Since 1 October 2008, landlords and letting agents have been legally obligated to provide prospective tenants with a valid Energy Performance Certificate, should they request to see one. EPCs are carried out by accredited Domestic Energy Assessors and give landlords and tenants an indication of the energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions of a property, as well as guidelines for those wishing to improve the energy efficiency of their home. All letting and estate agents are required by law to commission a property’s EPC before they commence marketing it in any way; the agent must then be in ownership of the certificate within 28 days from when marketing began.

Currently, regulations governing how much of the EPC must be shared are very lax. Although the full report is usually several pages long, many letting agents only choose to share the EPC’s two summary graphs on their website, often omitting more detailed sections such as ‘Estimated energy useage and fuel costs of this home’.

In early 2011, the government announced that they would be introducing new legislation whereby agents would only have an initial seven days to procure an EPC from when marketing starts, as opposed to the current 28. Significantly, it was also announced that agents would have to attach the full EPC to property particulars, not just the graphs.

However, in early June 2011 the government admitted that they would miss their target of pushing the new legislation through by July 1st and declared that changes to EPC law would now be introduced on October 1st instead.

The government’s initial plans drew criticism from some quarters of the lettings and sales industry, who voiced concerns about the added paperwork that they would be required to produce. Under this criticism, the proposed changes were watered down so that agents and landlords will only be obliged to share the first page of the document. However, the first page of the EPC is due to be redesigned so that it also shows the key recommendations and their cost implications.

Towards the end of September 2011, the government announced that it was delaying its EPC changes yet again. At the time of writing, the commencement date for new EPC regulations has been pushed back to April 2012.

As it stands, many letting and estate agents still only choose to share the EPC graphs with their tenants. At Reside, we have always made full EPCs available on our website, and included the first page of the document on our property brochures. Click here to see an example of one of our EPCs.

Many thought that EPCs would be abolished when Home Information Packs were scrapped back in 2010. But, as EPCs are required by European law, it seems that they are here to stay – even if we do not know exactly what the government will do with them next.

January 24th, 2012 Tags: Landlord, News, Property // Add Comment »

The Prince’s Trust’s inaugral Evening of Art, a charity art auction held at Bath’s Assembly Rooms on 7th December 2011, proved a triumphant success.

More than £74,000 was raised on the night, far exceeding the Trust’s initial target of £50,000, with all of the proceeds going directly towards supporting disadvantaged young people in the South West.

As one of the event’s principal sponsors, the Reside team donned their glad-rags and, along with many other specially invited guests, bidded on pieces of art donated by a host of top artists such as Nick Park, Sir Peter Blake and Rob Ryan.

Michelle Moran, Head of Fundraising for The Prince’s Trust South West, said, “This income will make a huge difference to the lives of disadvantaged young people in the region, particularly at a time when youth unemployment is so high. We couldn’t have achieved this success and raised such a fantastic amount without the help of every individual and company involved.”

From us all here at Reside, many thanks and congratulations to Michelle, Beth and everyone at The Prince’s Trust for organising such an enjoyable event for a truly worthwhile cause.

January 9th, 2012 Tags: News // Add Comment »

In September 2010, the 54th Gordon Bennett International Gas Balloon Race ended in tragedy when Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis’ balloon was lost from Italian air traffic control over the international waters of the Adriatic Sea. A lengthy search was conducted for the two missing American crew members until, on 6th December 2010 their bodies were finally recovered from the Adriatic Sea by Italian fishermen.

In a competition where the sole objective is to travel as far as possible without landing, the British crew of David Hempleman-Adams, sponsored by Reside, and Simon Carey fared better than most. The pair covered 2008.90 kilometers in 82 hours 31 minutes, finishing third in the competition behind the Swiss and German teams. David and Simon’s balloon finally came to rest in a farmer’s field near Boljevac in Serbia; the map below shows their route and finishing position:

Click image for full size map

Upon landing, the farm was soon visited by the local policija, who had arrived investigating reports of a hot air balloon which had become entangled in a tree.

Belated congratulations to David, who has just skied to the south pole with his daughter, from us all at Reside.

December 21st, 2011 Tags: News // Add Comment »

The first Reside eNewsletter, packed with the latest lettings news locally and nationally, was yesterday sent out to Reside landlords, colleagues and contacts. The first edition included stories on Reside’s sponsorship of a local Prince’s Trust event, the estimated rise in home rentals over the coming years, and much more.

To view our first eNewsletter, please click here.

To subscribe to future eNewsletters, please click here.

November 24th, 2011 Tags: Landlord, News, Property, Tenants // Add Comment »

Reside are delighted to be one of five principal sponsors of The Prince’s Trust’s inaugural Evening of Art event at The Assembly Rooms, in Bath. The event, held on Wednesday 7^th December 2011, aims to raise a minimum of £50,000 by auctioning thirty outstanding pieces of art which have been generously donated by a host of prominent artists.

Artists contributing to the event include Sir Peter Blake, Ben Dearnley, Quentin Blake, HRH The Prince of Wales and many, many more. All money raised will go towards helping disadvantaged young people in the South West move into work, education or training.

For more details and information on how to bid on any of the items during or ahead of the event, please download the Evening of Art Auction Catalogue at the foot of this article, or click here to visit the Prince’s Trust website.

Also amongst the many works of art available for auction will be two watercolours by Nick Park, featuring these familiar faces:

Please click on the thumbnail below to view the events Auction Catalogue which shows all of the pieces of art available on the evening;

November 3rd, 2011 Tags: News // Add Comment »

Yesterday’s London Evening Standard had a great article about more and more city professionals making Bath their family home. Reside’s Tenants Alastair & Marianne Hogg were featured in the article along with Charlie Taylor of Knight Frank’s Bath office.

Click the image to view in full size.

Whilst the article itself primarily focuses on more Londoners purchasing in Bath, the small interview with our Tenants shows that many people choose to rent first in order to familiarise themselves with the area, with local schools and where they may wish to eventually buy. This is something that is happening more and more often, creating a greater demand in Bath for larger and higher end rental properties.

With London Paddington just an hour and 20 minutes from Bath Spa Station, more and more families are moving away from the city and into Bath. If you have a larger family home that you perhaps thought wouldn’t generate any interest on the rental market, now is a great time to take advantage of this current trend.

March 31st, 2011 Tags: Landlord, News, Property, Tenants // Add Comment »

Throughout 2010, Tenant demand was always outstripping the supply of properties coming into the rental marketplace, something that I blogged about at the time here. This had the effect of increasing rents throughout the UK, particularly in prominent cities in the south like London, Oxford, Exeter and Bath.

Rents have continued to increase in 2011 and Tenant demand is still very high, though there is now signs of more property coming to the rental market. ARLA’s (the Association of Residential Letting Agents)  survey of the Private Rented Sector, covering Q4 2010, was drawn from 554 member offices and concluded that demand for rental property will continue to outstrip supply for much of 2011 and into next year. You can read their report here. Similarly the  latest RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Residential Lettings Survey for November 2010 – January 2011 concluded that strong tenant demand and a falling supply of property, is increasing rents rapidly. RICS report can be read here.

With such reports from ARLA and RICS and continuing demand, Tenants across the UK are bracing themselves for more rent increases. According to research by leading property portal Rightmove, more than half of Britain’s tenants expect the cost of renting to increase during the next 12 months, while only four per cent predicted falling rates. The property website said that the UK’s rental sector was “creaking under the strain” of increased demand, with almost 60 per cent of tenants eager to buy a home but financially unable to do so. Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, commented: “Letting agents in many areas are reporting an insatiable demand, with prospective tenants coming from all backgrounds and requiring all types of property.

Tenant demand and increasing rent is very evident in Bath, particularly in the larger and more expensive properties that perhaps would not have come to the rental market only a few years ago. Reside recently let a beautiful and substantial three bedroom Georgian Townhouse on Lyncombe Hill for £3000 pcm after just a day on the market. Just outside of Bath we recently let Park House Farm, a large Grade II listed former farmhouse believed to date back to late 17th/early 18th Century for £2750 pcm and on Bathwick Hill, Reside achieved a rent of £2700 pcm for a detached modern home on St. Catherines Close.

It is not just the larger properties that are seeing an increase in rents, one and two bedroom apartments are the most in demand properties in the rental market in Bath and have also seen a dramatic increase. Reside recently achieved £695 pcm for a very small top floor apartment located on Princes Street in Bath city centre, £950 pcm for a beautiful one bedroom apartment on Henrietta Street and £1400 pcm for a contemporary two bedroom  apartment on Catharine Place.

According to new research recently carried out by Lloyds TSB, house prices in spa towns across England and Wales are on average £38,000 or 16%, above their local averages. Properties in Bath cost on average 42% more than in neighbouring south-west towns. This coupled with Tenant demand means rents will continue to increase in Bath for the foreseeable future. Landlords – Now couldn’t be a better time to rent out your property.

March 14th, 2011 Tags: Landlord, News, Property, Tenants // Add Comment »

Local adventurer David Hempleman-Adams is currently sat in a small basket with his co-pilot, Simon Carey, travelling at a rate of 30 knots above Rome. Team GBR3 are 1 of only 6 teams left flying in the 2010 Gordon Bennett Balloon Race. You can track their progress by clicking here.

As one of David Hempleman-Adams sponsors, Reside were invited to the launch of the race from a small farm located to the North West of Bristol. It was a beautiful Saturday evening but the winds were just a little too strong and ended up delaying the start of the race by 7 hours. Having won the race 2 years ago, but beaten last year by the French, David made it very clear in his pre-start speech that he wanted to convincingly win this time around!

Good luck David and Simon, we will be following you all the way and wishing you the very best. We can’t wait to hear of your travels once you get back, winners of the Gordon Bennett 2010 Race!

For more photos of David, the Balloon and the start of the race, visit Reside’s Facebook Page;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bath-United-Kingdom/Reside-Bath/325940467419.

September 28th, 2010 Tags: News // Add Comment »

There’s no avoiding it, Apple’s iPhone is an incredibly popular multimedia gadget and a lot of people are now the proud owners of one. All of the major property portals now have iPhone and iPad applications available to download for free, which are all meant to aid in the search for that perfect property, but just how useful are they?

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:

September 2nd, 2010 Tags: News // Add Comment »

Demand for residential rental properties is increasing rapidly through much of the UK, particularly in prominent cities in The South such as London, Oxford and Bath.

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!

May 4th, 2010 Tags: Landlord, News, Property, Tenants // Add Comment »