Page 552 – Property118

BEST PRACTICE – letter template to go with eviction notices

16th January 2019

Did you know that legislation exists to ensure that tenants are treated by Council’s as being at risk of homelessness when a valid Section 21 notice is served, NOT when a court order is made, and certainly before bailiffs are appointed? On this basis, advice given to tenants by Council’s and other organisations like Shelter, to […]

Access after section 8/abandonment

16th January 2019

Hi, My tenant stopped paying rent and didn’t respond when I chased this. I served both a s8 notice and a s21 notice. The s8 notice period passed. The tenant then confirmed that she would pay but subsequently didn’t. The tenant then said that she would leave within two weeks and clear the arrears. This […]

Brexit uncertainty good news for landlords??

16th January 2019

HOMELET, the country’s leading tenant referencing and specialist insurance provider, holds the UK’s largest and most up-to-date pool of data on agreed rental price trends, based on newly agreed tenancies. Chief executive Martin Totty sets out his views on what Brexit – deal or no-deal may mean for the private rental sector. In times of […]

Landlords continue to prosper in 2019 with increased incentives

16th January 2019

Happy New Year, we have great news to start  2019 as it is set to be a prosperous year for those landlords that are interested in dealing with Councils.  The councils are increasing their budgets to further tempt landlords into housing their tenants. Lettingsupermarket.com have already worked with hundreds of landlords assisting them with tens […]

HS2 Compulsory Purchase – Have you received your payment?

16th January 2019

As most of you may know, HS2 has compulsory purchased many properties in London and the surrounding areas in which the new rail line is to be built. We have a property that we have sold to them under the compulsory purchase demand however, it has been over 3 months since we sold it to […]

Ban on Lettings Fees to commence June 1st

16th January 2019

The Tenants Fees Bill 2017 – 2019, click here, has been confirmed by government to commence on June 1st this year. Bill sponsor Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (image right) announced the start date at the third reading in the House of Lords and said: “It has been clear throughout that this is a Bill that […]

Is Class 4 NIC due on a UK property tax return?

15th January 2019

Completing a self assessment tax return for filing this January with only the UK Property page, no employment, no self employment. The summary tax calculation is now including Class 4 NICs at 9% of the profit on the tax calculation summary page. I’ve seen various articles if this is, or is not, due to be […]

£2.4m for government crackdown on irresposible landlords

15th January 2019

More than 50 councils across the country will share nearly £2.4 million of extra funding to crack down on rogue landlords, Housing Minister Heather Wheeler has announced in the government press release below: Whilst the majority of landlords provide decent homes for their tenants, the cash boost will enable local councils to step up action […]

Only £100 compensation offered by Redress scheme?

15th January 2019

I have let my flat via a London letting agent. They produced a very good Reference Report on a tenant through a Referencing Agent. The tenant paid for 6 months and then lost employment and hasn’t paid since. We are taking the tenant to possession Court shortly. It turns out that the reference report was […]

New Government economic crime taskforce

14th January 2019

Mark Hayward, Chief Executive, NAEA Propertymark comments on joining the Home Office and Treasury’s new Economic Crime Strategic Board, which launches today. “The Economic Crime Strategic Board is significant in that for the first time, all the relevant industries and Government departments are coming together to tackle economic crime by agreeing strategic priorities and ensuring […]

My life is finite – Fergus Wilson

14th January 2019

What has become clear is tenants, Councils, and Journalists expect Landlords to live forever! The reality is that they get older and die! At that point Councils have to house tenants who cannot find alternative accommodation. Private Sector Landlords (PSL) were encouraged to buy more and more houses to ease the Housing Shortage in the […]

24.7% growth over the past 5 years in Liverpool

14th January 2019

With growth on property prices of 24.7% over the past five years, and with no sign of it slowing down any time soon, Liverpool is on an upward trend and proving to be a fantastic place to invest. 42% of Liverpool’s population is below the age of 30, compared with 37% nationally, driving forward Liverpool’s reputation as […]

finger pressing red keyboard key with piggy-bank icon to represent holding deposit dispute

Letting Agent liquidation – Questions about the tenants deposits?

14th January 2019

I’m a hands off landlord that has been using the same letting agent for 11 years. On Friday I was informed by another Company that my previous one had gone into liquidation and that they have been selected by the liquidator to take over the previous companies properties. I’m still owed January’s rental income from […]

VAT on Service Charges?

14th January 2019

I first heard about this on BBC Moneybox. It inferred that service charges for leaseholders (and many landlords) will be subject to VAT from Nov 1 2018. In short, HMRC are waiving the prior 24 years, but now enforcing this change. Looking closer is more opaque – possibly the managing agent will now have to […]

Should previous bankruptcy notice have been removed from property?

14th January 2019

I bought a house with my now ex-partner in 2008 and I am now in the process of remortgaging in order to take my ex-partner off the mortgage deeds. My now solicitor has carried out a land registry search and informed me of a male in 2007 that declared himself bankrupt from my property address. […]

Direct payment of Universal Credit to landlords – Online system being developed

12th January 2019

“One third of UC claimants in social rented housing have their rent paid directly to their landlord. But in the private sector, that number is only 5%. “People in the private rented sector already face a far higher risk of losing their tenancy, and I know from talking to claimants and landlords that the current […]

Business as normal at TDS after major fire at head office

12th January 2019

At approximately 4pm on Wednesday January 9 a serious fire broke out at Tenancy Deposit Scheme’s (TDS) head office on Mark Road in Hemel Hempstead. All staff were evacuated safely with no casualties. While the building suffered extensive damage, TDS’ business continuity plan was successfully implemented. The Mark Road site housed 89 members of staff […]

The terrible position councils put benefit renters in

11th January 2019

There is an article in I News yesterday titled “This single mother works full-time, but still needs housing benefit – so landlords refuse to rent to her”: click here to view. The story is obviously about how difficult it was for a working mum to find a new home to rent after she was served […]

Immediately sell a new build house?

11th January 2019

Hi, New here, so apologies if I’m asking an obvious question (though you don’t know, what you don’t know!) I’m hoping to purchase a plot and have a house built on it (full turn-key). Can I market and sell the house immediately upon completion of new build? (Unlike the ‘6 month’ rule as used when […]

Tenancy deposit cap to be cut to 5 weeks

10th January 2019

The government confirmed last month that Tenant Fees Bill stipulates that the total deposit that can be taken from a tenant paying up to £50,000 in rental over a 12-month period is being capped at a maximum of five weeks rent. The introduction of this cap will mean that landlords or their representative letting agents […]

What is meant by bi-party Lease?

10th January 2019

I am a landlord of one flat in a converted house of 4. There is a management company for the block which has always been (badly) run by agents. There are now two landlords and two owners in the block. We have only recently got to a stage where there are enough owners and are […]