Landlords' Relationdship Manager

Kate Fisher has recently joined to our lettings team specifically to enhance the service we can provide to Landlords and investors like yourself.

Kate will be your contact if you are looking to make any changes to your property portfolio.

Any day to day property questions will be handled in the usual way by our office teams.

If you’d like to set up an initial meeting with Kate, you can contact her on 01788 564743

Are you on LinkedIn, you can connect with Kate here.

Kate is also on hand to open up any of our other Howkins & Harrison services to you:

Residential Lettings

Our team of ALRA regulated lettings agents register more than 6,000 prospective tenants each year, administer over 2,500 tenancies on behalf of private individuals and corporate landlords and let about 650 properties a year. 

Residential Property Sales 

Our residential sales team specialise in selling town and country properties from started homes to manor houses.  We have 7 high street sales offices located in Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, along with a London office. All of which gives us great exposure with local buyers and investors as well as investors and  commuters from further afield.

Rural & Agriculture

We have a dedicated team who specialise in rural, agricultural and development properties such as farms, building plots and land. They also work with planning applications, compulsory purchases and estate management on behalf of clients.

Planning & Development

Our team of Chartered Planners can provide you with an effective planning consultancy service, using their many years of experience working with and alongside local authorities in the Midlands.  As well as planning applications, they also work on planning appeals, development plans and enforcement cases.

Auctions

We host property and agricultural auctions across the Midlands, covering a wide range of lots; rural and urban properties, farms, land, machinery, farm equipment and livestock.  We regularly have cows, pig troughs and tractors to be bid on. All our auctions are managed by experienced and qualified professionals, and we design and produce quality sales brochures to support our highly publicised sales.

Investments and Portfolio

Kate’s role is all about making your property goals easier for you to achieve. She will be able to save you time and effort and act as a ‘one stop shop’ for buying, selling, investing, growing or managing your portfolio.

Selling:

If you’re thinking of selling a property Kate can arrange for our residential sales team to carry out a valuation and she can help guide you through our sales service.

Buying:

If you’re looking  to invest in an additional property, have a chat with Kate about what you are looking for; area, size, value, rental income etc. She will be able to search our available sale properties for you, saving you time and effort. Plus, if we don’t have the right type of property immediately available, she will be able to let you know in advance of new instructions coming on to the market.

Development and new home sites

We are lucky to have other departments within Howkins & Harrison working with landowners and planning approvers. She will be able to let you know of any sites coming to the market that may be of interest to you. Also, if you are looking to invest in a brand new property, we have great links with the local house building sites and Kate can get you in front of the right people early on.

Managing your service levels:

Whether you have opted for our ‘full management’, our ’let only’ or our ‘let with rent collection’ service, Kate can help guide you through the service levels and what to expect from each of them. Plus, she can help you make any changes or even trial different service levels.

The primary aim of our enhanced landlords service, is to make it easier for you to manage your property goals.

If you’d like to set up an initial meeting with Kate, you can contact her on 01788 564743

You obviously know that we provide a landlords lettings service at Howkins & Harrison. But do you know about our different lettings service levels and the other areas we can support you with?

Residential Lettings

Our team of ALRA regulated lettings agents register more than 6,000 prospective tenants each year, administer over 2,500 tenancies on behalf of private individuals and corporate landlords, and let about 650 properties a year. We will keep you informed about any changes in housing legislation and we make sure all our Tenancy Agreements are kept up to date so you don’t have to.

Residential lettings service levels:

• Full Managed Service – Our Landlords are in safe hands will this full service package. It covers every aspect of letting a property; rental valuations and reviews, property advertising and marketing, tenant vetting, tenant referrals, tenancy agreements, deposit handling, rent collection, property maintenance and management of work, full inventory checks.
• Letting Only Service – If you are happy to manage your property and your tenant, we can value and market your let, conduct the tenant vetting, tenant referrals, tenancy agreements, and deposit handling. Then you manage everything from there on.
• Letting Only with Rent Collection Service – This is the same as our Let Only Service, with the addition of us collecting the tenants rent on a monthly basis on your behalf.

At any time you can upgrade your service level, Kate Fisher, our Landlords Relationship Manager, will be able to help and advise you on this.

Residential Property Sales 

Our residential sales team specialise in selling town and country properties from started homes to manor houses.  We have 7 high street sales offices located in Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, along with a London office. All of which gives us great exposure with local buyers and investors as well as investors and  commuters from further afield.

Rural, Professional and Commercial Services

We have a dedicated team who specialise in rural, agricultural and development properties such as farms, building plots and land. They also work with planning applications, compulsory purchases and estate management on behalf of clients. We can also value, sell or let your commercial or agricultural premises or land.

Planning & Development

Our team of Chartered Planners can provide you with an effective planning consultancy service, using their many years of experience working with and alongside local authorities in the Midlands.  As well as planning applications, they also work on planning appeals, development plans and enforcement cases.

Auctions

We host property and agricultural auctions across the Midlands, covering a wide range of lots; rural and urban properties, farms, land, machinery, farm equipment and livestock.  We regularly have cows, pig troughs and tractors to be bid on. All our auctions are managed by experienced and qualified professionals, and we design and produce quality sales brochures to support our highly publicised sales.

We have a long-established and trusted network of landowners, developers and investors, as well as strong partnerships with legal and financial professionals. With our experienced team, we are in a perfect position to help you achieve your property goals.

Residential sales

Our residential sales team specialise in selling town and country properties from started homes to manor houses.  We have 7 high street sales offices located in Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, along with a London office. All of which gives us great exposure with local buyers and investors as well as investors and  commuters from further afield.

We offer a free, no obligation property valuation service.

As soon as you instruct us to market your property, we produce a quality sales brochure, using professional photography. We can also offer property videos using drones and all the latest technology.

We work with our homeowners to achieve the best possible price for their property. And once a sale has been agreed, we will support the seller and buyer right up to the point of exchange of contracts.

Our teams have strong links with local mortgage advisors, solicitors and removal companies.  So we can always recommend professionals who will work with your best interests in mind.

We are also to arrange a fully qualified energy assessor to produce your property Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) - which is a standard requirement when selling a property. 

Something that sets us apart from other agents, are the full range of services we can offer under one roof at Howkins & Harrison:

• Property auctions,
• Planning support and advice, 
• Lettings

We’d be delighted to talk to you about your property options with Howkins & Harrison.

At Howkins & Harrison, we are delighted to be able offer Rent Protection Insurance Cover to some of our Managed Tenancies from as little as £9.00 per month.

This is an exclusive offer in conjunction with Stuart & Co Insurance Consultants.

What is Rent Protection Insurance Cover?

It is a peace of mind cover so you are not left out of pocket if unexpected issues arise from your tenant. It protects you for rent default, legal fees, damage caused by your tenant and gives you access to a 24/7 legal advice line.

What is included in the policy?

If your tenant defaults on their rent, you will be covered for the monthly rental income for up to £2,500 per monthly - to a maximum of £25,000. This gives you security and peace of mind that you will not be out of pocket. Also, if you suffer any other unexpected issues with the tenant in your property, this policy will also protect you. This could be for things like:

• Tenant ignores notice to quit
• Tenant defaults on rent
• Tenant causes damages to property
• Disputes with repairs and renovations to the property
• This policy will also cover you for up to £100,000 worth of legal fees in the event that:
• Possession of the property needs to be gained
• There is a nuisance issue emanating from the property
• Repairs and renovation issues relating to the property need to be pursued or defended
• Damages to the property are caused by the tenant - we will look to pursue for the costs of that damage
• Rent owing is not paid - the policy will pay up to £2,500 per month up to a maximum of £25,000 in the event that the tenant does not pay the rent (This is subject to the tenant being credit referenced)
• As well as Tax protection.

You will also have unlimited access to 24/7 365 days a year legal advice from our qualified specialist. And, you will also receive the benefit of access to online documents for Health and Safety Legislation and HR documents.

Who can take outRent Protection Insurance Cover?

There are some conditions that a landlord has to meet to be able to take out this policy. We will be able to advise you if you are eligible.

Special conditions for disputes and recovery claims

For property legal disputes and rent recovery claims, we will only be able to cover your claim if you have correctly issued and served the appropriate statutory and contractual notices on the tenant:

• Section 8 Housing Act 1988 - Possession Notice
• Section 21 Housing Act 1988 - Notice to Quit

Our advice line is available should you need any assistance with these processes and getting them right.

What is the policy excess?

It depends on what you are claiming for:

• Eviction - £0
• Rent protection - £500 or one month's rent, whichever is the greater
• £1,000 if an alternative appointed representative is used

How do you apply?

If you are interested in this policy or would like to chat through if you are eligible, please contact Kate Fisher on xxxxx.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ recent figures suggest that the UK faces a shortfall of 1.8 million rental properties and has suggested that Theresa May needs to “get out the hard hat”

This is a worrying trend as “86% of landlords say they have no plans to increase rental portfolios this year” which has led calls for Theresa May to abandon her party’s focus on home ownership, established under her predecessor David Cameron.

The RICS has called for the Government to support larger scale build-to-rent schemes, with investment from large pension and insurance firms, rather than encouraging individual landlords. They have also suggested the reversal of April’s Stamp duty changes to address the short term supply issues.

The Government is determined to make sure they are still seen as the party of house building, with a new Home Building Fund to help drive 25,000 more homes in the short term and 200,000 longer term. This will enable buyers to buy a plot of land from small or medium sized builders or build a home they have designed.

It makes sense to see landlords as a solution to the housing crisis, rather than a cause of the problem, which is often how they are portrayed.

Encouraging landlords to build rather than buy an existing home to rent can only be see as a good thing.

The Residential Landlords Association estimate that private landlords added “60% of all new housing units between 1986 and 2012” Landlords also often take on stock in poor condition or in unpopular areas, and restore them into attractive homes, particularly in town centres where large properties are converted into desirable smaller units.

Encouraging landlords to create new homes could go a long way to helping solve the nation’s current housing crisis.

If you are interested in building or converting a new property, get in touch with our lettings or planning team and we will be delighted to assist you.  Contact Kate Fisher on 01788 564743