Most landlords probably haven't owned a protected tenancy and probably would rather stick to buying the standard shorthold tenancies. There are major differences between these tenancies that landlords should know about before contemplating the purchase of a house that is occupied by a sitting tenant. To start with the rent will only be a fraction of the market value and will be determined by a rent assessment panel who will only review the rent on request every two years. The rent increases inline with the retail price index plus 2%, a modest rise when some rents have increase by 20% over the last two years due to a shortage of rental properties available. The good news with a protected tenancy is that the rent is nearly always paid on time every two weeks.

With a rent act tenancy the tenant is responsible for the internal decorations. In many cases the tenants do not bother to keep the property in a particularly good state of repair as there is little incentive for them to do so. The landlord is responsible for any works deemed necessary to the outside of the building to include the roof. This more often than not can present a problem as the rent that you are collecting is very little and a roof can cost around 10,000 to replace. Average rent for a 3 bed rent control house is probably around 500 per month.

The low amount of rent that is paid probably is the main reason that most of these houses in average areas fall into a state of disrepair, and in need of refurbishment.

These types of investments are still popular with some property investors but banks are pretty much refusing to lend money against them as security. They don't like the fact that they can't get vacant possession and the rent is very low. If you are luck you may be able to borrow 50% of it's value but even that will be a struggle in the present financial climate.

to sell with a regulated tenant , the good news is that there is still a market for these investments, particularly if your property is in London.

There is still a demand for properties outside of London but companies will be looking for a more good tenant profile. If you would like a free valuation for a property that you are considering selling most companies will tell you over the phone what they are prepared to pay.

Most serious companies will be cash buyers and will not need to carry out an internal inspection or meet your tenant. This is very convenient, particularly if you don't want your tenant to know that you are thinking of selling.

There are of course other types of property investments that you can purchase such as freehold ground rents There are companies that sell these types of properties.