Following 5 1/2 years we have a Judgement which entirely exonerates the landlord, Mrs Judith Wilson, who was accused of 1) Harassment 2) Unlawful Eviction and 3) Disrepair. This is a very important judgement and the transcript is to be published on the Internet for the benefit of all landlords. It is so easy to […]

Responding to the announcement today that those landlords in properties with an energy performance rating of F or G will be expected to pay up to £3,500 to improve the energy efficiency rating of the property, David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association said: “The proportion of private rented homes with the worst […]

GREAT Yarmouth Borough Council has been threatened with a judicial review by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), which has serious concerns over its selective licensing plans. The authority is proposing to bring rented homes in parts of the Nelson electoral ward into the scope of selective licensing. However, the RLA believes one of the conditions […]

The House of Lords Committee on Intergenerational Fairness will take evidence from experts in urban planning and housing policy as it continues its inquiry. The Committee will hold two evidence sessions hearing from The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and The Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO) followed by the Intergenerational Foundation and academics from the […]

iHowz have been in dispute with Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) regarding their proposed Selective Licensing scheme (see background – below). As part of the process, BHCC had to apply to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (SoS) to obtain his confirmation for the scheme. The SoS gave confirmation to […]

The taking control of goods regulations 2013 outlines what can and cannot be taken control of as part of a controlled goods agreement. You can view the complete legislation here. Once a debtor has signed the controlled goods agreement, any items listed cannot be sold, moved or given away. The controlled goods agreement will include […]

With the festive period drawing closer and people thinking about what to buy their loved ones, there is one gift that will be unwelcome, namely squatters. Over the holidays every year we see a significant rise in squatters taking over empty buildings such as pubs and restaurants. These types of buildings can be particularly attractive […]

Shelter’s campaign against letting agents started with an attempt to establish a legal principle in an action against a single-branch agency.  This failed – even though Shelter had a barrister working for nothing – because the case was settled out of court. Click here The campaign was expanded under the new CEO, Polly Neate, and […]

Anybody had a Buy to let Mortgage with Chelsea Building Society? Between Circa on or around 2009 you are likely to have been over charged in interest. If you have been repossessed around this time then you need to check your figures. I had four properties repossessed and a member of the Network of Independent […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the J6 Property Professionals & Investors meet on the 13th of November 2018 in Slough. We have very kindly been offered 10 Free places for first time attenders to the J6 event […]

Dorian Gonsalves CEO of Belvoir, says there were missed opportunities within Philip Hammond’s Budget, that could have helped to bring much-needed stability to the UK’s growing rental market. “It is disappointing that housing, and in particular, the nation’s rental market were neglected and did not really feature in this Budget,” he says. “I feel there […]

Is it possible to proceed with exchange and completion on a property, by signing a disclaimer for your solicitor and lender, if there are outstanding rights of access issues with the new property? I am buying the property, it’s a detached 3 bedroom freehold property, with a detached garage to the rear. You cannot access […]

Plumbing, drainage and leak questions are very common for readers of property118 so we thought this article from the Drain Doctor would be useful: Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords are obliged to make basic repairs to a property, particularly those that relate to drainage, pipes and other areas of […]

I recently came across a Facebook post showing a picture of Alistair Trippett, a 22 year old from Stoke-on-Trent who recently completed a purchased of a block of 24 flats. Intrigued by how he managed to pull off a deal of this nature at such a young age, and what motivates, him I decided to […]

We were told that it could not be done. That landlords would not sign up, that the two main organisations had it sewn up. Wrong. The Alliance is good to go. I appeal to all those landlords who have sat on the fence. Those landlords who have decided to wait and see. If Churchill had […]

I wonder if someone selling the freehold interest have dealt with serving Section 5 to long leaseholders and to short leaseholders of commercial units in a mixed development. Or know a commercial lawyer in West London can do it including the conveyancing of the property being sold. Thank you, Sat Editors Note: From The Leasehold […]

This summer, HM Treasury proposed a new “shared occupancy test” for those renting their spare rooms to continue to qualify for the annual £7,500 rent-a-room tax relief. This was due to be included in the 2018-2019 Finance Bill and would have brought an end to rent-a-room relief for those who rented out a single room […]

I would just like to gauge some thoughts please on property licensing for buy to let landlords. The council where the majority of my rental properties are have introduced licensing for landlords. Now in theory I am not against this, as I have seen some of the states of the properties that get let out, […]

Initiative Q is an attempt by ex-PayPal guys to create a new payment system instead of credit cards that were designed in the 1950s. The system uses its own currency, the Q, and to get people to start using the system once it’s ready they are allocating Qs for free to people that sign up […]

More than half of the Elm Streets in the UK have had no house sales since last Halloween. It really is a nightmare to own a home on Elm Street, or so it appears, as more than half (54%) of the 79 Elm Streets in the UK have had no property sales since last Halloween, […]

I have recently moved into an annex, which the garage is attached to. The petrol fumes in the annex were quite strong, but I told my landlord and he kindly removed two containers of fuel. That removed the potency significantly. However, I can still smell the fumes. My landlord says that he cant remove the […]