We’ve launched a new layout for Flat Rent Edinburgh this week, hope you like it:

http://www.flatrentedinburgh.co.uk

We feel it’s a bit simpler to use than the last. We’re still working on a few more tweaks and changes to it. We welcome any feedback you may have about it. Thanks.

At Flat Rent Edinburgh we have been hard at work this month on making it simpler for tenants to find the specific property that they are looking for.

We’ve made specific landing pages, to direct tenants to the types of property that they are looking for.

For example, student accommodation in Edinburgh or Edinburgh festival lets. The pages work on a tag structure and return properties that prospective tenants have searched for.

We’ve also added this week a link to our homepage that takes you directly through to the page where a property can be added to our database. Making it simpler and quicker to advertise your propertly to let with Flat Rent Edinburgh.

Now is an ideal time to start advertising your flat to rent for the various Edinburgh festivals coming up in late July and August. Be sure to get your property listed early doors. At the moment you can take advantage of our ludiciously low property insert price. This is a 1 off listing fee, and allows your property to stay on Flat Rent Edinburgh until let.

At Flat Rent Edinburgh, we place the onus on you the agent or private landlord, to remove the flat when you have let it. This way you are sure to get fantastic value for money for your small fee investment, regardless on the level on monthly rent you will receive in or the size of the property. We’re not sure how long this offer will last for, but chances are it won’t be there come the festival this year, so take advantage of it while it lasts!!

We know that letting a flat in Edinburgh can be time consuming, and more importantly, expensive! Costs of advertising a flat to rent can soar very quickly! That’s why we offer a one of fee for listing your property to rent with us, and we let you leave your flat listed on the site until it is let out! Our property insertion fees are very competitive too! We also offer discounted rates for multiple properties being uploaded at once and have a bulk listing insertion too which can be used too insert numerous properties all at once.

If your having difficulty letting your flat in Edinburgh, or simply don’t have time to manage the admin and advertising of the property, why not enlist the help of one of the many letting agents in Edinburgh! We have a comprehensive directory of the most established letting agents in Edinburgh.

The thought of BIDs came from an improvement scheme which was first intorduced in Canada. The principles of the scheme were to form a partnership between local businesses all with the view to boosting the local economy and development within their designated area. The thought was adopted in the US and became increasingly well loved throughout the United States in the late 1970s.

The BID follows the same concept first introduced in Canada with local businesses forming an agreement or partnership to improve the local economy within a defined area. All members of the BID contribute funding in to a levy which is used to achieve the goals. In addition to this the Scottish Government is also prepared to provide a grant of up to £20,000 for the levy. It must be emphasised BIDs are not a substitute for Local Authority spending and Local Plans in that area but as an addition to these with involvement from the businesses who occupy this area and are most effected by plotting and development in the area. The scheme brings the council authorities and local businesses together on working towards the same goals for the area. Businesses can identify their priorities and opinions on what is needed in the area.

The BID is most commonly formed in an agreement between all the businesses. The BID will last a maximum of 5 years usually with the terms of the agreement being dissolved at the end of this period and a new mandate under new terms being executed. There are currently 8 active BIDs throughout Scotland including Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh city centres. There are another 8 BIDs in the process of formation.

Essential Edinburgh was Scotland’s fifth BID introduced in the Capital in July 2008. The initiative is the second largest BID in the UK covering an extensive area of the City Centre spanning the whole of Princes Street, George Street and including St Andrews Square and St James Centre. Essential Edinburgh has been formed with the sole purpose to enhance working, visiting and shopping within the area. One example of its introductions are The Ambassadorial Essentials, these are teams of people in distinctive purple uniforms who walk the streets of the area during the day. Their key roles include providing information to visitors, enhancing the ambience of a safe and welcoming environment and also have radio communication with Lothian and Boarders Police.
The concept of Business Improvement Districts is a fantastic way for businesses to come together as a community and apply what they reckon is needed to benefit the area.

The concept of a Green Belt policy was identified post World War Two when the construction and development of buildings increased significantly. New residential developments, hospital and amenity buildings were being constructed at a quick pace. Concerns arose over the preservation of the natural landscape and expansion of major cities. It was indentified something had to be done to monitor and control the rate of growth in and around the cities and to prevent coalescence.
Sir Frank Mears a highly influential figure in Town and Country Plotting in Scotland first brought forward the thought in 1948 in the Regional Survey and Plot for Central and South-East Scotland. He identified the need to distribute development to the most appropriate locations, protect the character of the landscape and provide open space and green space in and around towns and cities. The first Scottish Green Belt policy was officially introduced in Edinburgh in 1957.
“The objectives agreed by the participating local authorities in 1956 were:

• to help in limiting further expansion of the city;
• to prevent the merging of built-up areas;
• to prevent the use of agricultural land for development;
• to preserve and enhance the landscape setting of the Capital

Since the introduction of the Edinburgh Green Belt other cities and towns throughout Scotland have followed introducing their own Green Belt policies under similar objectives.
Looking in more detail at the Edinburgh Green Belt Policy it has been constantly under review and scrutiny with modifications and adaptations introduced over the years, but the original boundaries have not been significantly changed. In a review in 1965 areas classified as green fingers were added to the policy, such areas included Corstorphine Hill, Holyrood Park and Water of Leith Valley.
In terms of Plotting Law the Green Belt Policy has played a very influential role with restriction on Plotting and Development. Local authority planners do not want the view that the policy identifies an area of land that can’t be touched or built on, but to encourage development within established areas and make sure land it place to the best possible use.
In terms of Plotting Law the green belt policy will highly influence development around cities. The policy is referred to during the formation of Local Plans for guidance on the most suitable areas for development. This statement emphasises the Green Belt Policy is not constitute development boundaries but one of the prime objectives is to control development around cities. A clear example of this is the West Edinburgh Plotting Frame (WEPF). A long term structure plot made by Edinburgh City Council, The Scottish Executive/Government and Scottish Enterprise. The west side of the city provides the principle gateway from the rest of the country. A vast area of west Edinburgh includes designated Green belt but does contain developed sites such as Edinburgh Business Park and The RBS Headquarters. These sites were granted permission by plotting authorities after the conclusion this location was the most appropriate and would not affect the character of the surrounding area as much as it might have on different parts of the Green Belt.

The policy provides a useful context to regulate development in and around cities. Without the policy it would be a lot harder to control the level of development and preserve the natural landscape.

At Flat Rent Edinburgh we have recently fininished compiling a list of all of Edinburgh’s property agents:

Edinburgh Estate Agents

This directory gives you a quick and simple place to see all of Edinburgh’s large and small property solicitors at once.

Many will question themselves this question at some stage in their life. Although it can come down to the simple fact of having the deposit saved to buy your own place or not, don’t jump on the ladder solely because you have some extra cash.

The Credit Crunch
The UK Property market has witnessed an eventful period to say the least over the last two years with the “Credit Crunch”. One of the prime contributes to the Crunch was excessive leading. Three years ago if you had a excellent credit history you could raise finance on just about anything within reason. Mortgages were being offered at up to 125% on the valuation of the property you were purchasing, for example you could borrow £125,000 over a property only worth £100,000. This type of financial environment could not last and did eventually come crashing down. Banks have gone under, Huge name retailers have gone into liquidation, unemployment increased heavily throughout the UK and property prices took a battering. Now the market seems to be recovering and the worst of the recession is over.

The Current Situation
Now the economy is recovering with unemployment figures dropping and house prices stabilising it seems we are back on the right track to sustainable economic growth in Britain. But we have learnt a very vital lesson over the last two years which can simply be described as “Living within our means”. Of course the recession is not entirely down to excessive lending but this did play a huge factor.

Lending has seriously tightened up with 85% borrowing being the maximum loan ratio in most causes unless you are willing to accept an extortionate interest rate. Although the base rate is at a record low this does not reflect in first time buyer mortgages with average interest rates just over 5%. House prices have been hurt in the recent years with the press releasing concerning percentage drops in prices. This aside purchasing a property is still seen as a sound investment and is one of the largest transactions you will make in your lifetime.

Not only the small factor of requiring a large deposit sum, renting a property provides you with minimum risk. As a tenant you are not liable for common repairs such as external maintenance and roof leaks which can easily cost thousands. You are footloose to a certain extent with flexibility should your circumstances change. Property is available fully furnished taking the hassle out of kitting the place out yourself. The advantage of renting also gives you a much wider choice of property at a higher quality which you may not be able to afford should you look at buying.

The Scottish Government is soon to introduce a mandatory Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The Government recognises the need for a stricter procedure in place. They have worked with a number of different bodies to provide a practical deposit scheme. The scheme is intended to:

• Reduce the number of wrongly withheld by deposits
• Speed up the return of deposits to tenants
• Improve the reputation of the Private Landlord sector
• Ensure disputes are dealt with honestly

Unfairly withheld deposits are one of the largest problems which face students when it comes to renting. When the Deposit scheme is enforced this will hopefully be a problem of the past.

Part of our philosophy and purpose, and what we are aiming to achieve here at Flat Rent Edinburgh, is to make it simpler for tenants to find Flats to rent in Edinburgh. One of the ways we help you to do this is by enabling social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg and the like, to be integrated with each of our property pages. Making it simple for you to share a flat you’ve found to rent with friends or family. You can sign up to various forms of updates from our site too, such as RSS feeds, blog posts and tweets. Be sure to become a fan of our Facebook page or join us on Twitter to receive updates. At Flat Rent Edinburgh we are constantly innovating and developing new ways for you to find flats to rent in Edinburgh.

We also have plans to develop an application for mobile phones to enable you to flat hunt on the go! Watch this space for more info!

There’s been quite a few flats have been added today into Edinburgh City Centre Flats. Including flats on Castle Street, Lothian Road and Websters Land. All flats located in the heart of Edinburgh City Centre!

Be sure to use the quick and simple keyword search function to find flats to rent in Edinburgh near you. Keep checking back for more flats. Properties being entered to the site daily!