet?
The student accommodation market is one that has inspired many people to invest in property, not least because students are seen as a guaranteed rent source. And despite the fact that the cost of higher education is being much more substantially shouldered by students themselves, these changes have not had any adverse affects on the number of people going to college or university.
Aside from taking out let property insurance or a similarly suitable policy, what other issues should you bear in mind when renting to students? Many landlords are under the impression that students will be bad tenants – making too much noise in the evening, upsetting neighbours or not taking good care of the fixtures and fittings are just some of the problems they invisage.
But as many landlords have discovered, students can be some of the best tenants you can get – not only will there be a very high number of them turn up every Autumn so you can nearly guarantee filing your rooms, but many students’ parents are prepared to act as guarantors, so that if they mess up, mum and dad will foot the bill.
Other key factors to consider before taking the plunge include location and transport links. Ask the university about what demand there is in what area to see where students actually want to live. Proximity to the university or good bus or train links will be a very big factor in students choice of accommodation.
For buildings insurance for let property rented to students contacts click4quote insurance.
HMRC Create New Task Force
While the vast majority of buy to let landlords in the UK are honest and law abiding, there are nevertheless a small number who insist on cutting costs to the degree that they are breaking the law. Tax evasion among some buy to let landlords has recently become of particular interest to HMRC, which has put together a task force to deal with the issue.
While HMRC warned on November 7th that the crackdown has begun on tax evading buy to let landlords, it pointed out that most did not choose to evade their tax obligations.
Two areas that will be placed under the microscope by the special HMRC taskforce are North Wales and north-west England.
Mike Wells, Director of Risk and Intelligence at the agency said: “HMRC is clear – if you deliberately seek to evade tax we can and will track you down and you’ll face not only a heavy fine, but possibly a criminal prosecution as well,”
One safeguard already in place is the Mortgage Verification Scheme, set up by the Building Societies Association in order to verify declared income figures of would-be borrowers, by comparing details on home loan applications to data held by the HMRC.
Clearly, adhering to the law is the only option, and the small number of buy to let property owners who are in the wrong do not of course reflect most landlords’ behavior. With many other ways of cutting costs – including seeking out good deals on buy to let insurance or other applicable policies – it only takes a little research and bills can be lowered in the medium to long term.
If you require buildings and/or contents cover, buy to let insurance is available from click4quote insurance.
Accidental Landlords and Insurance
In today’s challenging housing market, more and more property owners are finding the idea of renting out their house or flat appealing. With home buyers becoming something of a rarity in some parts of the UK, renting out can often seem like the only way to assuage the financial problems that sometimes arise when a property is taking a while to be sold.
But there are a number of things that landlords new to the property market should bear in mind; it is not simply a case of finding a tenant, getting them to sign a contract and then waiting for the rent every month.
Depending on where you live in the UK, you will need to inform and be approved by the local authority. Additionally, if the property is going from being lived in by the landlord to being occupied by tenants, the insurer needs to be informed. Those who do not tell their insurance provider and then suffer a problem such as a flood, can find that their insurance policy is invalid because they did not switch to buy to let insurance.
It is also worth noting that mortgage lenders insist that buildings insurance is in place to help pay for any damage caused by such perils as fire or flooding. While buy to let policies may be more costly, in the long run they are the only real option for landlords planning to rent their property out.
Buy to let market grows
Landlord insurance clients will be interested to see that the buy to let mortgage market grew by 7% in 2010 according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. They estimate that at the year end there were 1.3m buy to let mortgages outstanding worth £152bn. The value of buy to let lending in 2010 was around £10.4bn which is an increase of 22% on 2009. The number of loans advanced in the year was 102,000, 10% higher than in 2009. There is also evidence of a reduction in the number of but to let mortgages in arrears.
Council of Mortgage Lenders director general Michael Coogan commented:
“ Funding remains a key constraint on growth in buy to let lending but demand seems resilient and loan performance has improved.
Looking ahead, loan performance could potentially be adversely affected by rising rent arrears or interest rate rises but at present there is no indication of these pressures materializing in practice.”
A great deal depends on house prices; there is little point in having a healthy buy to let business if your capital asset is going down in value. What do you think? We would love to hear from you.
If you need a landlord insurance quotation visit www.click4quote.com
Cold weather causes claims to rise
Unoccupied property insurance is proving its worth this winter as the cold weather causes burst pipes and snow and ice take their toll on houses up and down the country.
RSA says that its weather related claims were £142m higher than normal in November and December. Last year the insurer received:
• 8,000 burst pipe claims
• 5,500 snow claims
• 5,700 other weather related claims
• 19,000 home emergency claims
In some parts of the UK flooding is a major worry each winter. Taking out a specialist policy is essential to protect your investment and it also makes sense to check the terms of your policy to make sure you will not have any problems if you need to make a claim. Keep an eye on your property and take common sense precautions to keep it safe. If you have arranged a good quality unoccupied property insurance policy you will have a little extra peace of mind.
£2m in unclaimed deposits sitting in DPS account
Landlord insurance clients might be surprised to learn that many tenants fail to ask for the return of their deposits at the end of the tenancy. In 2010 the Deposit protection Service returned £3m of unclaimed deposits but it is still holding £2m on behalf of tenants who have failed to contact them. It has even introduced a text messaging service to remind tenants.
The DPS protects 670,000 deposits in the UK. The service is free of charge, being funded by the interest on the deposits it holds. Experienced landlords will be well aware of the need to protect their tenants’ deposits in an accredited scheme but newcomers to the business should check up on the rules to avoid breaking the law. Gone are the days when landlords could hold on to the funds and drag their heels about repaying them.
There is some useful information about deposit protection on the DPS website www.depositprotection.com Our landlord insurance clients might find it well worth a look.
Rents on the increase
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors published its latest Residential Lettings Survey on 1st December and it makes encouraging reading for buy to let property landlords with a rental property seeking a tenant. The RICS reckon that rents have been rising for the three months to the end of October.
39% more surveyors say rents are increasing compared to 27% who say they are falling. There seems to be a shortage of rental property on the market and demand is being driven by the difficulty people are facing in finding a mortgage to buy their own house. London was the area showing the greatest increase in rents.
As for the future; 34% more surveyors expect rents to go up rather than down.
Does this tally with the experience of actual property landlords? Let us know what the market is doing in your area.
If you are a buy to let landlord and need buy to let insurance contact click4quote for a great quote.
Unoccupied property – don’t get sued if it snows
Like all property, an unoccupied house can be a source of legal action if a visitor is injured. Just because the building is empty does not mean that the postman and other visitors will not walk up the path. Every winter there are stories of injuries on icy and dangerous paths- what should the owners of unoccupied buildings do to protect themselves?
The government has published a Snow Code to help householders cope with heavy snowfall and it contains advice on how to clear your paths safely. People have been worried that if they clear up the snow and end up making a path more slippery you will be liable to anyone injured. The code aims to encourage people to take a commonsense approach and reassures people that they are unlikely to be sued if they are doing their best.
Owners of unoccupied property may live miles away and find it difficult to look after it with the care of an owner-occupier. It does make sense to have someone keeping an eye on it to report any problems; especially if visitors such as potential tenants or purchasers are expected. Your unoccupied property insurance policy will probably contain conditions about how the unoccupied property should be looked after- make sure you know what you have to do to keep the policy valid.
The Snow Code is at www.direct.gov.uk