Best outdoor dinning places in Bristol

BrewDog Bristol

BrewDog is an essential outdoor spot for beer lovers, featuring over 20 taps of beer, ales and ciders alongside its well-stocked fridge. Spend your afternoon soaking up the sun with pints and burgers before going for a stroll in the neighbouring Castle Park.

The Lock Keeper

Just a 10 minute drive from Bristol, The Lock Keeper is a prime location for alfresco dining. Along with picturesque riverside views, the restaurant dishes out delicious eats on its spring menu - we’re talking smoked mackerel paté, seared salmon and plantbased burgers. The Flyer is a good old classic pub with a cracking outdoor courtyard. Get yourself a few brews from the bar before heading out back where a number of tables, cute fairy lights and colourful murals are on hand to make your drinking session that little bit sweeter.

No.4 Clifton Village

No.4 Clifton Village is coming in strong with an expansive secret garden that’s sure to make catch-ups even more special. As for food, the kitchen here dishes up an à la carte menu of seasonal and organic British produce.

When it comes to restaurants with sunny views, there are few places as pretty as Riverstation in Bristol. Choose between its waterside terrace space or upstairs balcony for a gorgeous backdrop as you make your way through the menu of classic British eats.

Bristol charity calls for individuals and businesses to give volunteering a go

Bristol charity Milestones Trust is calling for people and organisations to lend their support as volunteers ahead of Volunteers' Week.

The social care charity, which supports people with learning disabilities and mental health needs in Bristol, had to put a pause on recruiting volunteers during the pandemic and has gradually started welcoming them back into the Trust with the easing of restrictions.

Volunteers' Week is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering. It runs from June 1-7 each year. Liz Gray, a Milestones Trust volunteer, leads a Bristol-based community initiative called the Music Train, which runs at the Coniston Community Centre Café in Patchway and at Kingsmeadow@MadeForever in Kingswood, whilst it will be returning to the Warmley Waiting Room café in Warmley over the summer. It gives people, including those the Trust supports, access to free live music and the chance to get involved themselves. Liz, who lives in Hanham, has facilitated over 280 free live music concerts around Bristol and South Gloucestershire since 2013. Since 2016 Liz has worked as a volunteer with Milestones Trust to apply for funding to hold live music events.

She said: "I've been volunteering with Milestones Trust since 2016, and it's a very rewarding thing to do. What I enjoy most is seeing the pleasure that the events give to everyone involved: the people the Trust supports and their carers, the musicians, people from the community from babies to adults in their 90s - we all have a great time. Even when we had to do the sessions over Zoom due to the pandemic, people could still interact with the musicians and make requests for their favourite songs. "I would like to encourage others to look for ways of being a volunteer that fits in with their lifestyle to enrich their lives. Even if you're just sharing a few hours of your week with someone, the impact that has can be huge and you won't regret trying it." With a variety of volunteering roles available, ranging from ‘buddies' to accompany people the Trust supports to attend cultural and social activities, whether a theatre performance or a game of Uno, to gardening volunteers, there's something for everyone. Sara Turrill, volunteer coordinator for Milestones Trust, said:

"Our team of volunteers helps us meet a range of different needs and make a real, positive impact on the people we support, so we are thrilled we can welcome them back once again. We are very lucky to have the support of businesses and organisations too, who help us with much-needed gardening, painting and decorating projects. We'd encourage anyone interested in making a difference to get in touch."

If you'd like to find out more about the volunteer role get in touch by emailing volunteering@milestonestrust.org.uk or checking out available opportunities at https:// www.joinmilestonestrust.org.uk/volunteer/. If you're a business or organisation and would like to know more about supporting the charity and its work through team volunteer days or partnership then please email volunteering@ milestonestrust.org.uk.

WHAT ARE HMOS

AND WHY INVEST IN THEM?

We have been investing in HMOs in the wonderful city of Bristol since 2016 and in 2020 we opened an HMO letting agency.

We did this because, we couldn’t find the service that we were looking for, in the current market. Everything was a compromise and, we didn’t believe that we should be paying good money and having to make compromises in the level of service that we received – that just didn’t compute for us. So, this was how our lettings agency, KPA Property Management was born; because we knew that if we felt this way, then there would be lots of landlords and investors who thought that way too and, as they say, the rest is history! There are a few things that we get asked A LOT and, the one that we get asked repeatedly is, “what actually is an HMO?” So, let’s have a look at what they are and, why landlords and investors choose them as a property business model.

WHAT is an HMO?

HMO stands for a House in Multiple Occupation. The legal definition of an HMO is a house rented by 3 or more people from 2 or more households (I will overlook houses with lodgers for the moment). A household is determined as a family unit or a couple (married, unmarried, civil partnership)

3 tenants – A couple + 1 friend… HMO

4 tenants – 2 couples… HMO

5 tenants – Friends living together at Uni… HMO

HMOs can be rented in different ways too. Some are rented by the room (on single room contracts) whereas others are rented to an entire group (on a standard house contract with multiple tenants). Different rental methods have different implications for the landlord, for example, if you rent by the room you will need to pay council tax and it is very common that you will offer bills all rolled into the price.

WHO would live in an HMO?

Anybody! Although who might live in your HMO will depend on the type of property you are creating and the area it is in. Some HMOs are extremely high end (often labelled co-living) and positioned as a lifestyle choice for working professionals; other HMOs are “student digs” and are lived in by university students; others might be aimed at contractors/blue collar workers in the local area and of course, you have social housing properties rented to council tenants or social housing companies. Who would want to live in your HMO is a critical part of analysing a deal, but that is for another blog!

WHERE would you have an HMO?

Like all property models, there are places where HMOs work best and places where they don’t. It will usually come down to tenant demand, population density and local amenities. If there is sufficient demand and good transport links, an HMO will usually work.

Near big employers, city centres and universities are great places for HMOs, as a quick and dirty metric you can look at the number of people who are looking in an area/postcode on Spareroom.co.uk to get a feel for demand, although this is not a perfect science it can be a good start.

WHY invest in HMOs?

HMOs are one of the higher cash flowing property models, which make them attractive to investors. In fact, one HMO can yield as much as several single or family lets.

By taking a 3/4 bed family house, refurbing it and renting it to 5/6 individuals you can create more rental income from a single building. If you get it right, your HMO can return £1000-£2000 net per month and be relatively stress or hassle free. However, as with all the high cash flow models, they come with increased risk, increased costs and if you manage them yourself, they require more time than a standard family let. When executed correctly, HMOs are a brilliant property model creating great returns and maximising a portfolio. When done badly, they can land you with £10,000s of fines, council investigations, armed police raids, personal threats, and very costly voids/arrears!

In summary:

Rental yields for HMOs can be impressive and significantly higher than other property models. Demand is high in certain areas, with City rents being beyond the reach of many and tenants new to an area choosing co-living, as a way to make new friends and renting well into their thirties and beyond. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why Property Investors choose HMOs, as there is a plentiful market for them, and they achieve good returns. However, HMOs are stringently regulated and compliance heavy and they are certainly not easy money. Many Landlords find it hard to keep up to date with ever changing compliance and are constantly concerned about falling foul of regulations and getting into hot water with their local authority. If you are going to invest in them, then do your homework, have robust systems, choose your tenants carefully, fully reference them and manage the property diligently, from the outset and throughout. We are extremely familiar with all aspects of HMOs, they are our bread and butter and if we can help in any way, then just give us a shout! 21