Page 324 – Property118
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Selling homes for £1 is a ‘politically-led housing gimmick’

22nd February 2023

A promise to sell homes that have been empty for a long time for just £1 by Scottish Labour has been slammed as a politically led housing gimmick by a leading property firm. DJ Alexander Ltd, Scotland’s largest lettings and estate agency, said that the announcement by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at the party’s […]

Net Rental Yields and how to increase them

Rent yields outstrip house price rises

21st February 2023

The UK’s highest average rental yields are in Bradford where they currently stand at a massive 11.06%, according to a new report. Data from debt advisory specialists, Sirius Property Finance, revealed the current average UK rental yield is 4.08%, a 0.19% increase over the past year. UK rental yields have increased by 2.5% over the […]

Landlords selling up take a 30% hit to quickly exit the sector

21st February 2023

One property auction firm says that more than a third (38%) of their current lots are from buy-to-let investors looking to get out of the market quickly. And it claims that some landlords are willing to take a hit of up to 30% on the property’s price just to leave the private rented sector. Online […]

tenant with condensation, mould, damp, landlord, sueing property118

Tenant suing for condensation problems?

21st February 2023

Hello, I have a tenant who is suing me for damp and mould problems. When the tenant moved into the property it was just renovated with a new carpet and painted throughout. The flat is a two bedroom ground floor. She and her three children ages 12, 14 and 10 months – all boys. After about […]

Woman with noisy tenant neighbour landlord issues property118.com

Single occupancy AST installs wife and 2 children?

21st February 2023

Hello, In November 2022 I accepted a new tenant on a 1 year AST. The property is a 2 bed first floor flat in a converted building. He is aged mid 30s (I think of Nigerian origin) and doing a post grad course at a local University. Let via an agent, but I manage. It […]

Mortgage rate rises sees landlords increasing rents

21st February 2023

Seven in ten (68%) landlords plan to raise rents if their mortgage rate goes up when they come to remortgage, according to a new survey.  The mortgage platform, Landbay, revealed almost half (44%) of landlords said they expect to increase rent by 6-10% in the coming 12 months if their mortgage rate increases. Of those […]

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Property not registered with HM Land Registry after 16 months?

20th February 2023

Looking for some post-completion help, please. We are new to property investing and we purchased two buy-to-let properties within a month of each other, using the same conveyancing solicitor. The first property we were able to refinance 6 months after works were completed without a hitch. The second property is a different story. It is […]

Fed up woman landlord at laptop troublesome student tenants property118.com

Fear of harrasment/ threatening behaviour claim?

20th February 2023

Hi everyone, it had to happen. I have got my hands on some troublesome tenants. My fear is the chance of a harassment/threatening behaviour claim by them and thus a possible rent repayment order. It is a HMO (licenced a bit over a year ago and a half ago) student property and has valid gas […]

Woman reading an eviction notice landlord property118.com

N5B – Q6 Tenant was in there prior to my AST with them?

20th February 2023

Hello, let me explain the situation, I am wanting to evict a tenant via the accelerated possession method using the N5B form. On question 6) it states: On what date was the property let to the defendant by the way of a written tenancy agreement.? History: I purchased the property 10 years ago and I […]

Landbay's sales and distribution director, Rob Stanton wearing a light blue suit and white shirt

HMO/MUFB rates lowered by Landbay

20th February 2023

Landbay has revealed that it is reducing rates for buy-to-let loans on houses in multiple occupation (HMO) and multi-unit freehold blocks (MUFBs). The lender is also reintroducing products for first time landlords purchasing HMOs/MUFBs. Rates on small HMO and MUFBs of up to six bedrooms/units have been reduced by 30 basis points on two-year fixed […]

Pic of dirty washing up tenant landlord repairs property118.com

Tenant is dirty and careless, do we need to keep doing repairs?

20th February 2023

Hello, My tenant generally pays on time, is cooperative and polite but is incapable of keeping the place up. It has turned in four years from a nice place into a tip, and various fixtures have got broken. My question is, when the tenant is so careless is there any reason we should fix everything […]

The exodus of the private landlord

20th February 2023

Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, wrote an excellent piece in the Telegraph at the beginning of this year which illustrates the crisis in the buy-to-let sector with demand far outstripping supply and a planned increase in the exodus of landlords from the sector during 2023. He puts tax at […]

Buyer demand up but house prices remain static

20th February 2023

The number of agreed sales is returning to near 2019 levels having recovered strongly from a 30% drop in the aftermath of the mini-Budget, according to a new report.  The Rightmove House Price Index reveals that the number of sales agreed continues to improve, and is now just 11% down on 2019’s levels, recovering from […]

HMRC and Family Investment Companies

17th February 2023

In 2022 there were over 50,000 property investment companies formed in the UK but less than 1% of them were Family Investment Companies. This is despite HMRC having given this form of business continuity and legacy planning the thumbs up in the previous year. In this article and accompanying video we explain what the difference […]

Rising demand causes mismatch with 11 tenants chasing every 10 properties

17th February 2023

The number of people looking to rent rose sharply in January, according to a new report. Information from the Propertymark association Housing Insight Report covering the period between 31st January -13th February revealed that 108 new applicants registered per member branch on average in January, compared to just 64 in December. 108 is only 9% […]

Section 21 and EPC certificate not provided to tennats

EPC obtained but not provided to tenants – Is S21 valid?

17th February 2023

In September 2022 I served a S21 on my tenants giving 4 months Notice. They have approached the Council as they require assistance getting rehoused and have been told that the S21 is invalid because the EPC expired in 2020 and they weren’t issued with a copy of a new one. The tenancy began in […]

Hypothetical EPC requirements action?

17th February 2023

This hypothetical, supposing the Minimum EPC is raised to a C say on the 1st of April 2025 and all houses below a C needed to be up to the new standards by the 1st of April 2028 approximately 48% of the rented sector. If the date of the Legislation was passed say 1st Of […]

Landlords reporting rent arrears and void periods all down

16th February 2023

Paragon Bank commissioned a survey of over 750 landlords by BVA BDRC, which has reported a decrease to 32% of landlords confirming that they have had at least one tenant in rental arrears during the previous 12 months. This is down from 34% against the previous quarter and is the lowest level of rent arrears […]

rent guarantor signs landlord form property118.com

Rent guarantee for longer than 6 months?

16th February 2023

Hello everyone, Since being Landlord I have used Homelet for both property insurance, legal protection and rent guarantee. Thus far, the good news is I have not had to make any claims. However, these policies are now coming up for renewal and since covid Homlet has said that they only offer policies for a maximum […]

landlord news commercial landlords EPC property118.com

Landlords spending thousands of pounds more than expected on EPC improvements

16th February 2023

Landlords have spent nearly £9,000 on improvements to meet proposed EPC requirements, according to new research.  The findings from Shawbrook Bank reveal that landlords have spent an average of £8,900 so far on improvements – which is almost 50% more than they had expected they would need to spend. Researchers found 21% of tenants have […]