I’ve written this post in response to an article that appeared this weekend in The Guardian entitled “Landlords accused of ‘making up stories’ in drive to change UK tax rules”. What a load of tosh that article was! Nothing more than twisted words to suit the narrative of a left-wing rag, but the link is […]

Hello, I have recently been notified that the tenant on the agreement has passed away following no rental payments. His son (who is over the age of 21) was a permitted occupier, is refusing to agree a new tenancy and is not paying rent. Is a section 21 still applicable? Where do I send it […]

The Housing Ombudsman says that a quarter of the complaint handling failure orders (CHFOs) issued in the last three months to social housing landlords were not complied with. The Ombudsman says it issued 38 failure orders, including the most orders yet for failing to fulfil membership obligations. There were 38 CHFOs issued to 28 different […]

Hello, I have a question: My tenant is in rent arrears by 6 months and those arrears now stand at £9,600. I have served the tenant a S21 notice followed by a repossession order. The council pays the tenant £1,875/month towards the rent. The council is also aware that a S21 has been served. Is […]

The UK’s house prices showed an unexpected increase of 1.1% in February from January’s price, says Halifax. The bank highlights that a typical property costs £285,476 – up from January’s average price of £282,360. However, the rate of annual price growth has slowed in all regions with an annual rise of 2.1%. Overall prices are […]

I have the unfortunate situation whereby the Child Maintenance Service looks at my pre-tax earnings for their calculation. Obviously, that means they “think” that my mortgage costs are earnings and so charge me 12% of that figure. Given I am a lower tax band earner and that my BTL mortgage costs exceed 80% of my […]

UK landlords may consider a Partnership structure for a number of reasons, including: 1. Cost: It might be prohibitively expensive to sell properties to a Limited Company for tax planning purposes, especially if HMRC wouldn’t regard them to be qualified as a Business Partnership for at least three years. This is because a significant amount […]

Hello, Can someone please help? I am in my 70’s and only let two properties, I’m not an experienced landlord. I have had a tenant in a property for 7 years and never put the rent up in all that time. I wanted to have the property back to sell and allow us more money […]

If amateur or accidental landlords are eradicated from the private rented sector (PRS), there would be 383,600 fewer homes to rent – and £223.5bn would be wiped from the value of the PRS market, research reveals. The findings from specialist property lending experts, Octane Capital, suggest that a string of legislative changes could lead to […]

Hello, I have a tenant who has contacted a solicitor regarding the condition of the flat’s drainage problem, mould, damp and mice infestation. I received a letter from her solicitor just after Christmas regarding the problems she says she has. In the letter, they said they would be sending out a surveyor within five days […]

A new government campaign will urge social housing tenants to complain about substandard housing as part of its flagship ‘Make it right’ campaign. Housing Secretary Michael Gove is urging tenants to make their voices heard by complaining to their landlord before escalating an issue to the Housing Ombudsman if they are unhappy with the landlord’s […]

Hello, Landlords are relying on an EPC to be accurate. Significant decisions are being made based on the EPC information. These decisions will affect tenants. I did comment in the following thread: Two-thirds of landlords doubtful about purchase of non-EPC compliant properties I wasn’t being prickly. I am genuinely trying to understand. We had an EPC […]

BTL product choice has recovered from the market chaos that followed the mini-Budget in September with landlords and investors now seeing the number of buy to let mortgages available reaching levels not seen since August last year, research reveals. The analysis by Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that BTL mortgage availability, both fixed and variable, has been improving […]

Hello, I let a 5 bed semi detached. The house is over 2 floors, ground and first. I have radio controlled fire safety fitted in the hall and landing. My local authority is asking for a fire test safety certificate. I have never been asked before. I have had a licence for the last 10 […]

Paragon Mortgages have introduced a new 5-year fixed rate mortgage to their Buy-to-Let portfolio product range. With a fixed fee of £2495, this is perfect for larger loans which usually have to pay a % of the loan amount as an arrangement fee to the lender. For example, a typical 3% lender’s fee on a […]

At the time I sold my last business in 2013, I was renting a house. I had owned, extended and refurbished many homes before and had also owned a portfolio of flats. But when the money from my business sale hit my bank account I did not own any property. It was a life-changing sum […]

This is a heart-warming story of how a potentially very nasty contentious litigation battle was not only avoided but was also transformed into something that could well become a lifelong friendship and lucrative two-way business relationship. It began around six weeks ago when I was doing some keyword research for SEO marketing purposes and stumbled […]

Are councils following the law when telling tenants to stay put when they are facing eviction to protect them? Or is the council simply kicking the can further down the road? The simple answer is – no-one seems to know. And this Property118 investigation highlights the confusion and mystery that surrounds the stance taken by […]

What’s the #1 most important thing you need to be a successful property investor? For 9 out of 10 people, the answer is always the same: Money… After all, more money, more deals, right? But not so fast… Because in reality, even the richest investors run out of money (never mind the rest of us). […]

Planned legislation known as ‘Awaab’s law’ that will make councils and housing associations fix reported health hazards – including damp and mould – within strict new time limits should be extended to private rented homes too, one council suggests. Oxford City Council is following in the footsteps of Citizens’ Advice which made a similar call […]

Hello, My excellent tenant of 8 years standing wishes to apply for universal credit. The requirements state : We will only accept the following documents: up-to-date tenancy agreement letter from your landlord or landlord’s agent rent book rent receipts The original agreement made in 2015 was a 12 month AST and is now monthly periodic. […]