Page 477 – Property118

Lodgers and new Electrical Regulations?

27th April 2020

Instead of renting out the second bedroom under an AST, and where my daughter has the other bedroom, if my daughter takes in a lodger will she be treated as a private landlord and have to jump through the hoops for the new Electrical Regulations coming in to effect? Many thanks Judith Editor’s Notes: From […]

Save The Date – 29th April 2020 @ 7pm

24th April 2020

Join me, Shaf Rasul from Dragons Den, Simon Zutshi and Ranjan Bhattacharya live for an online Baker Street Property Meet at 7pm on 29th April 2020. REGISTER HERE IT’S FREE! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to be o the same panel as a real life Dragon! There awo things […]

Call for council tax relief on empty landlord properties

24th April 2020

The NRLA are calling on Ministers to instruct local authorities that they should not charge council tax on rented homes left empty because of the coronavirus. A significant number of rented homes have been left empty because tenants have been unable to take up tenancies, or have chosen to move out to be closer to […]

Meet Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) online at South Wales Property Meet

24th April 2020

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the South Wales Property Meet Thursday 30th April. The event will be held Online and Attendees can expect first class speakers and great networking opportunities. They will also be making a small donation […]

Alok Sharma will ban Statutory demands and Winding up orders

24th April 2020

The Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, has indicated high street shops and other companies with a commercial lease that are under strain will be protected from what he calls ‘aggressive’ rent collection and asked to pay what they can during the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of landlords and tenants are working well together to reach agreements […]

UC47 rejected but tenant consistently in arrears?

24th April 2020

I have just had a UC47 rejected as it states rent arrears are not in excess of two months rent. Does this mean the total tent of the property – or does this mean the total amount of rent due by the tenant towards her part of the rent – in other words her top […]

Supported living in HMO advice please?

23rd April 2020

Hi all, We have an empty HMO and have been approached by a care company who house service users with learning difficulties through the local council. They’re looking for HMO type properties to place service users with live in carers. We’re completely new to this so wondered if anyone can provide some links/sources/information so we […]

Which investment market will bounce back the quickest?

23rd April 2020

Sourced Capital, has looked at which investment options could recover the quickest in the wake of the current pandemic as markets across the board are currently, or are predicted, to take a hit. They looked at the decline seen in the most recent recession across real estate, oil, precious metals, a number of market indices […]

Wading through ‘info-overload’ amidst the pandemic

23rd April 2020

We understand that amidst these uncertain times, there is an enormous amount of new information being released every day. One of the things we are hearing is that, because every individual’s circumstances are different, landlords are finding it difficult to cut through all of the information in order to access what is relevant to them. […]

UK Housing Market – Past, Present and Future

23rd April 2020

Pre-lockdown There were a number of years where the housing market suffered due to the uncertainty around Brexit and more recently the general election. At the end of 2019 the Conservative Party called a General Election that was billed as “one of the most unpredictable elections in decades”. They required a minimum of 326 parliamentary […]

Tax payable on return of director’s loan?

23rd April 2020

My wife and I own buy to let properties both personally and through our limited company. Following a sizeable development within the company, we were owed £300000 in directors’ loans. We had financed the project with personal money lent to the company. We decided that two of the flats that we had created (an old […]

Use of carried forward company losses

22nd April 2020

Hi Mark, I have used the services of Property118 previously for tax planning advice. I have a company that is no longer trading (but still active) that is sitting on a £20,000 of losses and I was wondering if the losses of this company could be set against any potential future gains if I was […]

Parliament enquiry into effect of Coronavirus on PRS

22nd April 2020

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is inviting written evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on homelessness, rough sleeping, and the private rented sector, as well as any other connected issues. In particular, the Committee is interesting in finding out: How effective has the support provided by MHCLG and other Government departments in addressing […]

Landlord Law Virtual Conference 2020

22nd April 2020

Whilst most events have been forced to cancel or reschedule due to the coronavirus crisis, we are delighted to confirm that the Landlord Law Conference 2020 will now be a two day virtual event, taking place on 12th & 13th May 2020​ Keynote speakers for the conference include NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle, who will be headlining Day 2 of the […]

Telegraph Property 118

I am helping a Telegraph journalist

22nd April 2020

I am helping a Telegraph journalist with an article and she would like to know: 1. What experience landlords have of being refused the so-called ‘mortgage holidays’? 2. Which lenders are doing this? 3. She would also like to know what reasons they are giving for refusing? 4. Finally, she would like to know whether […]

Support for benefits to cover private rents during emergency

22nd April 2020

The NRLA has supported calls from the Mayor of London to ensure the benefits system covers the cost of private rents for those tenants adversely affected by coronavirus. In a statement Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association said: “Recent polling has indicated that just 2% of private tenants have had to […]

LHA Increase to trigger rent increase?

22nd April 2020

I note that the LHA rates have been increased from 1st April 2020 – March 2021. A couple of questions… 1. Anyone know if this is ONLY a temporary measure only till March 2021, what happens after this? Will it stay at the same level going forward, or is this increase only because of Covid-19 […]

Right to Rent challenge lost in Court of Appeal

22nd April 2020

In 2018 the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and the RLA obtained a Judicial Review of the government’s Right to Rent scheme based on the argument that it increased discrimination against ethnic minorities and foreigners by making Landlords responsible for checking the right of a tenant to reside in the UK for […]

Covid-19 text message scams crackdown funded by Banking Industry

21st April 2020

A specialist police unit funded by the banking industry has executed several warrants across the country in a crackdown on criminals sending scam text messages and emails exploiting the coronavirus outbreak. The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) is made up of officers from the City of London Police and Metropolitan Police and is […]

VAT rate on 52 HMOs?

21st April 2020

I have a portfolio of 52 all residential HMO units and my question is what VAT rate should I be paying? British Gas states more than 60% or more domestic is 5%. Please can anyone confirm. Thank you James From British Gas >> https://www.britishgas.co.uk/business/help-and-support/billing-and-payments/VAT-reduction “Your business might be eligible for a reduced rate of VAT […]

Covid-19: 74% of landlords have been contacted about rent payments

21st April 2020

A survey carried out by Landlord Action, has revealed that since government measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were introduced on 23 March, 74% of landlords have been contacted by tenants saying they will struggle to pay their rent. This comes as renters’ unions are calling on the Government to suspend rents for the […]