Houses

[Wolfox]

10 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

We’ll be having 75 years soon then, passing it onto our kids etc.  
 

Should be building houses in order to help youngsters get onto the ladder, not forcing them with 50 years of debt burden. 

Completely agree on the second part…. Total backwards steps from this administration on house building by allowing people to vote on local developments…. Sensible building needs to be encouraged 

 

extending mortgage periods is an ok interim step…. They allow pensioners to have mortgages don’t forget as at least the income is stable !

[Bayfox]

9 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

We’ll be having 75 years soon then, passing it onto our kids etc.  
 

Should be building houses in order to help youngsters get onto the ladder, not forcing them with 50 years of debt burden. 

This.

 

Every house that gets whacked up around us. Is up for sale for 400-500k madness, there's also only 2, 3 beds on the development we brought on 8 years ago. And no 2 beds.

 

We need to be making sure that builders have to build smaller, reasonably priced starter homes as well as just 4/5 bed homes.

 

My kids are never gonna be able to afford the 20% deposit on a 400k new build home without help and need to earn an absolute fortune themselves to be able to get the relevant mortgage, plus the increased council tax and running costs that come with having such a huge house.

 

Town houses in goscote are now going for 240k as well. That's nearly double from when we started and I certainly ain't earning double in the same time frame. Meaning they are also becoming less of an alternative as well.

 

Changes need making to the system and the market so that kids can live in the areas they have grown up in.

 

 

[BeardyFox]

Not sure where to put this but seems like the best place. 
When we first started renting our current place we were told to we had to take out tenants/contents insurance with a specific company. So we did. 
After a year the lettings agent stopped managing the property and the landlord took over. 
We have been paying over £200 a year with a company called Bode. I just went on to renew my car with Admiral and they have quoted my £70 for the year. 
I don’t get the massive difference!? Any help appreciated. 

[danny.]

26 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

Not sure where to put this but seems like the best place. 
When we first started renting our current place we were told to we had to take out tenants/contents insurance with a specific company. So we did. 
After a year the lettings agent stopped managing the property and the landlord took over. 
We have been paying over £200 a year with a company called Bode. I just went on to renew my car with Admiral and they have quoted my £70 for the year. 
I don’t get the massive difference!? Any help appreciated. 

You were getting massively ripped off? £200 for contents only is nuts. I pay about £175 for very good contents AND buildings.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

26 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

Not sure where to put this but seems like the best place. 
When we first started renting our current place we were told to we had to take out tenants/contents insurance with a specific company. So we did. 
After a year the lettings agent stopped managing the property and the landlord took over. 
We have been paying over £200 a year with a company called Bode. I just went on to renew my car with Admiral and they have quoted my £70 for the year. 
I don’t get the massive difference!? Any help appreciated. 

 

Landlord probably got backhanders from his "preferred" company. Much like when estate agents make you use "their" solicitors etc

 

But it's like when you go through GoCompare for car insurance, the range of prices for the same product is insane. My recent car insurance was £250 with a reputable company, most quotes ranging from that to £300, then you suddenly start seeing £500, £700, £900 etc. Who's using these companies?!

[FoyleFox]

23 minutes ago, Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo said:

 

Landlord probably got backhanders from his "preferred" company. Much like when estate agents make you use "their" solicitors etc

 

But it's like when you go through GoCompare for car insurance, the range of prices for the same product is insane. My recent car insurance was £250 with a reputable company, most quotes ranging from that to £300, then you suddenly start seeing £500, £700, £900 etc. Who's using these companies?!

This. But also be very diligent that you have the correct level of cover and how high your excess is. A £50 premium is grand until you discover the £500 voluntary excess!

[BeardyFox]

Thanks for the replies. It almost seemed so high that I assumed it must be something specific especially as the Letting agents at the time told us that we had to have this specific policy with this specific company. 
You just hate feeling like you’ve been ripped off for so long. 
I’m going to have to carefully go over the policies wording but it looks like I’ll switch over. 

[FoxesDeb]

26 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

Thanks for the replies. It almost seemed so high that I assumed it must be something specific especially as the Letting agents at the time told us that we had to have this specific policy with this specific company. 
You just hate feeling like you’ve been ripped off for so long. 
I’m going to have to carefully go over the policies wording but it looks like I’ll switch over. 

As a tenant you don't have to have any insurance legally, the property insurance will be taken care of by the landlord, and although it's advisable, you don't have to insure your contents if you don't wish to.

 

Unless maybe it was part of your rental agreement?

[FoyleFox]

20 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

As a tenant you don't have to have any insurance legally, the property insurance will be taken care of by the landlord, and although it's advisable, you don't have to insure your contents if you don't wish to.

 

Unless maybe it was part of your rental agreement?

We have a clause in our AST that the tenant must have contents insurance and provide a copy of the policy. It protects our white goods, carpets etc but most importantly for the tenant, all of their possessions and furniture if there is a fire.

[FoxesDeb]

1 minute ago, FoyleFox said:

We have a clause in our AST that the tenant must have contents insurance and provide a copy of the policy. It protects our white goods, carpets etc but most importantly for the tenant, all of their possessions and furniture if there is a fire.

As a landlord who wants their white goods and carpets etc to be insured, surely it's up to you to foot the bill for this, and not the tenant?

[FoyleFox]

3 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

As a landlord who wants their white goods and carpets etc to be insured, surely it's up to you to foot the bill for this, and not the tenant?

You can't have 2 sets of insurance though, we explored that and landlords aren't going to pay to cover tenant possessions, which are the greater sum in the equation - assuming the property is let unfurnished. If it's let fully furnished, the landlord may want to cover their own furniture and goods.

 

In our discussions regarding insurance, our tenants have always wanted their belongings covered for fire and theft.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

16 hours ago, FoyleFox said:

This. But also be very diligent that you have the correct level of cover and how high your excess is. A £50 premium is grand until you discover the £500 voluntary excess!

 

Absolutely. So often (especially with pet insurance) the cheapest quotes are offered by companies I've never heard of. A little digging around Trustpilot and Google just reveals terrible feedback from people who've made claims that their policy should cover, only to find the insurer refusing to payout, or paying out months later than expected with stacked excesses that means you are essentially paying out yourself anyway

[Big Dave]

17 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

As a landlord who wants their white goods and carpets etc to be insured, surely it's up to you to foot the bill for this, and not the tenant?

But if for example the tenant spills a glass of red wine on the carpet and ruins it, is that then the landlords responsibility to simply replace it FOC?  I accept there is the Deposit that the landlord can claim against, but would be cheaper for the tenant to claim on an insurance rather than the landlord retaining £500 of their deposit.

[FoxesDeb]

15 hours ago, FoyleFox said:

You can't have 2 sets of insurance though, we explored that and landlords aren't going to pay to cover tenant possessions, which are the greater sum in the equation - assuming the property is let unfurnished. If it's let fully furnished, the landlord may want to cover their own furniture and goods.

 

In our discussions regarding insurance, our tenants have always wanted their belongings covered for fire and theft.

That's fair enough, I also didn't think you could insure things that don't belong to you but it seems that tenant's insurance is exactly for this purpose 

 

 

1 hour ago, Big Dave said:

But if for example the tenant spills a glass of red wine on the carpet and ruins it, is that then the landlords responsibility to simply replace it FOC?  I accept there is the Deposit that the landlord can claim against, but would be cheaper for the tenant to claim on an insurance rather than the landlord retaining £500 of their deposit.

 

This makes sense too, in the cases where I've ever damaged anything I've always replaced, but I suppose not everyone is the same. I also had a very bitter experience with a previous landlord who refused to return my 1800 pounds deposit, despite the house being in a better condition when I left it than when I'd moved in, so that kinda clouds my view of landlords somewhat!

[Foxdiamond]

8 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

That's fair enough, I also didn't think you could insure things that don't belong to you but it seems that tenant's insurance is exactly for this purpose 

 

 

 

This makes sense too, in the cases where I've ever damaged anything I've always replaced, but I suppose not everyone is the same. I also had a very bitter experience with a previous landlord who refused to return my 1800 pounds deposit, despite the house being in a better condition when I left it than when I'd moved in, so that kinda clouds my view of landlords somewhat!

One reason we need more good standard social housing at affordable rents. Less need for private renting with all the negatives this can often bring. With affordable rents hopefully tenants could then furnish their homes.

[FoyleFox]

8 hours ago, Foxdiamond said:

One reason we need more good standard social housing at affordable rents. Less need for private renting with all the negatives this can often bring. With affordable rents hopefully tenants could then furnish their homes.

Is social housing that which is provided by the local authority/council. Many tenants wouldn't qualify for that lots don't want to buy a home. Which is why the PRS is important. The problem is the many rouge landlords and bad tenants getting the goods ones a bad name. Unfortunately, bad tenants are the main reason for good landlords quiting. 

 

@FoxesDebclearly experienced a rouge. Your deposit issue is why landlords can no longer retain the deposit and it has to be registered with an independent body. 

[kenny]

9 hours ago, Foxdiamond said:

One reason we need more good standard social housing at affordable rents. Less need for private renting with all the negatives this can often bring. With affordable rents hopefully tenants could then furnish their homes.

Some of the worst rentals I visit are housing association. They often don't look after their properties in the same way as the private sector.

 

I don't know how it's improved but the private and the public sector are on par for quality in my experience.

[Foxdiamond]

27 minutes ago, kenny said:

Some of the worst rentals I visit are housing association. They often don't look after their properties in the same way as the private sector.

 

I don't know how it's improved but the private and the public sector are on par for quality in my experience.

Local authority is what I know. Rents are more affordable for people on low or lowish incomes. I expect some councils are better than others etc.  There must be many that would benefit if the stock was there. I understand the housing charity Shelter are strongly in favour of social housing. Doubt the political will is there to do more.

[Wolfox]

Anyone know about this new council scheme/ scam - selective licensing of private rental accommodation?   Apparently as it’s less than 20% of Leicester property they don’t need to inform the Secretary of State…
 

Just feels like an extra stealth tax…. I get that some landlords are rotters, but what are they hoping to achieve beyond income as I meet and beat all the statutory requirements as well as really looking after our tenants…. We just put in a new kitchen because they asked nicely!

 

i bet most will just pass on the cost to their tenant

Edited 16 July 2022 by Wolfox

[Chiltern Fox]

Hi All - I'm thinking about ending my tenure as Chiltern Fox and changing to Cotswold or Oxfordshire Fox. In pursuit of that, can anyone give me opinions on Bicester? What are the so called 'good areas' and also those to avoid?

 

Thanks in advance 

[CosbehFox]

Getting a bit worried about my house purchase - as it looks like our buyer is beginning to have problems. They have signed but are saying they are having problems with their bank on their buy to isa. 

 

Anyone else heard of issues when closing that ISA ? 

[Tommy G]

Looking like fixed rates will start hitting 5% soon, with 7% in the spring. Lively 

[Footballwipe]

18 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Looking like fixed rates will start hitting 5% soon, with 7% in the spring. Lively 

I mentioned in the Cost of Living thread that I've just secured 3.35% on a five year fixed. Kinda wish I'd got a five year fixed when I moved two years ago and the base was 0.1%, but who knows what it's going to look like in a few years time.

 

I asked the broker to send through the list of deals they had got so I could make sure we had the best one. One was an (existing customers exclusive) deal of 10 years for 3.05% with Barclays.

 

Noticed that in the area around me (LFE/New Lubbesthorpe) lots of houses/flats seem to be up for a long time now. I guess these interest rates have managed to scare the market off.

[Footballwipe]

While I'm at it, interested to get people's views on this place in Kirby Muxloe. £685,000 and comes with a free railway line right next to it?? Really not sure I want to spend that much living next to a train line...

 

[FoxesDeb]

1 hour ago, Footballwipe said:

While I'm at it, interested to get people's views on this place in Kirby Muxloe. £685,000 and comes with a free railway line right next to it?? Really not sure I want to spend that much living next to a train line...

 

No me neither, it also looks like it has a tiny garden?! Surely that much money could buy something much better, or is that just a good reflection of the UK market at present?  I honestly have no idea any more, but the prices over there just seem crazy atm.