Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, indicated well-designed, high quality homes and tree-lined streets should be the ‘norm – not the exception’, following the launch of the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission’s final report. Living with beauty – the first report of its kind led by the late Sir Roger Scruton and Nicolas Boys Smith – contains […]

I have a separate flat in my house though under a single title owned by me. This has been rented. I want to separate the titles and sell the maisonette that has been my own home and move into the previously rented flat which will become my sole property. Stamp duty will be paid by […]

Universal Credit Landlords – Are you not being paid up to date when a tenant leaves you? Apparently a lot of Landlords are coming across the below more often now and have been asking ‘How come I haven’t been paid for last house?’ As Universal Credit (UC) carries on spreading like some infectious disease, a […]

I’ve seen people make millions investing in property, despite not earning that much in their regular jobs, or having much financial sophistication. As primarily a share investor, I was surprised that people could make money with these strategies. I have decided to document what they have done in a general sense, using 5 scenarios. The […]

We are very grateful to Andrew Roberts of The Great Property Meet for arranging a very professional recording of the presentation made by our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers at their January 2020 meeting. As you will see from the video, it was a full house. The video is […]

Arla Propertymark have released a report on the impact of the growth in short-term lets such as Airbnb on supply in the Private Rented Sector. Arla predict that 500,000 homes could be lost to short-term lets, because of the increasing costs of anti-landlord regulation and taxation. The research was carried out in partnership with leading […]

Growth in the number of short-term lets across the country is a symptom of skewed policy that favours holiday homes over long-term properties to rent. A new report published today by ARLA Propertymark suggests that nearly half a million properties could be left unavailable for longer-term rent as more landlords exit the market in favour […]

Up to £1.2 billion in deposits could be unaccounted for! The latest research by Hamilton Fraser’s deposit replacement provider, Ome, has revealed the huge sums of tenant money that is estimated as being held by landlords and agents without protection via a deposit protection scheme. Ome’s sister company, mydeposits, manages 25% of the total deposit […]

Last year I purchased a guest house 9 bedrooms.  I live in a separate accommodation within the building offering the usual cleaning and sheets continental breakfast etc..I was given the go ahead to continue as a B@B by the county borough council and we had a mix of guests at first. However, when we opened […]

I have just been left high and dry by Dartford Borough Council Housing department. In a nutshell I served a section 6a because a tenant was in two months rent arrears. I have done it before and the rent was paid no problem. This time I was given assurances that the case will be looked […]

I am trying to get my deposit back from a landlord that was illegally subletting his room to me, and that did not protect my deposit. Here are the details of my situation, I truly hope you can help me with it: – I rented last year a bedroom in a 2-bed apartment from someone […]

I have a flat on the ground floor of a block of flats with an outside blind which can be lowered. A Director informed me on a visit to the flat, that my blinds needed replacing as they looked worn and shabby. She did not inform me that I would first need permission from the […]

I have a 3 bed house and I was living there alone so I advertised last month and got a housemate in a few weeks ago. She has her own bathroom and bedroom. It has just occurred to me that I may need to pay income tax on this money I am charging her, but […]

Despite rumours with recent low inflation levels that the rate may reduce by 0.25% the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted 7-2 to not change the Base rate and remain at 0.75%. The Committee also voted unanimously to maintain the stock of UK government bond purchases, financed by the issuance of central […]

This year ‘Rumble with the Agents’, the annual white-collar charity boxing event hosted by Landlord Action and sponsored by Hamilton Fraser, will be fundraising for Inclusion Barnet, a charity which provides vital support for people with disability, including mental health issues and/or long-term health conditions. Paul Shamplina, who set up the event six years ago […]

January figures from the Nationwide indicate annual house price growth has edged up to 1.9% and there has been a month-on-month rise of 0.5%, after taking account of seasonal factors. Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “January saw a further modest pick-up in annual UK house price growth to 1.9%, from […]

My daughter and her flatmate are my tenants. Not that my daughter pays any rent lol. The flatmate has now demanded, after living there 16 months, that I give her 24 hours notice of visiting my daughter as her mum/guest/visitor. I agree that I have to give 24 hours notice for an inspection or non-emergency […]

It took the average home seller 256 days to sell in 2019. The latest research by estate agent comparison website, GetAgent.co.uk, has looked at the time it took to sell a home in 2019 and where was home to the longest home selling process in the midst of Brexit induced market uncertainty. GetAgent pulls data […]

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has released its latest quarterly statistics for new build dwellings in England as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. Click here for the full report. Seasonally adjusted new build dwelling starts are estimated at 39,510 in the September quarter 2019, a 2% increase compared to the […]

Hello all, I’m new to this business and working on setting up my first HMO and have another post running elsewhere on the forum about legal aspect and would also appreciate some advice about bridging finance, in short my thirty plus years pristine credit history was shot to pieces when my marriage went into disarray […]

I’ve searched and failed to find guidance for room sizes for properties that are let as short/holiday lets. I have a pretty good relationship with my private lettings man at the local council, but he has not responded on this one so wondering if there is/are guidelines/regulations. Anyone know anything on this? Many thanks Harlequin […]