Rightmove

Rightmove were the first to release their iPhone App back in August 2009. At the time it was the only property search application released by one of the major portals, not being challenged until FindaProperty released their app in February 2010. With a 7 month head start Rightmove had a great chance to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. Unfortunately, whilst the application is very attractive and simple to use, it did little other than display a few very low resolution pictures with a description of the property. The low resolution pictures also took a very long time to load, some not loading at all. The major part missing was in interactive map.

A series of updates were released for the application in the months following it’s release, simply to address bugs and problems. Since the release of the other property portal applications from FinaProperty and Zoopla, Rightmove have now added an interactive map to the application. Rightmove is currently the highest rated property portal search application on iTunes with a score of 3.5 / 5 from 18880 ratings.

Rightmove Application Score:

FindaProperty

FindaProperty released their iPhone App in February 2010. The major feature of the application was it’s integration with GoogleMaps on the iPhone, allowing a user to search for available properties around their current location or by simply browsing areas of the map. In addition, a user can get directions from their current location to the property they have chosen to view. By integrating the application with GoogleMaps that are already on the iPhone, the experience is quick and rewarding. This feature accompanied with larger images viewable as a slide show in a good resolution meant that the FindaProperty App could do everything the Rightmove App could and a lot more. A much higher standard of property search tool on the iPhone had been established.

The FindaProperty Application currently has a score on iTunes of 3 / 5 from 5908 ratings.

FindaProperty Application Score:

Zoopla

Zoopla have the most recent iPhone App released in July 2010. The largest feature that may well hurt the main competitors Rightmove and Findaproperty apps is the ability for Zoopla to offer all the data it has on every UK home. Just like the FinaProperty app, it has map-led search (map and hybrid options) as well as list view and Augmented Reality. While Rightmove and Findaproperty apps only offer For Sale and To Rent searches, Zoopla can give value estimates for all 27 million UK homes, with 15 million+ house prices paid dating back to 1995. Zoopla’s application also provides local market data including average home values by area.

Zoopla’s application can also search for property using the iPhone’s built in camera. By selecting the camera search, the app uses the iPhone’s GPS and compass to display properties on the screen that are available for sale or rent wherever you are pointing the camera. Whilst this may be a bit of a gimmick, it is a very interactive way of searching for property.

With it’s advanced features, high resolutions photos and vast amount of property information, the Zoopla Application is the best property portal application so far. The Zoopla Application currently has a score on iTunes of 3 / 5 from 433 ratings.

Zoopla Application Score:

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) recently published their Review and Index for Residential Investment for the first quarter of 2010 (ARLA Review and Index Q1 2010). ARLA carried out research among 531 of its members’ offices plus 382 individual landlords. The results show that during Q1 2010, two thirds (59%) of ARLA member agents reported more tenants than properties available. This is a 50% rise on the last quarter (41%) and in Q3 2009 the figure was just 24%. In the last year, supply has dropped by approximately 60%.

Tenant demand has never been higher in Bath which is clearly shown by the rents we have recently achieved and the short length of time that properties are on the market. In April alone Reside let a number of properties before we began to market them; The Old Vicarage, Winifreds Dale and Walcot Parade were all let before they came to the market, all at very good rents. A house on Great Pulteney Street was let after only 4 hours on the rental market at £3000 pcm and just today a one bedroom apartment on Great Pulteney Street achieved a rent of £925 pcm after only 3 days on the market.

Countrywide’s lettings division recently surveyed its network of 204 UK branches and found that there is now an average of 4.9 tenants for every available property, and rents have increase by 2.5%.

From five bedroom houses to one bedroom apartments, rental properties are in very high demand. If you are a landlord or are considering renting out your property, there couldn’t be a better time to take advantage of Resides superior service!

The game started with two WASP penalties going through the uprights giving them a small lead of 6 points only to be followed by a superb Bath try by Joe Maddock, converted by Olly Barkley. The atmosphere was incredible as Joe Maddock went on to score a hat trick of tries and Olly Barkley adding a fourth. The final score was WASPs 19 Bath 35. Bath gaining the all important win and bonus point puts them in fourth place in the league.

Thank you Bath Rugby for an amazing day out!

At this point in time, legislation associated with the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) states that tenancies formed with annual aggregate rent greater than £25,000 cannot be ASTs. These tenancies are formed on a contractual basis and are sometimes referred to as ‘non-Housing Act’ tenancies. Tenancy terms are negotiated and agreed by the landlord and tenant and are not enshrined by statute.

The Assured Tenancies (Amendment) (England) Order 2010 will come into force on the 1st of October 2010 and will be retrospective. As a result, any tenancy with an annual rent between £25,000 and £100,000 in existence on 1 October 2010 will become an AST overnight. Landlords and tenants will nolonger be able to negotiate individual terms for their tenancy. This means that all of the rights and responsibilities associated with the Housing Act 1988 will be extended to higher rent properties for the first time.

The original threshold was introduced in order to exclude ‘luxury lets’, however the limit was established in 1990 and has not been revisited to take account of inflation since. The Government consulted as a result of a Rugg Review recommendation and decided to increase the threshold to £100,000 as a result. This figure will subsequently be reviewed at five yearly intervals.

The most obvious and immediate affect of the increase is that all Tenancy Deposits will be protected under the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS). The Dipsute Service and other DPS members will see a huge increase in registered deposits overnight.

The legislation is not retrospective and will not affect properties with an existing use. HMOs that already house three or more tenants, will not have to apply for retrospective permission because they already have ‘established’ use from the date new legislation is enforced.

The aim of the legislation is to prevent so-called ‘studentification’ whereby rows of terrace houses in university towns and cities are rented out to students. The Government believes this is a problem, although its own advisers in the Rugg Report said it was not.

Landlord groups have been fighting to prevent the change happening, and David Cameron has tabled an Early Day Motion to get it rescinded. Robert Jordan, former ARLA president, said many agents remain unaware of the changes. He, like the landlord groups, believes that the supply of shared rental accommodation will become restricted, with landlords unwilling to pay the cost of obtaining planning permission with the possibility that they might also have to pay to have their HMOs licensed.

Developed by Reside and completely integrated into our own website and database, Reside Remote allows a Landlord to login and view Tenancy Details including Tenant’s names, rental amounts, deposit amounts, due dates and more. A Rent Statement page displays all statements with a date and in chronological order. The rent statements can be viewed within Reside Remote or downloaded in .pdf format.

A Property Maintenance page displays all invoices for the property, all dated, named and described in detail. Just like the rent statements, all invoices can either be viewed online or downloaded in .pdf format. In addition to the property invoices, Landlords can view a Property Log fed direct from our own property notes in an effort to provide more detailed information about individual maintenance issues. With all invoices visible to Landlords at any time, we aim to be as transparent as possible.

The final page within Reside Remote is the Your Details page, displaying the details we currently hold for the particular Landlord logged in. Details include an address, telephone numbers and an email address. These can be checked and changed if required.

Please try the demo of Reside Remote on our Home Page; http://www.residebath.co.uk/

If you are one of Reside’s existing Landlords and would like to take advantage of our Reside Remote service please do not hesitate in contacting Ben at ben@residebath.co.uk for a username and password. There is no extra charge for this service.

If you already have your username and password, please login at http://www.residebath.co.uk/remote/login.php and enjoy!

We hope that anyone who uses the service finds it a very helpful and useful tool in the management of your property. We always welcome feedback and any suggestions to improve the Reside Remote service. This only version 1.1. after all!

All of my blogs will be tagged under certain categories so that you can filter appropriate categories for your needs. This blog, for example, is tagged as ‘News’. Please see the categories and archive fields on the right hand side of our blog.

Stay tuned for more!