2015

Lessons learnt…

It has been a week that has had something in the news to appeal to every demographic and sensibility; from the de facto game changing on a global scale to the less cataclysmic B-list celebrity comings and goings (including to the opening of an envelope or the eating of a marsupial's testicles).  One's interest in the subject matter will over the past seven days have ranged from engrossed to quote (a...

The politics of envy…

The Government’s attempt to annihilate the buy to let market as a form of investment was unexpected, unwelcome and unreasoned.   As always, private landlords have been portrayed as exploitive and greedy, fulfilling the role of arch villain in Britain’s housing market, providing the greatest obstruction to the younger generation wanting to take their first step onto the housing ladder. Correct? Not...

Good news is no news…

A recent article in The Guardian left me somewhat slack jawed with disbelief.  I know what you are thinking, not my usual, but in the interests of fairness, I thought that I would take a tentative step into the flip flop wearing world of Ed and Ed.  Incidentally, the Collins Dictionary definition of a Guardian Reader is: ' a reader of the Guardian newspaper, seen as being typically left-wing, liberal,...

Post Summer Review

Having returned from my vacation (get me, all transatlantic and WASPish-look it up if you don't know what it means), I realised that summer was most definitely over.  I know this because there is a house in Cardiff festooned with smirking Santas, flashing snowmen and frolicking elves who by the look on their faces have been told that they are on a zero hours contract; and this was before I had locked...

The headline doesn’t always tell the story…

Some headlines of last week did leave even The Chesh-the most ardent of human rights supporters...-thinking, 'ooh, there will be trouble in the goalmouth with that one'.  The header that caught the attention the most (thus achieving every advertising executive's Holy Grail of the headline making the headlines itself), was the tag line on the Cardiff agent Cathays advertisement for, "a good looking girl to...

Raising some awkward questions…

Last week's report on BBC News did not do anything to improve the opinion of letting agents held by the vast majority of the British public.  It focused on House(s) in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and the agents that oversee their being occupied.  HMO's fill an essential role in the housing system and are a classic example of a good deal benefitting all parties.  Those who cannot afford an individual...

Three is a magic number…

A report this week stated that sex is good for you three times a week; no more.  Sorry ladies, perhaps if you would like to enter the monthly prize draw?  I did wonder whether one's allocation would have to be used on a scheduled weekly basis or could be stockpiled until the end of the month/financial quarter.  The latter could of course be extremely dangerous (just ask Lamar Odom of Kardashian infamy),...

Putting the right foot forward…

Well, that's it all over then.  The Rugby World Cup that is.  There will of course be 3 further games of what could be some of the most exhilarating play ever seen, but for the Home Nations it is acknowledgement that yet again, no one was good enough.  Be it 1 point or a yawning margin of defeat it reads the same; close, but no cigar, not even a cheroot.  There is an irony that a nation with a...

A whole new experience…

In a week that saw Wales undertaking victory celebrations as a result of losing... and Anton falling foul of not having to choreograph a novelty show for a naff dancer with all the grace of a galumphing hippo... I also found myself facing a new one that will feature in my forthcoming bestseller, 'The life and times of a (devilishly good-looking) estate agent in South Wales'.  I have already written to...

Is it now easier to remove a tenant?

Well, possibly. That should not be interpreted as agents wanting to chuck out respectable tenants who meet and frequently surpass all the criteria in the 'Ideal Tenant' list being given far greater liberty to do just that. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 lies at the very heart of modern tenancy law in England and Wales.  A notice validly served under section 21 will force a court of law to grant a...

Compare listings

Compare