LEMONTREEPROPERTIES.CO.UK 01638 661375 @lemontreelet

Thelandlord

Also in this issue:

• Lemontree sponsors Newmarket Town Girls FC

• New Legionella guidelines

ISSUE 2

Come and help us celebrate...

successful years!

Thank you for taking the time to read our bi-annual newsletter, which provides a round up of what’s happening at Lemontree and in the wider industry.

We’re especially pleased to have our five year anniversary on the horizon and are excited about our celebration next week. You should have received your

invitation by now but don’t worry if you haven’t replied; just pop along to our office between 3pm and 7pm on Friday 07 November for a glass

of bubbly or home-made lemonade, a slice of indulgent cake and the opportunity to meet the Lemontree team face to face.

This is a great time to recall our priorities when we started Lemontree. We wanted to create an agency which provided a superior service to that already on offer in the local market. Our values include honesty, integrity and providing our landlords with

a personalised service. Of course every new agency will say the same thing but we hope that in our five years of trading, we’ve

demonstrated our commitment.

Lemontree has grown rapidly over the years and is now the largest specialist agency in Newmarket. Thank you for being part of our journey so far and we look

forward to celebrating another five successful years with you.

Lemontree Properties Winter 14 Newsletter

Beth & the Lemontree team

A fresh approach to letting - ISSUE 02

As a landlord, you now have a legal duty to safeguard your tenants from Legionella, which can be found in a property’s water system.

Although the risk may be low, all water systems require regular assessment to identify if actions need to be taken to prevent or control the risk of human exposure to the disease.

As your managing agent, we have a responsibility for ensuring that maintenance and safety checks are completed, which will now include

managing the risk of Legionella.To comply with the Health and

Safety Executive guidelines, a qualified assessor must carry out the compulsory risk assessment. We are currently speaking to a number of providers to find one that can offer the level of service that we expect and provide a competitive cost for landlords.

Once we have chosen a suitable provider, we will organise this on your behalf. We shall be in contact with further details shortly.

Buy-to-Let ruLesthe Bank of England has called for extra powers, which will allow it to ask lenders to exercise increased stress tests on buy-to-let investors. Additional stress testing plus a rise in interest rates would mean most landlords would have to put down a much larger deposit to meet lenders requirements, with some predicting an additional £40,000 on average. This barrier to entry could force first-time landlords out of the market.

Source: lettingagenttoday.co.uk

NeWs IN BrIeF

HMrC tArgetINg LANdLords HMrC is targeting landlords for what they predict is £500 million in underpaid tax each year. They have given landlords one last chance to ‘come clean’ on their rental incomes or face action.

Source: Yourmoney.com

tHe IMMIgrAtIoN ACtunder new laws landlords will be required to check their prospective tenants right to reside in the UK or face large fines. This will be launched in Walsall, Birmingham, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton from December 01 before being rolled out across the UK.

Source: Walsall Advertiser

Legionella guidelines – how they impact you

The importance of quality maintenance Household repairs and maintenance seems to attract dodgy workmen who promise the earth and then deliver poor quality work and frequent delays. For rented properties this is even more of a problem because the person paying the bill isn’t usually present when the job is done so it’s even easier to get away with a ‘bodged job’.

This is why at Lemontree we have our own maintenance team. We believe that our landlords and tenants should experience stress-free maintenance and repair work carried out at a reasonable cost by someone they can trust.

Martin, who heads our team, works to the highest standard and always deals with complications quickly and efficiently. His team operates a 24/7 emergency service to deal with out-of-hours calls when necessary and his ‘repair rather than replace’ policy is often more cost effective than the usual throw away and renew action of contractors who then make a profit on the new item as well as their time.

Having our own maintenance team has become invaluable to our landlords and tenants. Our team ensures all maintenance work is carried out quickly, is cost effective and is completed to a high standard.

Fees, fees and more fees!As you may have seen in the industry press recently, some property agents have been ‘double dipping’; charging landlords and tenants for the same service.

“Landlords don’t have to pay anything until a tenant move in and then everything is included in the management fee.”

At Lemontree, integrity is one of our core values and we are committed to providing the highest standards of letting and management services. We would never charge both the tenant and landlord for the same service. In fact our landlords don’t have to pay anything until a tenant moves in and then everything is included in the management fee. Tenants pay an admin fee only when they start and end their tenancy.

If you would like to discuss our property management services, please call Beth on 01638 661375.

Lemontree gives shelter from the rainLemontree is proud to sponsor Newmarket Town Girls FC Under 10s. The girls are now sporting all-weather sports jackets, sponsored by Lemontree, to keep them dry and warm during their winter training sessions.

The Newmarket based girls play in the S-Tech Under 10s City League and their next match is November 01 against Soham Town. On receiving the jackets, manager Lorraine Fitzpatrick

said: “We can’t thank Beth and the team at Lemontree enough for the jackets. The girls take great pride in wearing them and love having this essential team kit. Hopefully, the jackets might even bring them some luck on the field too!”

Thanks also go to Gary at Newmarket Sport for printing them.

Regular updates on how the team progresses will be added to Lemontree’s Facebook page.

Lemontree Properties Winter 14 Newsletter

Beth and the girls unveiling their new jackets

Date: Friday 07 November

Time: 3pm – 7pm

Location: Lemontree Properties 10a Old Station Road Newmarket CB8 8DN

you're invited to celebrate with Lemontree

We’ve had an incredible five years seeing Lemontree go from strength to strength. We would like to welcome you to celebrate with us, meet the team and share a glass of

bubbly at our Newmarket office.

We look forward to seeing you there!