“Buy-to-let is about buying well. For Imagine Homes, it is a question of picking our developments carefully. Imagine Homes only select new-build properties for their high rental yields and capital growth potential.

“The UK property market will continue to fluctuate, however, the majority of people are interested in investing in buy-to-let properties for the medium to long term, and we will continue to provide a sound investment option for those who want to spread risk.”

Imagine Homes will furnish the property, find the tenant, manage the property and guarantee the customer a unique rental income of 7.5% of the purchase price per year for two years. ®Å½

G:res grows

Following the successful conclusion to the capital-raising earlier this year, G:res, the UK’s largest market-rented residential investment fund advised by Grainger plc, confirmed today that it has made a strategic acquisition with the purchase of a residential portfolio in Martlesham Ipswich, Suffolk.

The portfolio was acquired in an off-market transaction from RYSA, an investment syndicate, for £6.25m. The portfolio comprises 69 flats contained within three separate, freehold buildings that together produce a current rent roll of £354,000 per annum.

G:res has over 2,000 units, 90 per cent of which are in London and the South East with an investment value of around £440m. Rupert Dickinson, chief executive of Grainger plc, said: “We are positive about long-term prospects of G:res. The Fund is performing well and we feel the quality location and nature of the assets provide robustness in an uncertain market.” ®Å½

New instructionfor KFH

The estate management division of leading London estate agent, Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, has been appointed to manage 21 new blocks in London the last month alone, increasing the division’s portfolio to more than 130 blocks across the capital.

These new instructions follow the division’s recent expansion move into new premises in Wimbledon to house its growing team.

Richard Benson, director of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward’s Estate Management division, comments: “2007 has been a very exciting year for the division and we are delighted at having been instructed to manage these 21 new blocks, all of which came to us through client recommendations.

“Our recent move into new premises has meant that we have also been able to expand our professional team of property managers while offering our clients the same personal level
of service.”®Å½

Don’t DIY!

Homebuyers are being duped into buying property with bad renovations and falling prey to quick sale botch jobs by unscrupulous sellers, according to new research from home insurance company Zurich.

During the past five years, four million buyers have moved into a property and found it not in the condition they had expected, with more than half (53 per cent) of these saying sellers had concealed damage through makeshift DIY, so that the sale went through.

In the same period, more than five and a half million home sellers have undertaken DIY in order to prepare their property for sale, but a third (32 per cent) of these admit their home repairs were a bid to cover up and hide damage to their property.

Steve Gilbert, home underwriting manager at Zurich insurance comments: “We would encourage people to let their insurer know if they’re undertaking any renovations, making structural changes to their property or undertaking electrical work. That is so they understand precisely what may or may not be covered under their existing policy, or to make changes so they can be sure they are fully covered.” ®Å½

Making waves

28 per cent of residential and commercial property claims are the result of water escape, according to statistics for January to September issued by Locktons. Storms have also proved a problem area, accounting for 23 per cent of circumstances and claims.

Claims resulting from instances of fire are down nearly 70 per cent from the level in 2006 (69 per cent) – accounting for 21 per cent of claims so far this year.

Steve Bracey, managing director, Locktons, says: “There has been a marked increase in the number of water escape claims – with the statistics for 2007 already at 28 per cent – up from 16 per cent last year. These figures highlight that this danger is not just a problem for the construction industry.

“Residential and commercial property landlords would be advised to take notice of these results. For every piping and plumbing problem there is a potentially expensive claim. These all add up, so taking time and care to ensure that your house is in order is an extremely prudent option.” ®Å½

ALEP opens its doors

The Association for Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) held its first annual conference early in November in central London.

The event was attended by more than 50 delegates and included a presentation on “The balance of power in enfranchisement – where is it and should it shift in favour of the leaseholder” by Chris Sykes of Sykes Anderson LLP. The second presentation, and the highlight of the event was a talk by Andrew Pridell of Andrew Pridell Associates on “The relevance of LVT determinations.”

The second half of the conference involved two syndicate sessions, one focussed on ALEP’s role in standards for leasehold enfranchisement. The second break-out session considered the extent that LVT determinations should and do influence leasehold enfranchisements.

Commenting on the inaugural conference, ALEP’s honorary secretary Alex Greenslade said: “The event went to prove that an association based on people united by the common needs of our shared customer group of flat owners involved in leasehold enfranchisement is long overdue.

“Suggestions from the day, such as lobbying the Leasehold Advisory Service to revise their list of enfranchisement professionals, are already being implemented. We know that as the number of members grows above 100 we will be an increasingly powerful voice for our sector,” he added.®Å½

HMOs out, FMOs in

Westminster City Council (WCC) has made a U-turn on their policy of registering Houses in Multiple Occupation, says Fiona Brook of Moretons Property Specialists. It has confirmed this scheme will no longer be going ahead. This only affected those people in converted blocks and was aimed at protecting “vulnerable people in the private rented sector by raising standards of accommodation”.

However, there is still work to be done as WCC is now concentrating on FMOs or Flats in Multiple Occupation. This means that all flats that are sub-let to at least three separate tenants will have to be licensed. This will mean landlords will need to confirm how many bedrooms they have and who they are renting to®Å½