Page 472 – Property118

New Electrical Installation Condition Report Rules July 2020?

15th July 2020

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 […]

Church of England Diocese tenant eviction?

15th July 2020

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 […]

Chancellor requests review of CGT by the OTS

15th July 2020

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 […]

Once in a generation opportunity to reboot the market in favour of tenants!

14th July 2020

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. […]

Landlords warned not to discriminate against benefits tenants

14th July 2020

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, […]

Yes another N5B query – still no guidance notes from government?

13th July 2020

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, […]

‘Fair Rents’ and the Valuation Office?

13th July 2020

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 […]

Shadow housing secretary accusing Sunak of massive ‘Bung’ to Landlords

13th July 2020

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 […]

Rent Guarantee new reference condition?

13th July 2020

Hi, I would be interested in views on the following: I received renewal Legal & Rent Guarantee Insurance documents from Rentguard (which initially I purchased through Openrent) There is the following condition in their ‘statement of fact’: “The responsibility lies with the landlord to make sure that if Tenants’ circumstances have changed from those provided […]

Selling my rental property to the Local Authority

13th July 2020

Selling my rental property to the Local Authority and need to serve a Section 21 notice to my tenants as well and will be talking to them. I’ve had enough of tenant and landlord regulations/legislation and having had 2 consecutive bad tenants on my other rental property I now want out. Re Q’s 6 & […]

LANDLORDS TAX PLANNING PAGE UPDATE

10th July 2020

Several video interviews have been added to our Landlord Tax Planning page for your viewing pleasure and to improve your landlord tax planning knowledge generally. Our mission is to facilitate the sharing of best practice, so please feel free to share this page on Social Media for the benefit of other landlords and their professional […]

Get your next property project funded and appear on TV!

10th July 2020

The hit TV show Property Elevator, will be back on Property TV, Sky Channel 192 in the Autumn. In last years series, budding property investors & developers pitched for backing from the Angels and some walked away being able to make their property development dream a reality. This years Property Angels are myself, John Howard, […]

Initiatives government could take to support landlords and the market

10th July 2020

Jack Bertolone, Operations Director at Brooklands Commercial Finance, discusses with Kate Faulkner the impact of the pandemic on the UK housing market and what other initiatives the government could take to support the property market and landlords. Kate Faulkner is a UK property analyst and a regular commentator on BBC, ITV and national newspapers. Brooklands […]

Property Market Crash = Huge opportunity for some (Online Today)

10th July 2020

This could be the Game Changer you have been waiting for. Let’s face it, the UK is unfortunately going to slip into recession and the Bank of England has predicted that there will be a 16% decline in house prices. So what does this mean for you? If you are looking to acquire more property, […]

BTL brokers showing increased confidence

10th July 2020

Four out of 10 Buy to Let brokers expect to write more business in the next 12 months, Paragon Bank’s Financial Adviser Confidence Tracker (FACT) Index has revealed. The survey of more than 200 intermediaries showed that 41% of advisors said they expect more buy-to-let business, a slight dip on the 43% recorded in the […]

Tenant satisfaction increases to 84%

10th July 2020

There has been an increase in the proportion of private renters satisfied with their housing according to data published by the Government. The figures, which form part of the English Housing Survey, show that in 2018/19, 84% of private tenants were satisfied with their accommodation, up one percentage point from the year before. This compares […]

I told the police they were not allowed back to the property?

10th July 2020

I recently rented my property to my partners husband and children. My daughter passed away last year and we let the property over a 10 year period to them. The relationship has broken down between us and he has not paid rent for 4 months. Although he did start to pay. He had been asking […]

HMO mortgages out of favour?

10th July 2020

I’m nearing the end of my 20 year term with Paragon on an HMO. They would only speak to me within the last 3 months of the term and have now said I can apply for an increase in term of up to 10 years. When I saw their rates I was surprised how high […]

Freehold issues and leaseholds not paying service charge?

10th July 2020

I wonder if someone could give me some advice, I’m a leaseholder of a flat that I purchased some 17 years ago in a block of 155. The service charge was around £2,500 per year, now gone up by another £1,200 for a reserve fund as there is no funds. The Freeholder managed the property, […]

Guarantor agreement still valid after rent increase?

9th July 2020

Hello, I am interested in increasing the rent of a long term tenant that is paying well below market rate. The new monthly rental rate would be more than 10% than the rent level which the guarantor signed for on the original contract. Would the guarantor still be “liable” after a significant increase in rent […]

Major works with ever rising costs

8th July 2020

Can anyone guide me to the right ‘body’ who can give leaseholders advice on ever rising costs of major works to our building. It went for tender with the lowest tender being chosen, it was not going well pre-lockdown and now they are back to work the contractor has ‘found’ (following complaints from residents/leaseholders) that […]