I would appreciate your thoughts on whether the following will constitute an HMO: My husband and I would like to buy a flat and rent out 2 of the rooms to 2 separate people. We would use a third room for ourselves from time to time when we are visiting London. We would share the […]

Since Revolut started in business they have attracted over 3,000,000 clients with virtually no advertising at all. I am one of them. There are over 50,000 Revolut users in Malta alone, and the population is only 440,000! Their Mastercard has saved me an absolute fortune in exchange rates and commissions whilst I’ve been travelling to […]

Client Money Protect, part of the Hamilton Fraser group of companies, has gained formal government approval to operate a client money protection scheme when the regulations go live on April 1st 2019. From April 1st, it will become mandatory for all letting agents and property managers in England to be a member of an approved […]

We are delighted to bring Property118 readers this early-bird, off plan investment opportunity, ideally positioned close to the city centre of Nottingham.This article was recently published and over the weekend became our most popular development to date for Property118 readers. If you might be interested please contact us soon and we will be happy to […]

Reapit research has found that UK property transactions have plummeted by a third in the past three months as Brexit uncertainty weighs on the market. Reapit, the leading software platform for estate agents, compared its most recent three months of sales data with the five-year average for the same November-January period in order to gauge […]

Letter to Gareth Johnson Member of Parliament for Dartford: Lastly, there is the position of ‘Legal Blackmail’ – again, usually perpetrated by Conditional Fee Arrangement (No-win, no-fee) Solicitors. The ‘trap’ will be a landlord who hasn’t protected a tenant’s deposit within 30 days, which of course can’t be condoned. However, CFA solicitors are advertising on […]

The problem I am trying to solve is exit of BTL Property minimising Capital Gain Tax. Mr James owns in his individual name a BTL property worth £250,000 and purchased at £150,000 so if the property is sold the Capital Gain is £100,000 and the Capital Gain Tax is £28,000 for a high tax payer. […]

Skipton International can now consider Buy to Let  mortgage applications from non-UK nationals resident overseas. Previously the offshore lender only offered UK buy-to-let mortgages to British expatriates. This news follows the decision to considerably expand Skipton International’s investment property lending criteria over the last year to now include Scottish property and can offer lending on […]

Leasehold Solutions has labelled evidence by Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP as ‘factually incorrect’ and a ‘disgrace’. Wheeler was questioned by members of the Housing, Communities and Local Government select committee at the final session of its inquiry into leasehold reform. Louie Burns, Managing Director of Leasehold Solutions, said: “Based on Heather Wheeler’s statements, it […]

The results of a survey by Belvoir reveal that uncertainty over Brexit is thought to be having a significant impact on rental and house prices. A survey of a random cross-section of Belvoir’s franchisees from across the country, analysed for Belvoir by property expert Kate Faulkner, shows that 86% of franchisees predict that rents are […]

Letter to Gareth Johnson Member of Parliament for Dartford: I refer to the recently enacted Fitness for Human Habitation Act. Raised in parliament by vociferous tenant campaigner, MP Karen Buck, the title of the bill as it initially was, ‘Fitness for Human Habitation’ was a strategic ‘check-mate. How could anyone, MP from whatever party, or […]

The proportion of income spent on rent in the private rented sector has fallen from 35.4% in 2010/11 to 32.9% in 2017/18. Including income from housing benefit, over the same period the amount of income used for rent by social tenants increased from 26.7% to 28%. The figures from the English Housing Survey for 2017/18, […]

Savills have released their five year ‘Prime’ lettings forecast indicating that the London high value rental market may have bottomed out, but with continued economic uncertainty prices will only start to recover in a year to 18 months time (Prime lettings are defined by Savills as starting at a rental income of £500 per week). […]

Apart from the Government’s tax and regulation onslaught against Landlords, they are also affecting many Landlords main assets, i.e. their Leasehold property! This feudal practice was supposed to be fazed out and replaced by Commonhold. However, successive Governments have chosen to ignore it! Leasehold effects Landlords and many people living in flats who think they […]

I am looking at buying a plot of land opposite my own main residence. It is intended for my 17 year old daughter so I can build a house and she can later decide either live in the property or rent it for an income and or have the option to sell it in the […]

My friend had tenants in a property for three years, but they did not pay any council tax during that time. The council said that he should have sent the Assured Tenancy Agreement to them and that they were not aware any tenants were living in the property. He ended up paying £8,000 in Council […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the pin Edinburgh Meeting property networking event Thursday 21st February 2019. The event will start at 6:00pm until 9:00pm and will be free for guests of Mark Smith that have not previously […]

Do many landlords ever dare to sign up new tenants remotely – or only in person? I recently gave a viewing to to a prospective tenant who was only in town for the day. We got on well. She now wants to sign a contract without having to meet again for a 2nd time. I […]

With the 3 main changes within the BTL market: 1. The introduction of the 3% stamp duty on second properties 2. The phasing out of the tax deductibility of mortgage interest payments through section 24 3. The tightening of mortgage underwriting standards It is essential that landlords take a professional approach to their portfolios. Many […]

Letter to Gareth Johnson Member of Parliament for Dartford: Judges decisions There are guidelines for when High Court Enforcement can be requested after sufficient reason has been shown to and convinced a judge, or at least there should be – I would very much like to know the answer to this and other questions raised […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the pin Manchester Meeting property networking event Wednesday 20th February 2019. The event will start at 6:00pm until 9:00pm and will be free for guests of Mark Smith who have not previously […]