Our Ltd company has just received a demand from ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) claiming that we are not registered with them. That is true…. I have never heard of or from them before. They say our customers, clients and tenants expect us to take our data protection obligations seriously like the many real estate companies […]

George Lindsay aged 55 from Erdington was successfully prosecuted by Birmingham city council and sentenced to pay a fine of £19,970 and only got away without jail time, because the guidelines did not permit the judge the option. Lindsay was found guilty of failing to obtain an HMO licence and 13 infringements of HMO regulations […]

The lease says I as a leaseholder am entitled to stay in my flat while major works are carried out. That the only way for the freeholder to buy you out is with a compulsory purchase order. Shelter says that major works cannot be used to gain vacant possession of the tenants flats so they […]

As I write this blog, I’m on a train down to Devon to do a talk at the ARLA Propertymark Devon Regional Meeting. One of the many hats I wear in my role as Director / Brand Ambassador for Hamilton Fraser Group is overseeing ‘Education’.  For me, this has become one of the most important […]

Owners of small companies would pay more tax under Labour – up to 45% more – but the Tories haven’t mentioned this. Commenting on the Labour manifesto, John McDonnell said “In terms of income tax, the top 5% will pay a bit more, and actually not a great deal more. 95% of earners will not […]

A study, conducted by broadband and utilities provider Glide, surveyed 1,000 tenants who are either currently renting a property, or have previously, to find out which issues they expect their landlords to be responsible for dealing with. And one in seven (14%) say they’d leave a dispute over how to split bills with flat mates […]

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, gave an interview to the I newspaper detailing conservative plans and policies to tackle the housing crisis. When questioned about the Tory commitment to end Section 21 eviction notices and what was the point if landlord could instead ‘constructively’ evict tenants by increasing rents […]

I have over a £650.00 repair bill but I have only been awarded £65.00 by the Tenancy deposit scheme. My agent advised me that there is nothing I can do. However, I have spoken to TDS who advised me that if the agent sends in certain details. They can advise me how they came to […]

Research by Hamilton Fraser’s deposit alternative scheme Ome, has revealed the current cost of the average deposit facing UK’s tenants and how this has changed since 2015. The data shows that so far in 2019, the current tenant is paying an average rental deposit of £1,299, with an estimated 1.5m new deposits paid this year […]

When my twins turned 18 years old I made them both partners in my property rental business and gifted 1% of the beneficial interest in my properties to each of them. We then registered a Partnership with HMRC, which meant I could allocate profits disproportionately to ownership by granting ‘Partners Salaries to each of my […]

The latest Halifax House Price Index report has been released.  House prices in November were 2.1% higher than in the same month a year earlier with the average house price now £234,625. However, on a monthly basis, house prices rose by 1.0% and in the latest quarter (September to November) house prices were 0.2% higher […]

Something has come up and I am a tad worried about it, as I am not sure that I have correctly complied with the new laws. Prior to the new legislation, I always asked the tenant to pay the small fee (only £20) for their reference checks, making it clear that I wouldn’t entertain renting […]

Hello fellow landlords, I have a small portfolio of properties in Tower Hamlets. They introduced an Additional Licencing scheme throughout the borough in April. I’m just now starting to get the notices back and find that 3 of my 3-bed properties are only licence-able as 2-bed properties. 2 are with rooms 6square meters (51cm squared […]

Hello everyone. My name’s Riccardo and I’d love to ask a few questions and hopefully get some good guidelines! A little introduction of me (better say us) We are 4 newbies on our early 30′ sharing the dream and goal of running our own business and become entrepreneurs on the property business.We def want to […]

Lettings management platform, Howsy, has revealed the most appealing markets for UK landlords based on the annual rental return available as a percentage of the property investment cost. Across the UK the current annual rent of £11,436 accounts for 4.9% of the average UK house price (£234,370). But where in the UK sits way above […]

The latest research by new homes specialist, Stone Real Estate, has revealed that the level of new build properties being sold accelerates as we head into December, while sales across the regular market drop a gear in the run-up to Christmas. The research shows that on average over the last five years, the number of […]

The Property Investors Awards is delighted to announce the winners for 2019. The annual event, celebrating excellence in property investing, included a glittering evening of fine dining and entertainment, with the winners receiving the much coveted awards themselves. Property Investors nationwide celebrated their success throughout the year at the ceremony on Saturday 30 November at the […]

I would suggest it is a good idea to join Shelter’s Facebook page. It gives us the chance to comment and question them. Please be polite and ask simple questions like how many homes do they provide? How much cash reserves do they hold? What do they do to bring needing tenants together with good […]

Although the upcoming general election has grabbed all the headlines, letting agencies should not forget the important changes to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules that come into force on January 10th 2020. PayProp says that while the political future remains unsettled, with a raft of new rented sector policies put forward, agencies should instead focus on […]

As we near the end of 2019, Propertymark has analysed its sales and lettings data to reveal trends from the year. ARLA Propertymark’s overview of the private rented sector: – The supply of rental accommodation increased in 2019, from 187 on average per branch in 2018, to 197 this year. It reached an annual high […]

The Crisis Christmas appeal is for donations of £28.87 to reserve someone a place for their support package this Christmas and introduce them to the education, training and support to help end their homelessness for good through Crisis’ year-round services. Click here The Crisis plan for this Christmas and the year ahead: A Welcome with […]