The news headlines in the last few weeks have been filled with the concerning prospect of energy bills increasing. With the increase, how will you be trying to limit energy usage for you and your tenants? Switching off the heating? Cold showers? Doesn’t sound appealing. What about making your home more energy efficient? It could […]

Hi, I purchased a property with the help of my father in 2014 or so, I had only contributed a small percentage to the purchase price. About a year later, I gave up control of the property (allowed him to rent it out, and gave him the right to instruct me to sell it). He […]

Property Auction Analysis of 2 Shop and Upper property investment deals coming up at property auctions, reviewed by myself, Jay Howard and Piotr Rusinek. One of the deals has Jay wanting to turn the camera off, so he can bid, while the other has Piotr worried about London’s ‘Cursed’ Property Postcode. Watch the video below […]

The proportion of private renters in arrears in England has more than doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic according to Government data released today. The latest Household Resilience Study reveals that in April-May 2021 seven per cent of private renters were in arrears, up from three per cent in 2019/20. This amounts to over 780,000 renters. […]

A new YouGov poll commissioned by Shelter report claims the health of 22% of renters in England is being harmed by poor housing, with the most common problems plaguing renters’ mental and physical health. They include damp and mould, which affects 26% of all renters; being unable to heat their home (also affects 26%); constantly […]

Hi, We moved into a property on a Friday afternoon, when we came in we noticed that the main lock on the door was not secured (the bottom lock we didn’t get keys for). We tried calling the emergency out of hours number for the management (as it was Fri afternoon) but no answer, so […]

With just 10 weeks to go until Christmas, and the property market at a record high, it’s no wonder landlords are choosing this year as the year to sell their property portfolios, cash in and retire. And they’re bang on the money; we’re currently experiencing a market high that happens just once every 7 years, […]

A family member is selling their property in order to now self-fund a much-needed operation, that he is unable to get (quickly) on the NHS. The property is tenanted, and initially, she did not want to move after we gave her notice, but she has come round to the idea as her own circumstances have […]

When setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for your Buy to Lets it is important to use the appropriate SIC Code. (A SIC code is a five-digit Standard Industrial Classification code. There are more than 600 individual SIC codes in the UK) The following codes are normally accepted by lenders: 68100, 68201, 68202, 68209, […]

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced almost £57.8 million from the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) has been allocated to 53 councils for new homes to be built on underused and derelict land. The funding will boost local areas by transforming unloved and disused sites into vibrant communities for […]

The Times has suggested it’s time to kill off Buy to Let mortgages on its 25-year anniversary while making some pretty outrageous claims. In this video, Andrew Roberts and I predict the future of Buy to Let (BTL) and Buy To Let Mortgages, as well as what you as a savvy property investor should be […]

I am a residential landlord of a small portfolio of buy-to-let properties in London. I purchased my most recent property in March 2018, and took out a 5-year fixed-rate mortgage with a lender to enable me to do so. I rent it out to 4 tenants, either professionals or mature students. In October 2018, the […]

Hi, My parents will be gifting a property to me in the not too distant future, and I just wanted to gather some advice regarding best practices moving forward with the aim of growing a buy-to-let portfolio. I am 26 years old and understand somewhat the benefits of doing this within a corporation however was […]

Hi Property118, I am interested in setting up a Smart property company structure with a holding company and SPVs (Single Purpose Vehicles) as subsidiaries and want to understand the set-up and annual maintenance costs involved, please. Many Thanks, T Answer From Mark Alexander: “You could set up a very basic company structure as outlined yourself […]

SpareRoom.co.uk is reporting that there are currently more ads on its platform for people looking for rooms than there are for rooms available, and they say this is only the third time this has happened on their platform in the last six years. Spareroom said: “With people finally able to move, and others re-entering the […]

“Winter drawers on!” was the risqué chorus amongst the women on the shop-floor where I served my engineering apprenticeship, every year, as the weather started getting colder! And that reminded me that it’s time all landlords were making sure their boilers are going to withstand the onset of winter – without the annual breakdowns that […]

Just as the Govt are pulling away your £20pw when prices have increased, Govt has pulled away £150pw which secures your home. Direct rents payable to Landlords (where tenants may have got into money difficulties is 5% of Private Landlord tenancies). The figure before the lockdown was 7%. So, tenants, DWP Universal Credit UC are […]

The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) has warned of a shortage of properties available to rent over the winter, increasing pressure on emergency housing provided by councils. SAL members are reporting drops of 80% or more in the number of properties available to let, in just the last two months. SAL says the shortage is […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]