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TheNews APPOINTMENTS New boss for TDS


Nick Hankey has taken over as Interim Chief Executive of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme from Steve Harriott, who will remain on the TDS Board in a non-executive capacity. Nick has been the Director


of Resources at TDS since September 2011. Chairman of TDS


Professor Martin Partington said, “We are sad to see Steve go, he has delivered huge improvements and created a strong organisation.”


STUDENTS Trendy homes expected by new generation


Landlords are realising the increasing demand from students for high quality furnished properties, according to the Landlord Syndicate. Student-Furniture. co.uk has seen a more than 100 per cent rise in demand for their student furniture packs.


The student rental


market has become increasingly competitive meaning student landlords heading into the next academic year need


REPOSSESSIONS Failures from landlord investors


Sarah Rushbrook


Repossession levels are falling and the majority of defaulters are landlords rather than owner occupiers, according to


Rushbrook & Rathbone. The property management agency says that landlords who have under estimated their maintenance costs and overstretched their mortgages are running into trouble. This is down to a lack of awareness about the protocol new landlords have to follow to ensure they don’t face repossession in a market where low interest rates are responsible for an overall drop


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in repossessions. Many landlords are not obtaining mortgage lenders approval, meaning they have acted illegally. By not getting their lender’s approval, a landlord may not have the right to enter into a tenancy agreement and therefore jeopardise their rights under the tenancy agreement to be entitled to rent as the validity of the agreement could be brought into question. Sarah Rushbrook, Director,


Rushbrook & Rathbone said, “When researching into the repossession cases not only were the landlords in arrears they had failed to inform their mortgage lender that they were letting their property despite being advised they must do so by their letting agent.”


to do more than ever to make their property stand out. The Landlord Syndicate advise


that as a minimum landlords should look to provide the


Ben Hall


essentials which are a bed and mattress, wardrobe, set of drawers, bedside table and ideally a desk in each room. The living or communal area must have adequate seating for the number of tenants in the property, a coffee table, a TV stand and maybe even a bookcases or a nest of tables. Ben Hall, Managing Director of


Student-Furniture.co.uk said, “The majority of students want a home that is clean, modern and trendy and our experience tells us landlords should invest because the better properties attract the better student tenants.”


COMMENT When ‘wear and tear’ is damage


“Last year there was a 26 per cent rise in the number of deposit disputes between tenants and landlords or letting agents – many concerned the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy,” says William Jordan, Jordans Rentals. “The relationship between a landlord and a tenant can be testing and when it comes to deposits things aren’t always clear cut. The House of Lords defines ‘wear and tear’ as “reasonable use of the premises by the tenant and the ordinary operation of natural forces”. This doesn’t clarify anything as no two cases are the same. By definition, wear and tear should be the lessening in value of an asset due to ordinary and normal use.


William Jordan


Damage on the other hand, can generally be defined as misuse or neglect that reduces value or usefulness. Handlebar marks in the


hallway? – No. The hallway is the entrance. It’s for coats and shoes not bikes. The tenant has caused damage to the property. Rusty shower rod? – Yes. Rust


builds up over time through no fault of the tenant. If you apply common sense,


it’s not difficult to determine who is right or wrong. However, a full inventory will help clarify the condition and determine if wear and tear or damage should be disputed.”


TheNegotiator l October 2012 l 7 AUCTIONS


Pump up the volume


The volume of lots offered at auction in the first half of 2012


David Sandeman


increased by more than seven per cent on 2011 to 16,092,


according to EIG. The market has shown clear


signs of recovery with renewed confidence amongst buyers and sellers, shown by two consecutive years of growth. In the first half of 2012 more than 9,800 residential properties sold via auction – the largest number ever recorded in H1 except H1 2007. The volume of lots offered and sold at auction rose steadily throughout the noughties, reaching a peak in 2007, then declining following recession. However property auctions did not suffer the same levels of decline as the open market. The Land Registry show that the volume of residential property sales fell by over 40 per cent between H1 2007 and H1 2008 and then a further 36 per cent in H1 2009.


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