L&G set to be come biggest landlord yet

The lord of the land has arrived. Legal & General (L&G) plan is to invest a whopping £15bn into housing , education, energy and transport over the next ten years. Mr Wilson has made a strong point that while house prices rising for house owners today is a very positive move on what has been a struggling property market since 2008, the rise in prices will only hinder the first time buyers of 2013 by making it even harder to reach that all important deposit.

Nigel Wilson , head of Legal & General has stated to the BBC that there is  “intergenerational injustice” towards young people who simply can’t get jobs due to the recession and ridiculous  height of education fees.

Young people could feel their problems are exacerbated. Planning for more properties is hard and as Mr Wilson says "Planning in the UK is probably as difficult as it gets anywhere in the world,". Houses that are built are instead of a £120,000 house a year now scaled up to a £250,000 a year - a generous portion of which should be rented out to the FTB’s of society. Such an increase in supply will mean building on a green belt land - making it a positive move.

It is an excellent idea that before applauding ourselves when house prices increase, there should a system in place that allows a halt on value growth for a minimum of 3 years , encouraging supply on houses.

L&G have already made their first direct stamp within the housing sector, in March they purchased a 46.5% stake in the house builder Cala. Igniting their thirst for the rental market, as part of a strategy to target socially useful projects i.e. education. transport and energy sectors) to deliver high rates of return to Legal and General making them the next big thing - if not the biggest thing to come through into the land of landlords of since 2008 at the very least.

A tougher time to buy, a great time to invest

At last! The long awaited rise of property prices has arrived. For a healthy deposit , you can start to make some money or sit tight on some while it increases.

With house prices supposedly on the up! rumours are rife that Rightmove figures which are not seasonally updated have shown house prices have gone up a fantastic 5.5% from last years figures and a cracking 8.8% rise in the first 8 months of the year.

Huge support in the mortgage market has meant that government lending incentives and the rising optimism in our societies recovery from the almighty recession , has as a result ignited a market price pick up .

For the fortunate few who have a sizeable deposit and ability to buy - with the power and flexibility needed to negotiate a good profitable price - a good investment can now be made. House prices are at their best for London home-owners , being the most marked with a 10.2% ‘up’ on last year ( according to Rightmove).  The government is under pressure to make changes and retract plans to offer state-backed guarantees to riskier home-buyers.

Making the cash investor ever more popular to put their cash where it can return to them plus a bit more in a year or two. In contrast, the time to buy for first-time buyers has never been tougher. The new “Help to buy” initiative is to be announced by the government in their march budget and is due to take effect in January 2014.  Houses are rising at their fastest pace since 2006, meaning that as it’s harder to buy , people may rent and save. Making the investors property ladder a very appealing climb.

Settling disputes with your landlord doesn't have to be ugly or expensive

The first rule of tenancy is be factual and stay calm ,even if your landlord doesn't seem to be connecting with you on a business or personal level.

One of the main rental disputes reported is that of ‘deposit return’ the easiest way to deal with this predicament is to firstly find out if your landlord protected your deposit in the ‘tenancy deposit protection scheme’ which he or she is legally bound to do. This way, you can contact the scheme they used and see if you have a libel case on return of your deposit.

Think through these steps before taking drastic action that may cost you a small fortune by going to court. 

• First, speak to your landlord about your concerns and make sure you are clear and concise in your opinions - keep them factual.
• If talking doesn't work , then write a formal letter detailing the problems you have in a clear and factual way - using dates and times if needed.
• If problems continue and issues are not resolved that use a mediation service, this is a lot cheaper and quicker than going to court.

Going to court should be your last option and can be pricey and if your landlord decides its a good idea to take legal action , the case could go to a small claims court. Small claims are any case that is worth £5,000 or less. Remember to think hard about whether the issue can be resolved between you privately,  before entering into a heating discussion which could cost your thousands.

Free advice is always available to landlords and their tenants from citizens advice or  shelter, your living space is important . Make an informed decision , not a hasty one.