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Bill's  Personal Profile View my company profile

Bill Wood
Bill Wood
Owner, manager, plumber, roofer, gardener, decorator, chippy, glazer, electrician, telephone engineer, IT engineer, removal man.
3520  Profile Views

About Me

Life is great. Despite the Government. And despite getting old.

my expertise in the industry

21 Years. Started by accident. Moved out of Chelmsford to a small house in the country in 1999. Didn't need to sell my house, so let it out as an experiment. Very glad I did! Pride myself on knowing all my tenants personally, and endeavour to respond to problems swiftly.

Bill's Recent Activity

Bill Wood
I have been in the business a long time, 22 years, and are of retirement age, 68, and have no appetite to expand or contract, although I could do either. It's a good living, and with the help of my trades people I can cope. I just need to keep up with the changes as they come along.

From: Bill Wood 28 March 2021 10:46 AM

Bill Wood
'6,200 of the 30,500 homes in Oxford’s private rented sector “could” have a serious housing hazard.' Actually, every home in Oxford "could" have a serious hazard.

From: Bill Wood 10 March 2021 10:49 AM

Bill Wood
I've just had an EICR done one one of my propereties, it failed. The enginneer found that there was a break in the ring main neutral conductor. This is quite serious as if the ring main is very heavily loaded, with electric fires, kettles etc, beyond 30A or so, it could overload the single remaining neutral wire. This problem has probably been hidden there for many years, waiting for the moment to strike. This isn't something a tenant or landlord can know about, no matter how much common sense they have, it needs a professional electrician. Common sense is just not enough, i'm afraid.

From: Bill Wood 09 March 2021 09:06 AM

Bill Wood
Why is social housing exempt from these obligations?

From: Bill Wood 19 February 2021 10:01 AM

Bill Wood
Yes, 'Money Claim Online' is an excellent tool. In the past I have used it against Hermes (lost parcel), Currys DSG (faulty TV), and London Borough of Barnet (non-payment of invoice) And was successful against them all!

From: Bill Wood 10 February 2021 15:57 PM

Bill Wood
Although I echo Andrew's comment about not renting to UC people, some tenants only become UC dependant 1 or 2 years into the tenancy, and LLs don't have to be told. I had a family in exactly this position. I asked Chelmsford Council IF my tenant was on Housing Benefit, and the Council wouldn't tell me. I then sent them a formal letter asking for the Housing Benefit to be paid to me directly (not really knowing if there was any benefit being claimed), and the next month, and every month for a year after that, the Council sent me a cheque for £600 (ish) I can recommend this route.

From: Bill Wood 22 January 2021 10:46 AM

Bill Wood
October 1st as an EICR deadline is very much needed. My electrician is run off his feet, as most competant electricians probably are. And going into every room of an occupied house at this time, is just plain dangerous. I've a mind to write to Chelmsford Council, copied to my MP, pointing out the stupidity of a 1st April deadline.

From: Bill Wood 22 January 2021 10:31 AM

Bill Wood
'gives them legal protections from creditor action for up to 60 days' Very ambiquous. Just how long is this legal protection for? 60 days? 1 day? How are we (or the tenant) supposed to know how long this lasts?

From: Bill Wood 18 January 2021 10:12 AM

Bill Wood
I have struck lucky here. I discovered by accident that my daughter's husband's Best Man (and presumably life long friend) is a self employed electricion doing exactly this sort of work. He has proved very dilligent and professional, and will hopefully be around to help me for as long as I'm in this business.

From: Bill Wood 14 January 2021 09:27 AM

Bill Wood
Well spotted. And a good question.

From: Bill Wood 13 January 2021 10:23 AM

Bill Wood
I have one house where the husband works remotely at home as a teacher and examiner. The wife is a nurse and works at night in a hospital (not sure which type of ward, don't like to ask) and sleeps during the day. They have three children, the eldest around 11 years old. The engineer carrying out the EICR checks and remedial work (of which there is sure to be some) will need a couple of days at least. How can this be organised safely, effectively, conveniently? I reckon the EICR requirement should be delayed until summer next year, when it will be easier for the family to cope.

From: Bill Wood 13 January 2021 10:21 AM

Bill Wood
Happens all the time. I've had a 1st floor flat for about 10 years, first 9.5 years no mould or damp at all. Now, with new younger tenants, mould suddenly appears. They just needed educating.

From: Bill Wood 06 January 2021 09:09 AM

Bill Wood
“It will enable the council to engage with and provide additional focused support to landlords and tenants within those {worst} areas " So what will the Council do exactly to support landlords? Employ someone to repair leaks and fix windows? Or employ someone to tell landlords to repair leaks and fix windows?

From: Bill Wood 04 January 2021 10:41 AM

Bill Wood
We all know that EICR for existing tenancies are due to be completed by 1st April 2021. I have one house where the husband works remotely at home as a teacher and examiner. The wife is a nurse and works at night in a hospital (not sure which type of ward, don't like to ask) and sleeps during the day. They have three children, the eldest around 11 years old. The engineer carrying out the EICR checks and remedial work (of which there is sure to be some) will need a couple of days at least. How can this be organised safely, effectively, conveniently? I reckon the EICR requirement should be delayed until summer next year, when it will be easier for the family to cope.

From: Bill Wood 29 December 2020 09:35 AM

Bill Wood
In the 70s, my wife used to work for the Greater London Coucil Housing Dept. She often had to field complaints from council tenants about mould on the walls and ice on the windows. With great satisfaction she used to say she had mould on the walls and ice on the windows of our tiny Victorian terrace in Tottenham. And it was true! But we could afford an electric blanket and a two bar electric fire downstairs.

From: Bill Wood 24 December 2020 11:36 AM

Bill Wood
Actually, I appreciate this new guide, a bit more plain information than the last one. A lot of it is common sense of course, but some renters aren't aware of all the ins and outs of renting, and this would help them. I have a newly married couple in my flat, moved in July this year, and neither had rented before, both lived with their parents. Page 11 lists what the tenant *must* do, in black and white, and re-inforces what I have put in the tenancy agreement. So the couple now know the agreement is only echoing government advice. Page 13 is good too. If I offer them a 'rolling periodic tenacy' next year, they can see this is quite normal, and won't be worried by it. There is a new 'How to Let' guide too, but I haven't read it yet.

From: Bill Wood 11 December 2020 10:22 AM

Bill Wood
I always check the smoke and CO2 alarms annually, whilst the heating engineer is servicing the boiler. About a quarter of the conventional smoke alarms are either missing the battery or missing entirely. Those that are missing entirely get replaced with the 'sealed for life' type.

From: Bill Wood 23 November 2020 09:21 AM

Bill Wood
I always thought it a bit strange that bailiffs were asked not to do their job. If they agree to the request, do they still get paid?

From: Bill Wood 17 November 2020 11:00 AM

Bill Wood
Not sure I have enough toner in my printer for this one. . . .

From: Bill Wood 05 November 2020 11:00 AM

Bill Wood
The assertion that "nobody knows who owns the 4.5m private rented homes in England" is wrong. The Land Registry knows, and for £3 anyone can make an enquiry and find out. I do this regularly when in need of this knowledge. Another thought - maybe us landlords could present a copy of the Land Registry entry to prospective tenants showing them who does own the property. I'll give it some thought.

From: Bill Wood 06 October 2020 09:46 AM

Bill Wood
Yes indeed. A 'CV' is what I would always like to be presented with on day 1, but never have been! Some years ago my daughter went to view a flat in Maldon. She went with evidence of her long-term employment with BT, recent wageslips, copy bank statements, and, most important of all, her cheque book to write a deposit cheque. Needless to say, she got the flat straight away.

From: Bill Wood 05 October 2020 11:22 AM

Bill Wood
I thought medical circumstances were confidential to the patient. So if a landlord asks a tenant about them, the tenant can say anything they like, and the landlord must just accept it.

From: Bill Wood 01 September 2020 09:48 AM

Bill Wood
mmm. No good for my rental properties, but my own lounge has a drafty old floor, and takes quite a lot of heating in winter. Might try for that.

From: Bill Wood 07 August 2020 12:21 PM

Bill Wood
If every landlord was required to be on a register, and it was not required to pay (much) to be put on that register, then lets go for it. If the renting public were made aware that the landlord needed to be on a register, and could confirm that the landlord was on thew register, they would be more confident. Those landlords not on the register (the dodgy ones that is) would likely lose a lot of there clients. Which is good for us, isn't it!

From: Bill Wood 06 August 2020 17:30 PM

Bill Wood
I agree. 10% on a gain of, say, £200k (as in my case) is palatable.

From: Bill Wood 24 July 2020 09:17 AM

Bill Wood
Ms Bowring says: "homes in the private rented sector tend to be older.” I disagree. Looking on Rightmove for properties to rent in Maldon, Essex, 10 seem to be 1980s or newer, and only 3 look older that 100 years. Maldon has a broad mixture of housing stock, some Georgian and some brand new, and so would be a representative location.

From: Bill Wood 09 July 2020 09:06 AM

Bill Wood
If Planetrent wants landlords to be in control of the 'big data', why are they automatically doing so many things that the landlord may, or may not, want to happen? There is a rat in there somewhere . . . .

From: Bill Wood 06 July 2020 12:42 PM

Bill Wood
The text says '£460,000 per month', but the grid says '£460,350,000' per month. A typo of vast proportion! Or am I missing something?

From: Bill Wood 25 June 2020 13:15 PM

Bill Wood
Yes, but landlords are human. A simple technical oversight, (as opposed to a blatant disregard), should not be used as a tool to stop an S21.

From: Bill Wood 19 June 2020 09:08 AM

Bill Wood
“At its fastest, from listing to credit checks and agreed offers, landlords and tenants can be matched in less that six days.” I have done this in three days. One day to prepare and upload my ad to Upad, get upwards of 20 responses that same day. Meet a handful of prospective tenants the next day, choose my tenant and get references and the deposit the third day. Simples!

From: Bill Wood 04 June 2020 10:13 AM

Bill Wood
Unfortunately, there's no beer either.

From: Bill Wood 14 May 2020 14:38 PM

Bill Wood
Amina Gichinga says: 'the evictions ban has to be permanent so that no one else is made homeless because of the pandemic.” A permanent eviction ban? I hope she doesn't actually mean this. And I doubt if she really understands what she is saying

From: Bill Wood 13 May 2020 09:11 AM

Bill Wood
'HMRC is writing to taxpayers under enquiry acknowledging that during the existing lockdown they are being instructed ' Who are 'they', HMRC or the taxpayers? Gramatically, 'they' refers to taxpayers, but contextually, 'they' refers to HMRC. Sorry, being a bit pedantic here. . . .

From: Bill Wood 14 April 2020 10:03 AM

Bill Wood
Pareidolia: People Hear What They Want to Hear.

From: Bill Wood 14 April 2020 09:56 AM

Bill Wood
I had a tenant some years ago who fell seriously behind on the rent, 3 months or so. A friend of mine suggested contacting the council to ask if they were receiving housing benefit. This I did, but the council refused to tell me. I then sent a letter to the council asking for the benefit to be paid to me directly, even though I didn’t know if the tenant was actually receiving any benefit. It worked! For the next 3 or 4 months I was paid about 80% of the rent directly. The modern equivalent, APA, is certainly worth considering

From: Bill Wood 03 April 2020 12:10 PM

Bill Wood
A payment holiday is like any other holiday - you must pay for it!

From: Bill Wood 25 March 2020 09:32 AM

Bill Wood
Am I alone here? I have already assured one of my tenants, a company that services and supplies coffee vending machines, that I will help him by granting a rent holiday if needed. His business, of course, has stopped completely, so I either allow a rent holiday for a few months or loose him for good, and get no rent for maybe a year. We must be as flexible as possible, and it's nice to be nice.

From: Bill Wood 18 March 2020 11:32 AM

Bill Wood
My guess is that some of my tenants will ask for a rent holiday, or maybe take one without agreement. But what can I do?

From: Bill Wood 16 March 2020 08:58 AM

Bill Wood
You must admit he was a master businessman. He would have done well as a employee of some corporation, BT or NHS or BA.

From: Bill Wood 27 December 2019 14:37 PM

Bill Wood
I like this bit: restricting ground rents to a peppercorn rent.

From: Bill Wood 12 December 2019 15:56 PM

Bill Wood
She was found guilty of GBH, and will be sentenced in January

From: Bill Wood 06 December 2019 15:20 PM

Bill Wood
I run an IT business as well as a lettings business, and find it best to respond to my IT customers and to my tenants in the manner they have used most recently. This include voice calls, text messages, emails, and most recently WhatsAp. This system seems to work very well. WhatsAp is particularly useful, as it allows the tenant to send a picture of an issue (broken door for example) immediately, and with the help of this picture, I can respond appropriately.

From: Bill Wood 28 November 2019 12:04 PM

Bill Wood
I think the whole quote is: * 'cripples landlords' ability to run a functioning letting business' * The second inverted comma is in the wrong place, is should be * landlord's * which is an abbreviation of * landlords their *. But I'm an engineer, not an English language scholar, so I might be wrong. Anyway, your question is very valid, who said it?

From: Bill Wood 26 November 2019 17:10 PM

Bill Wood
I think the whole quote is: * 'cripples landlords' ability to run a functioning letting business' * The second inverted comma is in the wrong place, is should be * landlord's * which is an abbreviation of * landlords their *. But I'm an engineer, not an English language scholar, so I might be wrong. Anyway, your question is very valid, who said it?

From: Bill Wood 26 November 2019 17:08 PM

Bill Wood
So how would this lifetime deposit thing work? What happens if, on the day of the tenant vacating (or shortly after) it transpires that the old landlord has a justifiable claim to some or all of the deposit? Would the new landlord then be faced with a new tenant and no deposit? Can’t get my head around the mechanics of this scheme.

From: Bill Wood 25 November 2019 09:10 AM

Bill Wood
O no! I have been using Upad for at least 9 years, as far back as my emails go, and they have been great, storing all my properties details so I don't have to re-enter them and notifying me of tenant enquires very promptly. What shall I do in the future?

From: Bill Wood 17 October 2019 09:26 AM

Bill Wood
I have much appreciation for Landlord Action, and have used them once to great effect, but 'Tenant eviction specialist, Landlord Action, reports that up to half of Section 21 cases they handle are as a consequence of tenants wanting to be re-housed by the council' implies that a bit less than 50% of cases involve this scheme. But 'up to half' can mean anything from 0% to 49%, and so gives use no idea at all what the percentage actually is. Might even be none at all! It's a bit like a shop displaying signs saying 'up to 50% discount' There could be no discount at all and the sign would still be true. Am I being a bit pernickety?

From: Bill Wood 13 October 2019 09:26 AM

Bill Wood
Sealed bids - never thought of that - might be a good idea. Those that want it most, and can afford it, and who submit proper references etc, get the house!

From: Bill Wood 20 September 2019 09:19 AM

Bill Wood
I normally find the first hour of listing to be the busiest for enquiries, no matter the time of day. I guess this is because they have logged an alert, but I could be wrong. And I typically receive around 30% of the total enquiries on the first day.

From: Bill Wood 18 April 2019 09:40 AM

Bill Wood
My 1977 MG is exempt of all charges, as well as VED. Unfortunately, I can't get my ladders in it!

From: Bill Wood 09 April 2019 12:26 PM

Bill Wood
Aspect does not give the total number of tenants canvassed (as opposed to the number who responded), so let's assume it's 10,000. The report says that 43% of the 1000 tenants that responded had issues, thats 430. So, of the 1000 responders, 430 had issues and 570 didn't. The 9000 tenants that didn't respond probably didn't do so because they didn't have any issues. The number of tenants canvassed that did not have any issues is therefore 9570. So, unless I am missing something here, the percentage of tenants with issues is 4.3%, not 43% Anyway, I'm pleased to see Chelmsford has least problems in this area, as all my properties are in Chelmsford :-)

From: Bill Wood 03 April 2019 10:51 AM

Bill Wood
I had a gentleman in one of my 3 bed semis. I had to evict him through rent arrears, and when I went in to the house, one of the bedrooms had window frames covered in mould. I am not the squeamish type, I love unblocking drains, but I couldn't stay in the room more than a few minutes. I employed a professional cleaner, and two days hard work and she cleaned it up. The existing tenants have been there for 8 years now, have two children, and the place is lovely, a delight to visit, and of couse no mould at all!

From: Bill Wood 21 March 2019 17:04 PM

Bill Wood
Fair wear and tear excepted, if the carpet gets stained by kids (or otherwise) the tenants either live with it or pay to have the matter put right themselves.

From: Bill Wood 18 March 2019 10:01 AM

Bill Wood
"we can’t take them to the grave with us." Indeed you can't. But you can't take the money to the grave with you either. Well, maybe you can, but it wouldn't help much. If you have no heirs to inherit, then leaving the houses to a housing association may be worth considering. That way the good tenants that are left will continue to be good tenants after you are gone.

From: Bill Wood 18 March 2019 09:44 AM

Bill Wood
Perhaps it is not in the public interest to have a selective licensing scheme at all, unless the properties are HMOs.

From: Bill Wood 07 March 2019 11:20 AM

Bill Wood
''the High Court ruled last week that the legislation is discriminatory'' No it's not, it applies to everyone.

From: Bill Wood 07 March 2019 11:14 AM

Bill Wood
'An LED spotlight can last for 20-30 years in comparison to a halogen bulb that has a working life of only two years' I fitted 6 LED lights in my own bathroom about 6 years ago. They were bought from a local, very reputable Electrical Distributor, and were quite expensive. One by one they failed, and after 2 years they had all failed. I replaced them with much cheaper halogen bulbs (only four, as they were sooo bright) and all are still working. It's not the LED itself that fails, it's the voltage step-down electronics housed within the bulb.

From: Bill Wood 06 March 2019 12:27 PM

Bill Wood
This just means that people on HB will waste their time applying, and may get disheartened at a rejection. If an ad said 'No DSS' , they know where they stand from day one.

From: Bill Wood 06 March 2019 12:17 PM

Bill Wood
For homeowners, this is their house as well as their home and everything is down to them. But tenants have someone elses house as their home, so there is a way they can receive assistance

From: Bill Wood 20 February 2019 12:41 PM

Bill Wood
Tranfer Tax plus Stamp Duty in Spain for foreigners is 8% AFAIK. Didn't stop me, nor tens of thousands of fellow Brits buying there as well. A modest increase of 1% seems tame by comperison.

From: Bill Wood 14 February 2019 10:37 AM

Bill Wood
Being nearer 70 than 60 myself, I can see the advantages first hand!

From: Bill Wood 28 January 2019 09:55 AM

Bill Wood
Hear hear. The lack of resources in the Court system is a problem, and adding another 'type' of Court, which may very well not have sufficient resources either, will not be helpful.

From: Bill Wood 28 January 2019 09:21 AM

Bill Wood
This may become a victim of it's own success, like the NHS.

From: Bill Wood 25 January 2019 09:09 AM

Bill Wood
Some years ago, I toyed with the idea of passing the management of my portfolio to Beresfords, a well respected Essex agent, but insisted that they do not charge the prospective tenants anything as I thought it unfair. They refused of course, so I did not instruct them. But now, it seems, I was justified in my request. And I may even have another chat with them about management.

From: Bill Wood 24 January 2019 10:53 AM

Bill Wood
Perhaps the tenant didn't have nine children at the start of the tenancy. It is even possible she didn't have any! I have one family who moved in 10 years ago with one small baby. the baby is now a lively charming 10 year old with 3 young siblings. Great tenants.

From: Bill Wood 14 January 2019 09:27 AM

Bill Wood
Hear hear. I will probably end up renting myself. Somewhere near a quiet country pub.

From: Bill Wood 13 November 2018 14:19 PM

Bill Wood
If CGT was cancelled or halved on selling to an existing tenant, and the tenant had SDLT cancelled or halved, I would suggest this to all my eight tenants, and maybe one would go ahead. This is a win-win scenario for everyone, including HMRC, as they are not going to get anything out of me or the tenant anyway.

From: Bill Wood 29 October 2018 10:14 AM

Bill Wood
Why should tenants only be allowed to view this? I would like to have a look too. And who are tenants and prospective tenants anyway? Do I have to apply for a tenancey to have a look? Anyone can apply for a tenancy, so surely it means that anyone, if they jump over this low hurdle, can have a look?

From: Bill Wood 26 October 2018 09:52 AM

Bill Wood
A few years ago I received an email from (what looked to be) a lesbian couple after not offering them a tenancy. She complained that, despite being able to afford the property, and being in good, full time employment (one of the couple was an architect that had worked on the Shard in London), they were turned down. I declined to reply to her email, but if I had, and been honest, she may have been even more upset. The truth was this was a 5 bedroom house, and I felt it should be let to a family, (which eventually it was, a three generation family of five), and not to a couple. Also, I was looking for a tenant that would happily cope with higher level DIY stuff, which I believed neither of the ladies would do. I may have been wrong in this belief, but asking an overweight lady if she could repair a brick wall may not have gone down well. The likelihood of this couple being lesbian played absolutely no part in my decision.

From: Bill Wood 15 October 2018 09:10 AM

Bill Wood
Not quite sure why there needs to be a license. As long as the landlords (and tenants) are aware of the regulations, restrictions, requirements (haha, the three Rs!), and as long as they stick to them, then no problem. If they don't stick to them, then the councils have the authority to enforce them, and the courts have the authority to try the offenders. So where does the license come in?

From: Bill Wood 23 September 2018 14:22 PM

Bill Wood
And almost impossible to police, all it takes is for both to deny it.

From: Bill Wood 14 September 2018 09:23 AM

Bill Wood
An agreement between landlord and tenant on the term is best. These are the two parties involved, no one else.

From: Bill Wood 06 September 2018 11:05 AM

Bill Wood
I had to evict an officer of the CAB a few years ago for not paying his rent for 3 months. He was a volunteer, so maybe that's why he didn't pay his rent.

From: Bill Wood 28 August 2018 14:52 PM

Bill Wood
'141,000 tenants have been affected' What does 'affected' mean? Does it mean evicted? Does it mean they read about it? Does it mean they heard about it on the radio? Such an ambiguous (verging on the misleading) word to use in the report.

From: Bill Wood 28 August 2018 14:49 PM

Bill Wood
Ah! That slipped past me too!

From: Bill Wood 09 August 2018 08:59 AM

Bill Wood
Not so. Collins Dictionary says 'The locus of something is the place where it happens' In Scotland, a Property Factor is someone who manages the maintenance of a property. Procurator Fiscals and Procurator Fiscal Deputes prosecute criminal cases in Scotland. So it all makes sense really

From: Bill Wood 08 August 2018 11:03 AM

Bill Wood
Whenever someone asks what I do, I can avoid any problems of this nature by saying, truthfully, that I'm a computer engineer. Everyone loves a computer engineer. Especially if they have a computer problem.

From: Bill Wood 07 August 2018 11:57 AM

Bill Wood
If I had encountered these two, I would have explained that, in my 18 years as a landlord, now with 8 properties, I have put the rent up only once, from £700 to £750, and the tenant was absolutely delighted, as the 'going rate' was around £1000. But I don't suppose the couple would have believed me . . . .

From: Bill Wood 07 August 2018 10:57 AM

Bill Wood
I need an agent that can get leaking taps and broken boilers fixed. And trees cut down. And roofs mended. And drains unblocked. And doors fitted. And fences mended. And..and..and.. Can Homelet do this ?

From: Bill Wood 01 August 2018 08:57 AM

Bill Wood
Suppose I take out mortgages on my let properties, give the money to my children, and live for a further 7 years. When I die, and the properties presumably sold, will there be, because of the mortgages, much less CGT and Inheritance tax?

From: Bill Wood 27 July 2018 10:00 AM

Bill Wood
And families with smallish children are the best. In the 6 properties I have, there are 9 children under 10.

From: Bill Wood 11 July 2018 16:29 PM

Bill Wood
I have 6 residential properties, and yes, a day every week is way over the top. One day a month I reckon. The trick is to find a family where the man (usually) has obvious DIY skills and the lady (usually) has obvious decorating and gardening skills. I then leave them to treat the house more or less as their own, with only occational intervention. It works, my longest tenancy is now over 10 years, and shows no sign of ending, and my shortest ever tenancy was three years.

From: Bill Wood 25 June 2018 09:06 AM

Bill Wood
Quite right too! Good luck Paul.

From: Bill Wood 11 June 2018 08:46 AM

Bill Wood
Only slightly related to this report, what is to stop a bank offering, say, a 2 year loan, imposing a fee of £20,000, and not charging interest for the next 2 years? The loan can then be renewed with the same terms for the next 2 years. I am assuming that most professional landlords can manage this £20K up-front fee. This means that the fee, being as legal expense, will be tax deductable, something that interest payments soon will not be. I must be missing something here or surely it would have been done.

From: Bill Wood 25 May 2018 08:58 AM

Bill Wood
Agents should not charge tenants fees, tenants have enough to cope with already. Agents should instead charge the Landlord, after all, he/she is the customer. I don't employ an agent, and I don't charge my tenants any fees, for anything, apart from the rent. By doing this, I always have a handful of new tenants wanting the house/apartment/factory, and I can choose the tenant I feel will be most satisfactory.

From: Bill Wood 03 May 2018 09:28 AM

Bill Wood
If a tenant wishes to apply for a tenancy, they can do most of the 'legwork' themselves, get references from employer(s) and current landlord, gather evidence of financial standing, e.g. bank statements, and obtain credit scores from the likes of Equifax (which would be free if they applied for it themselves). This not only reduces the agent's workload (and hence their need to charge for this), but would also put them in 'pole position' amongst other prospective tenants. I don't have an agent, I organise an open day myself, and if a tenant presents all this documentation at the time of viewing, I know immediately that they are serious, well organised, and are likely to make a good tenant. But so few tenants do this, I can’t understand why, it’s so obvious.

From: Bill Wood 11 January 2018 10:36 AM

Bill Wood
Good idea, I've done it already. 10 alarms, £20 each, 7 year battery life. Total cost £30 per year. Tenants were very impressed. Apart from the peace of mind we both now have, I have gained significant gratitude and loads of 'brownie points' I installed one in our own lounge (has a wood buring stove), got lots of brownie points from the missus too!

From: Bill Wood 11 November 2017 10:55 AM

Bill Wood
This Government document is 96 pages long. Has anyone read it?

From: Bill Wood 18 October 2017 09:08 AM

Bill Wood
I take a deposit of typically £1600, equivalent to 2 months rent or thereabouts. Not only does this discourage tenants not paying the rent on their last month of occupation, it also indicates to me that they have sufficient funds to undertake the tenancy comfortably. If a tenant begins a tenancy 'on a shoestring', the chances are they will become unstuck financially in a short time.

From: Bill Wood 03 July 2017 09:37 AM

Bill Wood
I wholeheartedly agree with James Davis of Upad. If a landlord employs an agent, the agent should seek to do it's best for the landlord in whatever area agreed between them, and the agent should get paid by the landlord for a job well done. Last year I placed an ad on uPad, and received 80 inquiries. If I had the gall to charge a fee of, say £100 per tenant, and if half of the tenents actually paid me out of desperation, I would have netted £4000. The following month I could have done the same, and got another £4000 (perhaps). I would get more money offering the house for rent than actually renting it! Things must be fair for the agent and fair for the landlord, but must be fair also for the tenant.

From: Bill Wood 22 June 2017 10:31 AM

Bill Wood
LandlordToday itself sometimes posts contradictory reports in the same email! But this is normal in every field (especially politics). If you ask 3 experts of their opinion, you will get 4 different answers! But to get back to this article, I used to use a leting agent, but I found I could do the job better myself. It takes a while to learn how to do things, which tenant to accept, where to advertise, etc. but I think most serious landlords can do this. Letting agents are essential if you are abroard, or you have properties a long way away, but I feel there are too many of them for them all to survive.

From: Bill Wood 20 June 2017 16:03 PM

Bill Wood
I'm inclined to agree with Gordon. Ignoring warnings from the Police and Council is the real issue in the court case. Had the landlord engaged with them, tried, with their support (or even with their assistance) to correct the situation, this situation may not have arisen Having said that, the tenant should have been the focus of Police and Council attention, rather than the landlord.

From: Bill Wood 26 May 2017 09:07 AM

Bill Wood
With Right to Rent in general, the good law abiding landlords get extra work and worry heaped on them, while the less scrupulous landlords don't care and carry on as before.

From: Bill Wood 17 May 2017 08:53 AM

Bill Wood
Ha Ha ... David Cox sent a 'letting' to the Communities Secretary! ... Feudian slip!

From: Bill Wood 26 April 2017 08:23 AM

Bill Wood
I wish everything could be simplified. Even my accountant, Chartered and with many years experience can't cope! I expect HMRC have difficulty as well.

From: Bill Wood 09 September 2016 09:15 AM

Bill Wood
Gillian Kent says “No Agent . . . . completely automates . . . . maintenance . . . . " How can sorting a seized tap or leaking roof be automated?

From: Bill Wood 05 September 2016 09:01 AM

Bill Wood
Yes! Forgot to mention the most important thing - open the windows!!

From: Bill Wood 18 August 2016 16:50 PM

Bill Wood
A lot of mould problems (as opposed to damp problems) are caused by tenants drying clothes on central heating radiators. In one of my houses, it took a professional cleaner 2 days to clean the mould from windows after the tenant had left. The new tenant has now been there for 3 years, and absolutely no mould at all.

From: Bill Wood 17 August 2016 09:04 AM

Bill Wood
I used to have a small cottage in North Fambridge, Essex, that I rented out for six months over spring and summer. It had no insulation, no electricity, and no heating apart from a very inefficient fireplace. The EPC chap had a field day - something different at last! But, if I still had it, I would not be able to rent it out when this law comes into force, I suppose.

From: Bill Wood 15 August 2016 09:23 AM

Bill Wood
Let's hope he keeps a level head on his shoulders, I'm sure he will.

From: Bill Wood 12 August 2016 08:37 AM

Bill Wood
Some years ago, I bought an apartment in Alicante in Spain. The Spanish equivalent of stamp duty was then 8% for foreign (ie Brit) buyers. How about abolishing SDLT for Brits buying in Britain, and increase the SDLT to, say, 10% for foreign inverstors? (or is this already the case?)

From: Bill Wood 08 August 2016 11:15 AM

Bill Wood
I agree 100%. And just what ARE Barnet Council doing to drive up standards? And will the licence fee monies collected be used to enforce the existing regulations?

From: Bill Wood 08 July 2016 09:31 AM

Bill Wood
If this scheme (or scam, whichever way you look at it) works ok, then it sounds like a good thing. But in this case it didn't work. Of course the landlord should, in the cases that did work, receive a commensuate level of rent.

From: Bill Wood 21 April 2016 08:12 AM

Bill Wood
I have put 3 of my 8 properties into a newly formed limited company mainly to keep me out of the higher rate tax bracket. It cost £2K in stamp duty, but I am pleased with the result, and am thinking about putting in a fourth property that has a 70% mortgage on it, so that full relief on the mortgage payments is allowed. I can now take a dividend from the company that that keeps me just inches below the tax threshold.

From: Bill Wood 23 February 2016 11:05 AM

Bill Wood
All landlords must comply with the 'several conditions relating to the management and condition of the property, including gas, electrical, fire safety and the facilities provided' already. Licensing does not introduce these requirements!

From: Bill Wood 18 January 2016 10:52 AM

Bill Wood
I wonder if there are actually any worthwhile training course available now? Does anyone know?

From: Bill Wood 17 July 2015 09:07 AM

Bill Wood
Yes, enforcement is the key, as it is in many other areas. The laws are there, the standards are set, and training to help landlords and tenants know them is the way to go. Bill Wood

From: Bill Wood 16 July 2015 08:15 AM

Bill Wood
Sounds good, especially the training bit. Paying for training, rather than paying for a licence, would certainly be acceptable to me. I've been in the business for 15 years, but there are still things I should know but don't, and of course things are changing all the time. Bill Wood

From: Bill Wood 16 July 2015 08:11 AM

Bill Wood
Betsy Dillner says 'landlords are already charging the highest rents they can get away with'. This is wrong. I charge between 10% and 20% less than market rates, allowing me to choose the tenant that I feel will suit and look after the property. I wish Ms Dillner would stick to facts rather than make them up to suit her cause.

From: Bill Wood 10 July 2015 08:40 AM

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