I rented my property and once the tenant moved out she left owing nearly £700 in utility bills. She contacted the gas company and said she was just renting a room from me and that I was responsible for the bills. This of course wasn’t true, this has gone on for over 2 years, she […]

We demolished an existing garage and rebuilt it with a small flat above about 5 years ago. The planning terms were that only friends or family could stay in the annex. It’s self-contained and has its own drive and entrance. We’ve recently moved to Portugal and rented out the main house. My husband’s internet business […]

The UK housing shortage will not be successfully addressed if we rely entirely on the major house builders. This is the view that was expressed by the government housing White Paper at the beginning of the year, which recognised both the importance of creating a diverse construction sector and the significant contribution that can be […]

A fake landlord used Facebook to copy and paste property details and pictures from a rental listing on Rightmove and scammed prospective tenants from Plymouth out of £1,200. Jenny Foster-Mitchell, who was taken in by the imposter, reported to the local paper The Herald (click here to see article) saying: “The house was listed at […]

Ahead of the Chancellor’s next budget on the 22nd of November the National Landlords Association (NLA) has made representation to HM Treasury focusing on support for investment in the Private Rental Sector (PRS) and implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act. The summary of the recommendations are: 1) Embark on an immediate review of the removal […]

Once again, after I have given 2 months notice to quit to tenants, they have failed to pay the rent due for the last month of their tenancy. These particular tenants won’t enter into a discussion about it and won’t let me into the property to inspect it so that I can write a reference […]

An article in the Guardian yesterday purporting to expose rogue landlords had the headline “London council finds 35 men living in one three bedroom house” In the property eight men were found with wall to wall mattresses in one room. Click here to read the full article. However, the owner, Dr. Sunil Hathi, has threatened […]

Following hot on the heels of Belvoir’s tongue-in-cheek #LittleAgents video, which received over two million hits, the UK’s largest High Street property franchise has launched a second, more emotive video to capture the excitement, stress and occasional sadness that a house move can bring. “Moving house can be a very emotional time for people, as […]

At The Sheriff’s Office we often have clients ask us to help with post eviction clear ups. Our team can ensure that correct steps are taken not only to clean up, but to re-secure the site and ensure both yours and the public’s safety. We are experts in doing this for both property and land. […]

I was wondering if there are any solicitors on here who could advise me on the following. I have taken a guarantor to court for rent arrears from a previous tenant of mine. After sending in all the documents I intend to rely on in court along with my witness statement and cheque for £170 […]

I have a property that is about to be vacated. The tenants have had a car on the driveway that has not moved for about 2 years. The tires are flat, the brakes are locked solid and I’ve been told it will not start. I’m worried that the tenants will leave it behind when they […]

My partner and I have a portfolio of 10 properties in joint names which we fully self-manage including lettings and repairs. They are singe let houses, not HMO’s. We treat this as a business as it is our main source of income. I’ve read quite a lot about the potential advantages of being a property […]

Did you know that from April 2018, BTL landlords might find it far more difficult to get buy to let mortgages if their properties don’t have the right Energy Performance Certificate rating EPC’s are rated from A (the most energy efficient property) down to G. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) include detailed information about the subject […]

Hammersmith & Fulham have confirmed that they have just launched a discretionary licensing scheme. Nearly all privately rented properties in the borough need to be licensed. They have released two new licensing schemes in addition to the mandatory licensing scheme. The three types of property licences are as follows: Mandatory licensing This applies to houses […]

Anyone who lives in a postcode listed below (of working age, with less than 3 children) will no longer be able to make a new claim to any of the existing benefits: Tax credits, Housing Benefit, Income support, Employment Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance. Instead they will have to make a claim for Universal Credit full […]

Newham Council sending letters to all leaseholders of ex-council flats asking to provide the fire safety certificates or replace front doors to FD30 certified front Doors. They have identified ( no survey was carried out ) that current door doesn’t meet current fire regulations and funny enough my one bed flat front door was installed […]

The last two years have seen a number of changes announced that could adversely impact your letting business. This includes changes to mortgage interest relief, stamp duty land tax, proposed letting agent fee ban, capping of tenancy deposits, licensing schemes and more. Last year we launched our first quarterly survey on the finance and tax […]

Student accommodation is attracting billions of pounds of investment each year, with the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector, in particular, growing in popularity. Student expectations for accommodation have evolved in recent years. Today’s student population is increasingly international, demands quality, purpose-built accommodation, and will pay a premium for it. Industry research shows that investment in […]

I have served a section 8 notice on a tenant for several months of unpaid rent and the court hearing is later today. However, he has now given us back the keys so I have possession, BUT can I still use the court hearing to try and claim some of the unpaid rent back or […]

I am in the process of trying to sell a property where I have used a DoT to move some of the economic interest into my wife’s name. When the DoT was created, there was a restriction put on the property’s title. I am now trying to sell the property and the buyer’s solicitor wants […]

I have a portfolio of about 25 properties and having spoken to Mark Alexander I have decided to shortly contact Mark Smith to arrange for him to prepare all the relevant paperwork re incorporating my property rental business by way of beneficial declaration of trust – One point that I and for that fact my […]