Extra stamp duty is likely to result in a reduction in transactions and the slowing of housebuilding. With new housing starts across London falling from 33,722 in 2015 to 27,259 last year, a report in today’s (3 October 2018) Financial Times, reveals that proposed plans by the government to raise Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) […]

Shawbrook Bank have released their 2018 Buy to Let report and it contains some of the most succinct analysis and graphs of the current BTL market and Tax regime for Landlords seen. Click Here to download the full report. “In this report, we update our Buy-to-let (BTL) market analysis, and dive deeper into the effects […]

Update: Please now email your pledges to [email protected] For the past 18 months, I have mulled over the idea of setting up a new National Landlords association. I won’t bore readers to death explaining why. We all know how frustrated and sickened the community is with the other main associations failing to aggressively fight our […]

The court hearing described below took place recently, but the subsequent conversation is imagined. Hello darling, how was your day with Shelter? Oh darling, it was wonderful, I am on cloud nine.  I managed to stop eviction proceedings in court – on a technicality! That’s marvelous, the people who put money in the collection tins […]

My buying solicitor back in 2006 had the previous owners charge removed from the property. However, I have found out it is still on the restrictions. The now selling solicitors want to charge me £150 plus vat to remove it this old restriction from Land Registry. Does this seems a bit pricey and can I […]

A friend had all his referencing completed by an ARLA agent who insisted on the whole professional shebang…. just as they should, as I would expect to happen. Pity this standard didn’t apply to the property they were representing! On move in day my friend found the previous tenants’ wet double mattress still in the […]

Comparethemarket.com commissioned a poll by Populus between 6-10 September 2018 based on only 1,000 UK adults who are also renters. It is not clear how the demographic of renters is made up and how they were contacted in the Press release. Calculated conclusions were then extrapolated using data from the English Housing Survey from the […]

Commenting on James Brokenshire’s announcement of a New Homes Ombudsman, Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman says: “We welcome the news that Government will launch a New Homes Ombudsman. We have always agreed that new homes should be covered by an Ombudsman, as consumers have no idea that when they buy a new home directly from […]

Calling Landlords – I’ve had a County Court request come through today for one of our current tenants of which we had failed to insure their deposit. This was pure human error where my husband was admitted to hospital for a severe heart operation at only 44 years old literally just after she’d rented from […]

Hi, Please can I ask if anybody knows of any replacement boiler grants that are still available. The tenant I have is a single mum on child tax credits. The property is a 2 bed, mid terraced house. Thank you very much if you are able to point me in the right direction. Nigel  

St Helens is a heritage town in Merseyside, home of our wonderful investment opportunity, Newton Road, with a choice of contemporary 2 and 3 bed new build houses. St Helens is one of the best-connected towns in the country at the centre of the region’s motorway network, runs an efficient bus network and the newly redesigned […]

This time last year, Moneyfacts.co.uk recorded the lowest ever average rates for two, three and five-year fixed rate mortgages. However, with two base rate rises under the Bank of England’s belt since then, it seems that the lowest mortgage rates are now part of the history books. Charlotte Nelson, Finance Expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: “October […]

I run a small letting agency and am almost certain to exit the market when the fee ban comes in as it is income we cannot in all good conscience replace. I plan to go into commercial property and sales instead, run my own portfolio and get a life! It occurred to me that since […]

The Chancellor Philip Hammond has called an early, 29th of October, budget this year to cater for final Brexit negotiations. The National Landlords Association (NLA) has submitted a shopping list of recommendations it would like the government to take up in the Autumn Budget on behalf of its members. Click Here to see the full […]

Thought I send you my recent observation on H&S with fire prevention awareness week coming up shortly. I manage my properties and have been doing my pre-winter and H&S checks. I managed to see 6 tenants the other day so have now acquired few repair jobs (deep joy). What really surprised me was that out […]

My tenant wishes to move her 22 year old son into the accommodation on a permanent basis which on the face of it, I have no objections. My management agent has suggested that this could be done by them drawing up a simple Licensee document and carry out checks on his ID. They also state […]

My mother-in-law has passed away leaving her house worth about £360,000. There is an outstanding equity release loan probably in the region of £180,000. She has no other cash/assets. She has left everything (so just house and about £1000 in cash) bar a small sum to each grandchild (25k to be taken out of house […]

A friend who lives in South London is separating from his partner after a considerable time and although he is a middle-class, educated and solvent man in his fifties he is finding it difficult to secure a decent Flat against young couples with dual income etc. He picked my brains and it occurred to me […]

Seems like the council bosses want to implement another area for selective licensing without doing a proper consultation as far as I know. * I’m not a landlord yet 😉 Thought I give a heads up to other Landlords. Click Here for the link to the local TeesideLive article. “A scheme credited with boosting house […]

A skyline filled with cranes greets you on the approach to Birmingham.  This is a very real and exciting indication of the scale of rejuvenation taking place in the city, and the potential it holds.  This past Saturday, Property Investor Partnership teamed up with the developer Prosperity to host our ‘Meet The Developer’ event in Birmingham – […]

In August, the number of tenants experiencing rent hikes increased to 40%, from 31% in July. This is the highest figure recorded since records began in January 2015 and the highest level every in August. Year on year, this figure has increased from 35% in August 2017 and 27% in August 2016. ARLA Propertymark is […]