Does anyone have any experience with grants from the council, and subsequently, getting a mortgaging on a property? I own a long term empty property which is eligible for a £25k grant from the council to bring the property back into rentable condition. The main condition surrounding the grant is that you must rent the […]

Paragon has refreshed its buy-to-let switch and further advance product range for portfolio and non-portfolio landlords, with a range of two- and five-year fixes available at 75% and 80% LTV for individuals, limited companies and limited liability partnerships. Paragon’s portfolio range is designed for landlords with four or more mortgaged properties, as well as those […]

Shelter’s press release responds to The Children’s Commissioner’s Bleak Houses report on homeless children in England: Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “This report is a damning indictment of the catastrophic failure to address the housing emergency. It should act as a sharp wake-up call to the new government that spiralling homelessness is now […]

The second Citizens Advice article can be viewed if you click here: “Landlords and tenants need clearer standards Why we’re calling for a national housing body for the private rented sector” Below is a breakdown of what I believe to be errors and misinformation in the above-named report, of which you may not be aware, […]

The Children’s Commissioner for England reports that over 200,000 Children are Homeless and presumably one or both parents. The only answer us to build more houses and quickly! However, Developers report an acute shortage of construction workers. The planning process has rapidly speeded up, but the Developers cannot find sufficient staff to build the houses […]

Landlord Trecarrell House Limited is being supported by the RLA and has launched a Crowd Justice appeal: “Protecting Landlords Rights: Gas Safety and Section 21” Click Here The Court of Appeal has now granted the landlord the right to appeal. The case centres around the lack of a remedy for being able to gain possession […]

Barking and Dagenham have increased their selective license fee 78% to a massive £900 per property from the 1st September 2019. No early fee discount either! This has got to be the highest charge in the UK to date? Surely this can not be justified or legal? This is a perfect example of illegal profiteering […]

The first Citizens Advice article can be viewed if you click here: “3 things we know about how private landlords work Key findings from the government’s first survey of landlords in 8 years” There are some important discrepancies in the above-mentioned article, which appear to be drawn from data provided by the English Private Landlords […]

I was surprised to see that Shelter still hasn’t given up on its campaign to prevent private landlords from using the phrase ‘no DSS,’ and that it is continuing to spend its considerable financial resources on this. This is despite the overwhelming evidence in research by Openrent that 90% of tenants on benefits want to […]

We have decided to extend the Leases on 3 of our properties – Using our savings. Leases are short and will cost circa £50,000 apiece. We are Husband & Wife Joint Owners) Buying/extending the Lease now, and having everything in readiness for a sale in the latter half of 2020 is the nimblest way as […]

We are first time landlords so looking for some advise on selection of tenants. We put up our property in Cardiff for lettings, and went through 6-7 viewings on 1 day. Out of these, there have been 2 parties interested, details below. 1. Two mates currently living in shared accommodation. They live and work locally. […]

In an article written by The Guild of Property Professionals on the 16th August (click here to view the article) concerning the proposed Section 21 ban, The Guild claim to have had confirmation from government that it will not be retrospective. Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals said: “What this means is […]

I have been left 50% of a property in a Will with the other half to my brother. We both own our own homes. I want to buy him out and he is happy to gift my wife his half for now to get out of paying any stamp duty (this gets the property into […]

This post originally appeared on the Nearly Legal website. Disrepair Claim Farming is something I’ve been mulling over for a while, and have sounded off about in conversations, but the ongoing proliferation of housing disrepair claims farmers (and associated solicitors) has pushed me to go public with something of a rant. A justified one, I […]

The average five-year fixed rate has fallen by four basis points, dropping from 2.83% to 2.79%, according to data collected by Moneyfacts. Looking at the average two-year fixed rate, it has fallen for the first time since the start of July, dropping to 2.47%. This time last year the average two-year fixed rate was seven […]

It seems that Sajid Javid and Boris might have been reading Property 118, because they have just announced £600 million input into 50,000 new homes in Essex and Bedfordshire. The Country has been building 150,000 annually and this additional 50,000 represents a third more based on one year! Well that is certainly a step in […]

Up to 50,000 new homes in high demand areas will be delivered through over £600 million of new investment for housing in England, the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced Saturday 17 August. The funding will be made available through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), originally launched by Mr Javid when he was Secretary of State for […]

This morning I have been reviewing all of the information provided by a client who booked a Tax Planning Consultation with us. The first step is always for my Executive Assistant to complete a thorough Fact Find and to obtain copies of Tax Returns, a property schedule, proof of identity and residence and other relevant […]

The current Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has backtracked on proposals made by PM Boris Johnson in his Tory leadership campaign to make Stamp Duty payable by the seller rather than the purchaser of a property. In an interview given to the Times newspaper Javid said: “I’m looking at various options. I’m a low […]

I eventually managed to evict a non-paying tenant using a section 8. However, it now turns out that they left an electric and gas bill of nearly £200 outstanding before they left. How it is possible to run up a bill like that when both meters are prepayment/key meters? I have no idea. The agent […]

This is an extract from a response that I have written to a derogatory article on the Citizens Advice Policy Blog. My full response article is much longer and I may post it here shortly, but in the meantime: Let’s have a look at the facts: English Housing Survey 2017 2018 Table FA5431 (also in […]