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Six agents excluded from The Property Ombudsman

8th October 2021

Between July and September (inclusive), six agents were excluded from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for failing to pay compensatory awards. The excluded agents include: Ivory and Hatton, a sales and lettings agent in Canary Wharf, London. TPO found that two rent payments had been retained instead of being transferred to the landlord. The complaint was […]

Advanced Vetting To Avoid Nightmare Tenants

8th October 2021

We all suffer from bad and nightmare tenants from time to time. They can be bad in many ways. LEARN how to AVOID getting the wrong tenants in the first place. AVOID rent arrears AVOID anti-social behaviour AVOID council prosecution and fines AVOID trashed property You can learn a bunch of tried and tested formulas […]

Refinancing a modest but thorny commercial mortgage?

8th October 2021

Hello fellow P118’s – I wonder, can anybody help with a thorny little problem that we have? We need to refinance a modest (just over £500K) mortgage for a small office building that we own as a part of our pension. The current LTV is less than 60%. Kicker #1 is that this loan is […]

How on earth are landlords expected to carry on with no safeguards?

Anything else we can use so that my friend can feel more secure?

8th October 2021

Hi, I own a rental property with a friend. The investment is 50/50. The property and the mortgage are in my sole name, everything goes through a joint bank account in both our names. We have a “Deed of Trust” between ourselves, but is there anything else we can use so that my friend can […]

6 Buy To Let Tax Loopholes For Your Property Business

7th October 2021

6 Buy To Let Tax Loopholes you should be taking advantage of in your property business. In this video, Mark Alexander, from Property 118, and I break down 6 rules of the game to help mitigate your property tax and Section 24 costs. Please click on the video below:

Right to rent follow up check when tenant is renewing visa?

7th October 2021

Hi, My tenant’s UK work permit visa expired a few months ago, and I’m conducting a following up Right to Rent check. The tenant has been chasing an application to renew the work permit Visa with the Home Office for a number of months now, without any results. The question is: How and what can […]

Recent three-month downward trend in annual growth reversed

7th October 2021

The latest Halifax House price index has indicated annual house price inflation has increased from last month to 7.4%, up from 7.2% with the average UK property price now at a record £267,587. Wales and Scotland have continued to outperform the UK average Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said: “UK house prices rose by 1.7% […]

Section 21 Eviction Rules From October 1st

7th October 2021

Getting rid of a residential tenant, for whatever reason, has been subject to special rules under the coronavirus crisis but from October 1st, these rules revert back to what they were pre-covid. Join Paul Shamplina, from Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare tenants & Slum Landlords’ and Landlord Action, and me as we get the lowdown on what […]

End 5 week UC wait and pay housing element directly to landlords

6th October 2021

Today the Government will go ahead with a planned cut to Universal Credit of £20 per week. The level of welfare support had been increased in light of the impact of the pandemic on household incomes. With rent arrears at historically high levels, the NRLA’s view is that this cut will significantly worsen the levels […]

Unfair demands/treatment from managing agent and their lawyer?

6th October 2021

Dear All, I am a leaseholder in a large building, and pay my half-yearly service charges on receipt of emailed invoices from the managing agent. Out of blue, I received an emailed bill this September from a debt collections law firm, demanding legal costs/late fees of £2,593 on top of ‘unpaid’ July service charge invoice […]

tenancy agreement form, Property 118

Tenancy Agreements – Agents v Landlords?

5th October 2021

For the majority of my properties I use my own Tenancy Agreement (TA), established over time with updates as and when (mostly when issues have occurred with a previous tenant and to stop the potential for similar things happening again). I ensure no prohibited fees are listed etc and use many of the standard clauses. […]

Cash purchase, renovate then refinance with Ltd co mortgage?

5th October 2021

I currently have a small portfolio with my partner as a partnership. We are just under the threshold for section 24 as my partner only works part-time. I’ve just agreed on a sale for our next property in cash and after a full renovation was going to refinance it with a buy to let mortgage. […]

BTL purchase inside a new LLP?

4th October 2021

Hi, I am looking to purchase a new Buy to Let investment property. However, I would like to make the purchase of the property inside a newly created Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)  i.e. I am not transferring an existing property to the LLP. What does everyone recommend as the easiest way to do this? Do […]

Muslim Charity Increases Housing Grant by 50%

4th October 2021

In response to the recent change in renting law, UK Muslim Charity, National Zakat Foundation (NZF), are introducing a Covid recovery scheme to support those at risk of eviction. The charity which collects Zakat, an obligatory payment in the Islamic faith of 2.5% of annual qualifying wealth which is then distributed back into the Muslim […]

£1.1m Profit from Permitted Development Commercial Conversion

4th October 2021

£1.1 Million Profit From One Property Deal, but which Property Angel will fund it? Join Xuan Meng as she pitches her project on the hit Sky show Property Elevator. In this project, Xuan is looking to exploit the new permitted development rules which allow commercial premises to be converted to residential use under a light […]

Rental demand in cities strengthens as workers return

4th October 2021

Research by Barrows and Forrester, has revealed that rental demand has continued to climb across the vast majority of major UK cities during Q3, as a slow but steady return to the workplace, amongst other things, spurs a greater demand for rental homes within major urban areas. The Barrows and Forrester Rental Demand Index monitors […]

Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government

Understanding the possession action process – Guide updated 1st Oct 2021

4th October 2021

Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has updated its guide to Understanding the possession action process for private landlords in England and Wales: Click Here This guide will help you to understand what rights and responsibilities you have as a landlord when you need to use the courts to take possession of your property. […]

One HMO tenant left after Section 21?

4th October 2021

I own a 6 bed HMO and wish to renovate it and rent out as a whole house. Having served a section 21 several months ago (via my solicitor and agent) all the tenants have now left, except one. The remaining is refusing to leave. We have sent him a letter indicating we will now […]