Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers, will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the pin Nottingham meeting Tuesday 15th February. The Nottingham pin Meeting is now returning to its physical venue De Vere Orchard Hotel, Beeston Lane, Nottingham, NG7 2RJ Hosted by Spike Reddington on […]

It is now the anniversary of the UK government New Model Tenancy Agreement  to give pet owners more freedom to rent, and Quintain Living has released a new study focusing on renting with pets in the UK. The study, based on 1,000 respondents who own pets, provides insights on the secret life of pet owners, […]

Dear all, We have an electric boiler in a central London property. The boiler is over 4 years old and keeps tripping off the central heating circuit in the residual current device (RCD). The property has been without hot water and heating for the past week. Our usual heating engineer has run some checks but […]

We bought and renovated a little house many years ago that was on its knees. It is grade listed. Our plan was to eventually live in it but to have it as a holiday let for a number of years. We have had an issue with our neighbours for some time. They have bullied everyone […]

A contract is due for renewal on 1st April. Owing to recent events, I reluctantly decided to raise the rent by £40 a month. I notified the tenant on 7th February. He has come back to me and said that if he stays he will pay the new rent from 7th April as that is […]

Taxes. Regulations. Rental changes. Reforms. High standards. Section 21 being scrapped. Is this all too much for some landlords? The government’s dramatic Levelling Up White Paper feels like another knife in the back to the private rental sector. A national landlord register, crack-down on rogue landlords, the implementation of a national ‘decent homes standard’ and […]

The latest Halifax House Price reported growth slowing in January to 0.3%, the lowest inflation figure since June last year, but average prices still hit a new record high of £276,759. The annual rate of growth still remains high at 9.7% with transaction volumes returning towards pre-Covid levels. Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said: “House […]

Dear all, I am in the process of a lease extension for a flat we bought recently, our solicitor is happy for us to sign the new lease with a clause stating “In consideration of the Premium and the surrender unto the Landlord of the term of years created by the Previous Lease, the Landlord […]

My understanding is that the cost of the Licences that Councils are issuing, (HMO’s, Selective Licenses etc) are supposed to be based on the cost of operating them. I have not seen any Council offer any cost breakdowns. Does anyone know if they are required to do so? Are Councils also required to show who […]

You have an EICR done by a NAPIT registered professional – it raises a few C’3. The report actually states ‘ There are no items adversely affecting electrical safety, and the C’s listed are categorised and listed as ‘Improvement recommended’. What does this actually mean? Yes, I have legally ticked the box for the check […]

Hundreds of thousands of property landlords are paying too much tax and in this video, I am joined by Mark Alexander from Property 118 to tell you what you can do about it. Section 24 is a massive tax burden on Buy to Let landlords. There has been much talk on strategies Landlords can adopt […]

We invested in 2 units in a block of student accommodation being built 8 years ago, and the investment has been fraught with problems. We owe some ground rent to the freeholder, as for the first time without warning they are demanding the ground rent in advance for this year. They have ‘passed’ the debt […]

Moneyfacts.co.uk has analysed the average rates offered across savings and mortgages and considers what this decision may mean for consumers moving forward. Rachel Springall, Finance Expert said: “Mortgage rates are on the rise, and this base rate rise may come as disappointing news to borrowers who are not locked into a competitive rate. Lenders are […]

“Since the end of lockdown, we’ve seen an increasing population of landlords who do not wish to leverage their properties as much as they may have done previously. As a responsible lender, we have launched some 50% and 60% LTV products to cater for this market and reward this prudent approach. “In addition, we made […]

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted by a majority of 5-4 to increase Bank Base Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 0.5%. The members of the committee that voted against actually wanted to increase the rate by 0.5 to 0.75%, so the Doves actually prevailed despite the increase. The MPC also […]

Hello all, To explain my situation, I am a UK citizen, but currently living in Hong Kong. I already have a number of properties in my own name (bought before I left the UK) and am now looking to establish a company with my cousin, who is based in the UK. I have the money […]

The choice of buy-to-let deals available to first-time landlords (FTL) has grown at a time when demand is rife for rental properties, according to the most recent research by Moneyfacts.co.uk. As product availability has recovered in the wider buy-to-let (BTL) sector following the impact of the pandemic, so too has the number of products on […]

Responding to proposals in the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ White Paper that private rented homes will be required to meet the Decent Homes Standard, Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association said: “Every tenant should have the right to expect properties to be safe and secure. The existing Decent Homes Standard however is […]

Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will further be abolished, ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason. We will consult on introducing a landlords register, and will set out plans for a crackdown on rogue landlords – making sure fines and bans stop repeat offenders leaving renters […]

For those of you that manage your own properties (without using an agency etc), what is your sequence of events when you have a person(s) interested in taking a room or a property? I ask this because I am having an abnormal amount of people saying that want to take a property and asking for […]

I’d welcome readers’ thoughts on an issue I have discovered with S24 that was not immediately apparent (to me at least) and I am wondering if I (and my accountant) have right or wrong. In summary: I thought S24 meant I would benefit from a 20% deduction for loan interest. However, this appears not to […]