The government department Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is seeking views on tax reporting and payment arrangements for self employed people and landlords of residential property owned in their personal names (not for company owned property) to inform its work. The consultation closes on the 20 September 2019. the OTS published a document setting out […]

The left wing think tank, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has released a study titled ‘Reforming the taxation of income from wealth and work‘ which recommends the taxation of wealth in the same way as income. The IPPR claim that income inequality in the UK is one of the highest in the world and […]

THE Government’s approach to the private rented sector is “incoherent” according for a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). David Miles, now a Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College London, has argued that contrary to the Government’s stated aims, there are “few signs” that tax increases on the sector […]

I bought a property divided into 3 self-contained flats. I have a tenant in one, but she is not paying rent or energy since l bought it 8 weeks ago. I have decided to sell it as l don’t have any idea of how to produce so many papers and the stress that the Council […]

Please help me. I bought a property with a tenant and I had no idea what being a landlord meant! The tenant is really making my life miserable. She did not sign the new contract and Nottingham council is doing everything to keep her in. They are demanding I give her the boiler room key, […]

Research conducted by BVA BDRC on behalf of Precise Mortgages reports HMO landlords are currently receiving the highest average rental yields in the market at 6.3%. This compares to the overall average rental yield of 5.5% for private landlords. HMO investment popularity remains strong in the face of increased regulation and punitive tax reforms in […]

ARLA Propertymark has sought Counsel’s Opinion from housing barrister Erol Topal to clarify for it’s agent members if the tenant fees ban allows for a charge or commission to be made for arranging repair works. This has been a common and frequently asked question by agents since the legislation came into force on the 1st […]

They helpfully link to articles quoting industry experts who predicted that higher property taxes would lead to higher rents in their article: “Higher property taxes needn’t mean higher rents… Some argue that taxing rental income or buy-to-let transactions will lead some landlords to sell up, reducing the supply of rented housing and thus raising rents. The flaw with such […]

Are you managing your rented property within the law? Many landlords think they are – only to find to their cost later that they are not. There are four traps that landlords’ tend to fall into: 1. Thinking that managing rented property is easy 2. Thinking that they are bound to be a good landlord […]

The 100 places invited to develop proposals for a new generation of multi-million-pound Town Deals have been announced by Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick. The towns eligible for support from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund include places with proud industrial and economic heritage, but have not always benefited from economic growth in the same way […]

Our tenant has just ended her tenancy and informed BT that she was moving and didn’t need the phone number anymore. BT understandably then cancelled the whole line and now want £60 to set up a new line. I am sure this was unintentional by the tenant, but her agreement states that she should not […]

Andrew Marr is a former Maoist and a former member of the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory.  His entry in Wikipedia (click here) includes the following: “Regarding his political affiliations, he was formerly a Maoist and a member of the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory, an offshoot of the International-Communist League, now known as the Alliance for […]

PIP is delighted to present our investors with this amazing opportunity to invest just outside the centre of Nottingham. This off-plan investment opportunity is ideally positioned close to the city centre of Nottingham and is made up of luxury one-bed apartments. We have managed to secure our clients the best units for the fantastic price of £104,995, with yields […]

Until the Storm of Chaos at Westminster is over I shall be battening down the hatches and selling no further properties. If you are a Buy to Let Investor purchasing off plan you should seriously consider whether you sign a contract in this present climate. Many BTL investors in 2008 were committed having signed contracts […]

With the ‘B’xit’ word taking up everyone’s attention does anyone know the latest in regard to plans afoot to abolish Section 21? I have a long pestered for a meeting with my MP tomorrow morning to discuss my issues with this from a Landlord perspective. I clearly want to ‘guide’ him to get involved now, […]

All property titles (in England and Wales) are published online and scammers can access this information to commit property fraud by forging your identity. You’re probably thinking that this isn’t likely to happen to you. However, research by ABC Finance has uncovered that there are twice as many property fraud claims than there are prevented […]

The think tank Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has written an article for release describing Labour’s private sector ‘Right to Buy’ policy as dangerous and damaging. This is superficially similar to a scheme proposed by the Centre for Policy Studies in October 2018, but is a damaging and distorted version of that policy. ‘From Rent […]

Nottingham City Council 5-year Selective Licensing period A typical family home, under this scheme will see rents impacted by circa £40.00 pcm over a 5-year period. (See table) We have not accounted for other pressures such as landlord tax changes, but believe Selective Licensing will bring higher rents as yields on c3 properties make it […]

In a conversion, containing over 100 apartments, there has been a spate of insurance claims relating to water leakage. This has resulted in increased premiums, and more specifically, a £10,000 excess for water damage claims, which the managing agent passes on to the individual leaseholder for the apartment responsible for the leak. Although my apartments […]

We rent out a lovely one bed flat in a University town. A PhD student from overseas has recently agreed to rent the property for 12 months from 20th September and has signed an AST (electronically) accordingly. We have requested that she pay the deposit, which she claimed (by email) to have paid by PayPal […]

Legal opinion appears to be that it is difficult to create a guarantor’s agreement that can be enforced. Apparent problems include: • It must be executed as a Deed. • LL must advise Guarantor to take legal advice before signing. • Deed probably needs to be signed after the tenancy has started. • (and therefore) […]