England’s rental market is returning to good health with a significant reduction in void periods and costs compared to last year, research reveals. Voids are one of a buy to let landlords’ biggest pain points since an empty property means no rental income. And, according to research from Total Landlord Insurance, voids also offer a […]

The rules for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in England’s rental properties have changed – and landlords and agents need to understand the new rules. The move is part of the Government’s plan to create a ‘safer, better and bigger’ PRS. It’s worth noting that the changes do not appear to be vastly different – […]

Hello everyone, I have recently had a fire risk assessment conducted on my HMO property. The report indicates the doors are not compliant as they have no seals and only two hinges instead of the required three. The closing mechanisms are also faulty and the door frames and doors are not aligned properly. The question […]

Hi, Just checking mortgage borrowing rates this morning and came across two products with NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland, both asking for EPC’s of A and B to apply for their best fixed rate mortgage products on a five year fixed rate deal! Talk about kicking people when they are down. If this […]

My wife and I have nearly £2,000,000 on fixed-rate mortgages that are due to expire in January 2023 – YIKES! The LTV across our portfolio is somewhere between 40% and 50% and in recent years our rental income has been apportioned at around 33% finance costs, 33% other expenses and 33% profits. We have calculated […]

Hi, I’m renting out one property through a local estate agent, paying 11% of the rental value to them. I have really good long term renters in and happy to keep the renters (renewed in March for another 12 months). However, I want to change estate agents. Does anyone have experience of this without having […]

Scotland will be the first country in the UK to officially monitor short term lets by requiring all councils to have an operational licensing system in place. The Short-Term Lets Licensing Order takes effect on 1 October 2022 and is aimed at ensuring an even playing field within the short term let market. By licensing […]

Demand from tenants for a home to rent is creating a market that is like a ‘pressure cooker getting hotter’. That’s the verdict from Nathan Emerson, the chief executive of Propertymark, who says that the number of new tenants being registered per member branch reached a new peak at 141 in August. But the supply […]

Anyone buying a home for less than £225,000 in Wales will pay no tax, the Welsh Government has announced. The threshold for paying Land Transaction Tax (LTT) is being increased from £180,000 to £225,000 with the change coming into force on 10 October 2022. There will also be a small increase in the rate of […]

The UK’s housing market is slowly transitioning into a buyers’ market as higher mortgage rates hit household buying power by up to 28% – and asking price reductions return to pre-pandemic levels. That’s the verdict of Zoopla’s August House Price Index and they also highlight that stamp duty changes will support lower value markets and […]

With interest rates spiralling, the pound sterling plunging and recession looming, what does this all mean for property investors & property prices? Stay tuned to find out in this Mini Budget Property Update. Please click on the video below:

The Bank of England has revealed that it is launching a bond-buying programme in a bid to prevent ‘material risk’ to the UK’s financial stability. The bank says it is going to restore ‘orderly market conditions’ and buy as many long-dated government bonds as needed from today until 14 October. The move follows the market […]

Dear All, I purchased an apartment in 2011 and it has ground rent charges of £500 p.a. for the apartment and £250 p.a. for the car parking space (which is in a separate building to the apartment). In my lease it indicates that the ground rent is reviewed every 10 years and a variable factor […]

Hi, I’m just at the tail end of purchasing another property to add to my portfolio. The price of the property is £140,000. With the changes made by the government last week in the mini budget will I still pay stamp duty? At this moment in time, my solicitor cannot advise on this as the […]

Good evening, I am looking for some expertise from the forum if possible please. I am a landlord by mistake – currently to my sister. However, she is moving out soon and so I have a new dilemma: 1. Do I rent it out? (An area I have very little general expertise currently) 2. Do […]

Rising interest rates are eroding the profitability of buy-to-let for mortgaged landlords and they are increasingly having to buy properties in higher yielding parts of the country, one survey suggests. According to Hamptons, that charge is being led by London landlords who are looking further afield in search of profits. But if base rates reach […]

Britain’s rental stock has declined by more than 40% in the past three years leaving the market severely depleted compared to the pre-pandemic years, research reveals. The findings from Research from Ocasa, the specialist rental platform, reveal that in 2019, there were 225,000 homes listed to rent across the rental market. But the most recent […]

As I write this article the Bank of England Governor is under immense pressure to take emergency measures to protect against the collapse of the pound by increasing the Bank of England base rate by a further 1.75% to 4%. The £ is currently trading at $1.07 and is predicted to slump much further unless […]

Hi, I have fitted new smoke and CO alarms to replace the ones already installed, as it is a fresh start with the new regulations regarding fitting. Although I had the required alarms already fitted, I decided total replacements were the way to go. But, I can’t seem to find a decent landlord’s installation form […]

The leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, says his government will clamp down on buy to let landlords if his party takes power. In his speech to the party conference in Liverpool, Sir Keir said he would promote home ownership – and stop buy to let landlords and second homeowners ‘getting in first’. […]

Hi, Has anyone experienced a situation where you can’t get hold of the tenants? I’ve been trying to contact my tenants to arrange access for a surveyor to do a valuation, but there’s been no response whatsoever from both tenants. I have been trying for two weeks, I’ve tried emails, text messages, WhatsApp and phone calls, […]