Giggles from the offices of London Property Buyers Agents

What a fabulous story for a Friday blog.

It turns out that two weeks ago, Boris Johnson erected a weird wooden shed on the first floor roof of his Grade II listed home in Angel.  But yesterday, Islington planners instructed him to pull it down after a tip-off from a disgruntled neighbour.  Most people would be pretty fed up that NIMBY neighbours complained and for the planners involvement but according to many newspaper reports, Bojo is apparently ‘grateful for the advice’.  Isn’t that nice?

Maybe Boris has just realised that sticking an ugly shed on top of a roof has tarnished any pretensions he had to being a ‘classy bloke’.

Technorati Tags: Boris Johnson, Islington house, plannning permission, shed

Tags: Boris Johnson, Islington house, plannning permission, shed

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

Oh the joy of the British legal system!  While on the one hand everyone I know is rejoicing at the judgement published on Friday, ruling that certain terms in Foxtons terms and conditions are unfair, the ensuing press coverage over the weekend implies that arguments over what does and what doesn’t constitute an unfair contract term for the lettings industry, will run and run.

Many consumer landlords have been stung over the years over the following terms in the Foxtons contract:

• requiring landlords to pay further commission after the initial one year period where the tenant stays in the property even if Foxtons have had nothing to do with persuading tenants to stay;
• requiring landlords to pay further commission even if the landlord has sold the property;
• claiming a full estate agents commission if the tenant decides to buy the property. 

The problem is that the Foxtons contract for both sales and lettings is a one page document with the terms and conditions written in tiny print, which the average consumer wouldn’t bother to read.  Looking at the judgement closely, the Judge, Mr Justice Mann makes clear that he wasn’t asked to judge whether renewal clauses of this type are always unfair.  He seems to imply that as long as letting agents have their terms and conditions in a reasonable typeface, they can carry on charging what they like.

Foxtons lost this case because the charges weren’t clear, the charges were excessive and a potential landlord would be ‘astonished’ about the size of the commission due.

ARLA, the Association of Residential Lettings Agents immediately issued a press release on Friday, clarifying that the judgement in no way opens its members to issuing refunds in light of the judgement.

If you would like a property manager who will ensure you are not tied into ridiculous contracts and who will manage your buy-to-let portfolio in a very cost effective way then try Diana Machin of Personal Property Management on 020 7607 1712.

If you want a good buy-to-let which should hold it’s value or appreciate, call us, arguably the best Buy-to-let Property Search Agents in London and Brighton and we may even find you a tenant for free!

Technorati Tags: ARLA, Foxtons, London Property Search Agents, Mr Justice Mann, OFT vs Foxtons [2009], Unfair Contract Terms

Tags: ARLA, Foxtons, London Property Search Agents, Mr Justice Mann, OFT vs Foxtons [2009], Unfair Contract Terms

Musings of a London Buyer’s Agent

House prices will stop falling before the end of the year according to Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who addressed the Building Societies Annual Conference yesterday.  He said that predictions of a 45% drop peak to trough were overly-pessimistic.  “I think the overall decline will be more like 25%-30%,” he said.

He warned that the return of the 95% mortgage is likely to have several strings attached and would often be tied to other insurance products, which will mean if borrowers can afford to pay the higher fees they entail, some may find it difficult to qualify.

Explaining that the jump in buyer enquiries had not been matched by the number of properties on sale he added: “This is partly because there are fewer distressed sales [people being forced to sell] €“ partly because home information packs may have put off speculative sellers and partly because people are still reluctant to sell at a price below what they think their property is worth.” 

“Buyer enquiries have risen particularly in London. Our members are picking up on a lot of potential interest from overseas buyers.”

Regular readers will know that we have routine rants about overseas buyers assuming they are getting a great deal because the low cost of sterling coupled with deflationary property prices means overseas buyers now pay significantly less than they would have done 2 years ago in many cases, but they are still frequently paying too much.  However as we predicted, against the tide of popular agreement, London and the Home Counties is standing up much better than predicted and when the bounce comes, it will be felt most strongly here. 

In some parts of prime Central London it’s hard to know there is a recession on.  Overseas buyers without knowledgeable London Buyer’s Agents to advise them are the people to thank for that.     I’ve just had a call from a contact who has been struggling to sell his Hans Crescent freehold for the last 18 months.  He has just accepted an offer £2 million over what we were discussing on behalf of a Client last year, before our Client changed his mind.  And in case you are wondering, our fees would have been alot less than £2 million!

Technorati Tags: effect of the recession on London house prices, house price crash, House Prices, London Buyer's Agents, RICS

Tags: effect of the recession on London house prices, house price crash, House Prices, London Buyer's Agents, RICS