Today I had to undiscombobulate my accountants who were in utter confusion over Section 24. Not only had they applied it to my 2016-17 tax return but they had calculated it wrongly too. Fortunately I spotted this and was able to point out the error of their ways, to much embarrassment on their part. It […]

Hello, long time lurker here. I own the leasehold on an ex-Local Authority flat. The flat above mine, which is also in private hands has, for the 4th time leaked water into my flat. My question is, although building insurance is included in the service charge it does not compensate for lost time & earnings. […]

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill is a private members Bill sponsored by Westminster North Labour MP Karen Buck. It presented to Parliament through the ballot procedure on 19 July 2017 as a first reading not having yet been subjected to any debate and is due to have a […]

I’m 23 years old, just finished under-graduate university and currently unemployed. Starting a Masters degree in property in Sept 18. I have no income and unlikely to be fully employed until July 2019; but have capital which I want to invest in property now. Mortgages are unavailable to me due to no income. In the […]

I have some tenants who have failed to sign the renewed shorthold tenancy agreement that I have signed and issued to them. This involved a rent increase. They were given 10 weeks’ notice of the contract renewal and agreed to meet me at the property to sign the new contract. The excuse that I was […]

Schedule 15 of the Finance Act 2003 is the piece of legislation which enables a partnership to transfer its properties to a company at the point of incorporation without paying SDLT. Link to HMRC guidance. A Partnership is defined by the Partnership Act 1890 as “the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business […]

I own an HMO in the London borough of Croydon where I have had no choice but install wireless, battery operated radio frequency interlinked fire alarms (specifically these are the AICO 10 year Lithium battery Ei600 series alarms, the only alarms on the market frequently accepted as an alternative to the mains wired systems). I […]

In June we began to rent out a room in a shared house (HMO) to a young single chap who seemed very personable and clean and tidy in appearance. He was not in a position to pay his months rent and deposit in advance so to help him out we agreed to accept his deposit […]

This is an exciting new investment opportunity in Liverpool’s city centre. Interiors are finished to a high specification to complement the grandeur of the exterior. Originally Union Bank’s head office, it is converted to 26 luxury apartments offering a 6% net rental return for 2 years.  One bedroom apartments start from £169,950. Halifax House enjoys […]

A new report by the Adam Smith institute (the free market thinktank) sets out why the UK should abolish Stamp Duty Land Tax. Taxing transactions of Britain’s £7.5tn stock of property is keeping people in homes of incorrect sizes and too far from jobs Stamp Duty Land Tax is four times more harmful to economic […]

I rent a property to students through a local student Lettings company and have done so for many years. It is let to groups of friends under a joint tenancy, there are no individual bedroom locks and as such I believe that it is not a HMO. Recently the students have requested individual locks on […]

The examples below are designed by HMRC to support their main Income Tax guidance for landlords. They deal with a range of tax issues that you may need to think about if you rent out a property. Changes to tax relief for residential landlords The tax relief that landlords of residential properties get for finance costs […]

I have been looking at Property 118 for several months now and have found it a great help in the current climate. I have been wondering if your optimal tax planning strategies would be applicable to my wife and I. I note that it is said that a partnership is required beforehand to take advantage […]

My daughter is in her first year at university, but already she is being badgered about looking for a rental property for her second year which starts in September next year! Is this normal or is it sales pressure? It’s a good question because in the most popular parts of the UK this is the […]

I am helping Cotswold Barristers to promote their BICT structure to accountants and would really appreciate some help. Many accountants advise their clients on the various forms of incorporation relief but are completely unaware of this structure. In many cases, landlords who are considering incorporation do not wish to refinance away from unbeatable mortgage rates or […]

Hi guys, does anyone know what further recourse, (if any) one can resort to, to pursue a tenant debtor after high court enforcement agents (HCEA) have unsuccessfully tried to recover debts from him following a CCJ and how best to pursue such path? For instance, 1. Can one return to the county court to accept […]

Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP is returning as guest speaker on the expert property panel of the National Landlord Investment Show on 7th November, held at Olympia. He has also been confirmed as a columnist in the Landlord Investment Magazine, giving insight and comment into the challenges and opportunities that UK landlords are currently […]

Although Purpose built student accommodation in Leicester is nothing new, it is now impossible for any student letting agent in Leicester, or indeed any investor who owns or develops student accommodation in Leicester, to ignore it’s rise in popularity. The last 5 years have brought significant changes in tuition fees, increasing graduate employment competition, more […]

I am in need of some advice to either backup or dismiss the current advice received from a tenant eviction specialist. I have a tenant that we would like to evict from our property. They have rolled onto a periodic, and the original 6 month agreement was signed November 2016. At the time we supplied […]

SAFEagent, the Kitemark scheme for letting agents, has written to, Alok Sharma MP, the housing minister, reminding him of government plans to make Client Money Protection (CMP) insurance compulsory for letting agents. This is part forms part of the commitments to regulate the lettings and management industry and SAFEagent are asking that CMP forms a compulsory […]

Q1 If we sign and return the contract (completion date left blank on it) to the solicitor, can he proceed with exchange of contracts without any further instructions/agreement from us? Can he wait until we have a completion date agreed before we return it? Q2 If we sign and return the contract, can we still […]