After tenant fee ban, when a letting agent charges potential tenants one week rent before putting offers to me, WHO does this reservation fee belong to, me the landlord or my letting agent, in case the offer defaults on tenant side? What I find is: 1. after an offer didn’t reach a new AST e.g. […]

I have a tenant asking to add another person to her existing tenancy. 1. Is there any way other than a new AST along with reference check, right to rent check etc, just like setting up a new tenancy with entirely new tenants? 2. Do I need to have a check out of the old […]

The slow pace of improving building safety standards will not be tolerated, the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick warned, as he announced measures that go further and faster to ensure residents are safe in their homes. To give effective oversight of the design, construction and occupation of high-risk buildings a regulator will be at the heart […]

I have just pulled out, again, from the purchase of a new-build flat due to the onerous Ground Rent increases in the lease. In the first lease, which was for 2 flats in Birmingham, the ground rent of £250 increases every 10 years linked to RPI. In the second lease, which was for a flat […]

I’m posting an email a fellow landlord sent to Nottingham Council which highlights one of many issues of their scheme. Dear Whoever, I have received a lot of paperwork from you (draft Landlord License, Proposal to grant a licence, legal documents, notes) plus a request for the second payment. However, within all this paperwork there […]

I have been a landlord for over 20 years and I generally manage my properties without using an agent. We currently have a property empty and have been approached by a prospective tenant who works full time. The only problem is that she has informed me that she has a poor credit rating. I appreciate […]

I am increasingly having potential tenants come to me with requests for housing, but with ‘assistance’ dogs in tow. I have had requests for accommodation for a registered blind person with a guide dog, – no problem here as we had a ground floor flat and a full history of no issues with the working […]

The Rightmove House Price index has reported a post election election surge this month in the average price of property coming to market by 2.3% or up£6,785 to £306,810. Click here for full report. This 2.3% rise in new seller asking prices is the largest that Rightmove has recorded at this time of year since […]

Hi, I have read several threads on property 118 forum and found very helpful and informative. I have bought a flat in 2017 in my sole name for our main residence. I lived there for one year with my wife and two daughters. Due to my job change, I have moved out from this property […]

The rent to rent arrangement that I have (as the property owner) works very well and has done for almost 5 years. My particular thanks to this website for the R2R agreement which I have used successfully during this time. I will be seeking to renew the lease agreement with the renter within the next […]

You may well have seen this story on the BBC website and also in The Telegraph. There have also been several links to them on Facebook and other Social Media over the last few days. The story has certainly prompted a lot of discussion. Some of what I am about to say here is extremely […]

This is PART TWO of the video we launched this time last week. In this video, Ranjan Bhattacharya and Mark Smith discuss a number of  strategies you can read about in greater detail by clicking on the cards at the bottom of this page, including:- Washing out CGT to enable better strategic decisions to be […]

If you have children or grandchildren over 13 years of age and it is your intention to leave your property business as a legacy for them, why not consider involving them now? There are certainly inheritance tax planning advantages of doing so and if they are over the age of 18 there could also be […]

Following the General Election result, the UK housing market has seen a lift in sentiment, according to the December 2019 RICS Residential Market Survey. Sales expectations have risen sharply, and a number of other key activity metrics have turned positive for the first time in several months. In the lettings market, tenant demand (non-seasonally adjusted […]

Is Class 4 NIC due on a UK property tax return? I know this question was asked only last year by Benj, and in spite of having read all the replies (and links), I cannot understand why I cannot seem to remove the class 4 contribution calculation from my tax assessment this year. It was […]

I know that if I sell a property (never lived in it) to my son for what I paid for which was £49k and it is worth £175k that it will be treated as a gift and as such Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be payable and IHT will also come into it. However, if […]

Hello, I am the legal owner of a buy-to-let property with a mortgage. We have just welcomed a child and my wife is no longer employed and I would therefore like to submit a declaration of trust such that she will have to submit a tax return and pay tax on the profits from the […]

I am selling a portfolio of seven houses, some split into flats. The portfolio has been recently valued at around three million. It is held in a limited company that is owned by two shareholders who have held the shares since the eighties and now are looking to dispose of the asset for tax planning […]

Whether you are new to the industry or an experienced operator, the issues faced are often similar, particularly when letting to student tenants living away from home for the first time. Bill-splitting service Glide has created a simple guide that helps outline the responsibilities of landlords – and help ensure you are able to deal […]

Courts across London are failing to cope with the volume of landlord repossession cases they are hearing. New figures show the average length of time from a claim from a landlord in London to a court issuing an order for a property to be repossessed for legitimate reasons is 30 weeks. This is up from […]

If you rent out a house as a whole (and not by room) is there an ‘official’/universal minimum agreement on size of a bedroom? Does a bedroom have to be upstairs ? (ie of there is a second reception room that could be used as a bedroom, can this be classed as one – so […]