The high street  letting agent Haart does not believe the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017-19  goes far enough to protect tenants. The Private Members Bill brought to Parliament by Labour MP Karen Buck includes giving tenants the right to take legal action over the habitation standards of private […]

Last May, I received a call from my tenant’s ex-wife telling me that he had died. The following month, the tenancy ended and keys were handed back. The property has now been sold. The one problem I have been unable to resolve is returning the deposit (in full) to the next-of-kin, his daughter. I was […]

A new edition of the ‘How to rent’ guide written by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has been released on 17th January 2018. Please Click Here to download the full document which must be provided by landlords and agents to all new tenants. The guide is for tenants and landlords in the […]

Having a good accountant to check your books, make sure you claimed for everything you should and nothing you shouldn’t is very important. At this time of year, we are all dealing with just that, our year end tax returns and paying our tax by 31st January. However, has your accountant taken time out to explain how […]

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has thrown its support behind the Private Members Bill brought to Parliament by Labour MP Karen Buck. The Bill includes giving tenants the right to take legal action over the habitation standards of private rental property. Please Click Here to see full details of the Bill drawn up so far. […]

Too Often now that term ‘Criminal landlord’ is bandied about by ignorant politicians and Councils for political gain . It is a vendetta directed against the PRS. It is high time that the public were appraised of the reality of the rental market, across the board. To that end I will impart some absolutely shocking […]

We have tenants (a couple & their two children) in our B2L. They look after it and pay the rent on time and I’d like them to stay. We had a big void before they moved in and we accepted a significant discount on the market rent. When I inspected the property in June, there […]

Labour MP, Karen Buck, who brought the Private Members Bill ‘Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017-19’ to Parliament is requesting feedback from tenants on Facebook. However, there is no request to include feedback from Landlords! The Facebook page, Click Here to view, asks: Tell us your stories of being […]

A new proptech platform has launched today that links tenants’ rental payments with their Experian credit report and provides a full rent reporting service for letting agents and landlords. The Credit Builder platform is designed to help tenants improve their credit history by building up a validated rental record which they can share with future […]

My son lives in Spain and owns a property there. I recently downsized and moved to a property I already owned (it was let). I would like to gift my son a small Buy to Let property in London, which I could manage while I am still able to, and then hopefully save on inheritance […]

DWP are making improvements to the current version of the UC47 form.  The form is widely used by landlords when applying for direct payment of the claimants Housing Cost. The UC47 will be moving to an online version where the form will be completed and submitted online. On Tuesday 6th  February 2018 and Wednesday 7th […]

A three storey 78 unit development based just north-east of Bristol’s city centre meaning it is convenient for students who attend either the University of Bristol, or the University of the West of England (UWE), both of which are reachable either on foot or via direct public transport links. Collectively, the universities have over 51,000 […]

I wonder whether anyone has thought of putting money into a SIPP to mitigate some of the fallout of the way that mortgage expenses are to be accounted for from the current tax year. I appear to be hit hard. I have a salaried income of 35K, plus 25K in rental income, with 15K in […]

On 29th December 2017 I published an article about how UK landlords could be criminalised and even face prison sentences as a result of their tenants failing to use the correct recycling dustbins, and other matters. Here is a link to that article, which has been the cause of outrage for many more reasons than […]

Can anyone please assist with my situation? My sister would like to transfer a property as a gift to my brother and I, the property does not have a mortgage and was not purchased with one. The house has always been used as a rental property with a Private Rented Property License issued by a […]

Having raised more than £58,000 for local charities across the last three events, ‘Rumble with the Agents’, the white-collar charity boxing event which was set up in 2015 by founder of Landlord Action, Paul Shamplina, will return for a fourth year. Now a permanent fixture in the property event calendar, the team are once again […]

Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Housing, announced yesterday his Government’s support for new legislation proposed under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill 2017-19. The Private Members’ Bill brought forward by Labour MP, Karen Buck, includes giving tenants the right to take legal action over the habitation standards of private rental […]

Our Landlord has just remortgaged and said he needs to prove he is getting a higher rent than we actually pay. He wants us to go to agent and sign a new agreement for a higher rental amount, but says we can continue to pay existing (lower) rent. He says it is a Buy to […]

I had a fairly high maintenance tenant who was causing so much grief after 2 years I served a section 21. Eventually they left my property and put the keys through the door. I recently contacted her about some furniture, two broken wardrobes and a corner piece of her sofa and after she tried to […]

I had a tenant who appears to have left the property three months ago, at least that’s when he stopped paying rent or answering his phone. The house is still occupied by a woman who wasn’t on the original tenancy and I assume she’s his girlfriend. Ive contacted a solicitor and set about gaining possession. […]

My client has just set up a new Ltd Co with which they wish to buy and manage several rental properties. They are using a new solicitor to do the conveyancing who is supposed to be an expert in Ltd companies and  buy to let’s. The Ltd Co has only been in existence 5 days […]