x

dale james

2911 Profile Views

About Me

my expertise in the industry

dale's Recent Activity

Flawed climate crisis net zero agenda now hitting property values and saleability. More to come..... stranded assets likely

From: dale james 19 September 2023 07:28 AM

Flawed climate crisis net zero agenda now hitting property values and saleability. More to come..... stranded assets likely

From: dale james 19 September 2023 07:28 AM

Interesting piece but I reckon the green sensibilities of the tenant would be willingly swapped for lower rent.

From: dale james 07 July 2023 08:37 AM

Carbon neutral by 2030? Does that mean no staff, we are carbon they want to get rid of

From: dale james 02 June 2023 08:00 AM

Time would be better spent assessing the science behind climate change before before jumping on that agenda

From: dale james 23 March 2023 07:09 AM

Mediation is a good idea if started BEFORE court and AFtER notices. There has to be incentives for both sides, landlords to avoid court costs and tenants to avoid court, ccjs and embarrassment of bailiff eviction. Even then sometimes it will not work.

From: dale james 07 March 2023 07:57 AM

Generally a fair idea. Then their finance for accommodation can cease if they are staying at home. It may mean a recalculation for their maintenance grants

From: dale james 27 August 2020 10:46 AM

It is a huge worry in Wales. I remember pre 1988 and as you say, no PRS to talk about at the time.

From: dale james 07 August 2020 19:04 PM

It certainly adds a lot more complexity than most landlords and many agents will be happy with. The playing field will have changed in Wales, there is a way of turning to advantage but most people do not want to put in the necessary work and may turn to other forms of investment. Rents may rise but Government will turn to Rent Controls.

From: dale james 07 August 2020 18:47 PM

Most people don't realise that next year in Wales the Housing Act 1988 will be no more! It's being replaced by the Renting Homes Wales Act and hence there will be no more Assured Shorthold Tenancies .... there will be Occupation Contracts.

From: dale james 07 August 2020 18:23 PM

Don't forget that when the Renting Homes Wales 2016 Act is enforced in the Spring the new version of Section 21 WILL be 6 Months anyway!

From: dale james 07 August 2020 18:01 PM

Kind of missed the point! His agency is actively managing the tenancy when engaging with the tenants on the landlords behalf, this is not saying to the tenants to not pay the rent but letting them know that rent is still due and they must engage in the process of managing their debts. Rather than putting your head in the sand until tenants stop paying - get ahead of the game. It's my experience so far that the tenants that take advantage of the situation are the same ones that gave landlords troubles in the past! ie landlords and agents should have taken action before this pandemic or better still not rented to them in the first place as a result of better vetting. Do landlords want an agent that 'lets sleeping dogs lie' or actively engaging before there is a bigger problem?

From: dale james 05 August 2020 09:21 AM

It certainly seems Government no longer wants the smaller landlord. Media are demonising landlords at every opportunity; I have presented to around 5,000 landlords in the last 6 years and most are just trying to provide themselves a pension or are 'accidental' landlords. Most are unable to keep up with the waves of legislation that spew out of the politicians who do not know enough about the subject of lettings to even have an opinion on the subject unfortunately. I think only 3 of the delegates I have encountered were 'intentional' rogues! In short, it is very difficult to continue as a private landlord these days and we need some good old fashioned common sense from Government ..... in the absence of that, we have to work best with what we have. Here lies the opportunity for Letting Agents to step up to the mark ......

From: dale james 05 August 2020 08:17 AM

Well said! I wish everyone the very best .... it's getting tough out there I know!

From: dale james 04 August 2020 16:47 PM

Yes, I did say that we have a Fiduciary Duty to the landlords as well as contractual. I did not say we had a Fiduciary Duty to the tenants. However, in law we have a Duty of Care to landlords, tenants, contractors ... even neighbours ie., everyone! The collection of rent etc is in all our Terms of Business and of course it is a priority. A bigger priority is for landlords to present their product (the property) in good and 'lettable' condition, at a market rent, to fully vetted tenants and tie them to a carefully set up Tenancy Agreement. Even before the Tenant Fee Ban we did not have a contractual agreement with the tenant (and therefore the tenants were never our clients) and whilst it was economically very good to charge both sides it has always been a bit dubious under the Law of Contract! We had it too good for too long and now we have to grow up and evolve the business model.

From: dale james 04 August 2020 15:56 PM

OK So you are not going to like this! Mr Alexander's comment is coming from knowing the 'direction of travel' in the lettings business after working under a National Government Licensing Scheme for many years. I have been in the same situation in Wales for 6 years now and totally understand his viewpoint. We have had to evolve and change, even change our core philosophy of what we do. Of course Agents have a Fiduciary Duty to their landlords under contract but there is also a Duty of Care to the tenants. As agents we are employed not only to do the usual risk management for the landlords, advertising etc but to supply a good level of Customer Service to the landlords customers - his tenants. It is a huge responsibility for us anyway but you have to admit that most agents' customer services lurch between Wall St 'Greed is good' and Fawlty Towers! in the eyes of tenants. Working the figures out from Mr Alexander I see that he only has issues to be resolved with 7% of his tenancies, the national average is apparently 20% of tenants in arrears, so he is doing rather well. There is a change coming and we must be ready to grasp it and evolve as a business, this may mean that our choice of tenant has to be better from the start and that we treat those tenants better to encourage a loyalty to our services.

From: dale james 04 August 2020 14:28 PM

Lets start back anew! We can either continue the usual 'pity party' blaming the Government, tenants and landlords, not to mention the coming recession, or we can embrace the fact that most of us got it wrong in the past. Let's provide the customer service consumers demand from other businesses, lets change the whole philosophy of property letting, if we don't, the 'new market' will make our outdated systems obsolete.

From: dale james 28 July 2020 09:34 AM

Ambulance chasers charter!

From: dale james 11 June 2020 09:18 AM

Great news! My mum and dad have put their house on the market so that I CAN SEE THEM IN THEIR HOUSE AT THE SAME TIME!

From: dale james 13 May 2020 09:31 AM

Great, ten viewings booked in currently let properties with prospects coming hundreds of miles and an open house at the end of the day before I try to MEET EITHER MY MUM OR DAD IN A FIELD! But I've made my own mask out of an old pair of underpants and some bog roll!

From: dale james 13 May 2020 08:56 AM

Surely yields are based on returns against value? Who can say what the current 'value' of property is and will be? We are hoping that there will be no drop in value but are we kidding ourselves?

From: dale james 11 May 2020 08:33 AM

Another example of the difference between knowledge and wisdom I'm afraid.

From: dale james 07 May 2020 11:05 AM

He's always been anti capitalist! Don't where to start with the guy except that my father always used to say to me 'not everyone has the right to an opinion, you should make sure that you research your subject to make sure you have all the information to form that opinion'.

From: dale james 07 May 2020 08:10 AM

It has to be deferral, also do we tell the tenants that, as our subsequent mortgage payments will increase their rent will too? (Please be aware that any officially agreed deferred rent is not 'legally due' and will not count towards S8 arrears calculation) - to quote Hill Street Blues ...let's be careful out there!

From: dale james 29 April 2020 08:48 AM

Lets get Labour's definition of 'Due to Coronavirus' first eh?

From: dale james 29 April 2020 08:35 AM

With great regret, I agree that this 'all in it together' will quickly vanish when we are out the other side. Litigation will increase which will also clog up the pent up delays through the Courts. Where possible get ahead of the game with your tenants and landlords now and take advantage of the chance to re set relationships and business arrangements

From: dale james 29 April 2020 08:31 AM

It'll be very disappointing when the valuation comes through 'right at the end' if valuers assess the crisis as devaluing property and I can't think of an economic crisis that didn't result in property value drop of significant proportions. It will be lovely to think the property values will not be affected negatively by this crisis but with huge unemployment, debt, government debt and tenant arrears can we feel any confidence? Happy news anyone please?

From: dale james 28 April 2020 08:54 AM

I agree with SCN and some associates of mine are claiming that the Coronavirus Act made it impossible to let.

From: dale james 27 April 2020 11:27 AM

Well I have been speaking with my colleagues about this and surely the Council Tax Exemption 'G' already in place is a possibility? It states that when a law is passed which makes it impossible to tenant a property! Worth a try?

From: dale james 27 April 2020 09:56 AM

Am I the only one who is tired of statistics these days. It is obvious to me that the lettings market will achieve previous levels quicker than sales as sales has a longer lag time to filter through. Although, while there will be tenant demand I am seeing signs that its the final straw for some landlords and agents after Tenant fee ban and Section 24 tax etc.

From: dale james 27 April 2020 09:46 AM

Crikey! No need for furloughs there then!

From: dale james 24 April 2020 08:29 AM

Ask the experts first, Training for Professionals already have saved me from one big mistake with a tenancy re deferred rent!

From: dale james 28 March 2020 07:59 AM

Also wording of any deferred payment schedules must be correct as deferred rent may not be 'legally due' causing issues with Ground 8 possessions if later required.

From: dale james 28 March 2020 07:56 AM

Let's not encourage Government to think about rent controls to stop rents rising!

From: dale james 09 September 2019 06:59 AM

So when it all gets too much and rents are rising, supply down the Government will bring in Rent Controls! Capped Housing Benefits! Security of tenure!

From: dale james 05 July 2019 08:22 AM

The Tenant fee ban legislation, Clause 24 tax, loss of Lettings Relief, portfolio lending restrictions and general government meddling in an area they have under researched and over politicised will, without doubt, move private landlords out of the business. If only they spent as much time as many MP's do on their Tax avoidance and 'loophole' property purchases!

From: dale james 11 December 2018 08:10 AM

Has anyone read 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand? A novel written in the 50's about government meddling in business ........

From: dale james 05 December 2018 08:28 AM

very interesting how their no fees business model looks like high fees to landlords because of no tenant fees. They are not going to get the cashflow to survive as they will quickly learn the meaning of 'arrears' and 'void'! Not to mention the conflict of interest they will leave themselves open to with their landlords. But at least they see the prs as still an attractive business!

From: dale james 05 January 2018 08:44 AM

Breaking News