Musings of a London Property Finder

In addition to acting as Buyer’s Agents, we also act as Property Finders for tenants looking for a home to rent and predominantly at rents which fall outside of legislation requiring lettings agents and landlords to place deposits with approved deposit schemes.  However we always insist that either the deposit is registered with the Deposit Protection Service or it is placed with a lawyer.  Last week our Client fell in love with a fabulous mews house close to Hyde Park but the agent was only prepared to put the money in a ring-fenced Client account.  This is entirely legal for any property let for over £481 per week, so pretty much all property in London, but there is. 

In this case, the estate agent is well-known and reputable as is the landlord, who is a top London hotelier so the Client decided that they were happy with the arrangements suggested so it all went ahead as normal.  

Those people not fortunate enough to be renting a home for under £481 per month should ensure that their deposit is registered with an official tenancy deposit scheme.  There are two types of schemes, insurance backed and custodial.  Insurance backed schemes involve the lettings agent registering the deposit with the deposit scheme – effectively buying an insurance policy safeguarding it.  With a custodial scheme the deposit is held by the tenancy deposit company.  Only one of these Government Approved custodial tenancy deposit scheme and that is The Deposit Protection Scheme.  The other two are insurance backed schemes which the letting agents sign up to.

According to report conducted by Estate Agent Today, it turns out that another scheme known as mytenancydeposit.co.uk and run by MTD Secure Ltd,  is purporting to be an approved custodial scheme, but is not government approved and therefore doesn’t offer the protection required.

So would-be tenants, landlords and parents acting as guarantors who are about to hand over deposits. make sure your deposit is protected under one of these three schemes and not with any bogus organisation your estate agent hasn’t bothered to check out.

The three official schemes are:
* Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited trading as mydeposits.co.uk
* The Dispute Service (thedisputeservice.co.uk)
* The Deposit Protection Service (depositprotection.com)

Of these three, the Deposit Protection Service is the only approved custodial scheme.

It may seem expensive to use a London Property Finder, but at least they should do the checks and warn you in advance if anything is amiss.

Technorati Tags: deposit protection service, deposits, London Property Finder, safeguarding tenants deposits, tenancy deposit schemes, tenancy deposit solutions, the dispute service

Tags: deposit protection service, deposits, London Property Finder, safeguarding tenants deposits, tenancy deposit schemes, tenancy deposit solutions, the dispute service

Musings of a London Property Finder

Six months ago and pretty much all last year, Property Finders like me could rely on absolute bargains at auction for Clients keen to do some work.  At the time, we complained that there wasn’t really anything available over £300,000.  Now there are plenty of quality properties in good areas but in our view the amazing discounts have mostly faded away.  Here is our pick at the next Savills auction, but don’t expect fabulous bargains if you attend on the day.

Flat 5A Arkwright Road (pictured) is a case in point.  Hampstead afficionados will know that Arkwright Road is one of the most sought-after residential streets in the area and characterised by huge villas, most of which have been turned into flats.  The one bed flat with a turret, is on the top floor and situated no more than a brisk 10 minute walk to Hampstead tube and the heart of Hampstead village.  It needs a great deal of work and the buyer needs to contract to do the work and sell to an owner occupier but presumably an ambitious owner occupier could buy it immediately and call in the builders.  With alot of work, it could be an amazing flat and with a £250,000 price tag – looks to be excellent value.  We think it will go for over £300,000 maybe more.

Flat 2 in Old Royal Free Place will be an interesting lot to watch.  A two bedroom flat over 3 floors in need of modernisation, it is not ideal for sharers, since one of the bedrooms is galleried and overlooks the main reception room although perhaps a young architect would be keen to take it on?  With a guide of £295,000 it will be an interesting one to watch.  Many of the flats in this beautiful period square are still inhabited by housing association tenants, including female ex-offenders.  On the plus side it is a fantastic location in central Islington, very close to Angel tube station, Sainsburys and the high street shops of Upper Street.  Flats in nearby Theberton Street can sell for over £500,000 and even one bed flats in that area can achieve £400,000, so £300,000 for this essentially, ex-housing association property, seems fair.

Following the success Savills auction department have had with property in sought after W11, Savills have several flats for sale in the area.  Lot 55 is at first glance a bit of a gem.  It is a two bedroom top floor flat in a beautiful white stucco building on Elgin Crescent.  It has the use of the private gardens so quintessentially Notting Hill and unusually for an auction property, is in ‘reasonable’ decorative order with a modern kitchen and bathroom according to the auctioneers.  The exterior and communal parts have recently been redecorated we are led to understand.  Surely the resulting bill is not the reason for the owner to sell we ask?  Sadly it is after 5pm on a Friday and Savills have rightly gone home, so we will leave the due diligence on this and the other gems, to you, dear readers and join the other London Property Finders for a well-deserved glass of wine!

Technorati Tags: central London property, cheap Notting Hill flats, London Property Finder, Notting Hill property bargains, Savills auction

Tags: central London property, cheap Notting Hill flats, London Property Finder, Notting Hill property bargains, Savills auction

Musings of a London Property Finder

Election fever today as the country goes to the polls to elect the MEPs, who have a much worse record on expenses, one would presume, than that the motley crew who sit at Westminster.  However life outside elected politics continues but there were no surprises when the Bank of England released a statement today saying that the Monetary Policy Committee had voted to hold the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%.

The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £125 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves. The Committee expects that the announced programme will take another two months to complete but with all the talk of green shoots, many commentators are now rather grudgingly admitting that it might have worked.

From the view of a London Property Finder, we are certainly seeing an increase of activity at all ends of the market.  First time buyers are keen to buy; it’s flat hunting time for parents seeking a safe home for their offspring due to start university in October and foreign buyers are still keen to invest in the UK while their currencies buy them more pounds than usual.  All in all, the combination of low interest rates and cheaper house prices are encouraging people to buy and keeping prices steady at 2006 levels in most cases in London.  Now if only all the property buyers would all employ us to do the looking!

Technorati Tags: Interest Rates, London Property Finder

Tags: Interest Rates, London Property Finder