Page 496 – Property118

Letting agents pass key without deposit, advanced rent and signed contract

13th January 2020

My letting agents gave my key to a new tenant without receiving the deposit and advance rent and before signing the contract. I signed for a full Management service from my letting agency as I am busy and don’t want to take any stress. Now they have finally found a tenant and the tenant was […]

Shelter back alleged ‘fraudster’ squatter with legal representation

13th January 2020

A Daily Mail reader wrote in requesting help from the Financial Mail on Sunday’s investigator, Tony Hetherington, who fights for the individual rights of readers that have been taken advantage of and left out of pocket. The call for help said: “My father bought a house in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in 1971. Several years ago, […]

WEBINAR – How to sell your Buy-To-Let Properties

9th January 2020

If you have fallen out of love with investing into UK residential property you may well be considering your exit strategy. However, the following issues will no doubt be playing on your mind:- Will other investors want to buy the properties with your tenants in situ, and if so, what level of discount will they […]

REMINDER – CGT rules are changing in April 2020

9th January 2020

From 6 April 2020, a UK resident taxpayer will be required to make a return and payment of Capital Gains Tax within 30 days following the completion of a residential property disposal on a worldwide basis.  This rules has applied to non-UK-Residents for a few years now. The new requirements will not apply, however, where […]

Opportunity to meet Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) in Warwickshire

9th January 2020

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlord tax strategies at the Great Property Meet networking event taking place Monday 20th January 2020 from 7pm to 9:30pm at Dunchurch Park Hotel Rugby CV22 6QW:  Click here to attend. Great Property Meet want to […]

Poor communication the biggest cause of deposit disputes

9th January 2020

The latest research from Hamilton Fraser’s deposit alternative scheme Ome, shows that poor or no communication when withholding a deposit is still the most common cause for deposit disputes between landlords and tenants, ahead of the cleanliness of the property and damage sustained during a tenancy. Check out the full blog here. The research from Ome […]

Universal Credit: Alternative Payment Arrangements Guidance

9th January 2020

The Government has released guidance to providing Alternative Payment Arrangements for Universal Credit claimants who cannot manage their single monthly payment. Universal Credit (UC) is paid in a single monthly sum, designed to prepare claimants for the world of work in which 75% of employees are paid monthly by encouraging claimants to take responsibility for […]

Landlords unable to identify payments for UC tenants due to changes in DWP system

9th January 2020

Caridon Landlord Solutions is calling on The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to urgently address the changes to its payment system, which have left landlords unable to identify which housing cost payments of Universal Credit should be allocated to which tenants. According to Caridon Landlord Solutions, up until three weeks ago payments of the housing element of […]

Law Commission Report – enfranchisement

9th January 2020

Just released – a long read for anyone interested. Options for reforming valuation in leasehold enfranchisement published by Law Commission: Click here to download “The Law Commission of England and Wales has today [09 January 2020] published a report setting out options to reduce the cost that leaseholders have to pay to buy the freehold or […]

99.9% of Scottish landlords comply with tenancy deposit laws

9th January 2020

According to research conducted by not-for-profit deposit protection scheme, SafeDeposits Scotland, 290 cases of non-compliance with tenancy deposit law have been published in the last two years. SafeDeposits looked into published cases heard by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber), since it became a route to redress for tenants. Since 2012, landlords […]

Short-term Lets to be Licensed in Scotland

9th January 2020

Scottish Government Press Release confirming plan to implement regulation of the short-term letting sector through licensing. Despite the consultation feedback drawing a distinction between “professional” letting and occasional sharing of a room in home it appears both may have to be licensed. Although at the discretion of Local Authorities, the opportunity to generate income is […]

Best way to enforce judgement?

9th January 2020

I was recently awarded possession and a money judgement and a warrant for possession was issued a few weeks ago for a tenant further to a Section 8 mandatory ground hearing. The tenant handed back the keys a few days before execution and asked the bailiff to stand down after calling the court to advise […]

Scottish Government announce new short-term lets regulation

9th January 2020

David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark responds to the Scottish Governments’ announcement of new measures to regulate short-term lets: “It’s positive to see that the Scottish Government are taking steps to regulate short term lets. In some urban areas, the supply of local housing is under intense pressure and as the private rental sector becomes […]

Halifax House price index up 4% for December

8th January 2020

House prices in December were 4.0% higher than in the same month a year earlier with the average house price now at £238,963. On a monthly basis, house prices rose by 1.7% and in the latest quarter (October to December) house prices were 1.0% higher than in the preceding three months (July to September). Russell […]

Government UC guide for landlords

8th January 2020

The Department for Work and Pensions has recently updated its Universal Credit guidance to Landlords on the 30th December. Please Click Here for the full guidance notes. For private rented sector tenants, their Universal Credit additional amount for housing costs will be whichever is lower out of their actual costs or the Local Housing Allowance […]

Weakest decade for house price growth since 90s but picture is mixed

8th January 2020

The 2010s have shown the weakest decade for house price growth since the 1990s, but affordability metrics present a mixed picture. – House prices were up 33% in 2010s vs 180% in 1980s – London was the top performer in 2010s with house prices rising twice as fast as the UK average – However the […]

R2R exit strategies?

8th January 2020

Hi everyone, I was wondering whether anyone could provide insight on a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now. What exit strategies are used for the end of a Guaranteed rent contract? More specifically, as you near the end of your 3/5 year lease with the landlord, what do you do with the […]

Only idiots have jobs!

8th January 2020

I applied in November to refinance one of my several properties. A huge amount of information was needed of my portfolio and some of the data required didn’t fit the pre-loaded application form. I therefore completed what could be captured online and then completed the rest by hand. All the information sought from me was […]

Northampton Council HMO Licensing Rip-offs.

8th January 2020

A Northampton Landlord sent me this document and asked if I could get it out there. It would be great to get local landlord’s comments, make sure we inform those that do not already know and ask them to contact their Councillors etc. Click Here to download the Northampton Borough Council Private Sector Housing Fees […]

Refreshed 2020 BTL mortgage range – Paragon

7th January 2020

Paragon, the specialist bank and buy-to-let lender, has kicked-off 2020 with a refreshed range of mortgage products for portfolio and non-portfolio landlords. The changes include lower rates on 14 different products across our range of mortgages up to 80% loan-to-value. The range for portfolio landlords – those with four or more mortgaged properties – includes […]