The attached neighbour to our rental property conducted works which included a loft conversion and kitchen roof height lift. The Council have confirmed that no permission was applied for (or retrospectively requested) and possibly PD rights were exceeded. Building Regs were also not applied for. Work is believed to have taken place circa 2 years […]

I have owned a property for over 17 years, which was bought from a property company with tenants in situ under a Protected Tenancy. The tenants had been moved there from a previous property under a Protected Tenancy. The Agreement stated that the Protected Tenancy would continue for a period of two years. Does that […]

Are lawyer’s fees chargeable against rental income? I had a firm, supposedly well accredited, called Lethbridge, to do the refurb on my flat in London. The work was rubbish, some not completed, so I didn’t pay for all the work. They then took me to Court. We won, but I had big legal fees. Can […]

I am non-UK resident and need to get a retrospective valuation of a UK house as at 5 April 2015. This is because for CGT purposes, the UK tax law says I can use the value of the house as at 5 April 2015 as my “acquisition cost”, instead of the cost I paid for […]

Joint statement by The Big Issue Ride Out Recession Alliance, Crisis, Citizens Advice, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Money Advice Trust, The Mortgage Works, National Residential Landlords Association, Nationwide Building Society, Propertymark, StepChange Debt Charity and Shelter: At least half a million private renters are in arrears due to the economic impact of Covid-19. The UK Government’s […]

I had a gas safety check carried out on one of our properties last Friday afternoon for a tenant, his wife and four children by Your Repair. The engineer carried out the gas safety on the boiler and said all was working well, but noticed a grill was missing from the flue pipe outside, to […]

Hi, I am trying to find a definition for what would constitute an urgent (or emergency) repair in legislation, regulations, etc Which repairs would be considered urgent for a landlord to undertake immediately? Can anybody advise if such definition or explanation exists and where I can find it, please? Thank you, Olga Editors Note: From […]

My daughter is trying to arrange a buy to let mortgage on a ground floor apartment she has recently inherited. The apartment has been let and my daughter needs the money out of the apartment to use as a deposit on a new family home. The apartment is ground floor in a modern 3 storey […]

Responding to concerns raised by the Environmental Audit Select Committee today that money not spent on the Government’s Green Homes Grant scheme will not be rolled over to next year, Meera Chindooroy, Deputy Policy Director for the National Residential Landlords Association said: “Our own survey data shows that 43% of landlords are interested in applying […]

The number of inflation-beating accounts on the UK savings market has fallen month-on-month and there has been a rise in inflation. The latest analysis from Moneyfacts.co.uk reveals the options available to savers to beat the current level of inflation today. – The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 0.7% during January, from 0.6% in December. […]

Hello, I was wondering if Property118 could shed some light on the new proposed changes to the EPC requirements – my understanding is that over the next few years 2025 onwards, properties in the PRS have to be rated a C as a minimum. Currently, has to be above an E. My worry is that […]

For leasehold properties, I have recently been advised leaseholders may be exposed to some gap and loophole between home content insurance and building insurance (usually taken by the management company or freeholder). Can anyone with more experience in the field advise how the best we can cover ourselves, please? Case 1. Typically, home content insurance […]

Our third and next webinar is with solicitor David Smith of JMW Solicitors. This is David’s second webinar in the series where he will be looking at company lets. A company let is where the tenant is a limited company rather than a living person.  It is capable of being a residential tenancy so long […]

Where do you stand if EICR work might need doing, but you have a broken relationship with a problem tenant who scared the electrician away and stated no electrical work will be done in the house? A satisfactory report was given last June with a recommendation to install sockets in bedrooms due to there only […]

The Secretary of State for housing, communities and local government has announced that the ban on the enforcement of evictions, save for the most egregious cases, including illegal occupation, false statement, anti-social behaviour, perpetrators of domestic abuse and serious rent arrears of more than 6 months has been extended until at least 31 March. Possession […]

A section of carpet, a fully functioning mobile phone and bathroom taps are among the more unusual items sent through the post during tenancy deposit disputes, according to The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS). The DPS said that it had received the carpet from a landlord wanting to demonstrate the iron burn that a tenant […]

Moneyfacts UK Savings Trends Treasury Report data, not yet published, reveals that the expectations of a promising ISA season may well be dashed this year due to continued cuts to ISA rates. The savings market overall contracted month-on-month and product volumes have now reached their lowest recorded levels, with all average savings rates reaching new […]

The long-awaited new series of Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ launches on Wednesday 17 February at 8pm.  This 10-part series, filmed prior to COVID-19 restrictions, follows the frontline work of letting agents, eviction specialists and lawyers helping landlords chase rent arrears and get their properties back; as well as council housing enforcement officers clamping […]

My tenant has one year remaining of a five year Lease on my commercial premises which he has occupied on a succession of 5-year Leases for 25 years. He owns and operates a Limited Company (registered at his home) but has always signed the Leases as a private individual. I don’t want to renew the […]

The Daily Telegraph has reported that the Chancellor is under pressure to avoid the Stamp Duty cliff edge on the 31st of March and is considering a 6 weeks extension to the 12th May to allow completion to take place delayed by conveyancing backlogs. A source told the paper: “It is certainly the case that […]

Renters will continue to be supported during the ongoing national lockdown restrictions, with an extension to the ban on bailiff evictions, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced. The ban on bailiff evictions, which was introduced at the start of the pandemic, has been extended for another 6 weeks until the 31st March with measures kept under […]