I am in the process of evicting a tenant with a Section 21. The council told the tenant to stay put after the Section 21 expiry date (typical), so forcing me to pay up £355 to send it all off to court to progress to possession. My question is: Getting the £355 costs from the […]

Assuming the Liberal Democrats ever get near government again, their members have voted for the policy proposal of banning Section 21 at their party conference in Bournemouth. This policy will presumably feature in next Lib Den manifesto and may or may not have time to be updated following the government consultation that is due to […]

Following meetings held today, members of the National Landlords Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have voted for the two organisations to unite to form the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). The new organisation will have a membership of more than 80,000 landlords making it by far the largest organisation in the sector. […]

In 2008 my property was let to a couple through an agent. The tenancy agreement was drawn up and both paid money into the DPS, £575 in total. A year later in what would now be a periodic tenancy they separated and the lady decided to remain. I drew up a new tenancy agreement in […]

There are two flats in a converted terraced property of which I own the ground floor flat. The other first floor flat (FFF) is owned by another leaseholder. I bought the freehold over 10 years ago with the previous leaseholder who then sold up and it was transferred to the current leaseholder and hence we […]

The Fabian Society, a left wing but not Marxist think tank, has released new research claiming private renters support for rent controls is motivated by more than just saving money, but also to tackle insecurity and unfair treatment. However, renters want rent controls that make a difference, but that aren’t so tough on landlords that […]

Esther McVey, the Minister of State for Housing, has given a speech at the convention for the residential property sector outlining government policy enacted and futures plans in place to increase the supply of new homes to 300,000 per annum by the mid 2020s and assistance for extending the affordability of home purchases for First […]

New analysis shows that the government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative is having a significant impact on reducing the numbers of vulnerable people sleeping rough on the country’s streets. It has provided £76 million to 246 councils across the country to date, supporting rough sleepers in their area off the streets and into secure accommodation where they can […]

I have a well funded ME student arriving on the 27th September and wants occupancy ON the 30th. He receives his funding on the last day of each month which might be the 31st. He wants to pay the rent regularly on the 1st, if the rent is payable the day before each monthly date […]

Electric usage either side of tenant change is conducive with what I would expect. However a 3 month timeline between tenants has left me with a huge electric bill. My summation is that various electrical items have been left on. I know the electric bill is my responsibility. However, is my letting agent accountable for […]

Our landlord insurance partner – The Home Insurer – has been announced as a finalist in the 2019 Insurance Times Awards, marking it out as one of the very best landlord insurance brokers in the UK. The Insurance Times Awards are the gold standard in the insurance industry and gaining a place as a finalist […]

We will shortly be filming a ‘deep-dive’ interview with Mark Smith on all things to do with landlord incorporation. If you have any questions on landlord incorporation or specifically about incorporation using BICT please let me know. I would also like to include questions from those who have already incorporated and are looking for pointers […]

A quarter of the Labour Shadow Cabinet own multiple homes according to the Daily Mail. This is despite the latest attack on landlords proposed by John McDonnell under a planned ‘Right to Buy’ policy if they were ever to get into government. Labour want to redistribute wealth and raise living standards by forcing landlords to […]

The following is not only absolutely true, so too are the photos. As both a landlord and agent, every week are varying numbers of Gas Safety Checks that require their annual renewals and each week the engineer arrives at my offices to collect all the sets of keys to the relevant properties. It’s a system […]

In our area there are 1930s estates which rent well. There are many semi and some detached. One area or estate has many houses where the third bedroom is something like 40 sq feet. This is only really a child’s bedroom. I am wondering about buying one for the rental market and converting this room […]

London Trading Standards claim more than 46% of 1,922 agents inspected in the 15 months up to June 2019 by local council trading standards officers in London were non-compliant with either the Consumer Rights Act or the legislation on redress scheme membership. LTS also report letting agents were fined over £1.2million for breaking the law […]

Superstition stalls the property market as completions drop nearly 40% on Friday 13th This coming Friday 13th could put the housing and commercial property markets on pause according to analysis by Search Acumen, which shows a double-digit drop in both residential and commercial sales on Friday 13th. HM Land Registry data shows that the average […]

THIS August brings with it the label of all-time high rental prices, according to the latest data from HomeLet. The headlines from August 2019’s HomeLet Rental Index are: The average rent in the UK is now at an all-time high figure of £970, this is up by 2.4% (£23) on the same time last year […]

Nightmare tenant, arrears, treats the place like a tip etc. Section 8 issued for rent arrears – eventually paid up when case came to court. Then her legal representative threw back a counterclaim of ‘landlord disrepair’ knowing she had just secured Legal Aid (how the hell this was granted knowing that there was no evidence […]

The true cost of a being a landlord: Letting platform Howsy has revealed how the profitability of the buy-to-let sector is being squeezed due to the hidden costs of being a landlord, coupled with the financial penalties handed down from the Government via changes to stamp duty tax. In recent times, the buy-to-let market has […]

Tenants face higher rents as a result of the demand for private rented housing outstripping supply according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). In their latest survey of the housing market they say that demand for private rented housing has increased for an eighth month in a row. This comes as supply continues […]