Finally the DWP announce that they are launching an inquiry into whether Universal Credit (UC) is pushing claimants into rent arrears. This was revealed by Caroline Dineage, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions),  in the House of Commons and I’m sure we as landlords will be very interested to see this report. Speaking in […]

Jeremy Corbyn used one of his 5 questions to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons PMQs to read out a letter from GAP Property saying it was giving every single one of its Universal Credit (UC) tenants two months’ notice ahead of the roll-out of UC in the area. The letter said: “GAP […]

Housing will take centre stage in the forthcoming Budget, with the emphasis on building more homes and on increasing the number of owner-occupiers. If, however, the Government wants a country which works for everyone, it also needs to address the needs of those who will never be able to buy. With 16 million British people […]

My partner and I own 10 rental properties. All the title deeds and mortgages are in her name as I was made bankrupt some years ago. I have managed these properties alone since we purchased them. In the event of her death what happens ? Can I still operate this business, even though all banking […]

Did you know; if you become non-resident for tax purposes you only pay CGT on capital appreciation since April 2015 on your rental properties? A few weeks ago I shared a tax planning strategy based on this (link here) and since then I have already been contacted by four landlords who are now residing in […]

Earlier last month the Conservatives announced that all buy-to-let (BTL) landlords will be forced to register with a redress scheme, as is already compulsory for all letting and estate agents.  The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) says an introduction of this kind should also be extended to include Rent to Rent (R2R) firms. Rent to Rent […]

Hi, I’m a property sourcer/trader looking to resolve a legal situation with a purchase to gain vacant possession of a property. Looking to learn what options apply to resolve the situation, so the sale can proceed. An overview is below. I have a property deal whereby the vendor has accepted a reasonable discount on the […]

Dear Mr Hammond On behalf of the UK Private Rented Sector represented by the Property118 online community our requests are both simple and straight forward to implement and have no cost implications to HM Treasury. Please help all UK private housing providers (AKA buy-to-let landlords), who wish to do so, to professionalise and corporatise their […]

Suppose I decide to nominate a former rental property long in my possession as my main home within the permitted window for making the election. My main home, purchased in 2016, now becomes my second home. I paid only the ordinary stamp duty when I purchased it, since it involved the exchange of one main […]

The number of landlords who want to complete their business restructuring and associated tax planning before the Nov 22nd Autumn Budget has hit record levels for Property118. We are now booking consultations for after the Budget on a first come first served basis. Whatever is announced in the Budget affecting landlords, for better or for worse, […]

Hi, I write for The Guardian (I’m their money editor) and we’re keen to profile a landlord ahead of next week’s Budget – looking at the sorts of things that have affected you financially over the past year, what you want from the Budget, etc. On the day we’ll ring back for any reaction. We’d […]

I have a few properties in London; I manage the properties myself mostly, and so I often engage the services of various handymen. As you can imagine, most handymen are most insistent on being paid as soon as the job is completed. Naturally, I pay handymen immediately (or the next day at most), and since […]

Hi, Can anybody help me? About 4 months ago my tenant rang me to ask if I had any other properties available that she, and her family, could move into asap. Apparently “some bad lads” had threatened her partner and they needed to get away immediately. I told her that, unfortunately, I had no vacant […]

Two months ago I published a case study: Live Universal Credit horror case study In short we were approached by a PRS Landlord, he had granted a Tenancy in March, the tenant was on Universal Credit. After weeks of both the tenant and landlord communicating with Universal Credit and being misinformed that the Housing Costs […]

The former President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), Simon Gerrard, has sent another open letter to Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, chasing for a response to his housing market proposals. The first letter was ignored by the Housing Ministry and just passed on to the Treasury receiving a cursory reply. The plans given […]

Have a couple of flats in one block. The typical lease fee was £195 every quarter. The solicitors acting on their behalf are now threatening to take us to court for breach of contract and are threatening to apply to the courts for a Possession Order if we do not pay the outstanding balance of […]

My daughter is at university and an agent has just sent an AST to sign with the follow clause; “In the event of the rent or any part of it being unpaid for more than 14 days after it has become due whether legally demanded or not or if there shall be a breach of […]

The All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group (APPCOG) campaign titled Carbon monoxide alarms: Tenants safe and secure in their homes is looking to improving current regulations for rented properties and make it compulsory to fit carbon monoxide alarms. Alok Sharma MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, is backing a report by the APPCOG that […]

Hi, I recently purchased (Aug ‘17) a property in Blackpool which has historically been converted into 5 self contained apartments. The property is currently 80% Tenanted, however it is dated and would benefit from a complete refurbishment including some works to the roof. The current intention is to remove the tenants, refurbish the whole building, […]

We own a free hold block of 11 flats in Birmingham area. When we bought the property it was derelict. Since then we have done the work and now all 11 flats are tenanted and generating rentals with limited vacancy for past 2 years. During this time we had a commercial mortgage from Aldermore which […]

Golden Welcome cash payment to landlords Central Government is doing all it can to deter private landlords from providing housing to people on benefits and now Local Councils are desperate enough to do this: Monmouthshire Lettings Service Scheme will offer landlords a cash payment of up to £1,200 just for joining, free quarterly property inspections and […]