Mar
26
Private Rented Sector expands in Northern Ireland
Filed Under Belfast Property News, Did you Know...?, Market News, Renting news by DanCookson | Leave a Comment
Citylets have been operating in Northern Ireland for more than two years. A relatively short period but one that has nonetheless seen dramatic changes in the property market. The downturn in sale prices has been both swift and severe as this chart from the recent NI Quarterly House Price Index shows:
The credit crunch has made it far tougher for first time buyers to get on the property ladder so they are tending to stay in the private rented sector (PRS) for longer. We have seen increased NI traffic on the Citylets network throughout this period and this increased interest in PRS has been backed up by the recent findings of the NI House Condition Survey 2009 which shows a continued increase in the number and proportion of privately rented dwellings in Northern Ireland. In 2006 approximately 12 per cent of all dwellings were in the private rented sector. By 2009, this had risen to more than 15 per cent. If vacant dwellings, which when last occupied were in the private rented sector are included, the figure rises to nearly 20%.
Citylets will be reporting on the detailed trends in the Belfast private rented sector in its forthcoming report.
Mar
16
Strongest Growth in Scottish House Prices
Filed Under Market News, Renting news, Scottish Property News, Uncategorized by DanCookson | Leave a Comment
The latest figures from DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) have just been released and make for interesting reading. Scotland has seen the highest annual growth of all the home nations. Annual average house prices rose in England (6.6 per cent), Scotland (7.1 per cent) and Wales (1.3 per cent), but fell in Northern Ireland (-13.7 per cent).
Prices for property bought by first time buyers grew faster than property bought by former owner occupiers. This suggests that the first rung of the property ladder is getting higher and harder to reach which will inevitably lead to more people within the private rented sector and potential upward pressure on rents. We will see if this is so in next month’s release of the Citylets Rental Report for Q1 2010.
Download the DCLG report here:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/hpi012010
Mar
16
Should Letting Agents be Registered?
Filed Under Letting agents, Renting news, Uncategorized by DanCookson | Leave a Comment
The Housing Scotland Bill is now out to consultation and the Minister for Housing & Communities (Alex Neil MSP) wants to hear your views.
Within the Bill there is a proposal for Local Authorities to be given the power to demand that Agents provide a list of properties under their management.
Obtaining information from agents:
Amending the current Housing (Scotland) Bill to allow local authorities to require an agent to provide a list of all properties they manage along with the owners contact details, with failure to do so being an offence, will significantly assist local authorities in identifying landlords who have failed to register for landlord registration.
This proposal will benefit landlords who have already registered for landlord registration and will increase protection for tenants. Increasing the coverage of landlord registration and removing bad landlords will improve management standards in the sector.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/03/04140613/1
Your responses to the consultation paper needs to be in by 19 April 2010. There is a questionnaire with relevant questions below:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/03/04140613/housingconsultation0309/Q/forceupdate/on
Mar
12
Citylets now advertising property in Moscow
Filed Under Did you Know...?, Letting agents, Market News, Uncategorized by DanCookson | Leave a Comment
Citylets is the first choice for online advertising of property to rent in Scotland and Northern Ireland. However we are always looking to expand and are now delighted to be advertising property in Moscow. See this fine example of a five bedroom dacha: http://ow.ly/1hXGM
Its worth noting that Google Street View now covers 98% of all Streets in UK which means even our Moscow properties are viewable in 3D panorama. http://ow.ly/1hXGN
Mar
1
Citylets.co.uk launches ‘win a year rent free’ competition
Filed Under Did you Know...?, Renting news by DanCookson | Leave a Comment
Sounds good, doesn’t it? A chance to win a full year with someone else paying your rent. Citylets is offering just that- up to a monthly maximum of £625.
All you have to do is answer some quick questions on your experience of renting property (if any) or using property websites. It should only take a few minutes- not much to ask for the chance to win 525,600 minutes of rent free living! None of the information you give us will be passed onto or accessed by 3rd parties.
With the exception of home owners, it really doesn’t matter what your current circumstances are… enter if you are over 17 and think you will or would simply like to be in rented accommodation in all or any part of the year June 2010 to May 2011.
The competition closes on 30th April and a winner will be chosen at random on May 1st and published here on the Citylets website. Don’t worry, we’ll let you know if you’re the winner first and everyone who enters will be sent a text message or email.
Simply go to http://www.citylets.co.uk/rentfree/ to enter.
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