A survey of 1,500 landlords across the UK conducted by the RLA showed that 7% are now using Airbnb or similar sites to offer their properties as short term of holiday lets. The RLA concluded from these figures that if this trend was consistent throughout the whole PRS then potentially 134,400 homes have been taken […]

We own a building with 20 flats. We are considering putting up CCTV cameras in the communal areas such as entrance lobby and the ground/car park. Are there any legal or practical issues anybody know about? What about cameras with audio facility? Many thanks Sam Editors Note: From the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) click here […]

Newham council are the first Council to take the step to rate lettings agents using a star marking scheme from 0 (cause for concern) – 5 (no concern) the list will then be published on their website. Newham Council have decided to launch this scheme to protect tenants and landlords from rogue agents as they […]

My partner and I are looking at moving house. Currently we own two flats which we rent out as well as the property we live in and what we would like to do is to keep hold of our current property and rent that out. We would need around £70k deposit for our new house, […]

Are you getting ripped off by TMB (part of Lloyds). It was bad enough that they got away with putting their interest rates up several years ago, but I have just realised that they didn’t reduce their standard SVR last August when the BOE dropped theirs by 0.25%. When I enquired why I was told […]

It’s been tough times for Sheffield’s Buy-To-Let landlords. As a student letting agent in Sheffield, we’re at the eye of the storm! Let’s take a look at the last year of activity and take you through the new legislation, and what it means for the future. According to Zoopla, last year the average price for […]

Should I be concerned about giving out names of Tenants? I have an HMO and the local council has asked for the names of my tenants for non single band council tax. As the Landlord am I at liberty to give out my tenants’ names without breaking the data protection act? Many thanks Peter Editors […]

Retirement Advantage have launched their first Equity release products for landlords to gain access to their capital tied up in rental property for their retirement. Retirement Advantage head of marketing, Alice Watson, said ” based on available data, we estimate there could be over £250 billion locked up in Buy to Let properties that landlords […]

Landlords are being urged to re-mortgage before tougher buy-to-let lending criteria, due to be introduced in September, make it more difficult to obtain finance. The call comes as the proportion of buy-to-let re-mortgage transactions, as a share of the total lending market, has risen over the last few months*, and as a diminishing demand for new […]

Landlords who need to evict tenants will need to serve notice correctly and then obtain a possession order from the court before they can proceed. In this article we look at the pros and cons of choosing the accelerated possession procedure, which can be a faster option. However, it may not be used in all […]

My tenant has requested a water meter as at present he has single occupancy of the property. Has anyone else encountered this scenario or have any advice on it please? Thanks Tim

Feathers have certainly been flying on Twitter following our article yesterday featuring an Appalled Landlords rebuttal of claims of 1,400% BTL returns suggested by Patrick Collinson “Guardian of Housing Ignorance“, who has since copped for a roasting on Twitter from angered landlords. If you use Twitter you can re-tweet or join the discussion via the […]

The Resolution Foundation, a Tory think tank with former cabinet minister and Conservative lord David Willetts as executive chair, has published an article concluding that “those drawing on wealth or income from additional properties are disproportionately rich and wealthy.” Click here to read the full article. The article states there is a case for further action beyond […]

In 2015 I rented my property to a family friend who came to me this year explaining about damp and mould. I went to check and my Tenant was telling the truth it was had. It was a reoccurring issue in the property. Due to personal financial problems I was unable to have all the […]

The 1,400% returns figure for Buy-to Let was grossly inflated In fact it was both gross and inflated.  It was also fictitious, and contained errors.  It may have led George Osborne to introduce Section 24. In a recent article purporting to criticise Guardian readers for vilifying a woman who had told them in an earlier […]

I have been asked by the founder of PropertyData.co.uk to review his latest online software for property people. I think he deserves more than just my opinion though, so I have promised him that I will ask thousands of landlords to review it – you are one of them, I hope you will help. Please […]

HMRC has refunded £127m in Stamp Duty for second home owners since the 3% surcharge was introduced in April last year. The average refund over 10,700 property purchases was roughly £11,869. Currently if you purchase your new main residence, but have not yet sold your old one you will have to pay the 3% surcharge […]

I have recently purchased and refurbished a house and now it’s time to submit all the info to my accountant. I once read, I think on this forum, that if you asked 10 accountants which costs were allowable against income tax and which against capital gains you would get 10 different answers. I also read […]

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have today called for  credit referencing agencies, such as Experian and Equifax, to include rental payment history when calculating the credit rating of tenants. This would seem only fair when the penalty for landlords and home owners for even one month of missed mortgage payment can be so severe when […]

I’m looking to purchase the freehold from Simarc for our 2 bed semi house once we’ve lived here for two years. We pay £40 per year ground rent. By the time we look to purchase, there will be c960 years left on the lease. Has anyone any experience in buying the freehold from a leaseholder? […]

Airbnb is fast becoming the preferred method of accommodation amongst leisure and business travellers.  For Airbnb hosts it can be an easy way of making some extra cash. However, recently there have been a number of cases where properties have been damaged by guests, sublet by tenants, people being injured at Airbnb properties and hosts […]