Reply to: Advice Needed re Landlord

[MarillionFan]

I think it needs to be pointed out as well that Hanks son is 24 and a heroin addict.

hth.

[zeitghost]

And buy an electric fire?

[Gonzo]

Advice nneded re Landlord

Hank

I think that there is some useful advice on this thread, but in the meantime I would keep a window open if I were you.

[zeitghost]

By the time Hank has read all that his face would have turned blue.

No he wouldn't.

CO makes you go a rather fetching pink colour, assuming you are pinkish to start with.

Which sort of begs the question of what colour you go if your skin is say, green, or even, um, brown or black.

[MarillionFan]

How do you get in a situation of non-paid rent?

I mean, if someone was a month behind, screw the idea of nicely worded letters etc, I'd go round. If someone owes me more than a £1k I sent the heavy boys round - f-ck your legal rights. You're out, Im round there and chucking you out and changing the locks. And if you want to screw me over for a grand or more then I'm going to have someones legs - you can discuss the legalities of it from a wheelchair.

[hattra]

I will never rent out a property again

I rented my London "Maisonette" out for two and a half years when I went over to the USA to work - had a tenant all the time, but only got paid for about half of it (the best payers were the ones with the least money). And I would probably have done less damage if I'd just burned the place down. I used a "good" agency as well - and had insurance, which paid out long enough for the agency to recoup all its "fees" for NOTcollecting my rent, and then stopped. Of the three sets of tenants, I had to take Court action against two of them - won both times, but still got nothing. The only thing that got one lot out was the Inland Revenue raiding my "company premises" to confiscate all the estimated tax that they thought I should be paying - then they discovered the letter from my accountants informing them that the company wasn't currently trading. My accountant got a written apology from the Revenue (he framed it and put it on his office wall) - I didn't. The tenant (and his dodgy taxi company) disappeared that night (owing about eight months rent)

Barstewards

[Noddy Holder]

Dont Rent Property

Renting property is a cr@p idea , tennants stop paying rent first sign of trouble , damage property , create lots of noise and leave you with unpaid bills , which are now becoming the responsability of the landlord. A water company refused to turn on the water at one property I own unless I paid the bill!!

Try going to court to get money and judges are not interested , the law is firmly on the side of the tenant.

If your thinking of renting property FORGET IT!! , its an even worse idea than opening your own shop.

Cant remember who said it but I was told a long time ago if you want to make money Dont deal with the public , that is sooooooo true.

[wonderwaif]

>cough< Inheritance Tax >cough<

Assuming it's a house befitting a contractor, it will only take a couple of deaths for its value to have passed to the state anyway.

It is fit for a contractor, but being oop north it is a lot cheaper than a Larnden shoe box and besides, once the property crash comes it's value will be well under the inheritance tax threshold.

[Lucifer Box]

My current house is freehold so it stays in my family until Gordo or some other thieving socialist barsteward finds some way to steal it off me.

>cough< Inheritance Tax >cough<

Assuming it's a house befitting a contractor, it will only take a couple of deaths for its value to have passed to the state anyway.

[bogeyman]

I'm just waiting for El Gordo to be crowned and promptly declare that:

"all property is theft, and will be reclaimed by the state in the interests of Fairness - errm - unless you're a cabinet minister, or a pal of one, or a major New National Socialist Labour Party donor" *.

Hmm... NNSL

Good strong brand image there! Bit like the SS, but with more 'fairness'.

*or probably you will be exempt if you are a Jock.

[Ardesco]

Nope. It is worked out on the value of the house, the owner and the purchaser have the ability to haggle but if they can't come to an agreement it goes to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal where they set the value.

More info here:

http://www.lease-advice.org/housframe.htm

[AtW]

the freehold owner can't stop you.

Can they ask for a million pounds for it?

[Ardesco]

I have a leashold flat, still has 978 years left on the lease so i'm not too worried, and i'm sure I can pass it down a couple of generations if needed.

Also bear in mind that once you have held the lease for 2 years you have a legal right to purchase the freehold (as long as the lease had at least 21 years left when you bought the property) and the freehold owner can't stop you.

[wonderwaif]

[QUOTE=bogeyman]
Property ownership is a truly British obsession. You can only 'own' it until you die (or until the leasehold runs out) anyway.
QUOTE]

I would never buy a leasehold property. My current house is freehold so it stays in my family until Gordo or some other thieving socialist barsteward finds some way to steal it off me.

[bogeyman]

Horses for courses I guess. I took umbrage because I work hard at managing my tenancies and keeping my tenants happy. I should have counted to 10 before posting. No offence intended.

None taken old chap.

And good for you, with your personal, hands-on approach.

How do you manage to do all that and still be a computer contractor (well, assume you are as posting here)?

I think Landlords get a very bad rap, even though most of the ones I know, just want to provide a good service to their tenants for a fair rent, and go about it in a professional way.

Sadly, there is an engrained culture in the UK that says that all landlords are evil, money-grabbing 'Rachmans' and that all tenants are somehow second-class citizens because they don't have a mortgage.

I have seen it from both ends - a tenant for many years, and now a landlord.

There is nothing bad about being a tenant or a landlord. It's just another customer/supplier relationship. But somehow it is looked down on in the UK with great disdain.

I do admire other European cultures for accepting a letting/rental culture as the norm. Let them enjoy their hard-earned cash and rent decent appartments for years-on-end, rather than breaking their backs to the bank over some mortgage they won't pay off until they're 60.

Property ownership is a truly British obsession. You can only 'own' it until you die (or until the leasehold runs out) anyway.

The whole thing needs a rethink.