The Department for Work and Pensions has issued a statement by, Will Quince, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Welfare Delivery. Click here This indicates that the freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates has ended and that they will be increased in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Quince said: “I am announcing […]

I am looking at a plot of registered land, which is available at a very good price. However, I spoke with the neighbours on both sides and discovered the following information. 1/ On one side there is no defined boundaries, which the neighbour made a point of, but there is temporary low grade animal fencing. […]

Early pension pot potential? It is by no means a fortune, but I can access £50,000 of my pension fund tax free now I am 55 and I intend to retire when I am 60. I am contemplating buying a one bed apartment in Spain for rental and to use myself out of season. Has […]

I had a repayment mortgage when I myself bought my home in 2002. I bought another house with my boyfriend in 2015. My original house turned into a rental with a BTL mortgage. I want to leave him and go back to my house to live. I need to change my BTL mortgage back to […]

Hi fellow landlords.. just trying to keep up with the changes. I have a couple of existing tenants who thankfully are very nice. When they moved in I took 6 weeks rent as their deposit and an additional pet security deposit of £300. My questions are as follows: Do I need to return their extra […]

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 […]

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, […]

As of today, a video recorded at the Baker Street Property Meet in regards to tax planning solutions for landlords facing problems with the section 24 restrictions on finance cost relief has been watched more than 34,000 times. The following is an update to that video, again hosted by Ranjan Bhattacharya in an interview with […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]