I’m keen to hear from other HMO/flatshare landlords on the topic of replacing existing flatmates – specifically, how much do you involve the existing flatmates in choosing the new person? I’ve got a HMO that I let to professionals (I don’t use agents). Tenants are all under 30. Broadly, I trust these tenants not do […]

This is a strange one, which I hope someone might have had dealings with in the past, so here goes. My wife rents a property at the moment, which she purchased back in the early 90’s with her partner at the time. The partner left her and moved out of the property around 18 months […]

Can I ask how many of us landlord readers take out landlord plumbing and drainage policies? I have recently taken one out and they sent me a lengthy policy document regarding what is and what isn’t covered. I called them the other day due to a pipe leaking and they said I wasn’t covered ! […]

Politics.co.uk are reporting the Right to Rent rules forcing landlords to check tenant’s immigration status and rights to remain are facing two independent legal challenges. These rules have been deeply unpopular with landlords and agents who feel the responsibility of the state to monitor our boarders is being passed on to them with corresponding penalties […]

I have a few Grade II buildings and have always worked on the basis that they are exempt from EPCs. However, I have heard that as part of the EPC standard (i.e. must be E or above to let) that comes in in April, all exempt properties need to be registered. So, not knowing if […]

The generally accepted view on the new Private Residential Tenancy in Scotland is that the tenant can end the tenancy by giving 28 days notice at anytime after the the start of the tenancy. Having read the relevant legislation (Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016) I am confused. Chapter 2, Section 49 Paragraph 3b (1) […]

I am one of the many non resident BTL landlords in the UK who had an unknown tenant placed in my property by Oliver-Knights with a fraudulent 3 year lease in 2014. See Paul Shamplina’s article Oliver Knights shuts shop leaving landlords and tenants in despair I was forced to honour this contract with all […]

Last week, whilst filming in the town of March, Cambridgeshire, for the fourth series of Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’, I experienced the worst living conditions I had ever seen in my 27 years in this business. Although a unique case, it was also tragic. The tenant living at the property was rent protected […]

I think this could be absolutely massive …. a UK Building Society offering BTL mortgages to Limited Companies with ‘No Personal Guarantees’ and on interest only terms. Granted, the maximum LTV is only 55% and the interest rates are not earth-shatteringly marvelous, but nevertheless I think this could open up a huge market for more […]

We have had a property management company for many years and have a few properties held within the company. Our 2 adult children are also shareholders of this company. If we incorporated the rest of our properties should we start another company or is it possible to utilise the existing company? Sorry if this has […]

I am aware that, Digital Taxation is applicable to those Landlords whose turnover (Gross Rent) is in excess of £85000. So am I right in assuming that if you and your wife has rental income in excess of £170000 then Digital Taxation requirement will apply or is it £85000 in total? Secondly there is some […]

The Family Building Society are an interesting little niche lender for landlords especially now while criteria is such a key decision maker for borrowers. They are selling on availability to less standard requirements rather competing on price. Buy to Let mortgages available for: Limited Companies – if the borrowers do NOT want to provide a […]

Jeremy Corbyn was responding to a Guardian article “Hundreds of thousands living in squalid rented homes in England” when he accused the government of being unwilling to fix the housing crisis because they were “in the pockets of rogue landlords.” Corbyn said: “The squalid and unsafe conditions that hundreds of thousands of people face are […]

I have a question regarding the best way to go about optimising tax payments as necessary on a new buy to let. I am in the process of changing a residential property into a buy to let At the moment the property is in my name. The mortgage is also in my name and I […]

A year ago I purchased a Buy to Let in my own name, I am looking to buy my own residential home to live in. The property value has around 50k equity and 100k mortgage. My first question is, if you put your property into a private limited company or possibly a partnership could you […]

We have had a tenant vacate a property unexpected. Verbally over the phone the tenant has told us he has left and the deposit (£600) will cover the rent arrears of (£500) plus the damages to the property they had left. When we finally got possession of the house back the estate agent who did […]

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has now released the National Statistics English Housing Survey 2016 to 2017 headline report. Click here to see the full headline report. The Private Rented Sector (PRS) continues to be bigger than the Social housing sector and is now the largest individual tenure in London. 4.7 million […]

I have 4 BTL properties in the SE of England, I decided to sell one of them and very quickly received an offer and accepted. However, after 3 months the sale fell through (buyer change of mind), I have now decided to keep the flat and rent again. My question is whether I can claim […]

I understand that the first level of tax planning to undertake is a restructure of our income to optimise all available basic rate tax allowances with my wife, we married on 26/05/06. (Currently these are £45,000 each). The tax changes to mortgage interest relief will not affect us, as our four flats are mortgage free […]

This question is for the tax year 2016-2017. My wife and I did a ‘Let to Buy’ on a flat we owned. At the time, we owed 125,000 to the bank and when we took out our buy to let mortgage we increased the borrowing to 250,000. £125,000 we used as a deposit on our […]

Brian Johnson, insolvency partner at accountants HW Fisher comments on the UK’s 2017 insolvency statistics just out. Company Insolvencies: “Even stripping out the distorting effects of the two spikes triggered by law changes, the overall trend is up, with the number of companies going to the wall rising steadily throughout 2017. “While November’s interest rate […]