The average person in the UK spends £826 on a week of sun, sea and sand each year, however, with many travel restrictions still in place, a trip abroad is looking increasingly unlikely in 2020. With an average of 2.4 people living in each household, the silver lining is a potential saving of £1,652 for […]

The Mortgage Works (TMW) yesterday launched a Buy to Let switch option for existing customers coming to the ending of their initial deal product terms. To support their existing customers during the emergency lockdown they are also expanding the whole range of switcher products to offer landlords more options to manage their cashflow through the […]

I am hopefully going to buck the trend by asking for advice prior to purchase. I usually see lots of comments about people who have already purchased and why they shouldn’t have done it like, that but like this! Anyway, I am thinking of buying a flat for around £70K. I already have 2 other […]

I signed a 5 year rent to Rent lease for a large property consisting of several flats. I decided to terminate the rent to Rent agreement and gave one years notice, even though the contract was silent on termination, to expire on the contract end date. The sub-landlord failed to serve notice on time for […]

I sold a property in January which I’ve rented out for nearly 30 years, consequently there is a sizeable Capital Gains Tax bill to pay. I was due to complete on another property in March which would have resulted in a significant loss which I would have used to offset against the other property. Due […]

The Bank of England have released their money and credit statistics for April: Click here. Unsurprisingly, weakness in the housing market caused by the pandemic emergency resulted in a tumble in April’s mortgage market activity figures. The number of mortgage approvals for house purchases fell 80% below the February level  to 15,800 ( see chart […]

My wife and I were selling a Furnished Holiday Let with a completion date of 3rd April 2020, in order to take advantage of our 2 x CGT allowance of £12,000 (tax year 2019 – 2020) and not have to pay the CGT until 31st January 2021. However, due to the Government imposed ruling, we […]

I have 2 tenants in my property who each rent a room each and share a communal space. Since living together, they have argued non-stop over really petty things and were contacting me daily to complain about each other. Finally, it escalated in January and in February one of them went to stay with her […]

The Nationwide has just released its House Price index for May showing the effects the coronavirus lockdown is beginning to have on the housing market. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “UK house prices fell by 1.7% over the month in May, after taking account of seasonal effects and this is the largest monthly fall […]

When the 3-month eviction ban was introduced, it was mentioned that it might be extended if deemed necessary. Predictably, now that the 3-month period is coming to an end, we hear a cacophony of voices – from Shelter, Generation Rent, the Citizens Advice Bureau, the London Renters Union and the Chartered Institute of Housing – […]

Hi Everyone, I am going to buy a house in Manchester. I made an offer which is already accepted and now I have passed the details to the conveyancer for the searches etc etc. I have not made any payment yet for anything. Now I have just found this house was advertised as three bedrooms […]

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require that landlords have property electrics checked at least every 5 years by a properly qualified person. The electrics must meet standards and landlords must give their tenants proof of this. These guides on the regulations are for landlords, tenants in the Private […]

Universal credit UC Landlords and UC tenants, this is one reason why Landlords are refusing you. The DWP has been found guilty of wrong-doings 2 years ago, apologise to me, say they won’t do it again, yet just this month they are doing EXACTLY the same thing.  We can solve the homeless. It’s easy. Work […]

This guidance has now been updated as of 1st June and provides advice to landlords and tenants on the provisions in the Coronavirus Act 2020, and further advice for landlords, tenants and local authorities more broadly about their rights and responsibilities during the COVID-19 outbreak. Click Here to download the full guides 1.1 As a […]

I realise there was a three months ban on applications for evictions from 23rd March…but what is the current status of S21/S8 claims made BEFORE this date? I has the first hearing of both a S21 & S8 claim on 20th March, and directions issued after stated as that we were now in official lockdown, […]

We have a four bed student property, let individually. In our local authority an HMO is classified as five or more. One student is holding over through the summer and into the next academic year. The others have left, but were planning to go at the end of term anyway. The question now is, what […]

I won the claim against a tenant who did a bunk leaving arrears and damage. Although she didn’t turn up to the last hearing, the court awarded me the figure I was chasing for. Do I need to await for something official from the court to say I can now progress getting back the money? […]

I have a tenant who had a leak from  the toilet cistern. She found a plumber herself who repaired the leak without telling the agent or myself as the landlord. The repair cost an extortion£276! When the agent later questioned their own plumber on the cost of the repair carried out they quoted a maximum […]

High street businesses and landlords are set to receive a new government code of practice providing improved clarity and reassurance over rent payments. A working group has been established by the government with the commercial rental sector to develop a code which encourages fair and transparent discussions between landlords and tenants over rental payments during […]

As the title suggests, I’m considering getting a BTL via a limited company with the intention of letting it to family – who would claim housing benefit. The family already lives in a council flat and benefits from getting housing benefit. The council flat is not fit for them anymore and I thought instead of […]

We have received an enquiry for long term rental of 3 months for our Furnished Holiday Let (FHL), over our quiet period this coming winter and it appears quite tempting to take it. We have been running this FHL over the last 5 years and have complied with the occupancy rules each year and fully […]