McCartan Lettings named in Best Estate Agent Guide 2018

McCartan Lettings named in Best Estate Agent Guide 2018

Welcome to September's Newsletter! McCartan Lettings is entering its 11th year in business on a high as we are named in the Best Estate Agent Guide 2018.

We've been busy this month supporting Rent Smart Wales and the Gas Safe Register, reminding our clients of their responsibilities (and how we can help with them) concerning gas and water regulation.

I've articles for you on market trends that could be of interest to landlords and property investors , as well as a great buy-to-let opportunity in Port Tennant.

- Hannah McCartan

Managing Director

Parents in Wales pay over £12,000 more to be within school catchment area

Parents are rejoicing as schools finally reopen after the long summer holidays, but research reveals how much extra families are willing to pay for a property to secure a place for their child.

In Figures

According to Santander, parents in Wales are prepared to spend over &12,000 extra on a property, to make sure they are in the right catchment area - a 'catchment premium'.

In a survey of over 4000 parents, those with children of school-age were willing to pay up to 12% more for a property to live in the desired catchment area, and 24% had chosen their property solely based on the school they wanted their children to go to.

According to another report released by Lloyds bank, the prices of family homes situated near high-performing state schools average at &415,844. This is 45% more than the average property price across the UK. This is a trend that is set to continue as the population increases and availability of preferred schools declines.

Lloyds go on to report that while across England as a whole, the average house price has climbed by some 22 per cent in the last five years, homes in the vicinity of good schools have gone up by 39%, or &116,696.

Rightmove has also undertaken its own study with 192.com's FindASchool comparison service, which also showed that parents can up paying 18% more to live near a good school.

Good Schools in Swansea?

Every parent wants to make sure their child gets a good education, so what are the top performing schools around Swansea?

Wales' new colour-coded scheme rates primary and secondary schools from green (high effective) to red (in need of greatest improvement). Yellow and amber indicate middling ratings.

The latest report from 31st January this year shows that all of Swansea's secondary schools are rated green.

This is not only good news for our education system, but also for our housing market; families are likely to be looking for accommodation, both to buy and to rent, across the whole of Swansea.

Property Prices

Average price for a property near a secondary school in Swansea*:

Bishopston Comprehensive - &291,955
Bishop Gore School - &212,653
Cefn Hengoed - &119,140
Gowerton Comprehensive School - &151,261
Olchfa School - &212,653
Pontarddulais Comprehensive School - &151,261
Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr - &151,261
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe - &112,142

If you’d like advice on investing in property in Swansea, or if you are a landlord looking for long term tenants, we would be more than happy to help. Give the team at McCartan a call on 01792 430100, or email us on [email protected].

*Figures correct as at 28/09/17.

Sources: Wales Online / Property Industry Eye / Property Industry Eye / Rent Man

Breaking News! McCartan named in Best Estate Agent Guide 2018<br />

Following in-depth analysis of performance data and the results of over 30,000 mystery shops, industry experts Property Academy, partnered with the property portal giant Rightmove, have announced the top estate and letting agency branches in the UK – and McCartan Lettings is amongst them!

After rating all of the estate and letting agency branches in the UK, Property Academy put the top 20% into a list in the form of the Best Estate Agent Guide 2018. Out of the 25,000, only 5,153 branches have been listed.

McCartan is one of just three agents listed in the Guide for Swansea.

Making the Grade

When there are an estimated 25,000 estate agency branches in the UK, it’s no surprise that it can be difficult to choose who to work with. This is why Property Academy decided to produce the Guide, to provide a useful indication of the quality of the agent when trying to choose who to instruct.

And you can’t buy yourself in – inclusion in the Guide is based on merit alone.

Hannah McCartan, MD of McCartan Lettings comments,

“There isn’t any hiding in an in-depth analysis of every estate agent in the country like this!

We have been evaluated independently on everything from how our property listings look online and how much traffic they get against other agencies (which leads to more enquiries and a quicker let), through to being mystery-shopped and our level of care and customer service to our clients.

“We are delighted and honoured to be featured in Best Estate Agent Guide 2018. I really am over the moon! It is testimony to all the hard work and dedication my team put into making sure every tenancy is set up swiftly and diligently, and every home-move goes as smoothly as possible.”

We’d like to thank the Property Academy too for all their hard work creating the Best Estate Agent Guide 2018, and for recognising the high standards McCartan Lettings continually offer our customers”

Criteria

Over a 12 month period, they looked at the performance and analysed:

Over 25,000 branches
1 million properties listed at any point in time
3 million transactions
50 million leads
3 billion property views
30,000 mystery shops

Each year, Property Academy surveys thousands of buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants in order to better understand their opinions and expectations of the home buying, selling and renting process. This puts them in the best position to rate agents and the services they offer.

If you have a property to let, or are looking to move home soon, speak to one of the team at McCartan Lettings today on 01792 430100 or email [email protected]

To find out more about how the Best Estate Agent Guide works, you can click here, or to check out our listing, click here.

Are You Gas Safe Aware?

Last week, McCartan Lettings were proud to support Gas Safety Week 2017. Gas appliances that are not fitted or serviced correctly can cause leaks, fires, explosions, and carbon monoxide poisoning. In order to raise awareness of the dangers and what you can do to mitigate them, we spent the week sharing information and tips both on our blog and on social media.

Landlords

As a landlord, you are legally required to have a gas safety check carried out every 12 months at each of your rental properties. The check must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the certificate must be given to your tenants within 28 days of the check, or to any new tenant.

Don’t carry out any gas work at any of your properties if you are not a qualified Gas Safe registered engineer.

We will ensure landlords on our managed service remain compliant (and their tenants safe) by ordering gas safety checks to be carried out annually by contractors we know are registered with Gas Safe.

We also issue all tenants with a copy of the gas safety certificate within 28 days of it being completed, and for their new home during their move in meeting.

Tenants

As a tenant, we would encourage you to check for any warning signs that your gas appliances aren’t working correctly. These signs could include:

Lazy yellow or orange flames instead of crisp blue ones
Black marks on or around the appliance
Too much condensation in the room.

Your landlord is only responsible for checking the appliances they have provided; the responsibility to check the safety of your own gas appliances falls to you.

Don’t carry out any gas work at the property – if you are having issues with a gas appliance, speak to whoever is responsible for managing your maintenance as they will need to arrange for a Gas Safe engineer to do that work for you.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

There are six signs of carbon monoxide poisoning:

Headaches
Dizziness
Breathlessness
Nausea
Collapse
Loss of consciousness.

Although it is not a legal requirement for rental properties in Wales to be fitted with carbon monoxide alarms, we would encourage all landlords to purchase them.

Is My Engineer Gas Safe?

It’s really easy to check whether an engineer you have instructed in registered with Gas Safe. You can do so at www.gassaferegister.co.uk, or by calling 0800 408 5500. Ask to see their ID card before allowing them to do any work.

If you would like us to recommend a verified Gas Safe engineer, we would be more than happy to do so.

In Emergencies

If you smell gas, call Transco immediately on 0800 111 999. In an emergency, dial 999 for the emergency services.

At McCartan Lettings we are committed to ensuring the safety of all of our tenants and legal compliance for all of our landlords.

If you would like more information about how to be Gas Safe, please give us a call on 01792 430100 or pop into our office or Gower Road in Killay!

Source: Gas Safe Register / About Gas Safety Week 2017

Are You Liable for Paying Your Tenant's Water Bill?

Rent Smart Wales were reminding landlords last week of their obligation to inform Dwr Cymru Welsh Water of a change of tenant at their properties.

The regulation came in in January 2015. It was introduced as a measure by the Welsh Government to tackle poverty by reducing debts to water suppliers, and thus making water charges more affordable for everyone.

What are my obligations?

All landlords of properties supplied by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water or Dee Valley Water (whether in England or Wales) need to inform the water supplier within 21 days of a change of tenant. You will also need to provide them with basic details for the new tenancy:

Property address
Titles, full names, and dates of birth for all adult occupants
Tenancy start date

Failure to comply with the regulation will mean you as the landlord become joint and severally liable for any water or sewerage charges incurred during the period of non-compliance – so you could end up paying your tenant’s bills.

At McCartan Lettings, we keep our landlords up-to-date and compliant with legislation affecting the rental market. In conjunction with the Tenant Shop, we inform utility companies of new tenancies we have set up. If you would like any advice, or if you are looking for new tenants for your property, please call the team on 01792 430100.

Sources: Rent Smart Wales / Dwr Cymru Welsh Water / Llywodraeth Cymru Welsh Government

Buy to Let Deal of the Month

This month, we head east towards the new Swansea University Campus on Fabian Way.

This modern 2 bedroom property is situated on a recent development, opposite the SA1 Marina area of Swansea. You can view the brochure on Zoopla by clicking here.

The location makes it ideal for professionals with major employers such as Admiral, and Swansea University's newest campus close-by, and will appeal to commuters as J42 of the M4 is just a few minutes' drive along Fabian Way.

As this property is still so new, it would need little work to get it ready for the rental market - though I would advise that it is always worth having a budget for a refresh and re-carpet to make sure it would be looking its very best.

A monthly rental figure of &600.00 should be easily achievable in the current market, creating a solid 6% yield. It is worth bearing in mind that should Swansea get the go ahead for the Tidal Lagoon, we could see not only rental increases in the area, but also capital appreciation as the area benefits from further investment.

If you are looking to invest in a buy-to-let in Swansea and want to know where the best areas are, give our dedicated lettings experts a call today on 01792 430100, or drop me an email [email protected].