Monthly Archive for November, 2011

A Guide On The Home Information Pack Solicitor

Published on November 30, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Have you heard of Home Information Packs? The last few months in the United Kingdom has seen a lot of discussion about this and the media, television and newspapers, have discussed the HIP in length, saying how much it is able to impact house buying process in the United Kingdom. Therefore, if you are thinking of selling any property you may have, you should first make yourself familiar with how and what the HIP is and consequently, what a Home Information Pack Solicitor can do to help you. Why are these becoming quite popular nowadays and what do the documents contain?

The Home Information Pack

The HIP was introduced by the government in August 2007 and now, all the homeowners are required to prepare the HIP, to make it available for all the potential buyers of their property. In the past, only houses that have more than four bedrooms are provided with an HIP. If you are a seller and you have a house that has less than four bedrooms, the HIP is only made available from the end of the last year. Today, however, all the homes in the United Kingdom are already being covered by the Home Information Pack.

Why is the Home Information Pack being introduced?

In the beginning, the government only hoped to simplify and hasten the process of purchasing a house. With the HIP being made available, the buyers and sellers of any given property will have all the important information needed to be able to carry out transaction to be used by both parties. In the past, the information will have to be required by the buyer will only be given to him or her at the point of purchase, and this results to many home sales breaking down at the late stage because of previously hidden problems. With is like buying blindly and negotiating a large sum of money without knowing much about the property that you are about to put some money in.

What is the Home Information Pack?

There are various documents included in the Home Information Pack. While some of these papers are mandatory and therefore should be included, there are some documents that are optional and should only be included at the discretion of the owner. The mandatory documents include the following:

• Summary of the terms of the sale

• Evidence of ownership

• Standard searches for drainage and water

The following optional documents include leasehold information as well as any information on the warranties and guarantees. A great part of the Home Information Pack is the energy Performance Certificate and this shows the energy efficiency rating of a given property while reiterating on the affordable ways in which a rating can be improved.

The Home Information Pack is usually priced at around three hundred pounds, and anyone who is currently thinking of selling their house can easily purchase the HIP for their own use. They can buy it from a local estate agent, from a Home Information Pack solicitor and from any specialist HIP provider.

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Know the Landlord Tenant Law

Published on November 30, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Are you going to be a tenant or are you already one? Do you know how important it is to master the landlord tenant law? If you want a smooth and trouble-free tenancy, then you need to be familiar with all the legal right and duties that both the tenant and landlord have nowadays. For instance, if you are a property owner or manager, it is important for your to be well versed about the landlord tenant law because you have a number of responsibilities as a landlord and it is very important that you carry them out. Moreover, knowing this law will help you understand what your tenant’s rights are so you will not carelessly exploit them and they, too, will not treat you unjustly.

As a landlord, do you have rights and responsibilities?

• As someone who is receiving compensation in form of rental payment form the tenant, you have the responsibility to keep the rental property in a favourable condition, that is habitable and complying with all the housing, building and health codes stated in the law. Should there be repairs and maintenance checks and procedures that the rental property require, the landlord should respond to the request of the tenant within reasonable time.

• When the landlord wishes to enter the rental property at any given time, he should first give, at least, a 24-hour notice. Also, these purposes should be acceptable; such as to collect rental fee, or perhaps to show the property to a potential buyer. However, this rules is not followed in case of an emergency such as a fire.

• Before letting the tenant begin his stay in the rental property, the landlord should facilitate a walk through, to inspect all areas within the rental property.

• When the tenant hands his security deposit, the landlord should keep accurate accounting of this because it is a legal requirement. If the tenant decides to leave, the deposit will be handed back to the him unless there is a reason for the landlord to withhold part of the deposit.

• Should the landlord feel that the tenant is violating any of the terms of the rental agreement, the landlord should send the tenant a written notice (a copy of this would be kept with him).

•If the time comes when the landlord feels that it is important for him to evict the tenant, he should do so while following the laws and ordinances under this process. You can never lock out a tenant without following proper procedure, even if this tenant is behind his payments.

• As a landlord, you should provide all your contact details in case of emergency.

As a tenant, do you have rights and responsibilities?

• Paying rent is the most important responsibility of the tenant. Rent should always be paid on time and he should always keep the property clean and tidy; and if the unit includes a private yard, he is also responsible for maintaining this small portion of land.

• Provided that the landlord gives at least a 24-hour notice, the tenant should allow the landlord to enter the rental property.

• It is the responsibility of the tenant to check if smoke alarms, CO monitors and fire extinguishers are still functioning, for safety’s sake.

• All tenants should maintain healthy relationships with all tenants within the property.

• If the tenant wishes to leave, he should give prior notice to the landlord before leaving the premises.

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Benefits of Property Funding and Hiring a Solicitor

Published on November 30, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Would you like to consider making investments? You might usually hear that investing is gambling since the values of properties would usually change depending on the market conditions. However, if you want to try your hand at investing, you can try property funding. This is quite safer than most types of investments though as it has certain mechanisms that seem to safeguard the investor.

If you will invest in property funds, you would not need to encounter the risk that you would have had with direct property ownership. The fund investment mechanism that would make your investment safe is that your money will be pooled together with the capital of many other investors like you. The good thing is that your entire investment would be handled by an expert team of professionals. You would need the help of your solicitor to check if this fund investment would work for you and if this is even a legally accredited investment.

During the time of crisis and hard pressed times, what you can do is to watch the dynamic market becoming even more dynamic with significant changes. For one, you can see many properties being sold at below market value. If you are interested to buy any of these properties, you have to have a solicitor go down to the property to assess it for you and to get the contract right out of the seller.

With property funding, you would be able to invest your money wisely. This is the right time for you to shop for a property that you can then call your own. However, if the transaction would require you to spend at least £1,000,000, this is when you can go into fund investments. If you have already formed your group of investors, you just have to contact someone such as a property solicitor to supervise the negotiation with your possible sellers where you can buy some properties from. These would be the solicitors who are already experienced and are strongly connected in the property market. These solicitors would not only help you out in attending to the legal documentation needs of your transaction. There are many of them who are already deeply embedded into the industry that they have already made strong connection with surveyors and real estate agents.

These fund investments would work out to earn you money depending on the long-term returns of each fund. There are some funds that would allow you to breakeven but if you can find good properties to invest in, it is likely that you will get high long-term returns too- even higher than you ever dreamed. This is a much safer way of investing your money since you will have the chance to invest in assets, which are quite stable in the market given that you will be investing for long term. This is unlike direct proper investment which is much hassle. You will still stay liquid even if you have already invested your cash since you can easily sell your share in the funds investment.

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Finding a Good Motoring Offences Specialist Solicitor

Published on November 30, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Motoring is governed by a by a number of laws and regulations and they are strongly enforced because there are countless accidents that are associated with driving. Numerous penalties correspond to every violation you make against a certain motoring law. These penalties can be as severe as imprisonment, at times, but if you are careful and particular, you can effectively go around the law to avoid receiving full penalty for any motoring offence that you make, or you can consult a motoring offences specialist solicitor to help you. Here are some offences that people commonly make while driving:

• Using the mobile phone while driving

Ever since 2003, it has been illegal to use one’s mobile phone without a hands free kit, while driving. This law has been enforced for a long time now, and while this has been universally accepted, it does not really stop people from violating it. Even though many people know how dangerous it is do drive while taking a call, lots of people still answer their phones when a call comes in.

Unfortunately, though, there are so many exceptions to this rule. There are so many ways around the rules. There are grey areas that toy with the legality of mobile phones and driving, such as when you are using a phone which operates by dictation or verbal command. Also, using the mobile phone during events of emergencies; unless the driver admits that a real offence was made, it is almost always difficult for the police to charge a motorist for this.

• Over speeding

Every motorist is threatened by the speeding cameras; with some motorists being issued tickets for violations involving mere fractions above the speeding limit. Speed cameras exist to control the number of accidents that occur at one time; for a long time it has worked to effectively limit the accidents that happen and this has been responsible for the issue of millions of pounds in fines, every year. Do you know that there are about fifty kids of speed camera being used nowadays? There are radar types as well as the laser types; and each one of them run specifically according to the type. The flash of the camera, that is the main basis of the offence, can be twisted in so many ways; and a breach of the rules by the police can easily invalidate the initial speed reading.

• Drunk driving

This is most important offence to be regulated on the road and preventing this has been the biggest priority of the police. Inebriation has held the biggest responsibility for the number of accidents, deaths and casualties on the road. Therefore, to make the offence seem even more severe, the law has rendered it’s self even more strict, so that the people who will be found guilty can be banned from driving for a long time.

The passing of such penalty, however, can a lot of inconsistencies because sometimes the charging officer may not have enough evidence and so can only let the person go with a first offence. Therefore, if a person is facing multiple summons, there are easily a number of motoring offences specialist solicitor available to help you go through with it with much ease.

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