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Residential Property ManagersUnit 23 Roper Close,Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7EP Tel: 01227
472749 - Fax: 01227 470765
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Residential Property ManagersUnit 23 Roper Close,Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7EP Tel: 01227
472749 - Fax: 01227 470765
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DAY MANAGEMENT SERVICES is owned and managed by Val and Giles Day. Giles graduated from Manchester University in 1970, with an honours degree in chemical engineering. He spent seven years in Chingola, Zambia with his wife, Val, working for the Anglo American Corporation. Val worked as a Secretary for K.B. Davies & Co., a subsidiary of the United Africa Company. Their daughter, Vanessa, was born in Chingola in 1975. On returning to the UK in 1977, Giles worked for a short time with Unilever in Warrington, Cheshire, before accepting an offer from an international mining consultancy firm at Ashford, Kent. Val worked for ten years as Assistant to the Club Secretary of Ashford Golf Club. Day Management Services was founded in January, 1989. Val and Giles have been married for 32 years. Their daughter is now 28 and followed in her father's footsteps to Manchester University where she gained a First in English. She is Marketing Director for an international I.T. publisher in London.
Students had for many years experienced problems finding somewhere of a satisfactory standard to live in Canterbury, and since 1991, Day Management Services has specialised in meeting this demand. We have developed a reputation with both students and the accommodation offices of the University and colleges for providing a very fair and reliable service. As a result we usually achieve full occupancy between July and June the following year and our houses are often signed up to tenants by the end of March for the next academic year. Based at 23 Roper Close, we are the biggest agency in Canterbury dealing with students and therefore students come to us before going elsewhere. Advertisements in "Resident Abroad" and the "Daily Telegraph" in the mid Nineties generated a great deal of interest and we now have investors in 13 countries as well as the UK. Some of these investors have bought further properties. Due to a continuing demand for student properties by investors, we decided to expand our operations into another university centre and our Plymouth office was opened in May, 2000, to serve the needs of the very large student population in that city. Malcolm Hale was appointed Manager who, in addition to his long experience in senior management abroad, is also a ’client’ of ours and a seasoned property investor. We specialise in higher yielding, multi-let properties, but equally have a portfolio of family/executive lettings depending on what is most appropriate to the needs and preferences of client landlords. Our rental turnover currently exceeds £2,000,000 p.a. For further information contact, in the first instance, giles@dayms.co.uk
We specialise in renting furnished accommodation to university students, young professionals, contractors etc. Landlords receive a higher income by renting to groups rather than renting to families, and the rate of return to landlords after expenses and before income tax and capital appreciation can be in the region of 7% or above. The recent property market appreciation has made the overall return extra attractive for those who invested in earlier years. We have only one property management fee which is based on the gross
rent received each month and there are no
We provide a full management service for prospective landlords,
including assistance with choice of property, before
Properties in Canterbury are normally rented from 1 June to 31 May. It would be unusual for a property not to be rented for 12 months a year commencing 1 June, unless it is located in a poor position. Selection of a good location is therefore very important. The best tenant selection period is between January and March for leases to commence from 1 June. If a property is not available by 31 May (because the investor purchased it during the summer) then it would normally be rented from 1 October to 31 May. It is common to experience reduced income over part of the Summer vacation
period if renting to students. Plymouth, however, also has the potential
for working tenants over 12 month periods at full rent, as an alternative
to students, or Government sponsored refugees awaiting processing of their
asylum application papers.
A typical house in Plymouth may be a 4-bed terrace or semi with three reception rooms, with two of the reception rooms being used as extra bedrooms, so it would accommodate six individuals in single bedrooms. This type of house may achieve an average gross monthly rental for the year of £1,066 giving an annual rent of £12,800 based on a full 12 month period. The rent is based on £41.00 * per week, per bedroom for 12 months of the year as at March, 2003. * Plymouth figures (note that Canterbury house prices are higher and with fewer bedrooms, but rent achievable is higher)
Typical estimated annual running expenses are:
Of course, the costs of repairs and maintenance can depend on the initial
condition and age of the property.
We have only one property management charge which is our management
commission, being 12.5% of the monthly rent received. Value added
tax is payable on our commission, currently at 17.5%.
If an investor has, say, £143,000 to invest and wants to
buy one property: *
* Based on early 2003 market in Plymouth The agent's fee is entirely optional and a local investor may decide
to carry out these tasks himself. However, we are very experienced
in these matters and feel that the fee is good value for an investor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If an investor borrows, say, 50% of capital required:- Assumption:
At the end of 10 years the house will be paid for and the rate of return
on the original investment will be:-
Our management agreement with the landlord is for the term of the initial
tenancy agreement, usually one year. One month's notice of termination
applies thereafter.
Furnishing is not required for Government sponsored letting contracts in Plymouth. Other lettings, for example to students or working people, require the house to be furnished. You should furnish the house with sound, clean furniture, either second hand or new "flat pack" type and buying reconditioned electrical equipment where appropriate eg. Fridge and automatic washing machine. We can advise you where to obtain these if you wish to furnish the house yourself. Regular safety checks are carried out by us on a routine basis. We append a recommended list of furniture and the complete cost to furnish a house with 5/6 tenants is normally in the region of £2,000. If possible we try to negotiate existing carpets, curtains and light shades in with the price of the house. Under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) (Amended) 1993 regulations,
it is an offence to supply upholstered furnishings in accommodation made
available for letting that do not meet the fire Resistance Requirements
and labels to this effect must be attached to the item.
Student tenants normally come to us as a complete group and can have spent the previous year in halls of residence as first year students. However Plymouth does not have sufficient campus accommodation for all their first year intake. We register all pertinent details of each student including parents' addresses and telephone numbers. Working individuals are required to provide suitable references. We interview all students beforehand and the quality of the tenants
we get is generally good.
Each group of tenants signs an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement.
The tenancy is in joint names wherever possible. In the case of individual
working people, separate agreements would be issued.
We will prepare an inventory for no extra charge. We ask the tenants
to agree the inventory.
We make a formal inspection of the property once every three months and provide a written report to the landlord. We advise the landlord of any items of maintenance that need attention, such as painting external woodwork, clearing gutters etc. We attend to recurring items such as garden tidying as a matter of course. We would attend to any emergency repairs immediately. We would also attend to any ordinary repairs under £200 automatically and charge the tenants if the damage was caused by them. If ordinary repairs are required in excess of £200 for which the tenant is not responsible, we seek the landlord's permission in writing before proceeding. Today's tenants expect value for money and we strive to maintain properties
in good condition. Gone are the days when a student house was expected
to be a dump! We present a good product and expect the properties
to be looked after by the tenants. We adopt a firm but fair policy towards
deciding what is, or is not, fair wear and tear. We expect landlords
to be sympathetic to our efforts in this and to accept that occasional
expenditure on replacement items etc. are within our discretion.
We never use landlords' funds in this regard without a very good reason.
If the landlord does not already have appropriate insurance we can arrange
buildings insurance specifically for multi-let properties, which includes
public liability cover of £2,000,000 and loss of rent up to 20% of
the amount insured (roughly equivalent to one year's rent).
The landlord can deduct as allowable expenses against tax, all running expenses including interest on related borrowings, insurance, water rates, gas service charge, repairs and maintenance, agent's commission and a depreciation allowance on furniture amounting to 10% of gross rent. With effect from April 1996, the landlord, not the agent, is responsible
for payment of tax, thus dispensing with the need for any retention of
monies by the agent. The non-resident landlord will need to apply
for a clearance certificate from the Inland Revenue to qualify. If
the landlord does not obtain the required clearance, we, the agent, will
be obliged to pay tax due as previously, and retention of a monthly amount
will be necessary. To date, clearance has never been a problem to
obtain. We are pleased to liaise with clients' accountants where
required at no extra charge.
No Council Tax is payable if the house is rented to full time students
or Government sponsored tenants. We will arrange for the necessary
exemption forms to be completed for the council. Non-student tenants
have an allowance added to their rent to cover Council Tax.
These are normally payable by the tenants or applicable Government agency.
If a landlord or investor is interested in purchasing a suitable investment property we can provide the following services:-
We have much experience in dealing with overseas clients and aim to
provide close liaison at all stages of the setting up process. Telephone,
fax and e-mail are regularly used in this regard.
Terms and Conditions For Renting Furnished Properties to Students THE AGENT WILL:
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