Follow us on Twitter @TheNeg TOOLS DEPOSITS SafeDeposits Scotland to gift surpluses to charity
Not-for-profit organisation SafeDeposits Scotland has begun operating its licence by The Scottish Government to securely hold tenants’ deposits. From July 2012 landlords in Scotland in receipt of a tenancy deposit have had to transfer the deposit to a licensed operator to ensure they are securely held and that any dispute about their eventual return is resolved by an independent party, chaired by Sir Andrew Cubie CBE. SafeDeposits Scotland is a partnership of Scottish landlord, agent and tenant organisations, backed
FINANCE
New lender launches
The newly-launched www.
propertyinvestorloans.co.uk has promised to speed up funding for property investors by providing loans from £30,000 up to £3m within 24 hours. The product has been developed in partnership with Bridging Finance Limited, Chris Baguley, Managing
Director of propertyinvestorloans.
co.uk, said, “We’ve developed this loan facility to enable property investors and developers to be more entrepreneurial in their
Chris Baguley
approach to vendors and to help them be in a position where they are able to guarantee funds in time for completion.
LANDLORDS HMRC cracks down on tax evasion
The Landlord Syndicate, a network of companies providing a free support centre for landlords, has warned landlords in East Anglia, London, Leeds, York, Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln, Durham and Sunderland to ensure their accounts are in order after these areas were announced as being targets by the HMRC’s crack down on landlord TAX evasion.
www.thenegotiator.co.uk Landlords have been advised
to have a separate bank account where rental income goes in and expenses come out, so it is easy to account for all expenses when cross referenced against saved receipts. Amer Siddiq, Managing
Director of Tax Insider and a member of The Landlord Syndicate said, “It is always the landlord’s responsibility to let HMRC know that they are
Amer Siddiq
receiving income from a property, even if they are not making a profit from it.
It is important to have a good book keeping system in place where everything has been logged so HMRC can easily be satisfied that your property accounts are in order”
RECRUITMENT First Recruitment App
LCA Recruitment has released a free app allowing candidates to use their mobile to search and apply for property jobs in London and the southeast. Director, Lynn Cannell, said, “This is a first in the industry
and candidates who download the app will be among the first to find some of the best positions within the property industry.” To download the app visit
www.lca-jobs.com/app.php
TECHNOLOGY
Appropriate inventory apps
Research from the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) shows that inventory clerks, landlords or agents that use smartphone apps do not always find them faster than traditional methods but do appreciate their ability to be reactive and adaptable. Many apps lacked flexibility to enable the user to format the detail on the report and the short statements and lists produced cannot be used as firm evidence in any dispute. Cost was another disadvantage: most apps incurred a download fee, then a separate fee – usually around £5 per report – to store inventories and check out reports, then another fee is charged each time the clerk wants to access their report. In some tenancy dispute cases the adjudicators are likely to reject some smartphone-based inventories, if they cannot deliver the detail required. The research did find that
apps make the insertion of photographs fast and easy making an inventory and check-out report appear more attractive to the client. Pat Barber, Chair of the
AIIC said, “Technology in inventory production is here to stay, but users be aware.”
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by an experienced provider already operating in England. Any surpluses
Steve Harriott
generated will be gift aided to its sister charity, SafeDeposits
Scotland Trust which will promote education, training and best practice in the private rented sector in Scotland. Steve Harriott, Director of
SafeDeposits and Chief Executive of The Dispute Service said, “This is the only not for profit tenancy
deposit scheme in Scotland and is controlled by directors with the interests of Scottish landlords and tenants at heart.” John Ferguson, Director of
Development and Programmes, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said, “Most landlords and tenants act fairly but where unscrupulous behaviour exists SafeDeposits will put a stop to it. Better still; the SafeDeposits Scotland Trust will put any surpluses to public good by promoting education, training and best practice in Scotland’s private rented sector: It really is a win-win all around”.
Number crunching lease calculator launched
Brethertons solicitors has produced a Lease Extension Calculator on its website allowing users to estimate the premium which may be charged for extending the term of a lease by 90 years.
Enfranchisement solicitor
Roger Hardwick said, “The calculator provides a quick and easy method of estimating the value of a lease extension making extremely detailed assessments by altering the deferment rate.”
www.brethertons.co.uk/ leasehold-extension-calculator.
TheNews
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