44% of Scottish tenants saw their rent costs rise in January, a considerable contrast to the national average of 19%, ARLA Propertymark reveals. The findings come following the introduction of the new Private Rented (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act on 1st December 2017, highlighting a market reaction to indefinite tenancies and the potential for rent controls. David […]

Due to the Anti Money Laundering regulations of 2017 changes, when the regulator changed from OFT to HMRC, we are legally obliged to carry out an AML check on all our landlords to ensure everyone is compliant with the law. During the next few weeks we are going having to undertake the checks on all […]

We bought a house as an investment rental property in January 2016. A new boiler had been fitted in December 2015 so we were fairly confident that we would not be incurring expense on the boiler for a few years. We had used an agent for various activities on the marketing and letting process and […]

If anyone is interested is seeing some pointless, mind-numbing questions ( and have insomnia ) take a look at the below.  –  my response email to them is ; – ” What a pointless and complex mind-numbing set of questions, What are you trying to achieve, – certainly not engagement with a significant number of […]

The Institute for Fiscal Studies issued the Briefing Note “The decline of homeownership among young adults” on 16 February. It contained findings, but did not make any recommendations. The key findings were: Today’s young adults are significantly less likely to own a home at a given age than those born only five or ten years […]

Boosting confidence in the industry Virgin Money is to enter portfolio Buy to Let mortgage market this year. Virgin Money announced: “Overall, we achieved a market share of gross lending of 3.3% despite lowering volumes towards the end of the year to manage margins and protect returns in an increasingly competitive market. “Further progress in […]

I wish to remove some of my properties from Haart Lettings in Fleet due to several reasons. These include be over-charged by tradesmen they have employed, lack of property management and generally very poor value for money. When raising the question of how much notice was required to take back management myself, I was told […]

If I buy a property, do it up, and sell it on, I think I have to pay income tax  on the profit. If I buy a property, do it up, put in a tenant, then sell it down the line, I have to pay CGT. My question is: What is the cross over point […]

Lettings agent Nicholas George recently admitted indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex, settling out of court with single mother Rosie Keogh. She was paid £2,000 compensation, because her application was refused on the grounds of being in receipt of benefits. The action was reported today on the BBC news website (Click here to read […]

Hi All, Just had this piece of new legislation pointed out to me by a client. Although I heard Sajid Javid’s sabre rattling around Christmas, I hadn’t heard much more on it since. The new piece of legislation, made 20/02/2018 and laid before parliament 23/02/2018 appears to be coming in to force 01/10/2018 and would […]

I have one property rented out since I down graded to a small flat in August 2016 only. I am thinking of opening limited company as people say that is more tax sufficient, and asset is owned by the company rather than myself which can paid for my care in old age. Can anyone guide […]

Our Own Property118 member Mick Roberts appears on BBC Radio Nottingham’s Mark Dennison Show. Mick tells it how it is in his own inimitable style and how Selective Licensing is going to directly affect his Benefits Tenants. Click Here for BBC Iplayer Mark Dennison starts talking about Licensing @ 1hr 12min and 30 seconds. He […]

Granite House is a Grade II listed building on Stanley Street in central Liverpool. Built in the traditional construction style of the early 20th Century, it will be re-purposed to a boutique student accommodation development. Many of the buildings on Stanley Street are old warehouses (a nod to Liverpool’s industrial past) that have been converted […]

I have had a tenant move out of a property recently and because it was 2 weeks into the month I was told that I would not get the rental payment. The Universal Credit team told me that if it had been 3.5 weeks into to the month I probably would of got the rent. […]

I would really appreciate an opinion on this from those who might have been sued for more than three times deposit and any legal experts who post on here. I am concerned about the many “ambulance chasing” legal firms around who are promising to get tenants awards of up to nine times deposit. While some […]

I have a pressing problem with the planned purchase of a BTL. I wonder if you could help? In summary, I’m looking to buy a house through my BTL Ltd Company (set up following section 24.). The house is a good investment as it is split into 5 self-contained flats and in a row of […]

24Housing has reported that the Court of Appeal has ruled that councils cannot use selective licensing conditions to impose new standards on private rented homes. Paul Brown, a landlord in Accrington, is challenging Hyndburn Council which sought to use its selective licensing scheme in certain areas of the borough to force the installation of carbon monoxide […]

I am wondering if anyone could answer this question. I own a property outright that my Mum currently lives in. Mum now wishes to move to Spain and has asked me if I can get a Buy to Let mortgage on the house to free up some funds. My question is if Spain for whatever […]

Lettingsupermarket.com are assisting in the representation of a large Investment Group based in the U.S. who specialise in the acquisition of Student Accommodation. They currently have over £300m invested in Student Accommodation developments in the U.S., with over 3,000 units across Maryland, New York and California. They are now looking to acquire Student Accommodation developments […]

This week landlords watched with trepidation as the BBC presented a so-called Panorama investigation into the use of Section 21 notices in the private rented sector. The inauspicious title: ‘Evicted for no reason,’ warned us that we should expect the usual bias and inaccuracy as Section 21 notices are not served for no reason. That would just […]

Here at the Sheriffs Office we have been pleasantly surprised at the speedy turnaround of writs of possession over the past few months. This can be a huge advantage to landlords for whom receiving rental income is important, and to whom rogue tenants have caused undue stress and financial hardship. It can mean that within […]