Hi everyone, I would be most grateful if anyone could possibly clarify if there is an agreed standard accounting practice allowance for administrative expenses incurred by landlords that are tax-deductible from profits. The sorts of administration expenses I am incurring are things such as mobile phone expenses, landline costs, internet contracts and mileage expenses to […]

I have given notice to the council for a ‘deemed discharge notice’, in order for the planning condition to be discharged under article 28 of the Town & Country Planning (Development Management Procedure (England) Order 2015. All the requirements have been fulfilled to enact one under article 29 1. Application was sent in for a […]

I’m looking to remortgage and fix for 5 years but I’ve found that 4 of my properties are being classed as commercial which is dictating higher interest rates and ‘setup fees’. The four freehold properties each contain two self-contained flats and lenders are treating them as ‘Multi-Unit Blocks’ which is commercial lending. If I create […]

Hi all, Some companies do rent to service accommodation and I am looking for advice on this market, please. This type of contract is where you lease an apartment from them for say 3 to 5 years and you then use the apartment for short lets. Part of the deal is that the apartment is […]

With inflation at 9%+ and the Bank of England interest base rate at 1%, there has never been a better time to use other people’s money to fund your investments. You might be wondering why would people lend money to you? That is a great question. The answer is because you can help other people […]

Paragon’s Rental Affordability Index takes recently published Government data, and by overlaying gross annual earnings with the average amount spent on rent, reveals an average rental affordability ratio for local authority areas across England with the average salary of £30,264 equating to 32.1% of the average rent The least affordable local authorities in which to […]

Can anyone please advise on this? We have had our offer accepted on a little church hall which is being sold by the trustees. It has been used as a parent and toddler group for about 16 years and is only used for 90 minutes per week. No religious worship takes place there. The vendors, […]

Do you lack control over your service charge or have difficulty getting your landlord to make urgent repairs? Are you thinking of RTM but keep on putting it off as the process seems laborious and overwhelming? If so, we have a solution that will help you.  We have built a platform that has automated the […]

The Minister for the Private Rented Sector, Eddie Hughes MP, will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural National Landlord Conference on Tuesday 15th November. Hosted by the National Residential Landlords Association in partnership with Landlord Law, the conference will focus on the future of the private rented sector. The event will be chaired by […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers, will be presenting on the subject of Business and Tax Structures for Property Investors in 2022 at the Premier Property Club on Wednesday the 25th of May. Use this link to book and receive a 100% discount on tickets >> https://premiertaxstructures.eventbrite.co.uk This will […]

The latest inflation figures released today by the Office of National Statistics indicate CPI inflation has reached 9.0% in the 12 months to April 2022, the highest rate since recording started in 1997, and up from 7.0% in March. CPI monthly inflation increased dramatically in April to 2.5%, with the Bank of England admitting they […]

The government recently passed into law the much-anticipated Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022. This effectively ends government interventions to prevent tenant insolvencies during the pandemic, largely in the form of the extended moratorium on tenant evictions for non-payment of rent. From 24 March 2022 onwards, all tenant arrears will now be divided into two pots, […]

A former tenant owes me £2,222 for repairs to the house. It’s a bit of a story – they moved out in December 2021. I would definitely like to get a CCJ and if necessary, take steps to go for an Attachment of Earnings. I emailed two firms of solicitors, one local and one that […]

Hi everyone, I own a top floor flat in a 3 storey flat roof 1960’s Block and the new freeholders have sent us all a letter saying they intend to build a further two storeys of flats on top of the building. The long term noise and disruption to my tenants is going to be […]

Permitted Development PD and listed building conversion work. Linda Wright and Andrew Roberts are back answering Planning Permission questions and Gorilla investor poses some great ones today. Today we seek to answer the following questions. 1) Can you use permitted development to undertake a commercial conversion on a listed building? 2) Can I convert a […]

I own a BTL property in my sole name and intend to transfer the title into joint names with my partner and transfer a small percentage of equity (10-15%). We are not married so it’s not a transfer between spouses. The property is mortgaged and the transfer is because all our other BTL properties are […]

Hi everyone, In 1999 we purchased a one bedroomed leasehold flat. Several years later we extended the lease at some considerable cost. We recently sold the flat and now have to calculate the CGT owing. My question is the cost of extending the lease claimable as an allowable expense against CGT? I can’t find where […]

The living conditions in a couple of council flats in a tower block off Regina Road in South Norwood, Croydon have been condemned as “dangerous squalor” and “appalling” in a devastating television news report: Click here. The London Borough of Croydon ranks equal 13th in our league of the councils that are most aggressive to landlords […]

I need to raise some finance shortly and one of the options I am looking into is to sell 2/3rds and retain 1/3rd of a freehold BTL property I’ve had for 20 years. Going forward the house will remain tenanted and we will split the rent 3 equal ways, any expenses will also be split […]

Hi everyone, My letting agent didn’t serve the tenants the prescribed information for their deposit protection. This was for a number of properties of mine. I am obviously now in the process of de-instructing them. But what can I do to make all existing tenancies compliant? Can I ask the tenants to sign a new […]

Hi all, I have just been talking to a fellow landlord and in the discussion, the question and idea came up can we index link the rent into an AST contract? The next question is if this indexing clause was possible in the contract would you still have to serve a rent increase notice to […]