Page 616 – Property118

How do you split and avoid stamp duty and CGT?

12th October 2017

I have a friend whose relationship with her partner has broken down. They never married, but have a couple of kids and bought their buy to let houses in joint names with mortgages. There is about 5-10% equity across the properties. They want to split the portfolio and transfer them equally into the respective parties […]

HMO, Council and the Local Government Ombudsman.

11th October 2017

I’m suffering because of my local Council and the Local Government Ombudsman. I’m sure you will find my story shocking! My case/story: My treatment from Stevenage Borough Council’s Environmental Department & the LGO has been unfair, unjust and appalling! Moreover, they have violated my human and civil rights. I’m a 70-year-old and been fighting with […]

Property investment in popular student city with high demand

11th October 2017

#47 is a new student property development  located in the heart of Leicester’s city. According to recent figures, there are 6.4 students to every dedicated room within the city centre, so demand is expected to be high. This is an ideal opportunity for investors looking to achieve high rental yields. Units in #47 start from […]

How to get the best insurance for a portfolio of let property

11th October 2017

IF you own more than one let property then you could save money and improve cover by buying a landlord portfolio of insurance. If you own multiple properties, there are benefits to buying the insurance all together as discounts can be applied that single properties do not attract. In purely practical terms, it also means […]

Warning – no insurance cover on damage if property not let quickly?

10th October 2017

I’ve not been able to find an article on this in the forums. I have a few properties and I’ve unfortunately had to claim on one or two insurance policies in the past, usually for malicious damage done to them. I’ve just had one of the properties vandalised whilst trying to find a tenant for […]

Purchasing a Sale and Rent back property at auction?

10th October 2017

I am interested in buying an auction property which is currently let. It appears that the tenancy was the result of a private buy and rent back agreement but according to the auction pack there is no evidence of any formal documentation supporting it. I can see the risks to the tenant in this situation. […]

Floating Charge on LTD company mortgage

10th October 2017

This is more a ‘watch out for’ rather than a question, having said that if anyone has a fix I would truly appreciate it! In brief, I set out to purchase two buy to lets within a limited company that currently has one buy to let with a Kent Reliance mortgage. We decided on Paragon […]

Growing Trend of people living in Vans in Bristol

10th October 2017

The local press in Bristol have picked up on a Gumtree advert offering a parked van to live in for £220 per month. The advert said the LDV Convoy van (a yellow minibus) comes with all the facilities required for winter living on a city street with a fire burner, cooker, oven, sink, tap, double […]

Council intention of prosecuting for an unlicensed HMO…but it’s not!!!

10th October 2017

I have received an invitation from my local council to attend a PACE interview regarding an allegation of running an unlicensed HMO. A few weeks ago, there was an ‘inspection’ but I would call it a raid conducted by the police, immigration authorities, and environmental health officer at my property. Several doors were kicked in […]

How to evict persistent late payer

10th October 2017

I have a tenant who is late with their rent every month and only pays after a lot of calls/emails/text etc. I told him last time was his last warning and he promised to set up a direct debit. Well one month was fine, and we are now back to no payment and I have […]

Base rate speculation causes fixed rates to rise

9th October 2017

Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report data, not yet published, highlights that as SWAP rates have seen a steep increase due to base rate speculation, the average two-year fixed rate mortgage is also starting to rise. Charlotte Nelson, Finance Expert at Moneyfacts, said: “While month-on-month figures show that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate has […]

Airbnb paid HMRC £188,000 for last year’s UK tax return

9th October 2017

Although Airbnb collected more than £675 million in rental payments last year their total payment to HMRC for corporation tax was £188,000. The commissions earned by Airbnb are booked through it’s subsidiary in Ireland, but they also have two British subsidiaries. It is one of these subsidiaries that made a pre-tax profit of £960,000, Airbnb […]

Freeholders plans to extort more profit from property owners

9th October 2017

In 2012 I bought a flat in Manchester as an investment and I have rented out the flat for the last five years however I recently received a letter from the management company stating they were introducing a new annual charge of £126 to “Provide a notice and registration fee upon granting of a shorthold […]

Tenancy achieved by deception question

9th October 2017

I am curious about what happens if a tenant knowingly lies to get the tenancy, such as claiming they have a job when they don’t and or agrees to pay a rent they could never realistically expect to afford. Would that then be grounds for eviction? If so on the later would that what councils […]

Can I enforce safety checks on commercial tenant?

9th October 2017

We have one commercial lease (office building) wherein our tenants have denied their responsibility to carry out annual Gas Safe checks and Electrical Installation Condition checks. Do we have any recourse against them apart from invoking forfeiture of the lease for breach of covenants? Since these are statutory obligations, can we ask any regulated body […]

Landlords Portfolio Insurance

6th October 2017

I’m a landlord with 5 properties – 4 in joint ownership and 1 in Ltd co. I have been lazy recently and not really bothered to look at insurance renewals and just called up my broker on receiving a renewal letter, haggled a bit and gone with that price for ease. I usually end up […]

Son having difficulty getting credit with his name on a joint BTL

5th October 2017

My son has come up against a credit problem which, to be honest, has me and my accountant stumped. I have a number of buy to lets, and put his name on two of them never in a million years thinking I was going to create problems for him. He contributed nothing to these, and […]

Smoke Detector Requirements for 3 bedroom Flat

5th October 2017

I have a 3 bedroom Victorian purpose built (not a flat conversion) ground floor terrace flat which I let as a flatshare to 3 friends. I understand that makes it a non-regulated HMO. My estate agent says the property only requires battery operated smoke detectors. Reading various articles in the internet, I am confused as […]

Noisy neighbours have cost me a tenant

Obstructive neighbours stopping us from renting flat

5th October 2017

Revisiting the site after a while with an issue that is making the wife and I sick with stress. We have a flat which we rent. We evicted the last tenant who owed us several thousands in rent and court fees. We still have not been able to get the bond back after the eviction […]

Sabrina of Caridon Landlord Solutions £14724.33 overpayment victory

5th October 2017

Caridon Landlord Solutions expert team assist landlords with tenants on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit by proving ad hoc advice on various issues that the landlord may face during the tenancy cycle from tenancy set up to overpayment disputes and appeals. Most landlords at some point during the tenancy are face with the issue of […]

Best and Final Offer – Scam or Genuine

4th October 2017

I viewed a “re-possessed” property yesterday which was in a state. The agent wouldn’t confirm, but from what I can gather, the previous owner died in situ and was probably not found for a period of time given the staining on the carpet and smell. Apparently a couple of clients had viewed the property and […]