With the government’s introduction of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) in April 2007, it is more crucial than ever to have a professional inventory for any properties you let. Doing so will help protect your deposit bond. Although the TDS is intended to make matters easier and fairer for the landlord and tenant, any resolution of disputes between the two parties over return of deposits will have to be based on hard evidence – the sort of evidence that only a professionally-completed inventory can supply. If you value your investments, don’t take any chances call BondGuard today!

Most private tenants in England and Wales will have their deposits protected by a new scheme from 6 April. The aim is to ensure that tenants can get their deposits back when they leave a property and not be ripped off. The average value of a deposit paid by tenants to cover missed rent, unpaid bill or damages is £695 in England. All new deposits taken by the landlords of assured shorthold tenancies will have to be secured with one of three schemes, under the Housing Act 2004. Read more of the article published by the BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6420801.stm

The number of buy-to-let tenancies is set to rise by 20,000 to 30,000 over the next ten years as the demand for private rented accommodation grows. Professor Michael Ball of Reading University speaking at a property industry conference to mark the ten-year anniversary of buy-to-let, said that more than one million households live in buy-to-let homes that together are worth substantially more than £120 billion.

Its great news for those involved with property sales and rentals that a recent survey by the Royal Bank of Scotland has placed Cardiff Bay as one of the top buy-to-let “hot spots” in the UK. The report notes the average one-bedroom home in the CF10 postcode area around Butetown sells for £135,421. This means it ranks third in the UK in the survey, after Lindley in Huddersfield and Bo'ness in West Lothian, of 22 areas with most potential.