RESIDENTIALlettings
Times change T
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he UK lettings market may be booming, with demand exceeding supply, especially in London and some of our other large cities. However, installing
the right tenants, who should be able to pay the rent throughout the tenancy and not cause more trouble than they are worth, is not as easy as agents and their landlords may hope. There’s another side to the coin. With unemployment set to increase to a 17-year high of 2.7 million in 2011, it’s already proving to be a difficult year for today’s professional landlord. What’s more, the Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development (CIPD) estimates that 120,000 jobs will go in the public sector and another 80,000 among private firms during 2011.
THE NEW PRODUCTS
insiGht Insight is more than just complete a credit check on a potential tenant, it checks that they meet certain levels across a wide range of different criteria,
Adverse credit history such as bankruptcy, CCJs and court decrees Undisclosed names/ addresses
Undisclosed credit history linked to current and most recent homes
Bank details provided – are they for a genuine bank account
HomeLet’s own Default Database – this may indicate whether the tenant has not been able to pay their rent in the past
Financial Sanctions check, to make sure that the tenant isn’t registered to any of the Government’s Asset Freezing lists - that could mean they’re unable to pay their rent in the future
An Insight reference takes all of these factors into account, to give you the confidence to make a decision about whether to accept a tenant.
EnhancE Enhance provides a more in-depth check. As well as checking information about the tenant, HomeLet also speaks to the people who know them. All the criteria in the Insight reference is included plus:
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Speaking to the tenant’s current Landlord or Managing Agent to ask them for a reference
Speaking to their employer to check the tenant is being paid what they’ve told us and that there is no reason their employment will be terminated any time soon
Enhance referencing can also be used to reference Overseas Guarantors
Optimum Optimum is the most advanced product and contains all of the checks included in Insight and Enhance products, and gives complete peace of mind, because as well as checking information about the tenant, and speaking to the people who know them, HomeLet also offers a unique guarantee, a guarantee to
remove the tenant from the property if they fail to pay their rent.
REnt GuaRantEE pROducts absolute Unlike many Rent Guarantee policies… this one covers all tenants in the property.
absolute Zero Because managing finances is so important for landlords there’s a zero excess on this policy.
And the new addition to the range:
Evict For those landlords who find themselves with a problem tenant, HomeLet brings the most expert service available to help them regain possession.
HomeLet has been helping Landlords evict unwanted tenants for over a decade and its specialist legal team has exceptional experience.
This indicates the likelihood of an
increasing number of unemployed tenants, who may default on their rental payments – even though when their tenancy began, they were referenced and financially stable. Other factors can also come into play; when times are hard some people will say whatever they they need to to secure a place to live and agents need to be sure that the information given by a tenant is true. Times change and what used to work
and was generally accepted as the norm, doesn’t necessarily meet today’s demands. After a thorough market review HomeLet
in tenant referencing and rent guarantee
Sheila Manchester talks to Heidi Abbott of HomeLet about an evolution in protection for agents and landlords.
has come up with a new approach announcing a range of innovative new products for referencing tenants and guaranteeing rental income. Managing Director John Boyle said,
“I’m delighted we’re starting the year off with such a big impact, this new range of products is something we’ve been developing for a few months now and having listened to our customers’ feedback and analysed the market, we believe this is a truly innovative set of products which are not available anywhere else in the market.” Will the market agree? PROPERTYdrum
Editor, Sheila Manchester, spoke to Heidi Abbott, Sales and Operations Director at HomeLet, about the reasons behind the changes and how they will benefit agents and landlords.
PROPERTYdrum exclusive!
40 FEBRUARY 2011 PROPERTYdrum
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