Recent Articles in Problems and Complaints Checklists

How do landlords and tenants cope with the eviction ban?
Jun 30, 2020

When lockdown was announced in March, this included eviction notices being extended from the normal two months under S21 to three. Although this may well protect vulnerable people from bad landlords, unfortunately with such a ‘blanket ban’ on evictions, many good landlords, tenants and nearby neighbours have been left in a position where tenants who are being anti-social or even arrested for aggressive behaviour cannot be evicted. This situation has now been made worse by the Government’s recent extension to the eviction ban until the end of August. So, how do landlords cope with the blanket eviction ban?

Kate Faulkner on BBC Radio 4 You and Yours
Jun 30, 2020

This week I chatted with Miles Shipside from Rightmove on Radio 4 You and Yours about the property market. You can listen again to my interview and for some more information, here are my ‘notes’ for the interview.

Housing on BBC1's Your Money and Your Life
Jun 23, 2020

It was great to be invited onto the new BBC1’s Your Money and Your Life with one of my housing heroes, Matt Allwright and meeting the lovely Kym Marsh. As ever, we never seem to have enough time to take on some complex questions, but if you want the five minute version, you can view online here, or read my article.

What's really happening in the property market?
Jun 9, 2020

On Sunday I was interviewed on 5Live talking about the housing market. One of the key things mentioned at the start was the Nationwide index which unfortunately led to some terrible headlines in the media saying ‘house prices had fallen’ by the worst amount in 11 years. Yes month on month they may have, but anyone that works with house price data knows that this is a rubbish way of measuring the market – particularly when we have been in lockdown for two months! Listen to the interview and read my article to find out what's really happening in the property market.

Can decluttering sell your home faster and maximise the value?
Jun 2, 2020

Today’s buyers typically want a property which is a show home, or a wreck. What doesn’t sell well and is difficult to value, in my experience, are properties which have some rooms which are in need of a good tidy and a lick of paint, while others are at, or near, show home level. So now that you can move home or sell your investment property, here’s a guide to how best sell your home, we’ve written with our friends at Big Yellow.