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It's no good putting Queen Anne in an ex-council flat says Malcolm Harrison: It simply won't go

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"It's no good putting Queen Anne in an ex-council flat, says Malcolm Harrison: "It simply won't go." Antiques may suit grander settings and they are also exempt from strict fire regulations governing furniture standards in rented homes.John Socha of the Small Landlords Association warns that even furniture which complies with current fire regulations "must bear the labels which often get pulled off so there's no proof". Socha owns 16 rental properties in Northampton, which are all unfurnished "I try to avoid it as you don't get extra money. Also when you do furnish you get people saying, 'Oh I don't like the colour of that suite.'"Leon Barzankian owns a two-bedroomed flat in Courtfield Gardens SW5, which is currently being marketed through Winkworth South Kensington for £550 per week. He describes his own home as "minimalist" but has furnished his rental flat, which has high ceilings, differently: "Because of the flat's style I stick to conservative stuff." He has always preferred to let furnished property until recently: "It doesn't happen that often but the last tenants had a child and they wrecked the sofa which was quite expensive." He has replaced the sofa with a mid-priced one.Kate Nichols of Winkworth Kentish town doesn't advise installing expensive furniture: "Get cheap and cheerful. We take six-week deposits but a landlord would be devastated if their £2,000 sofa was destroyed." Winkworth insist upon professional inventories so that any damage is spotted immediately, but while most tenants leave properties in the same, or sometimes in better, condition there are exceptions: "We had one let in which the entire place suffered a terrible trashing.

It was absolutely awful and a mature couple with three grown-up children did it. Eventually the landlord sold the flat," says Nichols.Winkworth, Kentish Town: 020-7485 9210.Winkworth, South Kensington: 020-7370 6767. ARLA: 01494 431 680.Hamptons, Rickmansworth: 01923 896444.Hurford Salvi Carr: 020-7566 9444.Small Landlords Association: 0870 241 0471.DTI free booklet: A Guide to Furniture & Furnishings (fire and safety regulations): 0870 150 2500.. When Pauline Harris's tenants stopped paying rent, she assumed in her innocence that they would be out in no time.

After all, the tenancy agreement was a legally binding document, wasn't it? And if tenants didn't pay rent they had to go, surely?Pauline, a first-time London landlady, soon discovered it wasn't quite that simple. Her tenants refused to budge, and it was another 15 months before court bailiffs finally evicted them. In the meantime, Pauline racked up over £5,000 on legal costs, and she daren't even begin to calculate the rent that is owed and will never be paid. Would she have been better off if, for a £49 annual premium, she had taken out legal expenses insurance?Credit-referencing agencies such as Homelet and Letsure are now offering insurance to combat non-payment of rent and other bad-tenant problems. Policies cover up to £50,000 of legal expenses, so long as an Assured Shorthold Tenancy is in place, and the tenants have had references taken.Pauline Harris says: "I didn't know anything about this type of policy. My legal bills, which included a barrister, have been astronomical. Apart from non-payment of rent, my property was trashed and has had to be completely renovated.

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