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Compliance in Rental Homes
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 244
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to manage compliance issues
This week’s planned work with landlords/ladies will be on property compliance issues, on landlords’/ladies’ obedience in terms of the overall condition of the property and its contents. This week’s work builds on the Safe Rental Homes which we dealt with last week.
Standards and regulatory obligations regarding rental properties
There are standards and regulatory obligations as far as rental properties are concerned. Most professional landlords/ladies would make sure that their rental properties comply with these legislation and regulatory standards.
However, since the coronavirus broke out, there have been two phenomena. On one hand, many rental properties have been made COVID-19 compliant. On the other, there are still properties on the market that are failing the compliance test for the pre-coronavirus compliance area.
At this current level of market knowledge and information, it is difficult to assert that this lack of compliance has been the result of the pressure that the coronavirus or the current cost of living crisis has put on the rental sector and landlords/ladies in particular. Whether the coronavirus or the cost of living crisis has brought enormous pressure to everything and body, this should not be an excuse for not to comply with rental legislation and regulatory standards.
As part of the process of supporting landlords/ladies, but not to punish them, Home Relief will be working with those of them who are experiencing some difficulties in this area of compliance.
Working with landlords/ladies having compliance difficulties
Our work with them will cover such areas as
∝ Safe rental properties
∝ Habitable condition (to check for potential compliance issues and hazards such as damp, smoke alarms, poor living conditions, etc.)
∝ Sector regulation on compliance issues
∝ Serious versus minor compliance issues
∝ Property inspections and reports
∝ Evidence about the overall condition of the property and its contents
∝ Permitted or legal tenants
∝ In-person versus virtual property visits
∝ Records of inspections and reports
∝ A comprehensive inventory
Etc.
Extra help and support
Additionally, we shall share with landlords/ladies the mosaic of both print and online resources on the matter of compliance.
What this week’s work with landlords/ladies will achieve
One can hope that at the end of this week’s process, landlords/ladies will know where they stand on the compliance matter.
Need help about compliance in rental homes this Spring
Those landlords/ladies who would be interested in this week’s topic of compliance, they are free to contact Home Relief.
Need us to inspect your property and advise you on ways of fixing issues relating to compliance, please work with Home Relief.
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes
Safe Rental Homes
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 243
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to make your private rental homes safe
This week, we are going to work with landlords/ladies on their contractual obligations to keep their rental properties safe.
COVID-19 and cost-of-living crises should not be an excuse for unsafe properties
It is possible that the current cost-of-living crisis, which has followed the COVID-19 disaster, may not make things easy for everybody including landlords/ladies. However, this should not be an excuse to have unsafe properties or not carry out life-saving repairs. Saying that is not about blaming anybody. It is just about responding to some demands from renters for safe conditions of living.
Ways of responding to renters’ request for safe living
There are many ways in which landlords/ladies can respond to renters’ demand for safe conditions of living. Our response is about working with private landlords/ladies who are interested and experiencing safety issues with their rental properties so that these issues can be fixed.
In fact, most landlords/ladies and/or their letting/managing agents would be aware of the Health and Safety Standards for Rented Homes (HHSRS) and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2008.
The Act states that landlords/ladies should keep their properties safe, healthy and free from things that could cause serious harm. However, being aware of something is not the same as taking action to deal with problems if there are any safety issues that arise.
Areas of safety or concern by tenants/renters
As part of work with landlords/ladies, we shall discuss together the following areas of safety or concern by tenants at this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis:
σ Hazards in a rental property that can affect renters’ health and well-being
σ Property improvements and repairs
σ Consequences of failing to fix unsafe properties
σ Remedial actions to be taken
σ Consequences of avoiding fixing the safety problem
σ Fine related to unsafe rental properties
Etc.
Extra help and support
During our work with landlords/ladies, they will as well have the opportunity to revisit or regain access to both print and online resources relating to safe rental properties. Support will be given in terms of the understanding of these materials and implications for safe rental properties.
Those landlords/ladies who would like to dip into the issue of safe rental homes, they are free to contact Home Relief.
Need help about safe rental homes this Spring
If you are a landlord/lady and needs some help about the safety issues of your rental properties, why not work with Home Relief?
Need us to inspect your property and advise you on ways of fixing issues relating to safety, please work with Home Relief.
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes

Spring Makeover
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 242
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to maximise the chances of securing tenants this Spring
Giving Your Home Spring Makeover!
This week, we will be working with landlords/ladies on what they can do in order to make their property appealing, and attract and interest renters. In particular, we are going to focus on Spring Makeover.
What landlords/ladies can do to attract and interest renters this Spring
There are ways in which landlords/ladies can act to maximise the chances and interests of getting the right tenants this Spring. These ways could include the following:
√ Make outdoors appealing
√ Improve outdoor space
√ Clean up the outside garden space
√ Have a Spring clean
√ Remove dust
√ Disinfect your property from any COVID-19 strains
√ Arrange possessions and furniture
√ Choose colours that maximise the amount of light for your property makeover
√ Wash down dirty and greasy walls
√ Smooth out holes and cracks
√ Touch up walls with your chosen colours
√ Maximise and improve the appearance of your property
Etc.
Need help to attract renters this Spring
If you are a landlord/lady and wants to attract renters this Spring, why not work with Home Relief?
Need us to inspect your property and advise you on ways of bringing more interests in your property, please work with Home Relief.
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes

Lettings during Easter Period
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 241
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to Instruct Home Relief during this Easter Period
This week, we will be working with landlords/ladies who are contemplating to let their properties during this Easter period. But, before pointing out the kind of work we will be doing with them, let us briefly highlight the property market during the Easter time.
Easter property market
Not every landlord/lady takes Easter break from lettings. Just as there are renters who are looking for accommodation during Easter period. For both landlords/ladies willing to let their properties and renters searching for properties to rent, the Easter property market is still busy. And Home Relief is ready to offer its letting and rental services to both respectively.
This offer will consider the current phase of living with COVID-19 and the cost of living. Under this offer, we will be exploring with landlords’/ladies’ property letting needs, requirements and expectations under the current phase of living with COVID-19 while taking into account the cost of living for renters.
What our work with landlords/ladies will cover
Our work with them will cover the following:
√ COVID-19 measures in the phase of living with COVID-19
√ Lettings plan and process during Easter time
√ Property maintenance during Easter period
√ Hybrid viewings (i.e. virtual or online viewings and in-person viewings)
√ Online rental payments and cover
√ Update on available resources and guidance about the letting industry during Easter period
Etc.
How helpful this week’s working activity will be
One could hope that the week’s working activity will help …
√ To protect landlords/ladies from misinformation or lack of appropriate information regarding private residential property letting and management in the phase of living with COVID-19
√ To boost landlords/ladies confidence for lettings and for instructing us while improving their understanding of the Easter property lettings market
√ To safeguard landlords/ladies’ interests and investment while saving money
√ To avoid trouble tenancies and misunderstanding throughout this time of living with COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis
√ To reduce exposition to the risk linked to the cost of living crisis and associated risks of the moment
√ Above all, to bring peace of mind and security when giving instructions to let their property during this Easter period.
Need your letting instructions to be proceeded
If you are a landlord/lady and want to give instructions to let but do not know what to do during this Easter time, why not work with Home Relief?
Need us to proceed with your lettings during this phase of living with COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis, please work with Home Relief.
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes

Lowering the Upfront Costs for Tenants
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 240
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to avoid having a property that is untenanted for a period of time
This week, we will be working with landlords/ladies on the costs that their prospective tenants may have to bear before they can move in.
Costs to be borne prior to the right to a tenancy
Generally, incoming tenants are asked to cover a certain number of costs before having the right to a tenancy. These costs could include a refundable security deposit (which is normally capped at 5 weeks’ rent or 6 weeks if the total annual rent is £50,000 plus) and/or a refundable holding deposit (which is normally capped at 1 week’s rent).
Manageable upfront costs for tenants
At this challenging time of the cost of living crisis, most people (including landlords/ladies and tenants) are experiencing some difficulties with rising prices and bills. Because of the current level of inflation, it is in the interest of both sides (landlords/ladies and tenants) of the rental agreement to work out a level of upfront costs that could be manageable by tenants.
What are those upfront costs we are talking about?
There are many types of costs depending on the cost structure that each letting agent or landlord/lady has set up. In the context of this week’s work with landlords/ladies, we can single out the refundable security deposit and refundable holding deposit.
Landlords/ladies may have their own good reason to set up a level of these deposits to suit their own investment or outgoing obligations on the property. However, they may need to include what the market is telling them about tenants’ long term financial stability as well.
Why it is important to consider market information and lower upfront costs
Lowering the upfront costs for your incoming tenants will help as follows:
Δ Avoid loss of rental income in the long term
Δ Encourage renters to move and increase the demand of properties to let
Δ Boost the expansion of property portfolios
Δ Prevent void properties
Etc.
Whether or not landlords/ladies would like to require a rental bond (or security deposit) and a rent in advance before their new tenants move in, it is always of good idea to check that this requirement does not end up to becoming a cost or handicap in itself.
Want to know more about upfront costs
Those landlords/ladies who would like to dip into the issue of upfront costs for their incoming tenants, they are free to contact Home Relief.
Need help and support about upfront costs, contact Home Relief NOW!
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes

A Good Rental Yield
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 239
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to Get a Fairly Good Rent for your Property
This week we are working with landlords/ladies and home owners to determine ways of setting up good rent levels regardless of seasons (including in difficult times like of cost of living crisis as it is now).
A good rental yield
If you would like to invest in properties for rental purpose, you will need to find out what is called “rental yield”. The latter is defined in the property jargon as the value of rent you can expect to receive from your property in a year. In other words, a rental yield is the return made on a property investment in terms of monthly rent charged compared to the value or price of the property paid. Generally, it is considered that a rental yield between 5 and 8 per cent is relatively good for a buy-to-let investment.
Getting expert advice about your asking rent
Before issuing a tenancy (for example, an assured short hold tenancy agreement), it is advisable to seek expert advice about the levels of rent that your property can generate. It is important to seek this kind of advice so that you do not charge more or less than what your property really deserves.
There are benefits in seeking expert advice on the rent level. One of these benefits is that it helps to avoid any potential conflicts (such as unpaid rents or rent arrears) with tenants over the level of rent you are charging in the course of the tenancy period.
Where to get rent advice
Rent advice can be obtained from various sources or experts on the rental market. It can be given by a local rent officer, a letting agency, a rent valuation office, etc. You can even get it online through various websites having properties rent valuation features or online rent calculator. Some of these rent services are free of charge without obligations.
Online rental yield calculator
A rent calculator is a rental valuation tool created by a team of data scientists and that enables to find out, in advanced way, how much rent to charge for any house or flat in the UK. Through the online rent calculator, you can enter a property postcode and the calculator will instantly give you the rental value of the property or the average rent by postcode. You can do it to work out the process of determining rental yield as well.
Working with Home Relief to set up a rent policy
This week, what we are undertaking with landlords/ladies is not only fixing a rent for a particular property. It is also trying to develop a rent policy and structure for our clients so that their properties could command a rent level that is fairly good or decent irrespective of seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, busy, not busy, EU exit, the coronavirus shock, cost of living crisis, etc.). Why?
Reasons for setting up a rent policy or structure
There are various reasons that contribute to a good rent policy or structure. There could be changes in the rental market and the economy with ups and downs. Likewise, your property may not be the same when you last refurbished it.
In the above circumstances, what can you do for your property to command decent rents regardless of seasons, regardless of lows and highs in the rental sector? Landlords/ladies need to bear in mind that each property is a particular case that needs to be treated on its own. There should not be one size fits all rent policy.
What is a good rent in time like of the cost of living crisis?
In time of the cost of living crisis, it is recommendable to check all the facts and get data right and clear before making any decision over the rent. There will always be conflicting stories and messages (including fake news) about the performance of the property market and the way in which the rental market is reacting over this challenging time.
Any decision made over rent has to be based on verifiable statistics rather than commentaries and speculations made by the mass media. For example, there have been various figures and different interpretations of the current and coming rises in the energy price caps.
To get the right decision, each property case has to be treated individually with all the determinant market factors and conditions. This should be done while considering the short, medium and long term changes.
Working with Home Relief to determine your rental value
If you are a landlord/lady and or home owner and would like your property generates a level of rental income that is respectable or very good but you do not know where to start and how to go about it, Home Relief can work with you to determine the better rental value for your property.
To get advice for the better rent level for your property to let, please contact Home Relief NOW.
To know whether this week’s session on A Good Rental Yield can or cannot work for you as a landlord/lady, contact Home Relief NOW!
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes

Rental Times
Welcome to Home Relief Bulletin Board!
Post No. 238
by Your Freelance e-Property Letting Agency

How to weather bad times to rent a property and save in good rent-a-property times
This week we are working with home seekers to find out ways of weathering bad times to rent a property and saving in good rental times.
Weathering the times to rent
Home seekers can rent a property at any times of the year (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). There is no a particular season to rent as such, although there are times when the rental market may be favourable or unfavourable to particular home seekers. Besides these favourable or unfavourable markets, there are personnel circumstances that can provide the reasons for the timing to rent.
Reasons that contribute to the season to rent
There are times when the rental market conditions may seem not going to home seekers’ direction for various reasons; conditions which may include the following:
• Budget constraints
• Home seekers need to give notice where they are living
• Academic or employment reasons
• Health conditions
• Family motives
• Economic crisis
• The coronavirus and lockdown situations
Etc.
For all these various reasons, home seekers may choose to delay or anticipate the rental decision to take up tenancies of a property, in relation to their personal circumstances and conditions of life. Let us focus on few of these reasons.
Reason linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict
To the above personal circumstances, it can be added special events like the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has led or exacerbated the rises in the prices of energy and food. When energy (like electricity, gas and water) increases, the cost of renting also rises. Some landlords/ladies have already notified their tenants that from April 2022 rent will increase.
Renters who may be affected or feel impacted by this crisis may rent or delay their decision to rent depending on the evolution of this conflict. Those who can afford may not bother about how this crisis is affecting the rental market. They may rent anyway, like it or not.
Many home seekers may be asking whether or not this is the right time or season to rent. Like any other needs (such as needs to eat, dress, drink, etc.), everybody needs somewhere to shelter no matter what is going on in the Black Sea between the Russians and Ukrainians. Right time or not to rent, this is a matter of personal decision.
Reason relating to the coronavirus
Home seekers can as well try to think whether or not to rent now as we are in the phase of Living with COVID-19 in England. For those who really need a place to live, the current phase of the coronavirus does not matter for them. In fact, finding a shelter could help them to better manage their personal circumstances during this phase.
Easter rentals
The same can be said about the Easter time. Some home seekers may find that it is better to get somewhere to stay and spend Easter in a new home. On the contrary, the same time may be unsuitable for others. It is all about weathering the times to rent.
Customised support
This week’s work with home seekers is also a customised one. This is because each home seeker has particular circumstances and conditions of life.
The customised support will include the following:
√ Identification of individual bad times to rent and good times to rent
√ Development of timely survival rental strategies
√ Time factors to consider when making a rental decision
√ Decision making process regarding the choice of the right time to rent
Etc.
Saving in good rent-to-property times
Home seekers can as well consider saving as an alternative so that they can rent when the season or timing is favourable to them. If so, there are saving options that can be looked at. This week, we are going to look at the saving options available in order to meet home seekers’ rental needs.
Not sure about the right time to rent
If you are a prospective tenant or home seeker and you are not sure about the best or right time for you to rent; Home Relief can work with you to consider the time factors, economic variables and rental parameters applicable to you as well as support you can get to make an informed decision about the appropriate time for you to rent.
To involve Home Relief in your decision making process about rental times, please contact Home Relief Now!
Looking for an affordable location and home
If you are looking for an affordable location and home, Home Relief is the people dealing with affordable homes you could consider in your property searches and enquiries.
For more information about our property service to home buyers and tenants, please go to https://homerelief.co/tenants/
For more information about our property service to home sellers and landlords/ladies, please go to https://homerelief.co/landlord
For properties to rent and let, please go to https://homerelief.co/property-search/
For weekly property news and updates, please read our weekly posts.
Thank you for reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits to Home Relief website and to doing business with you throughout the year.
Many thanks!
Home Relief – Freelance e-property people dealing with affordable homes
