The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak has announced a review of Capital Gains Tax. In this video I discuss with Alex Caravello, Property118 Tax Consultant and Mark Smith, Cotswold Barristers, what implications this will have on property investors and landlords and what action landlords can take now before any changes take effect.  Landlord […]

Housing Minister, Christopher Pincher MP responded to a written question from Labour MP Helen Hayes regarding the eviction ban extension and confirmed again that the ban on possession cases would end on 23rd August. The Minister indicated that priority would be given for landlords and tenants in cases that are not related to COVID-19 including […]

Hi All, We have our flat advertised for tenancy and we got a couple who are interested to move in. We asked for all the relevant info for the reference check from TenantVerify, but also asked for last 6 months bank statement/payslips, which they happily provided with no delay. One partner has just started working […]

I have an issue regarding an office that was converted into a 3-bed flat June 2016 with full planning permission and would welcome any advice on how to tackle the problem. Since being converted, it has been rented out to 3 friends and was covered by a Selective Property Licence which was the correct licence […]

I would like to know if I have the right to first refusal on the freehold of the property I own a lease on. I bought the flat with a ninety-nine year lease, the occupants in the other flat did likewise, after a number of years the freeholder put the freehold up for sale, both […]

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted almost every facet of society. For landlords and property owners, the disruptions have been significant, with many tenants facing furlough or redundancy and no way to pay rent. This issue has been even more challenging for student property providers, as university terms being brought to an early end led to […]

I need some legal advice on a property for sale, please. Three agents were advising on our property for sale back in September 2019. There were few offers, which were not accepted until January this year. Agent A forwarded an offer in January, which was accepted but later on the buyer, which was a company […]

Welcome to the Landlord and lawyer Podcast with myself and Ben Beadle. Our first episode is now live. Read our article or listen to the post below. Click the button to listen to the episode on Apple, Google or Spotify. “So what are Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs)? Kate describes them as a ‘little holy […]

One of my tenants has issued me with a Notice to Quite after she realised I wasn’t bluffing when I issued a Section 21. Anyway she is due to leave on 27th July, with a debt that I can’t get agreed for a TPD with via DWP (not that I have much time now anyway) […]

I am being told that to comply with new electrical regulations we need a certificate of fitness. I am also being told that the plastic fuse box/consumer unit needs to be replaced with something of non-combustible construction? This means made of metal! We have spent the last 50 years taking out metal fuse boxes because […]

The Welsh Government has announced a temporary increase to the nil rate band of Land Transaction Tax (LTT) to £250,00 for main residence property transactions from 27th July 2020 until 31st March 2021. The tax paid for higher rate residential or non-residential transactions are unchanged. There will still be additional rates to pay for landlords […]

We are considering an International Student who has viewed the room to rent via Whatsapp and has chatted to me about the rental. She would like to take the room, but will not be in the UK until mid-September. We have agreed to commence a 12-month tenancy from 1 September and will email the contract […]

I think my property management agent is proposing an unfair contract and I’d appreciate the views of the wise landlords on this forum. For more than 10 years I have employed the same agent to manage my rental property in London. My tenant of the last 5+ years is leaving and the agent has sent […]

I have just had an Electrical Installation Condition Report carried out on a flat I rent out by an NIC approved contractor. The report has come back saying the installation is satisfactory. The flat has just become vacant and I’m in the process of finding a new tenant. As far as I am aware under […]

We have a property rented to the Local Diocese of Church of England on a Company Letting Agreement for 2 years. The agreement has ended, but the permitted Occupiers refused to leave the property on the basis of the current coronavirus outbreak. We have reluctantly agreed to extend the property occupation twice with 2 months […]

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has requested a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in an open letter to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). This could indicate the Chancellor is considering a future increase in the CGT levy in an attempt to shore up the UK’s finances. However, this morning in a Sky interview, Secretary […]

In a letter to the Housing Secretary, the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan has expressed his concern at the prospect of the current eviction ban coming to an end on August 23rd. and wants to prevent private landlords from serving section 21 and section 8 notices where tenants have accrued arrears as a result of COVID-19. […]

The NRLA warns landlords should not have blanket policies that discriminate against those in receipt of benefits. Responding to a court case in York which has ruled that it is unlawful for landlords to discriminate in this way, Chris Norris, Policy Director for the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “No landlord should discriminate against tenants, […]

Well I thought I’d finish the damn (new extended) form N5B, but I’m not sure I interpreted /answered question 15 correctly. Well question 15 itself is simple enough that’s a definite NO but after that I’m not sure if i’m supposed to disregard questions 15c-15i . So not sure if to leave them all blank, […]

I have raised the rents in nearly all my properties over the last couple of months – all by way of S13 and letters to the tenant explaining this. Just had the following message come back from one Council for one tenant who still receives Housing Benefit: “Thank you for your recent communication, I can […]

Labour’s shadow housing secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, has written an open letter to Robert Jenrick accusing the Conservatives of sneaking out a £1.3bn bung to second home owners and landlords in the Summer Economic Update. This is despite the 3% surcharge still being applied to all second homes and residential rental property. The letter dated 9 […]