A judicial review into the inability to evict non-paying tenants during lockdown is being launched by David Smith of JMW Solicitors. This tenant eviction ban during lockdown is causing many smaller landlords serious hardship. In this Property Investors Coffee Morning special, we will be joined LIVE by David Smith, Partner at JMW Solicitors who believes […]

Anyone else having problems with Rent Smart Wales? On 23/10/2020 I received a reminder from them to re-register as my registration expired on 04/12/2020. I went online on 26/10//2020 and re-registered and paid my fee of £36 and duly received receipts for payment. Yesterday, Friday 13th I received a very nasty threatening email from them […]

I read an article on here a couple of weeks ago about landlords now taking a guarantor as extra security regardless of whether the tenants pass their own referencing or not.  I thought this is a very good idea, so I have just signed up some new tenants with a homeowner guarantor. The guarantor has […]

I have a flat where I am a freeholder. There are only two flats in the building, A couple of months ago, I had been contacted by the leaseholder to extend the lease as there is only 68 years left. I said to them that we would need to get a surveyor to value the […]

The building split into 15 different sized flats is managed by a board of directors from the leaseholders. It has worked reasonably well, but now that the building is in need of updating and also some hefty repairs (roof) the directors have decided that they will change the way that the service charge is paid. […]

It’s been 10 months since the Government first had to react to the global pandemic, so the Lord Chancellor issuing a letter on 21 October 2020, rather than following usual legal procedures, to deal with the actual execution of possession orders is unacceptable. David Smith, partner at JMW Solicitors, is representing clients who have been […]

If you are a property investor, should you buy or rent your own home? This topic has been discussed quite a lot over YouTube recently and in this video I share a checklist of ten points that you should consider to arrive at the best decision for you! For most people buying your own home […]

I own a flat in the South of England which produces about £400 monthly positive cashflow. It also has around £30,000 of equity currently. However, the lease is down to 57 years and I have 7 years left on a very low mortgage rate. Quote to renew the lease is £23500 + legals. The question […]

The Office of Tax Simplification has published its proposals to Chancellor Rishi Sunak in regards to CGT. A link to the 131 page document can be found HERE. The Breaking News Live video was hosted by Ranjan Bhattacharya and myself. We discussed our initial thoughts on the proposals, specifically in regards to how they could […]

Young people are being forced to choose between racking up rent debts and risking their health due to rules limiting what they can claim for housing benefit. Those under 35 who are now relying on benefit to pay their rent for the first time will find that support will only be available to cover the […]

Hi, I am planning to build an outbuilding in my backyard for short-let/Airbnb. My property is a semi-detached bungalow in London. The backyard is about 80sqm in total. The plan is to build a summerhouse/annexe with 30sqm floor area. It will be separated from the main house and can be independently accessible from the backyard […]

Hello. After serving a section 21 I have just received a hearing date for a review. The court papers advise me to do the following: Provide to the courts a bundle of all documents filed in the case to date and to provide a paper copy of that bundle to the defendant. Now, this is […]

Research by Benham and Reeves, has revealed that postcodes home to a part of our military history are also home to higher property prices when compared to the wider area. House price data in postcodes home to 10 military locations indicated that on average prices hit £618,225 which is 155% higher than the current average […]

We are about to buy a 3-bedroom house plus a loft conversion completed over 16 years ago with no regulations. The owners did not do the loft conversion, and we think they are struggling to find any signed off building regulation documents. It has a proper staircase, door and two windows. The mortgage is fine […]

Dear Property118 readers, I received the follow request for assistance today from a Daily Telegraph journalist. I’m writing an article today looking at the mounting problems landlords face in the time of coronavirus – ie, rent losses, the six month eviction notice period, falling rents in cities such as London, continued tightening regulations and new […]

The latest Hometrack Rental Market report for quarter 3 2020, based on data from Zoopla, is indicating that while annual rental incomes are on average for the whole of the UK up  1.7% the London market has fallen 5.2%. The latest average monthly rental income for a UK property is now £890. Lockdown and the […]

Home Buying platform, Yes Homebuyers, has revealed the positive impact that a second lockdown could have on the value of your spare room, based on the increase in value as homebuyers scrambled to buy bigger houses with more space in the wake of the first national lockdown. Yes Homebuyers research shows that prior to lockdown […]

We moved out of our home on 1st February 2019. Since December 2018, we had advertised the property to let from 1st Jan 2019, and put everything in place to satisfy our mortgage lender’s demands (landlord insurance etc) when we applied for ‘permission to let’ in early December. Our interest rate was increased by 1% […]

Hi, I have a number of European tenants and was wondering what is likely to happen if we leave Europe without a deal. I keep seeing adverts on TV about getting your business ready for Jan 01 -21. Are their rights likely to change and possibly have to leave the country within a required timescale […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies including special strategies for Scottish landlords at the pin Edinburgh Thursday 19th November. The events will be held Online and Attendees can expect first-class speakers and great networking opportunities. For any Property118 readers […]

A further £15 million has been allocated to support the ongoing efforts to provide accommodation for rough sleepers during the pandemic. The ‘Protect Programme’ will help areas that need additional support most during the restrictions and throughout winter. This will run alongside the ongoing ‘Everyone In’ campaign, which is helping to protect thousands of lives […]