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Changes are afoot to the tenancy deposit scheme here in the UK.

The main ‘tweak’ will be that landlords and agents will have up to 30 days to register a tenant’s deposit.

To read the full article click HERE

I received an email this morning which is so important I’ve just copied and pasted it in its entirety below.

I urge ALL landlords to read it and register with the LRS today!

====================================================

Good Morning,

It is not normal that I write to you this early in the week unless it is a rogue tenant alert but we have had researchers working over the weekend to collate data for the new ‘OurLoop’ site going live on 4 February 2011 www.ourloop.co.uk and feel that this qualifies as National Alert, we needed to inform you of some of our findings.  There is almost an epidemic developing of tenants that are not only refusing to pay their rents but they are unable to do so as the recession and the Government cuts start to take shape.  We have reported to our Members earlier in the year which was publicised by the BBC of our concerns of the migration of tenants and rent arrears due to the economy in the next year, this of course is now proving to be the case as a true prediction and therefore the next prediction has to be that due to shortages of funding because of the economic climate rents will not be met and Landlords will be either covering the deficit or start losing their properties.  We ourselves as Landlords are experiencing rent defaults and the alerts which are coming in thick and fast showing massive defaults are also representing this.

LRS field research and analysis of the current climate is showing that Landlords need to act very fast both to get our own tenants registered and to encourage new members on board to register their tenants. To do this and with new members uploading tenants will give us all an opportunity to reference with previous Landlords who may have sufferered rent defaults, this in turn should slow down the forth coming epidemic effecting members of LRS sweeping across the UK this year. I am sure you are aware that our motto at LRS is “prevention is better than cure”, we therefore ask that you send this off to everybody you know – Local Authority accreditation schemes, Landlords, Letting Agents. Associations and anyone else that can help this cause – our strength is really going to be in numbers. Any tenant who is considering not paying his rent will be less likely to knock and run if they know that they will not be able to get another property if any future landlord is registered on LRS.

For News Articles titled ‘Rent Arrears for 2010 up £56 Million on 2009. Still rising inc 2011  click the button below:

 

Or Follow this URL: http://www.national.landlordreferencing.co.uk/contents/en-uk/otherurl.html?ourl=D31

More news will be going up throughout the week on this issue, so keep an eye on our news pages.

Please check out our NEW Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Landlord-Referencing-Services/179521938754867

Kindest Regards

Sarah Shakespeare

www.landlordreferencing.co.uk

property

Are you a UK-based property investor. I’m on a property newsletter and this came in which I have to alert all of you to…

Peter Esders, a property lawyer, said ‘Just to confuse things even more I was at a Budget review breakfast yesterday and the view of the speaker was that CGT may have a further rise in the normal budget in April. The coalition document states that they will raise CGT rates to ‘Similar or close to those applied to income’ and the budget the other day said that the rate for 2011-2012 will be decided by the Chancellor in the future.’

Something all property investors ought to keep in mind.

The Daily Mail had a great article entitled “The tenant from hell: The woman wreaking a trail of havoc through south London’s rental properties” which ALL landlords MUST read (note the emphasis!).

If you or your letting agent are approached by a black lady calling herself Rose Chimuka  -  or perhaps Emily Mapera, Rose Maetune or Emma Magonna and posing as a middle-aged housewife with three children and married to a man with a respectable job then be advised…. steer well clear! She seems to be operating in South-East London.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1279146/The-tenant-hell-The-woman-wreaking-trail-havoc-south-London-rental-properties.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0oYgfMiP1

In 2008 I stressed out over the Christmas period preparing all of the paperwork needed for the looming tax return deadline. Two returns and a company return means I have a LOT of paperwork, receipts, bank statements to reconcile etc.

Last year, 2009, I was a bit more organised and stressed out about it BEFORE Christmas (getting better though!) and had the returns all done and the visit to the accountant before Christmans.

If you are like me, you will have spent at least some time over the last few months, or possibly the Christmas period, going through your paperwork for the dreaded tax return—and vowing that next year you will be more organised.

Many new landlords with perhaps just one property wonder if it’s necessary to do a tax return? The answer is “YES”, and you should do it even when you have made a loss. Any losses can be carried forward if these have been recorded with HMRC.

Being organised and having all the necessary paperwork to provide an audit trail is most important. If something is a little complicated, make a note of it separately and keep it on file as the faintest of ink is better than the best of memories (ancient Chinese saying).

The tax authorities are likely to come down hard on landlords that don’t comply with the tax rules. Always make sure you are ready for an investigation, as these often unnecessary fishing exercises by HMRC can be very time consuming, so be warned!

Remember – you need to do your Tax Return online by Sunday 31 January. If you are going to post it, make sure it reaches them by Friday 29th to be sure of not receiving a £100 late penalty fee. Better still, send it recorded or next day delivery to be sure. Make sure you visit www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa and do your 2008/09 Self Assessment Tax Return online by 31 January 2010.

For further help, including a ‘Step by Step’ guide to Self Assessment online filing and a bite-sized video, you should visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/hmrctaxhelp

Finally, start getting organised NOW for March 31st 2010 and aim to get the accounts and the returns done even earlier in 2010! I will be… will you?

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