It’s a topic I have spoken about many times before, but sadly it doesn’t appear to be improving. Councils are still being forced to respond to Britain’s housing crisis by telling tenants who have been asked to leave by their landlords, to stay put until they are evicted. In many cases, landlords are left with […]

Conservative Party leadership candidates Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are being urged to scrap the controversial Right to Rent scheme. A coalition of organisations made up of the Residential Landlords Association, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the 3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, have united in calling on both […]

Are you looking to raise finance for a property project? Do you fancy pitching for funding on a ‘Dragons Den’ style television show on Sky? If so email me and I will send you the application form. (Filming starts next week and I understand there are a few pitch slots available.) Do remember, that once […]

I own the house I currently live in as a sole owner. I am a higher rate tax payer, while my wife currently has nil income. We are looking to move to a another property and rent the one we are in right now on a AST. I’d like to split the rental income in […]

Brooklands Commercial Finance Ltd one of Property 118’s founding sponsors, has acquired The Mortgage Explorer Ltd as part of their continuing expansion plans. The Mortgage Explorer has recently celebrated its 20th birthday and is located down on the south coast, whilst its clients are spread throughout the UK. The company was incorporated with the intention […]

I have a tenant that is refusing to pay their rent directly to my bank account. He is paying through our letting agent who we do not have a managing agreement with. The tenant insists on not dealing with us and the letting agent just pay the rent on the tenant’s behalf. My question is […]

I have been a private landlord for approximately 30 years and am now looking to retire. I would prefer to sell my houses as a going concern as most of my tenants have been with me for up to 25 years and look upon their rented property as their forever homes. My portfolio is based […]

The Private Landlord Registration Regulations were approved by Scottish Government on 30 May 2019, requiring affirmation amongst other items of legislative compliance. Thankfully the regulations have not imposed the requirement to submit copies of the compliance documents, so the feedback from the prior consultation was effective. Although not evident from the Regulations it is understood […]

Finally “The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (Scotland) Regulations 2019” to be laid before the Scottish Parliament later this year were published on 17th June 2019 . As expected, no changes to the proposed minimum ratings and deadlines, which are min E for new leases/all properties by Apr 2020/2022 and min D by Apr 2022/2025. […]

I took a tenant and wife who were good payers. The man was arrested and received a custodial sentence! Why I do not know! The lady was to be paid by Housing Benefit. At the end of the day the money was paid. No arguments, no problems, just a heavy workload. We will get it […]

Our fantastic ‘early bird’ opportunity at Park View will capitalise on the vibrancy and growth that this dynamic and thriving area is set to deliver. We are delighted to have secured for our clients these amazing investment properties within a great location, in a growing market and all at today’s investor prices! The Park View development features 91 […]

Shelter has produced a video, which you can view below, as part of its futile campaign against No DSS adverts. Comments can be left below the video if you Click here “Krystyna and her husband Geoff had to return to private renting in their 50s after being home owners when they were made redundant. When […]

The Berlin Rent Cap is expected to become law in January next year and will apply to 1.5 million privately rented properties, but not to social housing or new builds. The rent cap is likely to be backdated to the date of the announcement, 18 June, to prevent landlords from pre-emptive rent rises between now […]

Pent up demand could see a boost to the commercial property market post-Brexit, according to new analysis of the commercial property market from Shawbrook Bank. The ‘UK Commercial Property Market Report‘1, produced by Shawbrook Bank and compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) assesses the state of the current commercial property market, […]

Responding to a report published today by Shelter which calls for England to adopt Scotland’s model of indefinite tenancies in the private rented sector, David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association said: “Shelter fails to recognise key differences between England and Scotland. “The only reason the Scottish model has worked is because a […]

The Resoluion Foundation have published a report titled: “Game of Homes: The rise of multiple property ownership in Great Britain.” Click here to download the full publication. The report finds in summary that: Additional property wealth was worth £941bn in 2014-16 with 5.5 million adults equating to 11.2% of the population owning multiple properties. The […]

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 Leeds Meeting property networking event Wednesday 26th June 2019. The event will start at 6:00pm until 9:00pm and will be free for guests of Mark Smith that have not previously […]

Letter I sent back responding to Nottingham council Selective Licencing demands: I’m still getting these and I don’t know if they automated or not. As it’s a Sunday, so is someone doing some overtime pushing them out manually? I was waiting for the agreed invoice, and also the appeal questions as I’d worded them. Please […]

I own a couple of properties where First Port are the property managers, but they seem to be raising service charges at an incredible rate. As an example over the last 2 years the annual charge has gone from circa £1,100, which I thought was already quite high, to £1,600 which is crazy. Is there […]

The important case of Samuels v Birmingham City Council was decided by The Supreme Court on 12th June 2019. This case decided that a person who had been evicted for rent arrears, as the Housing Benefit did not cover the full rent (£151.49 pcm shortfall), was not to be considered as “intentionally homeless”. This new […]

We have a flat in a modern block with 81 years left of the term. We wish to extend the lease under the Leasehold Reform Act. However, between us 10 Under Leasehold flat owners and the Freeholder is a Head Leaseholder whose term is 10 days longer than the Underleases and who hands over exactly […]