Welcome to your February edition of the Fish Need Water newsletter!

Here’s what we’ve got coming up:

  • Landlords: don’t let the bad news get you down.
  • All the latest need-to-know news.
  • Top tool: Driversnote.

Struggling to find tenants? It could be an easier fix than you think

You may have seen news stories about rental prices cooling in the capital – something we can confirm with our own experiences at Fish Need Water recently. As we repeat over and over again to the brick wall that is the media (parts of it, at least): that’s. what. happens. when. demand. for. rentals. goes. down.

Decreased demand = lower rents for landlords.

Many anti-property pundits like to think this isn’t the case. They believe that landlords are able to increase their rents to astronomical levels regardless of market (or housing) conditions – ripping off their downtrodden tenants at the same time.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. When you’re a landlord, you’re at the mercy of supply and demand – so when supply exceeds demand (as we’re finding at the moment in certain areas), good luck raising your rents and finding a tenant willing to pay… which brings us back to what’s happening at the moment.

What’s the point in us telling you this? Glad you asked! Thing is, there are always going to be ranges of rental value in any area: not every two-bed flat in a particular postcode will rent for exactly the same amount. If you find yourself in an area that’s experiencing low rental demand at the moment, there are things you can do to improve the appeal of your property and increase your chances of a) remaining in high demand – which leads nicely to b) being able to find a tenant for a rental price that pleases both you and them.

If you’re currently struggling to find tenants or obtain a yield that makes your investment worthwhile, give us a call: 020 3199 3492. We can’t promise, but we may well be able to give you some (free, no-obligation) pointers on securing the level of rent you want.

Property news

A few fabulous stories this month:

No one has snapped up this “bargain” flat – and it’s easy to see why. As we were saying…

London letting agents are checking Facebook and other social media to vet prospective tenants. When people are going to have open profiles, they’re going to have to get used to this sort of thing.

Mother “posed as London property owner to share £1.2m fraud profits with model daughter in Dubai”. We’re not sure about you, but stories like this always make us wonder how many people do get away with it.

Empty garages could provide 16,000 new London homes. Local authorities are sitting on more than 22,000 vacant lock-ups – and experts say the land could be used to build thousands of affordable one-bedroom flats.

The top 10 London property hotspots of the decade. And Wapping leads the way…

Our useful tool of the month

If you’re a property investor, you’re allowed to deduct the mileage cost against your tax – and Driversnote makes it simple for you to track your mileage. All you have to do is activate it for each journey, and it’ll send you a PDF with all your journeys broken down.

Get it here.

The end! (Until next month.)

See you in March!