New Year Resolution
29/January/2015/
For the uninitiated, commercial property is a steep learning curve. For the inexperienced landlord, commercial property is like a minefield, full of pitfalls for the unwary. Whereas residential property is a political hot potato, commercial property is … For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
Investment Strategy
15/January/2015/
It is said that if you want to travel from where you are now to where you want to go then you need a map… For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
Inflation (RPI) and Rent
11/January/2015/
With commercial property, rent reviews are generally to the open market rent, but sometimes the rent would be adjusted to the Retail Price Index (RPI). For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
Commercial Property Insurance - Part 2
23/December/2014/
Whether lawyer or surveyor, we professional advisers to landlords and tenants have a dual-role in the field of business tenancies: to help clients to abide by and comply with the law, and where the client has not sought our advice beforehand to find legitimate ways to wriggle out of liabilities and responsibilities. For further reading please visit LandlordZone.
Commercial Property Insurance - Part 1
10/December/2014/
Amongst the thorny issues in the relationship between landlord and tenant is the building insurance premium. For further reading please visit LandlordZone.
Expectation for Commercial Property Growth
27/November/2014/
Unlike residential property, the factors that determine prospects for commercial property growth are much more dependent upon specific tenant demand, rather than demand and supply generally. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 30 - click here
Commercial Property and Free Advice
05/November/2014/
The recent ruling on why landlords cannot rely upon general advice from HMRC is a timely reminder of the perils of free advice generally. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone, click here.
Appraising High Streets
24/October/2014/
My work takes me travelling all over England and Wales so, apart from work for regular clients, I never know in advance where each new instruction might be. Long-distance travelling is not as demanding when… For further reading, please visit LandlordZone - click here
Commercial Propery Pension Plan
23/October/2014/
The object of a pension is to provide an income during retirement. A pension is an accumulation of money that has been saved over the years. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 29 - click here
Rent Review Increase
09/October/2014/
On grant of leases, there are two types of landlord. The landlord for whom the property has always been an investment, and the landlord that previously occupied the property for his own business but is selling up and simultaneously granting a new lease of the property to the buyer. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone.
(Please note: this article is an abbreviated version of "Open Market Rent Review".)
(Please note: this article is an abbreviated version of "Open Market Rent Review".)
Supermarkets at War
29/September/2014/
The Tesco bookkeeping announcement on 22 September 2014 is a useful reminder of what can happen when a retailer becomes so big that the cost of keeping up appearances might lead to all manner of shenanigans. For further reading, please visit newsletter 28 on LandlordZone
Is most commercial property ex-growth?
25/September/2014/
Successful investment in commercial property is all about art and timing. The art, which might be described as judicious choice, is the skill needed to discern whether the particular property is likely to continually head in the same direction as the market. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone.
Guarantor or Rent deposit
01/September/2014/
The ideal for any landlord is for the tenant to have a guarantor and provide a rent deposit. But which is better when the landlord has to choose? For further reading, please visit LandorrdZone
Everyone's an Expert in Property
28/August/2014/
Amongst the subjects in which everyone thinks themselves an expert are politics, sport, psychology, marketing, and property. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 27 - click here
Summertime Blues
11/August/2014/
Seen through London eyes, much of the property throughout the rest of Britain is relatively inexpensive, cheap even. Anthropocentric perhaps but, to an extent, London has every right to think itself the most significant. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone.
Auction and Guide Prices
01/August/2014/
In July 2014, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint brought against Auction House Ltd (“AH”) whereby the complainant argued that several properties sold at auction by AH had had reserve prices higher than the guide prices and so could not have been bought at the guide price. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
“Where are the customers’ yachts?”
31/July/2014/
For most people, a state pension is quite possibly the opposite of what they’ve experienced throughout most if not the whole of their working life, presupposing an employee and not running their own business. A pension is other people paying you. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone.
Froth and Reassurance
15/July/2014/
Now that the property market has steamed ahead for quite some time, in many cases prices up to pre-2008 crash levels, the pundits are now telling us that everything in the garden is rosy and we shouldn’t be concerned. Talk of good value for money and why prices should continue to rise, any flaws in their reasoning explained away, is, at least in my opinion, rather worrying. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
s25 and s26 notices - The landlord's perspective
03/July/2014/
… you can find out about section 25 and section 26 notices respectively in more general terms, but here I talk about some of the ways the 1954 Act notices and procedures may be used tactically by landlords… For further reading please visit LandlordZone
Are banks a safe bet?
26/June/2014/
Not that long ago, one of the best ways to invest in a bank was through stocks and shares. As well as a slice of the action, you became a part-owner of… For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
What's in a word?
16/June/2014/
As I say on my website, ”anyone can read a lease, but knowing what to look for is what really counts”. Words have meanings, but words attract positive and negative connotations so… For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
How to Appraise a Shop Investment
02/June/2014/
The short answer to how to appraise a shop investment is that everything about the proposition is reflected in the level of Zone A rent. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
A Refreshing Change
29/May/2014/
Becoming, being a landlord will change you. In the driving seat, no longer a passenger, will shift you into a different state of mind. Investment does that to people: the feeling that others are paying you is …For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 24 - click here
"Upward only" rent review
12/May/2014/
Contrary to popular belief, ‘upward-only’ rent review does not mean the rent must increase. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone
Safety in Numbers
02/May/2014/
Physically outwardly people are different and different nationalities each have their own cultures but, other than gender, human beings are basically inwardly the same. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone - click here
Sentiment v Technicalities
23/April/2014/
With commercial property rent review and lease renewal when practical help from a surveyor is sought, as distinct from seeking advice, there are two types of client: …For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 23 - click here
Location, location, location
12/April/2014/
Investment performance despite any resistance by the tenant. Why would the tenant resist? …For further reading, please visit LandlordZone - click here
April Fool or Successful Investor
01/April/2014/
Successful investment is about judicious choice and timing: what to buy, how much to pay, how to manage, when and how to sell…for further reading, please visit LandlordZone - click here
Investment Psychology
27/March/2014/
Psychology occupies the middle-ground between who you are and who you want to become, and all that that entails. To become something you have to invest. Investment is about becoming better off than you are now. How long it takes to become better off depends upon a combination of two factors: the practical and the psychological. … For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 22 - click here
Chasing Rainbows
20/February/2014/
Unlike investing in stocks and shares where the volatility of share prices and uncertainty of dividends can lead to long term buy and lose, investment in property offers two advantages: … For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 21 - click here
Asset Strippers
21/November/2013/
Investment in shop property is very rewarding provided you know what you are doing. Many private investors, particularly novices, do not understand how to go about it. Instead of formulating and sticking to a clearly defined strategy, most investors have a scatter–gun approach, alighting upon anything that takes the fancy within their price range. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 18 - click here
Without Prejudice
24/October/2013/
Last year someone on LandlordZONE Forum’s commercial property board was asking about breach of warranty of authority, and suggesting the landlord’s surveyor might be pulling a fast one. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 17 - click here
Changing Market and Varying a Lease
26/September/2013/
The definition of ‘lease‘ is "the grant of a right to the exclusive possession of land for a determinate term less than that which the grantor has himself in the land". In practice, a lease is …for further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 16 - click here
Inexperience and business tenancies
29/August/2013/
Tackling a business tenancy matter is full of pitfalls for the unwary… For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 15 - click here
On-site Parking
31/July/2013/
For corporate image there is something to be said for the appeal of former residential dwellings when located in main-road positions. One attraction is the likelihood of off-street parking where the front garden provides a forecourt for on-site car parking. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 14 - click here
Mixed User Buildings and Service Charges
25/June/2013/
When a building comprises ground floor commercial premises let on a business tenancy, and upper part residential flat sold on a long lease, there are two ways for the landlord to recover the costs and expenses incurred by the landlord… for further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 13 - click here
Shop Investment
29/May/2013/
I have resisted commenting on the Portas review of the ‘High Street’ and ensuing media and industry reports, because …for further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 12 - click here
SIPP and Commercial Property
26/March/2013/
Growing numbers of retirement savers with self–invested pension plans (SIPP) are building up their pension pots by putting money into commercial property; it is suggested buying your own premises to form part of your pension is probably a good move. But is it really? For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 10 - click here
Danger in leaving drafting to lawyers
21/February/2013/
When a lease is granted, the onus is on the landlord to draft the wording and the tenant to approve. When the lease contains a rent review, with the rent to be reviewed to the market rent, as distinct from a formula such as index–linked, the lease will incorporate a ’second’ lease known as the “hypothetical lease”. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 9 - click here
Letting a Tenant off the Hook
23/January/2013/
With a business tenancy, agreeing the documentation is rarely straightforward at the best of times…For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 8 - click here
Rent Review in the Prevailing Climate
22/November/2012/
Investment is about becoming financially better off. Investing in commercial property can be rewarding provided you know what you’re doing, otherwise risky. For further reading, please visit LandlordZone newsletter issue 6 - click here