A covenant is a term you might hear when discussing a property during the conveyancing process. Covenants are a form of legal obligation that is binding on the owner of a property and passes from owner to owner whenever the property is sold. They form part of the deeds of a property and are recorded at HM Land Registry.  

A covenant is usually established by the builder or original owner of a property and seeks to ensure that certain things happen or do not happen. For example, a covenant might be an obligation to paint the house regularly. A restrictive covenant would prevent you from painting it purple! These types of covenant might exist in for example an exclusive development of homes where the developer and indeed other residents wish to maintain a certain standard of the whole street in perpetuity.

Some covenants are more severe in their restrictions. For example, you may be prevented from parking a caravan or trade vehicle on your drive or not “trading” from your property, which could be difficult to define in practice. Flats often have a covenant stating that you must not create noise or in other ways be a nuisance to your neighbours, any of whom could file an injunction against you through the courts if you are in breach.

Of course, many of the covenants relating to older properties are unlikely to be problematic, unless of course you wish to graze sheep, display charms on a Sunday, or keep a horse inside your house! There have been examples where you are not permitted to change the name of a house or grow a certain type of plant in the garden but these are rare.

Your solicitor will advise if any covenants affecting a property you are buying is especially onerous but as with all these issues they need to be seen in a realistic context and it’s up to you to make the decision as to whether any covenant is acceptable or not, as it will be almost impossible to remove.  

In any event as your local property professional we are here to help.

© Copyright Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd.

On 4^thJuly each year Americans go to town on celebrating their national pride on Independence Day.  

And well they might, as independence is wonderful thing – whatever your views on Brexit/Trump etc! As independent estate/letting agents we experience daily what it is to be free of the constraints of corporate governance, number crunching, management reports and toeing the party line. The only people we have to report back to are the most important of all - our customers!  

Being independent means that we can adapt and respond to changes in the market without having to run it past a committee, or a rigged one service suits all online offering. Speed of response is essential in these changing times. If a property needs a marketing boost, we give it one! Independence also means that the directors are personally involved in the business – after all – it’s our future, our name above the door, and we make a point of ensuring that those values we cherish personally are instilled across the business as a whole. We tend to work very much in partnership with our clients and are sometimes quite selective as to which properties we accept onto our books. None of this would be as easy if we were a PLC.

Most important of all is our people. They all feel part of a strong and committed team where their individual strengths are immediately appreciated and rewarded. Their great team spirit and professionalism combine with a sense of fun, enabling them to focus on helping people move (rather than selling ancillary services), allowing us to provide an enjoyable and efficient service to our clients, of which I am very proud.

So for truly accountable service why not call us for a chat about your property needs today on 01248751000? Happy Independence Day!  

Melfyn Williams

As a landlord you’ll want to minimise the time your property is empty between tenancies (what we call the void period) so it is essential that your property is looking its best for showing to new tenants both in terms of condition and cleanliness.

Although a tenanted property should be redecorated from time to time, tenants are allowed fair wear and tear and it is rare to receive a property at the end of a tenancy in the same condition that it was at the beginning, especially if several tenants have passed through.

Whilst you may choose to avoid the expense of redecoration, the likely result is that it will take longer to find a tenant (a longer void period) and even then, you could well achieve a lower rent than could otherwise have been obtained. Also, the taxman (hardly known for his generosity) allows you 10% of your rental income for repairs and maintenance, so it’s very unlikely that the sensible amount is anything less than this figure.

The intelligent landlord will also ensure that his or her property is clean and shiny throughout. Tenants do have obligations to clean the property to a decent standard before they leave and some will do a very good job indeed. But generally speaking they seldom do a good enough job to really maximise the property’s lettability and thus minimise the void and maximise the rent. A few more hours cleaning will probably be needed to make it gleam and really attractive to those potential new tenants that we’ll be bringing round.

Of course, a well-presented meticulously clean property also suggests that you are a responsible landlord, which in turn attracts responsible tenants! Why not let us help you find one!  

© Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd.

If location is fundamental to a property purchase, then mapping is surely the most obvious way of highlighting location.   

We choose to use locational maps on our website tppuk.com as they make it easy for buyers to identify the property in relation to its surroundings. This is particularly useful when a buyer is considering a property that is slightly outside an area they might have preferred, as they can see from the map that the property is actually not that far away from their chosen area.

Additionally, as an aerial perspective, maps are an excellent way of showing areas of open spaces such as parks, woodland and lakes which are not always possible to see when driving round an area. This is particularly the case with the satellite image overlay which we use on many of our maps. Perhaps the area is not quite as built-up as it appears at street level. Google Streetview is also featured on our web description.

But the most obvious benefit of the use of mapping in relation to property particulars is that it makes a property easier to find. When buyers have seen four or five properties on a cold wet evening, if they can’t find the property easily, it’s all too easy simply to give up, resulting in a lost viewing. (This is another reason why a “For Sale” board is so important as well.)

As well as providing straight-talking good advice for sellers, we never forget that the job of a good estate agent is to help make it easier for buyers to find the right property – literally!

© Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd