Hello, I’m selling a flat and the buyers’ survey has come back saying there is a potential risk of asbestos in the airing cupboard where the immersion tank is. The flats were gutted and redeveloped in the eighties. The management company have conducted an asbestos survey on the outside fabric of the building and common […]

The specialist buy-to-let lender Landbay has revealed that it has reduced the rates on all of its five-year fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.30% and added two new products to its variable fee range. Paul Brett, Landbay’s managing director, intermediaries, said: “For the second time in two weeks, we have been able to reduce […]

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is calling for a national rogue landlord database – after revealing that half a million tenants in the capital have accessed the Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker and Property Licence Checker. According to the mayor, new figures show the Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker has been used 388,000 times […]

Only cash help to make homes and businesses energy efficient will enable the government to meet a pledge set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, in his Autumn Statement last week, Propertymark says. Mr Hunt says he wants to focus on boosting energy efficiencies because this will be crucial to hitting the […]

Growing economic uncertainties has seen a rise in the number of letting agents supporting their landlords against rental arrears or income disruption. According to the latest data from Goodlord and Vouch, a comparison shows that 17% more letting agents are purchasing rent protection insurance compared to this time last year. Goodlord says that this jump […]

The number of UK house transactions increased by 2% in October to reach a seasonally adjusted total of 108,480, HMRC reports, though these figures do not reflect the market chaos seen after the Government’s mini-Budget. That rise is compared with September’s figure, and the annual increase is 38%. HMRC says its provisional seasonally adjusted estimate […]

Everyone is saying there will be a UK housing Market Crash in 2023, predicting that property prices will plummet. I’m going out on a limb, I predict property prices won’t plummet at all in 2023! In this video, I’ll explain why Property Investors shouldn’t expect a crash, what the smart money is doing in property […]

It’s the headline we thought we’d never see: Tesco is joining Asda and Lidl in rationing duck and chicken eggs oversupply issues. It might seem like news out of your grandparent’s era, but it’s just another reflection of the effect rising costs and the economy is having on both our business and domestic lives. It’s […]

Hello, I have a one bed rental flat in a small block of flats in Reading. My tenant experienced total loss of electrical power (there is no gas) and after prolonged and in-depth diagnosis by three electricians and the utility companies, it transpired that the fault (metal cutting into cable and rat infestation) came from […]

House prices in the UK are predicted to fall for the next two years before they will increase again, the government’s official forecaster says. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), it says that between now and autumn 2024, house prices will drop by 9%, the body’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook report shows. The […]

A growing number of wealthy Londoners who can’t sell their homes are becoming accidental landlords instead, a report has found. That’s because the housing market in the capital has slowed down to the point where one real estate firm says there has been a big rise in the number of premium London rental homes being […]

I hear a lot of talk about double taxation for private landlords who decide to incorporate. However, when I explain that a husband and wife could withdraw £100,540 a year between them from their company and pay less than half the amount of tax as individual landlords, that tends to get people thinking a bit […]

Hello, Police smashed their way into a block of 3 flats I own to interview some suspects. There was no need to use a battering ram to gain entry when there were call buttons and all three flats were occupied. The damage cost just under £1,000 to repair. The police have refused compensation as they […]

Propertymark, the body for property agents, says that the average number of new prospective tenants registered with each member branch in October fell by 42% on the month before. This drop in demand will, they say, reduce pressure on rents, with another fall this month in the number of agents reporting month-on-month rent price rises. […]

Increasingly worried landlords are demanding that their tenants offer a guarantor in the face of looming rent arrears, research reveals. According to referencing firm Goodlord, the region with the largest proportion of new tenancies being offered with a guarantor is for renters in the South West. That’s where 28% of landlords are requesting their tenant […]

Hello, I have 2 questions about the practical approach to meeting regulations. I have just requested an electrical safety check which the property has failed with a number of C2 faults. I have asked for an estimate for rectifying the faults which the electrician is preparing, but he has said that he can’t do the […]

More than 50% of property investors are looking to further expand their portfolio in 2023 – despite the uncertainty of the UK’s economic outlook, research reveals. The findings from bridging finance broker Finbri of more than 1,000 property investors found that 50.45% are planning to invest, with more experienced investors saying they are planning more […]

As a landlord, would you know what to do if a tenant said they are leaving a tenancy immediately because of a ghost in your property? Or how to deal with a tenant who hoards rubbish? These, and a lot of other questions, are answered by Gina Peters in her new book ‘Lettings Law for […]

While landlords have never been flavour of the month, we have lost the moral high ground over standards in private rented accommodation and it’s not coming back. It’s hard to believe that landlord associations do not do more proactive PR work in reaching out to media organisations and that those media outlets don’t bother contacting […]

It is very welcome news that the Chancellor has confirmed that the government will uprate benefits by inflation with an increase of 10.1%, giving families on Universal Credit a boost of £600 per year. We would also like to have seen some form of tax relief for landlords who let to tenants in receipt of […]

Hi, After a flooded kitchen, it was needed to be redone and insurance helped. They also agreed on an amount for disturbance daily payment instead of alternate accommodation for tenants. My questions are: Can the part of the disturbance allowance be used to update the kitchen to a better standard than insurance would otherwise pay? […]