Good morning!
Apologies for there being no report yesterday, I was under the weather so had a sick day. I know the service from me is a little unreliable, but it's still pretty good coverage considering it's just one person working all year round.
Plus I don't think anyone is complaining, considering the series of big winners we've had here (e.g. BOO, AVS, LVD), in what is turning out to be a blockbuster year. My broker even quipped that if I find any more takeovers, the FCA will probably come knocking. Still, when you have a portfolio of 40 value/GARP shares, there do tend to be plenty of takeover bids.
There's a very clear trend now of overseas (esp. American) companies buying up cheap UK companies, since sterling weakened. Let's hope there are lots more!
Letting agents
The Autumn Statement earlier this week has put the cat amongst the pigeons for letting agents, as the Government is proposing to ban fees to tenants. Although it should be noted that proposals like this are often watered-down, or dropped altogether, during the consultation period. No doubt lobbyists will be paid handsomely to nobble the proposals.
I've been sounding out opinion on Twitter, and it seems mixed. Some people think that landlords will just jack up rents to recoup their additional costs. My view is that, even if that is the case, it's still a much better idea to have the landlord paying the letting agent, since the agent works for them. Also, there's greater transparency with no fees for tenants - the rent is transparent, but often the fees are not.
I rent a flat in Hove, and was recently appalled at being charged £70+VAT just for a one year renewal document. This would have take all of 5 minutes for the agent to prepare. I texted my landlady and suggested we draw up the document ourselves next time. She agreed, as she had also had to pay £70. So that's £140 the agent earned from a few minutes work, and hitting a few buttons on her keyboard. As I quipped to my landlady, "we're in the wrong game!". She laughed, and said that she's just been saying the same thing to her mother-in-law.
Belvoir Lettings (LON:BLV) has issued an interesting RNS on this matter today, saying;
At this stage, Belvoir cannot fully predict the likely financial impact on…
