A recent article by Savil’s predicts that the North-South divide will be turned on its head during 2019 to 2023, with the biggest price rises in the North West (21.6%). All of this making ‘now’ an incredibly exciting time to invest in the North.  Our latest build-complete investment opportunity is in Kirkby, a town situated just 9 miles […]

Polly Neate and Greg Beales took over the management of Shelter in August/September 2017. In August this year Shelter started to harass letting agents over alleged bans on housing benefit (HB) claimants. Click here On 11 September Shelter obligingly published a guide for letting agents and landlords on avoiding discrimination, click here, which says: “Although […]

With the average semi-detached house costing £225,674 in the UK, the housing crisis has left many of those within the younger generations short of an opportunity to own their own home. As the UK experiences a widening generational wealth gap, research from credit comparison experts TotallyMoney uncovers how much different generations are saving, and overspending, […]

I have a tenant I would like to evict. However, I have recently been informed that the tenant changed their name by deed poll, but the tenancy is still in their old name. Can I still evict them and what is the process? On top of that I haven’t been able to issue the new […]

I have not seen this discussed before, but was wondering why there aren’t more BTL lending products where there is an much larger arrangement fee and much reduced interest rate as the fee is tax deductible, but the interest is not and would help get around S24 for those who are unincorporated. Basically if you […]

The National Landlords Association (NLA) is calling for the Government to review the section 8 possession process. The section 8 possession process requires landlords to seek a court order to gain possession of their property where the tenant has breached the terms of their tenancy agreement. However, tenants can challenge the possession claim and remain […]

On Monday 12th November, BBCs latest Panorama investigation focused on the impact of the controversial Universal Credit, and most crucially the housing element. The programme revealed the extent of the rent arrears problem as a result of changes to the benefits system. Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, together with Mick Roberts, one of the […]

I had a loft conversion done in 2006 and since I have had leaks. The loft conversion company has reluctantly repaired each time but only ever did a “patchy” job even though their own roofers said the roof needed to be fully replaced. The last repair was three years ago where once again they did […]

This article appeared in The Times: 09 November 2018 by Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson. ‘Connect House is a run-down converted office block in the middle of an industrial estate….. Windows are broken, damp is seeping through the walls, and there is nowhere for children to play. 86 families live there’. Got the picture? Good! […]

As promised in the government’s last manifesto the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have proposed a new Housing Court. This new court will be  route for landlords and tenants to speed up and improve usability in obtaining redress and has now gone to consultation. “Tenants, landlords and agents can bring a range of […]

Sainsbury’s bank has now added the Personal Touch Financial Services network to its list of Buy to Let Partners so they can be added to the list of options for Property118 members and readers. When a borrowers takes out a new mortgage with Sainsbury’s Bank they can get 5 bonus Nectar points per £1 of […]

Cats Protection has launched a major new campaign to help more people living in rented housing own a pet cat.  The UK’s largest cat charity is offering free guidance to landlords and letting agents to help ensure that tenancy agreements reflect modern day living. Issues over finding cat-friendly housing have been one of the top […]

Last Week, the newly formed Landlords Alliance came up with a unique and simple solution, to help housing benefit tenants in to new homes. We proposed that Shelter act as guarantor for housing benefit tenants. It should be remembered that this £60 Million charity offers advice, but houses nobody. They employ over 1000 and their […]

BBC 1 Panorma – The Universal Credit Crisis on iPlayer if you missed it tonight 7:30 Monday 12th November. “As the government’s controversial new benefits system, universal credit, is rolled out, Panorama is with families as they struggle with their claims. The programme follows one council as it deals with mounting rent arrears and tenants […]

A new refurb buy-to-let proposition has been launched designed to help landlords maximise rental yields by refurbishing a target property before renting it out, as well as enabling them to take value from the property to reinvest elsewhere. The proposition is suitable for a wide range of landlords, including personal, limited company and HMO applicants, […]

I am hoping to create a Deposit Guarantee Scheme, “Choice Deposits”, whereby the prospective tenant would have the option of paying an extra amount of rent, instead of paying a deposit, and the landlord would pay that extra amount of rent charged to Choice Deposits in exchange for a paper bond (deposit guarantee). I think […]

I jointly own with one other individual the freehold of a property via a ltd company. The property comprises of three flats on long leases ( 999 years) and a separate integral self contained garage and separate Garden that is not directly accessible from any flat. The garage and Garden are not on separate leases, […]

Yorkshire Building Society apply to put a restraining order on a customer. The customer as been refused a face to face meeting after (9) years of asking. The evidence he has is bigger than (PPI) and the Lender knows how dangerous his knowledge is. The customer has found the CEOs home address and said if […]

The North-West and Scotland are revealed as the top UK hotspots to invest for yield. New analysis of the BTL market forecasts an opportunity for landlords, revealing exactly where the best investment opportunities are in 2018. In spite of a barrage of tax changes making it harder to make money on buy-to-let, there are still […]

I refer to my open letter to my MP Mr Chris Stephens: Click here to view the original article To update you, I wrestled with the Dwp back and forth via their formal compliant procedures eg stage 1 (by this email address in Scotland scotland.complaintsresolution [email protected] there is a different one for England and Wales I […]

An update for readers on the omission by the government to bring the Abandonment provisions under section 57 – 63 of Housing & Planning Act, 2016 – into force on 6/4/18 as originally planned. The Govt are ‘ keeping it under review ‘ !!! I don’t see it ever coming in, as the Labour opposition […]