Do we need more house shares for under-35s?
Property blogger Lea Beven on the changes to the housing benefit rules, what happens when former tenants don't pay their bills and a certain award for Limecastle.
As the housing benefit rules change and single people under 35 will be forced to live in shared accommodation if they are claiming , we find ourselves needing more rooms available writes property blogger Lea Beven.
These new rules mean that the HMO (Houses of Multiple Occupation) market could become a burgeoning area for property investors.
So if you were looking for a dead cert on your property, aim for something a little larger than normal - having four rooms available to let is usually enough to be profitable.
If you put in a few en-suite bathrooms and a good shared kitchen, then you'll have the makings of a good HMO.
As for the prospective tenants, who may need to look for a shared property, this can all seem quite confusing.
If you're wondering whether you would be eligible, you can check to see whether you can receive housing benefit - just type in your postcode and it will take you to your local council website.
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In other news, Limecastle have had a more-than eventful week with electricity.
We have had several properties where tenants have moved out leaving large utility bills.
Some of these properties are now professional house shares and the tenants have been worried sick that they are about to be cut off.
We have managed to sort these out, but it can be difficult when you yourself are not the account holder.
One property that we are trying to let has a key pre-pay meter, so we paid to put £2 worth of electricity in so that we could do a series of viewings in the evening, only to see that a massive £29 debt was already on the meter.
So our £2 was just swallowed up and we still couldn't turn the lights on!
We had to contact the electric company to try to get the meter reset and are still battling to do so. No night-time viewings at this property...
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Finally, if I may make a brief announcement - Limecastle recently won Letting Agent of the year for the Midlands. We're all very proud.
