Continue reading »]]> guaranteed rent scheme | APG, LaSalle to finance UK residential, student housing

Our rent guarantee scheme provides you with between 1 to 5 years worth of guaranteed rental income. What’s more, there’s no catch and no fees involved.

EUROPE – Dutch pension fund manager APG has teamed up with LaSalle Investment Management to provide £238m (€282m) in senior debt financing to London residential projects and UK student housing developments.

The joint venture means APG now has two managers overseeing its real estate debt investments in Europe, having earlier awarded a mandate to Pramerica Real Estate Investors to invest in guaranteed rent scheme

LaSalle Residential Finance I will focus exclusively on providing developers with senior-ranking, whole-loan financing for residential projects in London and student housing schemes in major university towns in the UK.

Roland Mangelmans, senior portfolio at APG Asset Management, said: “The London residential development market and UK student housing market is characterised by an imbalance between supply and demand from a debt perspective.

“Simultaneously, from an equity point of view, APG perceives these markets as attractive with sound fundamentals. This real estate debt strategy contributes to APG’s overall real estate debt portfolio and provides further diversification.”

Micheal Zerda, manager of the fund and European director of debt investments and special situations at LaSalle, said the fund was “the only vehicle of its size in the market today” pursuing such a strategy.

The fund will offer loans of between £15m (€18m) and £60m up to 75% loan-to-cost, and LaSalle expects to announce the first deal shortly.

“We have had high levels of interest from a wide variety of developers looking for non-bank sources of capital and expect this trend to continue in the medium term,” Zerda said.guaranteed rent scheme

“We aim to make between five to seven loans in the next six months and view this as the first tranche of a long-term and larger-scale strategy.”

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The announcement of the new strategy coincides with news that Legal & General Property is also increasing the size of its lending book to student accommodation developments in the UK.

Legal & General Property has forward funded a development in the Elephant & Castle area of London for £25.7m, the fifth deal of its kind made by the company.

The development is pre-let to University of the Arts London (UAL) and scheduled for completion in August 2015 in time for the 2015-16 academic year.

The developer is Spiritbond Elephant & Castle, a 50-50 joint venture between Spiritbond and Watkin Jones Group.

LaSalle, meanwhile, has been active mainly in the commercial property debt markets so far – in the form of stretched senior, mezzanine and whole-loan investments on behalf of its UK Special Situations Fund and its Junior Loan Programme.

Amy Aznar, head of debt investments and special situations at LaSalle, said the new fund was “highly complementary to our existing debt strategies and enables LaSalle to offer wide-ranging debt solutions to borrowers spanning acquisition finance, refinance, recapitalisation and development/redevelopment.”

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Continue reading »]]> letting agents guaranteed rent | European rental award winners announced in Paris

Our rent guarantee scheme is suitable for both existing landlords and potential landlords. If your property is accepted onto our scheme, you will not need to worry about rental income again while you are with us.

Boels Rental won the Large Rental Company of the Year award and Irish company Dromad Hire won the Small Rental Company category at the 2013 European Rental Awards held in Paris on 15 May.

Other winners were VP plc group managing director Neil Stothard, who received the Rental Person of the Year award for 2012, and renowned US rental consultant Dan Kaplan, who won the coveted ERA/IRN Lifetime Achievement Award.letting agents guaranteed rent

The rental product of the year award went to UK company Off Grid Energy for its Grid to Go hybrid generator.

The awards, organised by International Rental News (IRN) and the European Rental Association, were announced at a dinner at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Hotel in front of an audience of 300 rental managers and representatives from equipment manufacturers.

The judges said of Boels Rental that “2012 was a very successful year for one of Europe’s most innovative and entrepreneurial companies. Investing at a time when others are being cautious and grasping opportunities where it sees them – including acquisitions, greenfield openings, and development of its in-store DIY network.”

In paying tribute to Dan Kaplan, the judges said he had helped rental companies all over the world, “small and large, in developed and developing markets, helping them with their strategies and performing operational reviews of more than 2000 rental locations.

“His book, Service Success, published in 1994, has become a bible for anyone interested in the rental business. His expertise has long been recognised in the industry.” In 2006 Mr Kaplan was inducted into the American Rental Association’s Hall of Fame.

Judges said Dromad Hire “was not a ‘wait and see’ kind of company. In an extremely difficult market they remained positive and looked for solutions. They found new markets outside of construction, including a departure into renting fitness equipment, and were successful in completely transforming the company.”

Meanwhile, Neil Stothard was chosen as rental person of the year, said the judges, “in recognition of his role in leading one of the best performing businesses in the UK – Europe’s most mature rental market – and for the company’s strong performance in 2012.”

Off Grid Energy’s Grid to Go hybrid generator was described by the judges as “necessary product – we were impressed by a product that cleverly combines the benefits of lower energy use with reduced wear and tear on generators – a real double benefit for rental companies and their customers.

“We welcome the Grid to Go’s introduction to the European rental sector.”letting agents guaranteed rent

The full list of winners and shortlisted companies is as follows:

Large Rental Company of the Year (turnover >€15m)

WINNER: BOELS RENTAL (Netherlands)
Riwal (Netherlands)
VP plc (UK)
Small Rental Company of the Year (turnover <€15m)

letting agents guaranteed rent

WINNER: DROMAD HIRE (Republic of Ireland)
GGR (UK)
Industrial Access (Romania)
Italnolo (Italy)
Storent (Latvia)
Rental Product of the Year 2012

WINNER: OFF GRID ENERGY – Grid to Go Generator (UK)
El Bjorn – TF 50 Fan Dryer (Sweden)
Haulotte – HT23 RTJ boom (France)
Himoinsa – Power Cube Generator (Spain)
Husqvarna – K760 Oil Guard (Sweden)
Lifetime Achievement Award

DAN KAPLAN, Daniel Kaplan Associates
Rental Person of the Year in 2012

NEIL STOTHARD, Group Managing Director, VP plc
The judges were: Gérard Déprez (president, European Rental Association), Jürgen Küspert (managing director of BBI), Jean-Marie Osdoit (president/CEO, Volvo Construction Equipment France), Kevin Parkes (CEO, Hewden) and Murray Pollok (Editor, International Rental News). The non-voting chairman of the judges was Michel Petitjean, ERA Secretary General.

See the June issue of IRN for a full report on the rental awards ceremony.

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Continue reading »]]> guaranteed rent | UK housing market picking up, figures suggest

With our guaranteed rent scheme our landlords benefit from a free property management service, where we vet all tenants and conduct regular free inspections.

The UK housing market is seeing a slight pick-up in activity with mortgage lending and prices both rising, figures have suggested.

Gross mortgage lending was up 4% in April, compared with March, to £12.1bn, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

This was 21% higher than April 2012, but this data is skewed by the end of the stamp duty concession a year ago.

Official figures show UK house prices rose by 2.7% in the year to March.

However, this was driven by rises in England and Wales, with property price falls in Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).guaranteed rent

‘Reasonable recovery’
The CML said that, while the lending figures showed an increase in activity, this was not a return to the boom of the previous decade.

April was one of the “strongest months” for lending activity since 2008, said CML chief economist Bob Pannell. However, lending was still running at half the level seen in 2003-04.

“The underlying picture overall is one of reasonable rather than dramatic recovery,” he said.

The big rise compared with a year ago was the result of a sharp drop in house buying in April 2012, following the end of a stamp duty concession.

First-time buyers were exempt from paying stamp duty on properties that cost less than £250,000 until the concession ended on 24 March, 2012.

This was backed up by figures from HM Revenue and Customs, which showed that there were 79,210 sales of homes in April 2013 in the UK, on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared with 69,310 a year earlier.

Analysts said low interest rates on mortgages were attracting some mortgage borrowers back to home loans now.guaranteed rent

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “The mortgage market is recovering. The continued availability of extremely competitive rates across the spectrum will help inspire confidence and should continue to boost the housing market.”

guaranteed rent

Geographical differences
Meanwhile, house prices have been rising steadily, according to ONS figures, although the picture is not consistent across the UK.

Property values were up annually by 3% in England and by 1.2% in Wales, the figures showed.

Prices rose by 7.6% in London in the 12 months to the end of March. Estate agents believe that this is driven in part by overseas buyers being attracted to the capital.

In contrast, prices fell by 2% in Northern Ireland, and by 1.7% in Scotland, over the same period.

UK house prices increased by 0.4% between February and March, the ONS said, with the average home valued at £235,000.

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Continue reading »]]> guaranteed rental income insurance | British entrepreneurs invest in Bulgaria

Most of our landlords use our guaranteed rental income scheme. We have our own list of tenants waiting to move into properties. But just in case there is a void period, should happen, and for some reason your property should be without a tenant, we offer a rent guarantee scheme.

The suggestion that Bulgarians and Romanians will soon arrive in the UK in their thousands may have fuelled UKIP’s surge in the polls, provided column inches in the newspapers, and given news programmes something to chew on – but it has also concealed the fact that there is quite a bit of migration in the other direction.

On the glistening white slopes of Borovets in western Bulgaria, the ski season may be over but the pistes are not empty.

In the absence of tourists, some hardened Bulgarian ski instructors in red jackets are whizzing down at high speed.guaranteed rental income insurance

Amid the cacophony of voices one distinctly British accent sticks out.

It belongs to Matt Pigden, the founder of a snowboarding and ski company that has cornered the market here.

Thanks to him, and others like him, Borovets is awash with British skiers in the winter season.

Influx of entrepreneurs
“Borovets has seen massive investment. New lifts, new hotels,” he says.

“It was all very communist when I came here. You used to see policemen with machine-guns on corners… that has all changed now to come in line with Europe.”

Cheap flights which connect Bulgaria to the UK have also helped this resort to grow. It has opened Bulgaria to new markets.

Mr Pigden says he and his company, Snow and Wake Bulgaria, are now making a difference to the local economy.

“We’re employing people. We’re building a project at the moment. All the materials are sourced locally. Yes, the money is definitely going back in.”

Some 7,000 Britons have now made Bulgaria their home.

It is not exactly as attractive as the top destinations for British expatriates – the United States, Australia and Canada. But the cheaper labour costs and property prices have magnetised Bulgaria’s own influx of entrepreneurs.

James Flint, a property developer, came here in 2004.

By the time Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 he had already established himself in the real estate market in the capital, Sofia.

Now he rents out smart apartments to elite clients.

“There is a great willingness among the population to build up their country,” he says.guaranteed rental income insurance
So is it a good time to come here and do business?

“I shouldn’t be saying this, but frankly, yes!”

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With all the reports in the British media recently about Bulgarians wanting to seek work and benefits in the UK, how did people respond to him?

“I was treated really well, actually. I don’t think the Bulgarians are that interested [in the media reports] to be honest,” says Mr Flint.

“I think those who are savvy, literate and speak English have picked up on stories in the media. I think basically there was a sense of mild irritation – but [people are] fairly dismissive.”

‘Very welcome’
Across town, anyone missing British home comforts could do worse than call in at Andy Sowray’s food shop.

Andy’s Foods is like any old British corner shop, complete with English mustard, jars of jam, chutney and pickle, and packets of breakfast cereal.

“I had been in the region for about eight years,” says the Englishman.

“I looked around and spoke to British people here and asked them what they missed. And they said two things – sausage and bacon.”

I notice he has a string of union jack bunting on the shop front and a big union jack hanging on the wall behind the till. I ask him whether anyone has criticised him for being British.

“At times I have thought… I’d wake up one morning and find the windows broken, but actually I have not had one negative comment,” says Mr Sowray.

“I think they are taking media reports with a pinch of salt. There’s no aggression or bad feelings towards the British at all.”

Britain is now Bulgaria’s fourth biggest investor.

Other multinationals have come here to capitalise on the cheap labour and rental costs, setting up offices.

The IT sector is a growth area. The US firm Hewlett Packard is based here, and Coca-Cola has decided to base its European headquarters in Bulgaria.

In the open-air cafes on a warm summer’s evening, Bulgarians are sipping their own cooling drinks and refreshing cocktails. I decide to ask them what they think of the most recent influx of foreign workers.

“You are very welcome,” says one woman, an English teacher with a purple headband and bicycle.

“You British bring civilisation wherever you go. This is my impression at least,” she adds.

Another man, who works for a Dutch IT firm, tells me the arrival of foreign firms is having a positive impact.

“Sure it is – you know when we have more employees working for good companies it means better salaries… it’s a good thing if people have jobs,” he tells me.

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Continue reading »]]> guaranteed rental schemes | Ashok Leyland’s UK arm enters into strategic partnership with Europe’s asset rental company

Being a property management company specialising in guaranteed rent that the biggest drawback of owning a rental property is void periods in between tenants. A buy-to-let property is no good as an investment if it isn’t making any money. This is why we offer a great guaranteed rent solution.

Ashok Leyland’s UK arm Optare has entered into strategic partnership agreement with Dawsonrentals, one of the leading asset rental business companies in Europe.guaranteed rental schemes

While the partnership will give Dawsonrental access to Ashok Leyland Ltd (ALL’s) international sales force to facilitate disposal of its used vehicles in right-hand-drive markets, in return ALL’s subsidiary Optare will get an order for 50 new buses from Dawsonrentals.

Optare Deputy Chief Executive Officer Glenn Saint said that “this is a further demonstration of the excellent fit of our Ashok Leyland ownership. We have always said such benefits would flow from this and here is a very significant one.”

The agreement benefits Dawson by creating an outlet for its used vehicles in countries where the initial purchase price may be an obstacle to the acquisition of brand new buses. It will also reduce ageing vehicles in the UK market, he said in a statement.

Optare is one of the key acquisitions made by Ashok Leyland to penetrate into European markets. In 2010, Ashok Leyland acquired 26% stake for around Rs 28 crore and in 2011 further it increased its stake in Opatre.guaranteed rental schemes

guaranteed rental schemes

Last week, the company said it has become the fourth largest bus company in the World.

Optare will benefit from an ongoing new order stream, commencing with the initial 50 vehicle order, calling for the supply over the next six months of a mix of Solos, mostly in 9.0 and 9.7m form, which will join Dawsonrentals’ fleet.

Paul Sainthouse, Managing Director of Dawsonrentals, bus and coach, in a statement said, “our rental business depends upon our success in marketing our used vehicles and this agreement gives us access to new world markets. We are delighted that this reciprocal agreement also means that we will be able to offer our British rental customers an even better selection of new and advanced products from Optare.”

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Continue reading »]]> rent guarantee insurance for landlords uk | Private landlords should not be surrogate police or border officers

Our rent guarantee scheme provides you with between 1 to 5 years worth of guaranteed rental income. What’s more, there’s no catch and no fees involved.

Plans to make landlords responsible for immigration checks on prospective tenants are seriously flawed

Landlords may flee the lower ends of the market that this legislation is most likely to affect. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA rent guarantee insurance for landlords uk

If the proposed legislation announced in last week’s Queen’s speech is introduced as planned, private landlords will be required to check the passports and visas of prospective tenants to ensure they are legally permitted to be in the country. Failing to do so could leave them in breach of the law and incur fines amounting to thousands of pounds.

But the risks don’t end there. If the planned legislation is passed into law, landlords would be required to make a judgment about whether the documents presented to them by prospective tenants are false or not. If they reject a tenant simply because they suspect their documentation is not legitimate and it is subsequently found to be fine, they could be sued for discrimination under the Race Relations Act.

Landlords could also find themselves in some very difficult and potentially high-risk situations if they are presented with documents which are obvious forgeries. What would they be expected to do in this event? Clearly it would not be wise to apprehend the individual but on the other hand, taking the documents to the nearest police station would not solve the problem either.rent guarantee insurance for landlords uk

It is a legal requirement for landlords to carry out financial checks on prospective tenants to ensure they are not involved in money laundering activities. These checks are administrative and can usually be carried out based on simple checks with a bank or financial institution. Checking someone’s immigration status is a very different matter and requires skills in spotting individuals who may be using forged documents and false identities.

rent guarantee insurance for landlords uk

If this legislation is introduced, we could see landlords opting out of the lower end of the market where they might expect to find a higher incidence of illegal immigrants, for example in the student rental market or the social housing sector. This could in turn drive up the cost of rentals in these sectors and make it more difficult for people to find affordable homes.

Alan Hamblett is a partner and property litigation specialist at Shakespeares

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Continue reading »]]> Rent Guarantee Insurance | UK house prices rise by 1.1%, the Halifax says

Our rent guarantee scheme is suitable for both existing landlords and potential landlords. If your property is accepted onto our scheme, you will not need to worry about rental income again while you are with us.

UK house prices rose by 1.1% in April compared with the previous month but activity in the market remained subdued, according to the Halifax.

The lender, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said that property values were 2% higher than a year earlier.Rent Guarantee Insurance

This meant the average UK home was valued at £166,094.

A dip in the number of mortgage approvals at the start of the year suggested that sales activity would not take off, the lender said.

“Weak income growth and continuing below-trend economic growth are likely to remain significant constraints on housing demand during the remainder of 2013,” said Halifax’s housing economist Martin Ellis.

Prices were 1.3% higher in the three months to the end of April than the previous three months, the survey found.

The annual change of 2% is higher than the figure recorded by the Nationwide Building Society. Its survey reported a 0.9% year-on-year increase and a 0.1% rise from March to April.

Both surveys are based on the lenders’ own mortgage data.Rent Guarantee Insurance

‘Polarised’
However, the year-on-year comparison is calculated slightly differently by the two lenders. The Halifax compares the previous three months with the same three months a year earlier to give a smoother comparison, rather than a direct comparison of the equivalent months as calculated by the Nationwide.

Rent Guarantee Insurance

Various surveys have suggested that price rises have been driven by increases in London, with some other areas of the country seeing house price falls.

“Some regions of the UK remain under pressure. The market is still deeply polarised, with the increasing national average masking the huge divergence between London’s surging prices and those in the North of England that are stuck in reverse,” said Jonathan Hopper, managing director of property search consultants Garrington.

“Despite the improved market, buyers are still looking for value, and committed sellers need to be willing to negotiate on price if they want to secure a quick sale.”

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Continue reading »]]> guaranteed rental property | Morality tales in bricks and mortar

With our guaranteed rent scheme our landlords benefit from a free property management service, where we vet all tenants and conduct regular free inspections.

Failure is more instructive than success. That’s a lesson with which every investor – indeed, every human being – should be wearily familiar, but it often goes unobserved because success is much easier to talk about. So this week I’m focusing on a property investment that looks singularly bad: so-called ‘student pods’.

‘Pod’ is a marketing buzzword for an individual room in a student accommodation block. These are widely advertised to private investors on the basis of ‘guaranteed’ or ‘assured’ net yields of up to 10 per cent. Such figures sound exceptionally attractive – readers hardly need reminding how rare double-digit yields are in today’s low interest-rate world. But they come with at least four substantial risks, which in the unregulated world of buy-to-let investments are easy for developers and brokers to gloss over.guaranteed rental property

First, lettings risk. We have long vaunted the merits of the student-lettings market, but aggressive development may be leading to oversupply in some areas. Unite, the listed student accommodation player, this week warned that competition for projects was pushing up land and build costs in London. If embattled pod developer Middle England Developments is to be believed, the Liverpool market is also saturated.

Middle England’s management arm, which is called Penlake, has asked investors in its latest projects for a three-month “payment holiday” from their rent guarantees – a move that has unleashed a tidal wave of complaints on internet chat room propertytribes.com. Director Tracy Russell blames a combination of tuition fees, visa restrictions and overdevelopment. “Everything was running smoothly until September, but then we had a lot of students that didn’t show.” She is now trying to shut down Penlake, which she claims would cancel the guarantees.

The lesson here is that guarantees are only as good as the property market that underpins them. In the case of an off-plan pod development – whose appeal in the real-world rental market remains untested – the risk of an upset is significant. At the very least potential investors should call up a local estate agent to interrogate the developer’s rental assumptions.

There is also management risk. Unlike regular buy-to-let investments, student pods necessarily require professional management. If the management proves incompetent, it is extremely hard for the investors in a pod scheme to do anything about it. Without the manager’s help, they cannot find each other – let alone reach an agreement to employ someone else.

FreshStart Living, a Salford-based developer, last month agreed a settlement to hand over £131,000 in unpaid rent to 70 investors in a development called Montgomery House. Chief executive Charlie Cunningham admits it was a “balls up”, which he says arose when FreshStart decided to outsource management to a third party. He has since stopped selling to individual investors – a model he says is “very complicated to manage”.guaranteed rental property

The third risk is that a development is never built – or the land never even purchased. A number of investors have told me they purchased pods in schemes that were never started because the developer failed to complete the acquisition. In such cases deposits are supposed to be kept in escrow accounts with lawyers, but some still complain of lost funds.

guaranteed rental property

Finally, the resale value of the pods is unclear. The UK housing market may not be as hot as it used to be, but with about 50,000 transactions a month it remains reasonably easy to sell a home without taking an undue haircut. The same cannot be said with any confidence of student pods, for which no second-hand market has yet been established.

This problem is compounded by the widespread industry practice of subsidising the guaranteed rental yield. Take a proposed pod development in Canterbury. A company called Pinnacle MC Global is currently offering units for £59,995, with a 9 per cent five-year “assured net yield”. But that 9 per cent net yield is not fully covered by rental income, after management charges, until the sixth year of investment, according to the developer’s projections. The actual net rental yield, after ground rent, is expected to be 7.4 per cent in year one. “There is an element of subsidy in the first two years, until the rental increase year on year catches up,” the company confirms.

This model does not inspire confidence in the pods’ resale price, which will be based on rental income rather than a guarantee paid out of development profits. Pinnacle has given itself the option to buy back the property in three to five years at 115 per cent of the purchase price, which it says “offers an excellent exit strategy” – but it’s just an option. Investors simply have to hope the rental returns grow by 3 per cent a year, as projected.

When returns look too good to be true, they probably are – particularly when widely advertised in the mainstream press. I should know: market-beating deposit rates tempted me to put money in an Icesave deposit account in 2007, a matter of months before its Icelandic parent collapsed. No single experience has taught me more about investment.

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Continue reading »]]> Guaranteed Rent | London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to grab power to levy taxes on property and tourism

Most of our landlords use our guaranteed rental income scheme. We have our own list of tenants waiting to move into properties. But just in case there is a void period, should happen, and for some reason your property should be without a tenant, we offer a rent guarantee scheme.

Boris Johnson is expected to make a grab for new powers to raise tax on property and tourism following the publication of a major report next week.

The Mayor wants control of more than £12 billion of revenue — from stamp duty and other sources — to be handed to London with an equivalent reduction in government grant. He is also set to demand that City Hall be allowed to borrow more money to help tackle the capital’s housing crisis and boost infrastructure investment.

The recommendations will be made by the London Finance Commission, which was set up by the Mayor last year to explore the potential of greater devolution from the Treasury.Guaranteed Rent

The Standard last year revealed Mr Johnson’s plans for Londoners to keep more of the tax revenue they generate to spend on public services. In leaked excerpts of its report, the LFC recommends that council tax, business rates, stamp duty, land tax and capital gains tax should be devolved to the capital.

Nearly a third of the national revenue from stamp duty — an estimated £1.3 billion a year — is raised from sales of properties in London.

The Treasury has previously rejected calls from Mr Johnson to keep more of London’s stamp duty but it is thought likely that it will consider giving him greater borrowing powers.

The report by the cross-party LFC, chaired by local government expert Tony Travers, does not specifically favour giving City Hall income tax raising powers.

However, it does suggest it should be able to raise smaller revenues, including through a tourism tax. Under the plans, City Hall would also be responsible for setting council tax rate revaluations, banding and discounts.

The report said: “The yields from these taxes would be offset by corresponding reductions in central government grant to London.”

It recommended that all business rates — which are bringing in £3.2 billion in 2013-14 — should be devolved with business given a strong say in setting levels.

The LFC argued that the capital has historically low levels of fiscal autonomy — especially when compared with Scotland — and the proposals would increase City Hall’s accountability to residents and businesses. It denied that it was trying to turn London into a city state.

The capital’s population is likely to rise to 10 million by 2030, leading to a 30 per cent rise in public transport use, and the cost of housing has soared.Guaranteed Rent

The early draft of the report, leaked to the Guardian, suggested that Mr Johnson should push hard for more borrowing powers for infrastructure.

Guaranteed Rent

The Treasury has restrictions in place although critics said that the Mayor had extra powers for house-building which he had chosen not to fully use.

The report argued that London, through TfL, had a successful record in raising finance for transport investment such as Cross Rail, High Speed rail and Tube maintenance, but that investment in water, energy and school buildings had not kept pace.

It said: “Borrowing which will be used to promote growth or reduce public expenditure and thus be repaid should be distinguished from other kinds of debt.”

The Mayor’s total budget for this year is £16.5 billion and his main revenue-raising powers involve setting TfL fares and his share of the council tax.

Mr Travers told the Standard: “There will be much more to come at the [report’s] launch next week and what I sincerely hope as chair of the enterprise is that London politicians will get behind the proposals.”

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said he would be “studying the recommendations in this report carefully in the coming days”.

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Continue reading »]]> Guaranteed Rent Insurance | Weekender: Freddie Ardley, property entrepreneur and photographer, 21

Our rent guarantee scheme is suitable for both existing landlords and potential landlords. If your property is accepted onto our scheme, you will not need to worry about rental income again while you are with us.

‘I’m going into property too. The photography wouldn’t sustain my lifestyle’

I’ve been to 18 countries in the last three years.’ Click on picture for a fuller frame Guaranteed Rent Insurance

I’m about to head off to Monaco. We went last summer and decided to go every year from now on. We’ll be there for the Grand Prix. I’m more interested in the socialising than the sport. We spent a lot of time in Buddha Bar. One night, we ended up sleeping on the beach in our blazers and chinos. The hot weather wasn’t my friend that day.

We went to Kim Kardashian’s party. We drove out to the Cannes film festival and bumped into friends who invited us. It was amazing. We bought a bottle of vodka, so I can’t remember much, but Calvin Harris was DJing. I believe Paris Hilton was there, but I didn’t see her. I don’t pay celebrities much attention.

If I’m in the country, the weekend involves doing absolutely nothing. I might mess around with our Burmese mountain dogs. It’s spring now, so I want to get out on our tennis court and start playing, although I’m absolutely hopeless.Guaranteed Rent Insurance

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I’ve been to 18 countries in the last three years. I did my best photography up Everest. My mum wants to summit with me before she turns 50. But I’m going into property, too. The photography wouldn’t sustain my lifestyle, put it that way.

• Are you a Weekender? Email a photo and a brief description of how you spend your weekends to weekender@guardian.co.uk.

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