Month: August 2017

Has Your Tenant Told You About Their Pet?

Here in the UK we are a nation of pet lovers. Whether it is a dog, cat, hamster or a goldfish many families welcome them into their homes and they are very much part of the family for a number of years.

There are some landlords who are not prepared to allow people renting their homes to keep pets on the premises
Some landlords do not allow tenants to keep their pets in the property.

However, that is fine if the person bringing a pet into their home actually owns the property as it is up to him or her as to whether they are agreeable to a pet taking up occupancy. It can be quite different if the family wants a pet dog or cat but they are in rented accommodation. The decision as to whether pets are aloud in the home lies with the owner of the property i.e. the landlord and not all landlords are prepared to allow pets in their properties.

A survey carried out by Animalfriends.co.uk that provides insurance for pets discovered that over a quarter of those people taking part in the survey did not inform their landlord that they owned a pet and kept it in the tenanted property. Doing this is not right as the landlord may not like having pets in the property as a pet can cause damage and leave smells.

If a landlord is prepared to allow a tenant to have a dog or cat in the home then the landlord may insist on the person renting the property paying a higher deposit to cover any potential damage or extra cleaning required when the tenant vacates the property at the end of the tenancy. The landlord may also require a higher rental amount.

Of course, if a landlord discovers that the tenant has a pet in the property without their permission then they are quite within their rights to ask that the tenant makes alternative arrangements for homing the pet. Another option is to insist that the dog or cat be kept downstairs.

Rental Yields Concern Landlords

Based upon some research, it would appear that rental yields are concerning a number of landlords here in the UK. Many landlords are dependent upon the rental income to cover the running costs of the investment property such as meeting the mortgage repayments, paying for maintenance to the property, paying landlord insurance premiums and paying for the services of a letting agent to manage the property.

Rental yields obtained by landlords varoes in different parts of the UK
The rental yield on investment properties varies around the UK.

Information has been produced by the National Landlords Association (NLA) that makes for interesting reading. The statistics reveal that the percentage of landlords who are happy to rely on a regular rental yield has reduced by 15% between Q2 of 2015 and Q2 of 2017. We are sure that you will agree that is a significant drop.

This is interesting when you consider that the average rental yield has hovered in the region of 6% per annum for quite a number of years.

Some research has been undertaken into the different average rental yields that are achieved in various regions around the UK. For instance, rental properties in East Midlands produced the greatest yield with an average of 6.9%. The North West of England was in second place with an average rental yield of 6.4%. In third place were both the West Midlands and Scotland with an average rental yield of 6.3%. In last position is Outer London with an average rental yield of 5.00%. This is closely followed by Central London with a rental yield averaging 5.3%.

When you consider there is a wide difference between the average rental yield in various parts of the country i.e. a difference of 1.6% between the East Midlands and Outer London then potential and existing landlords may feel it necessary to take such data into account, as well as other factors, when deciding where to purchase an investment property to let out. You can read the full article on the website of the National Landlords Association.