A two-bed terrace house with large lounge and garage sells for around £169,950. Town-centre cottages are available at prices under £150,000.Live/work unitRand estate agents are selling a shop and flat combo in a mock-Tudor building in Carshalton for £255,000. Most recently a hair salon, this freehold property consists of a 675sq ft shop space and a two/three-bed flat with rear garden and double garage.Vertically challengedA large, detached half-timbered house has been converted into six flats, and the one-bed unit on the top floor flat has low ceilings; £99,950 at Rand.Town-centre letsSymingtons is letting an unfurnished two-bed house for £825 per month, and a two-double-bed flat in a block for £700.NewLaing’s Lambert Place, Carshalton, consists of 14 new and refurbished homes, 12 of which are flats and two are three-storey houses. The attic in one of the houses occupies the entire top floor; from £165,000 (020 8647 6794).Consuming grandlyTwo major shopping centres and a pedestrian-only high street provide more than 400 stores, the 400-seat Secombe Theatre, a six-screen cinema, night clubs and theme pubs, and a leisure centre with a swimming pool and tennis and badminton courts.AmenitiesSutton has more than a dozen parks or recreation grounds, the grass on each being cut 14 times a year. Nonsuch Mansion House, originally a 17th-century farmhouse until transformed into a Georgian pile, is in Nonsuch Park in Cheam.

The Honeywood Heritage Centre is in Carshalton.Borough showThe annual horticultural show and fun fair is held every July and attracts about 10,000 visitors. The town centre manager is Richard Thomas, who can be contacted on 020 8770 5114.Estate agentsBurn & Warne, 020 8642 1234; , Goodfellows, 020 8335 3535; ; Haart, 020 8643 2266; Rand, 020 8643 9611; Symingtons 020 8288 9100.r.liebman btinternet . At this time of year cash is always tight. But the crisis in the rentals market means many landlords are now seriously feeling the pinch as supply outstrips demand.

Moneynetmortgagesearches At this time of year cash is always tight. They are not taking the fifth flat they see but want to look at another five so landlords must be flexible.”Flexibility is often translated as a relaxation of rules. “Before, landlords might have specified no smokers, pets or sharers and, if a flat is furnished, they wouldn’t consider someone who wants unfurnished. But now, if there is a chance to get a good potential tenant, they must take them and get the furniture out of the flat if need be.”For landlords who decide to accept pets, Ms Cohen insists on larger deposits, two months’ rent, instead of the normal six weeks.

“That should cover any damage but I’m not saying that landlords should take alsatians but I’ve just let a flat to a nice couple in Mayfair who’ve got two poodles and who are paying £2,000 per week. That isn’t the sort of money you can turn away.”Landlords may be more amenable to pets and they are also keen to hang onto existing tenants at the end of their agreements, which may mean keeping rent increases to a minimum. “If you’ve got someone decent then it speaks for itself that you can’t afford to be greedy Increases are now around 3 per cent maximum. On a flat which is £250 per week that is only a further £7.50p, which isn’t a fortune. If you’ve got a good tenant, why risk it?”Times may now be hard for landlords but Ms Cohen remembers a similar scenario in the Eighties. Experienced landlords who weathered that storm then, and who have more equity in their properties now, should find it easier to survive but Ms Cohen warns that for many new buy-to-let landlords who are heavily reliant on the rent to pay mortgages, periods when the properties are vacant can spell danger “Above all else they must avoid them.