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Progressive Lettings Southampton Student Housing HOT List
Ideal for both Southampton University and the Solent
Lodge Road House1, Southampton
Bedrooms =7
Bathrooms = 2
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Modern décor and Furniture with wood flooring, Modern Kitchen with all white goods including dish washer and parking
Lodge Road House2, Southampton
Bedrooms =5
Bathrooms = 1
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £68 per person, per week.
Key Features: Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods -parking
Lodge Road House3, Southampton
Bedrooms =7
Bathrooms = 2
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £72 per person, per week.
Key Features: Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods – parking
Spear Road House1, Southampton
Bedrooms =6
Bathrooms = 2
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Very Nice House -Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, Gas Central Heating.
Spear Road House2, Southampton
Bedrooms =6
Bathrooms = 2
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Very Nice House -Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, Gas Central Heating. Side access to rear garden
Avenue Rd House1, Southampton
Bedrooms =5
Bathrooms = 1
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Very Nice House, constructed in the last five years -Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, Parking for two cars.
Avenue Rd House2, Southampton
Bedrooms =5
Bathrooms = 1
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Very Nice House, constructed in the last five years -Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, Parking for two cars.
Forster Road House1, Southampton
Bedrooms =5
Bathrooms = 1
Available = 1st September 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Very Nice House, constructed in the last five years -Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, parking for two cars.
Forster Road House2, Southampton
Bedrooms =5
Bathrooms = 1
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £73.50 per person, per week.
Key Features: Very Nice House, constructed in the last five years -Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, parking for two cars.
Woodside Road, Southampton
Bedrooms =5
Bathrooms = 1
Available = 1st July 2012
Rent = £68 per person, per week.
Key Features: 5 Massive Rooms, Modern décor and Furniture, Modern Kitchen with all white goods Double glazing, Full gas central heating.
Tags: Student Houses Southampton, student homes Southampton, student lettings, student pads, no fee student lets, houses for students. Southampton University, Solent University.
Category : Blog &Latest News
Council Tax & Empty Homes by Chris Norris
As if voids were not a big enough headache for landlords trying to refresh that post-tenancy property and find new tenants, all while keeping on top of mortgage payments, the Government is consulting on Council Tax charges for empty property.
Under the guise of ‘localism’ the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published proposals to remove the existing Council Tax exemptions and reliefs applicable to empty residential property.
Under the proposals, local authorities will be given greater ‘discretion’ to offer the level of Council Tax relief they deem appropriate. This means that, if the proposals are adopted, the default six month exemption from Council Tax for unfurnished properties will be replaced with a discretionary discount of between 0 and 100 percent.
Where a property is both empty and furnished local authorities already have the option of discounting the charge by between 10 and 50 percent. Under these proposals this range will be increased to provide the option of charging 100 percent of the relevant band.
These proposals have the potential to have a significant impact on landlords wishing to refurbish property between tenancies, or who are having difficulty sourcing a new tenant.
The NLA will be of course be ensuring that landlords’ collective voices are heard, however individuals are also welcome to contribute to the consultation process.
If you would like to comment on the proposals you may do so my emailing:
counciltax.consultations@communities.gsi.gov.uk
or by writing to:
Technical Reforms of Council Tax Consultation
Local Government Finance Directorate
DCLG
Zone 5/D2 Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU
If you would like further information, the full consultation can be found here: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/20192051.pdf
As posted by The National Landlords Association (NLA)
Category : Blog
The latest Housing Market Sentiment Survey from Zoopla.co.uk reveals that four out of five (81%) UK homeowners think property prices will continue to climb over the next six months.
Optimism around the housing market outlook has significantly improved from one year ago, when less than one-third of homeowners (30%) expected house prices to rise.
With the bad weather behind us and the recent stamp duty relief introduced for first-time buyers, confidence in the property market has bounced back well. Despite the optimism, significant concerns remain around the supply of mortgages and whilst affordability levels are now higher than at any time in the past few years the lack of mortgage funding, especially for first-time buyers, remains the single biggest threat to a full housing market recovery.
Key points:
* Housing market confidence hits two and a half-year high
* Strong concerns remain over the availability of mortgage financing
* 81% of homeowners believe UK property values will rise over next six months
* Homeowners predict that average house prices will increase 5.7% by Autumn
* Only one in five potential buyers say that mortgage availability is improving
* Scots are most confident about property market recovery, N Irish far less so
The survey also reveals only 9% of homeowners believe that property values will fall over the next six months whilst a further 10% expect prices to remain flat. The average growth predicted by those surveyed is for house prices to rise by 5.7% by October.
The current level of optimism bodes well for market activity, with transaction volumes expected to rise significantly over the coming months given the historically high correlation between the confidence level in the Zoopla.co.uk Survey and market activity approximately three months later.
However, the availability of mortgage financing remains the main obstacle to a sustained improvement in the housing market with four out of five (78%) of those surveyed saying that it is now no easier to obtain a mortgage than it was three months ago.
When considering the election almost a quarter (23%) of those surveyed stated that they will wait to assess the outcome of the election before making any property-related decisions.
Category : Blog
In a press release by Louise Border at solicitors Taylor Vintners, if your house is not connected to mains drains and instead drains to a septic tank or sewage treatment plant, then you will need to register with the Environment Agency for an environmental permit by 31 December 2011. This applies no matter how old the system is. After this time, unless it is registered, all discharges will be classed as illegal. The maximum fine for pollution is set at £20,000.
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 now require all discharges from septic tanks and sewage treatment plants to be authorised by an environmental permit or exempt. Most householders should be able to register an exemption and registration is currently free. The application system is relatively straightforward and can be completed online.
If the discharge from your septic tank or plant runs into a river or a stream, then you must register immediately. You will usually be able to obtain an exemption as long as the discharge is less than 5 cubic metres per day and is via a sewage treatment plant.
If you already hold a Consent to Discharge or an Environmental Permit then you do not need to register.
If you discharge into the ground (via a drainage field or soakaway) you must register with the Environment Agency by 1 January 2012. If the amount of discharge is less than 2 cubic metres per day (the amount from an 8 bedroom house) then you will usually be able to obtain an exemption.
Once you have registered an exemption, you must comply with various conditions, including proper inspection, maintenance, record keeping and regular removal of excess sludge. Normal maintenance for a septic tank is the removal of sludge once a year.
Having the correct permit or exemption is important if you come to sell your house. The buyer will require details of your discharge or permit and maintenance records. They will not need to register again and will not need to inform the Environment Agency of the change of ownership.
If you are about to buy a property with a septic tank then you should check that, either the septic tank has already been registered, or get the current owner to register it with exempt status (or get a permit) before exchange of contracts and completion.
Category : Blog
The average void period of private rented sector property has fallen for three consecutive quarters on the back of strong levels of tenant demand, research by buy-to-let mortgage specialist Paragon has revealed.
The average annual void period recorded in the first quarter of 2011 stood at 2.8 weeks. This figure has steadily declined from a high of 3.5 weeks recorded in the second quarter of 2010. The current figure is at its lowest since the first quarter of 2009.
According to Paragon’s research, nearly half of landlords (45%) experience a void period – the length of time a property is without a tenant – of less than two weeks a year, with 34% experiencing voids of between two and four weeks. Void periods allow landlords to carry out maintenance and improvement work on their properties.
Tenant demand has risen significantly over the past two years due to the continued shortage of mortgage finance in the owner-occupied sector, whilst there are longer-term socio-economic changes occurring, such as greater numbers of economic migrants and single person households, which is placing greater pressure on private rented sector stock.
Nigel Terrington, Paragon Group Chief Executive, says: “Many people choose private rented accommodation as a lifestyle choice because it gives them flexibility and convenience. But private rented property also offers people an attractive alternative to house purchase, which remains out of reach for many, and renting has grown significantly over the past 12 months. We would expect the average void period to remain low during 2011 as a growing number of tenants compete for property in the private rented sector.”
Category : Blog
Progressive Letting agents southampton warn Tenants to Beware of a process known as “scraping” that is being used to make copies of UK property letting sites by foreign criminals to persuade consumers to part with their deposits, many prospective tenants are being defrauded of thousands of pounds, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
One website that is being targeted in particular is gumtree anyone using this site should be extremely cautious as these copy sites are using industry logos and look highly professional. If you are looking to rent a property then a safer option is to use one of the property portals where legitimate lettings organisation list properties to let.
Representatives of these illegal sites have left prospective tenants out of pocket after they essentially hijack a UK agent’s website and have deposits paid into their accounts leaving the tenant with no deposit and no property to move into.
To help keep safe always visit the property first with the landlord or agent; get a copy of the AST agreement. Ask to see any safety certificates relating to the property i.e. Gas or Electric.
Do not pay monies until you have followed the above steps, only transfer funds after you have obtained the bank details from the agent or the landlord by contacting them direct.
Category : Blog
Southampton Airport has scooped the ‘Top UK Airport Award’ at the 2011 Wanderlust Readers’ Travel Awards held at the Destinations Travel Show in London. The annual awards saw 2,000 well-travelled readers score their favourite travel providers and destinations based on their travel experiences between December 2009 and November 2010. Wanderlust readers checked into 632 airports last year and travelled on 265 different airlines during the year.
The providers and destinations were given an average score (converted to a percentage), meaning the results are based on satisfaction rather than the number of votes. Readers scored Southampton Airport with a high 84% satisfaction level overall, overtaking last year’s winner, London City Airport.
Dave Lees, Managing Director of Southampton Airport, commented: “The Southampton Airport team is absolutely delighted to have won this prestigious award. To be voted as the Top UK Airport by this group of experienced and regular world-wide travellers is a real achievement. The award is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our 1,200 staff who pride themselves on helping our 2 million passengers to breeze through the airport with ease.”
Image shows: Inside Southampton Airport
Image copyright: Southampton Airport
Source: Invest In Southampton
Category : Blog
With the recent changes to the LHA allowance and fears from Landlords as to what other changes the government may have in mind it comes as no surprise that many seasoned landlords who have been quite at home providing accommodation to tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit are now looking to leave the sector. 
With rental demand from tenants in the private sector at an all time high its easy to see why so many landlords are finding the pull away from LHA tenants and moving back to the private sector so appealing.
But there are fears from many of the housing charities such as Shelter that as we see unemployment continuing to rise more and more LHA tenants are going to be left out of the Private housing market placing ever increasing pressure on the local authorities and there dwindling resources.
director of policy for the British Property Federation Ian Fletcher stated that if this happens it would be a “tragedy” for the industry, but most landlords will want to make sure their tenants who are reliant on benefits still have somewhere to live.
He explained that the government needs to do more to convince landlords to stay in the market when the changes to housing benefit are made by the coalition as part of its cost-cutting plans said Mr fletcher
This echoes the recent calls from Chris Town, vice-chair of the Residential Landlords Association, who called on the coalition government to do more to support landlords in the currency financial climate which at the moment appear to be falling on deaf ears.
Category : Blog
A couple of weeks ago the Unity 101 community radio station held a gala dinner in Southampton to celebrate its fifth anniversary, the evening was hosted by Ram Kalyan founder of Unity 101, better known as Kelly by those that listen to the station. The event staged at the Novotel hotel was well supported with hundreds of people turning out to join the celebrations, adding to the multi-cultural theme of the evening, many of the guests wore traditional eastern and western wear. The entertainment on stage was colourful and included music, singing and some very energetic Bollywood dancing. The evening was supported by the University of Southampton and the Southampton Solent University, during the evening some of the stations new presenters were presented with certificates of achievement and students from five of the cities colleges Totton, Regents Park Community Barton Peveril ,Taunton’s and Southampton City College were presented with awards. Head of operations at Sunrise Radio Tony Patti presented the certificates. Unity 101 have had their licence confirmed for the next five years and Kelly told guests this is not just an important celebration of the past five years but also for the next five years. Progressive lettings would like to wish all involved at Unity 101 the very best for the future and hope you go from strength to strength
Category : Blog
An increasing numbers of tenants appear to be struggling to make rental payments that could have an affect on the UK rental property market, according to letting agents.
The latest research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) shows that in the fourth quarter of 2010 some 40% of members reported an increase in tenants struggling to meet rental payments in the preceding six months, an increase from 35.9% in the previous three months.
This is the first time the number has increased in 18 months, suggesting that job losses and pay cuts are beginning to take hold, causing tenants to have difficulties.
The situation was least noticeable in central London, where just under a third, 27.9%, of members reported an increase, compared with the rest of the UK at 46.4%.
‘At the beginning of last year we predicted that the number of tenants having difficulties paying rent would increase and unfortunately, this seems to be the case today. It is a situation that can have serious repercussions for Landlords throughout the Private Rented Sector as, without guaranteed rent income, landlords may also have problems paying mortgages. At worst, it may result in a rise in repossessions,’ said Ian Potter, operations manager at ARLA.
Category : Blog
