You will have realised that we have increased the frequency of our newsletters to monthly. Who would have thought so much can change in a month! The Americans have continued the anti-establishment kick back on politicians with the election of Donald Trump and then we continue to see the same trend in other countries. All the while normal life goes on and the needs and demands of more homes grows ever more acute.
The autumn Statement saw the Chancellor put a ban on letting fees being charged to renters, a good thing on the whole but one that has caused outrage from the industry and claims that it will only lead to higher rents. This strikes me as odd and an area where it is ripe for letting professionals to change their fee model entirely. This will be necessitated eventually because of the transparency and approach of the build to rent owners and operators.
Of course in all markets what is important is for the professional service providers to demonstrate how the service should operate and what the customer should expect. This is especially true with leasehold property. LEASE and Park Homes have a huge array of information available for helping and assisting leaseholders and managers with their queries and questions. We have to continually keep marketing and raising awareness of what is needed to be known and what are the rights and responsibilities.
Of course the leasehold ownership journey starts when you go to the estate agent and start to look for your home or investment. We in conjunction with other organisations produced a one side information sheet on leasehold which should be handed to all prospective purchasers. I was shocked to find awareness among Estate Agents was non-existent when speaking at the Negotiator conference this year. So we need to make sure that we keep working to raise awareness of what is needed to be known, and that we will do.
As we hit the December rush and have got through Black Friday then let me wish you season’s greetings and all the best for the New Year. A huge thank you to the team at LEASE and Park Homes for all their diligence and dedication in helping you. Finally, I wish for the New Year that we can see all sides of leasehold working together to ensure that everything is reasonable and fair.
