Why We Should All Support Love Parks Week

Over the past year, parks have been a source of joy and solace for people across the UK, providing a welcome antidote to the pressures of pandemic life.

Locally, parks such as Irchester Country Park and Stanwick Lakes have been popular and helped keep us on an even keel during uncertain times.

Later this month, we’ll all have the chance to celebrate and support our favourite green spaces during Love Parks Week (23 July to 1 August).

The Keep Britain Tidy initiative encourages people … Continue Reading…

How To Unpack.

If you are getting ready to complete on a new house, then you’ve no doubt read lots of advice about how to pack for your big move. But what nobody ever seems to tell you is how to unpack once you have arrived at your new home. For some, living with unpacked boxes for months becomes a reality. For others, it may take time to feel settled even though you have put everything where you think it belongs. Is there a way to get all your stuff out of the boxes … Continue Reading…

How Landlords Can Avoid a Tenant Nightmare

New landlords often flirt with the idea of ditching traditional tenant selection processes and taking a DIY approach instead.

After all, there are so many ways to source tenants these days – like Gumtree or social media – why bother with anything else?

Trust us, side-stepping a formal selection process may seem like it might save you time, but it can be so much costlier in the long run.

Wind up with a bad tenant and you can expect:

Sleepless nights.
Sky-high legal bills.
Lost income.
Property … Continue Reading…

Help to Buy Scheme: Pros and Cons

The Help to Buy scheme is a government-backed equity loan opportunity. It is also referred to as ‘shared equity’.

The scheme is currently only available on new build properties. The loan from the government is up to 20% of the purchase price (40% in Greater London). This means that you only need to raise a 5% deposit and get a 75% mortgage (55% in Greater London).

Let’s consider the benefits and downsides of using this option.

Pros

Although this can be called a ‘shared … Continue Reading…

The Benefits of Regular Property Inspections For Rentals

When you’re a busy landlord juggling a multitude of responsibilities, it’s easy to let a crucial part of managing a property – regular inspections – slide.

Landlords usually carry out inspections with clockwork regularity at the start of a tenancy, but things can get a little lax over time.

Perhaps the tenant presents as a model citizen, and the landlord develops a false sense of security. (To which we say, remember Walter White, the unassuming science teacher turned crystal meth baron in … Continue Reading…

5 Top Tip For Sellers: Get an Agent to Take Care of Viewings

When it comes to selling a property, many people overlook the important role viewings play in the process.

They mistakenly believe that viewings are simply about opening doors and making sure would-be buyers don’t nick any valuables.

In fact, buyers share crucial information during viewings that can be helpful during negotiations and push up the final selling price.

Cutting corners on viewings – as many low-fee and online-only agents do by insisting the seller handles them – only chips away at the end … Continue Reading…

Top Tips for Improving Your Home’s Kerb Appeal

HomeOwners Alliance survey showed that 68% of potential buyers felt a property’s kerb appeal influenced their decision. Use these quick and easy tips to help your potential buyers fall in love at first sight.

Pathways and driveways

If you access your main entrance via a pathway or over a driveway, make sure you give it some TLC.

Refresh gravel
Pressure wash to remove discolouration or slippery bits
Remove weeds

Top tip: Add solar lights along the route for added elegance.

Front façade

The front of your property is … Continue Reading…

What Expenses Can I Put against My Tax Return as a Landlord?

If you rent out a property and receive a rental income from that, you must declare it. You have to pay tax on any profit. It doesn’t change your employment status to ‘self-employed’ though, as it’s considered an investment.

Of course, HMRC can be more complicated than a day at Hogwarts. The best advice will be to seek professional advice from an accountant but we’ve picked out some key points to start you off.

Start hoarding

HMRC unimaginatively call this ‘record keeping’. Be … Continue Reading…

Relocating but Not Moving Far? We’ve Got You Covered!

The term ‘relocation’ is often associated with a particular notion: someone packing up their family to move cross-country or even internationally for a change in job or career and specifically at the request of and sometimes with the assistance of, their employer.  But did you know that the majority of moves RAN (Relocation Agent Network) members assist with take place within neighbouring areas and by people managing their own moves?

It’s true! According to RAN data, nearly half of all people … Continue Reading…