While the rest of the country’s employers seem to be laying people off, Lettings direct.co.uk continues to expand and we are now recruiting for a new lettings administrator for our office in Leeds.

More information about the position and how to apply can be found here.

We have a winner...

A recent competition for residents of City Island, Leeds run by Lettings Direct has had an overwhelming response. Over 30 entries were received and the talent on display was unexpectedly professional!

The winner, chosen this week, is Andy Smith with his striking panorama image of City Island. The image is shown below, along with the 2nd and 3rd place entries.

Andy will also receive a meal for two at Mio Modo on Britannia Street to the value of £100. Mio Modo restaurant, bar and gallery offers the best in contemporary Italian cuisine with traditional Italian favourites and mouth-watering charcoal grilled meats.

Our 1st Competition is now open for entries!

Win a meal for two, to the value of £100, at Mio Modo restaurant.

Please see the PDF below for full details.

City Island Leeds Photo Competition

A proportion of the new band of reluctant landlords are heading for trouble by using their traditional Estate Agent to rent out their property rather than appointing a specialist lettings agent, The Observer reported this weekend.

The fall in house sales has resulted in many High Street Estate Agents turning their hand to Lettings in a desperate attempt to keep their doors open. This has resulted in a major rise in complaints to the industry ombudsman, who has seen disputes rise at a rate of over 200%.

Many Estate Agents are not trained in property lettings and do not have the systems in place to cope with the extra workload involved in the day-to-day paperwork and legalties of managing property, yet this hasn't stopped hundreds of agents across the country from adding Letting Agents to their business cards.

An easy comparison to make is in the assumption that your builder can also take care of your plumbing or your electrics - they're all part of a house after all aren't they....  You'll find that some are trained and can easily take care of it. Some have done it before and will give it their best shot. Whereas some have no idea but can see a few quid in it. Do you really want to take that chance?

Any new landlord should do their homework and check out who they are appointing. As with most businesses, you can pay Letting Agents a variety of prices, starting as low as 6% and going as high as 15% - you'll probably find that you are best off somewhere around the middle.

Find out who it is who will be doing the work - your High Street Estate Agent might have just one person looking after lettings - you should ask what happens if they are ill or on holiday. The same goes for back bedroom operators. You might get excellent initial service when you're one of only a handful of customers, but what happens if they get flu, need a holiday, or have to rent an office and employ others?

Always ask for testimonials and see at least 3 agents. Ask the pertinent questions. What are your occupancy rates? Who will be managing my property? Who will be my point of contact? Is my tenant's deposit money protected? Are your staff qualified, and by whom? Are you regulated? Don't just go with the cheapest or easiest solution without doing your homework first, and as Bodie & Doyle used to say, if you want the job doing properly, leave it to the professionals.

Read the full Observer article here

The launch of City-Island.co.uk has seen our caped crusader suffering from sleep deprivation trying to keep up with demand.

Re-charged with a heady mix of Pro-Plus and Kelloggs Frosties, LettingMan has been flying between Santorini, Faroe, Catalina (it's off the coast of California apparently) and Beringa (wherever the devil that is) letting flats faster than you can say "Beringa, isn't that in the Komandor Islands, just off the coast of Kamchatka?" In summary, pretty fast.

For those still reading, the theme is that City Island is made up of 6 buildings, all named after islands across the world. Since the launch of City-Island.co.uk we've seen a massive rise in the number of enquiries from tenants eager to move out to City Island and we're busy as buzzy bees getting people moved in.

Landlords who have property to let at City Island should give us a call to discuss the rental potential of your property. As things stand, we urgently need 2 bedroom flats to rent at City Island to fulfill tenant demand.

If you'd like to discuss Letting at City Island, give LettingMan a call today and we'll give him a shake and send him on over.

Echo City is a unique mixed use development situated in the emerging East Bank area of Leeds city centre. It consists of 450 units of living space across 3 blocks. 163 of these apartments are situated in Echo Central, the largest of the blocks and the first to be completed.

Many of the one and two bedroom apartments to rent at Echo City overlook a central piazza and many benefit from views across the city, river and surrounding areas. The East facing apartments enjoy unrestricted views across the city due to Echo Central’s elevated position. North facing, the apartments benefit from views of St. Saviours Church.

The design for the Echo City development has taken its lead from an art inspired approach to architecture and the buildings at Echo have a unique sculptural and artistic influence. The development blends art-inspired architecture, green open spaces and a city centre location with new living and working environments.

Tenants will find the apartments let at Echo City are finished to the highest standard, featuring fully fitted kitchens with stone worktops, wooden flooring, and walk in showers. The development also benefits from a concierge service and use of an on site gym in Echo 2.

If you are a landlord with a flat to let at Echo City, find out more about the letting and management services offered by Lettings Direct in Leeds by calling us on 0845 226 0345.

Located on Huntingdon Street in Nottingham, Marco Island is a purpose built conversion of a former post office building, which now provides 341 one & two bedroom apartments and studios. The development covers 14 floors and offers 2 floors of car-parking for tenants and visitors.

Marco Island provides great quality accommodation to rent at a price that you struggle to beat in Nottingham City Centre.  The development is located on the edge of Nottingham’s fashionable Lace Market and a short walk to the main shopping centres, bars and restaurants.

Predominantly let to young professionals, Marco Island apartments benefit from a 24 hour concierge, who can also receive mail and parcels while tenants are out. The building is designed to resemble a cruise liner and has double glazing throughout. Each apartment comes with wood flooring, a well equipped kitchen including oven, hob and extractor, full sized dishwasher, and fridge with freezer compartment. Views from the building are either to the West overlooking the city centre, or East looking up away from town towards Mapperley.

Lettings direct.co.uk already manages a number of apartments at Marco Island and we have a fantastic record of occupancy at the development. In a recent study of our occupancy rates we found that for the properties managed at Marco Island, we achieved a rate of 99% occupancy over a 12 month period from March 2008 to March 2009.

If you are a landlord with property to rent at Marco Island, call us today on 0845 226 0345 to find out more about the express letting and property management services we provide.

We have just finished putting together our first quarterly e-Newsletter for 2009.  Be one of the first to read the full version here!

Highlights include:

• the new City-Island.co.uk website
• Landlord and Tenant Satisfaction survey results
• new taxi advertising
• our above average occupancy rates

If you would like to be included on our e-Newsletter mailing list, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Find A Property rental index published in March suggests that the over supply in the rental market is now starting to dry out. Nation wide, instructions for new property To Let rose by a staggering 164% year-on-year to January, leaving the rental market drowning in too much property and tenants literally spolit for choice.

Figures for March suggest that the market is now stabilising. For the full report click on the link here

If you’d like to know how this affects your property, please drop your Property Manager a line and we can give you more details.

Lettings direct.co.uk is pleased to announce the launch of our new satellite site, City-Island.co.uk. Built to cater for the City Island development in Leeds, City-Island.co.uk provides a resource for owners and tenants.

"Site content will be developed over the coming weeks but the structure of the site is now complete and we hope it will be a useful resource for leaseholders and tenants alike" comments Andrew Sainsbury from Lettings direct.co.uk.

"Lettings direct.co.uk manages a number of properties at City Island and we felt that a dedicated website would be a useful addition.  We will showcase the properties available to rent while at the same time providing tenants and landlords with a resource for all things City-Island."

City-Island.co.uk is the first of what is hoped will be a number of development specific websites and Lettings direct.co.uk is keen to hear from Landlords and Tenants with ideas as to how the content can be developed to best effect.

Have a browse around the City-Island website – if you have any feedback or ideas that you would like us to include, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it