PLANS to cap security deposits for private rented housing to six weeks rent risk creating a charter for rent cheats warns the country’s leading landlord body. Research by the Residential Landlords Association’s (RLA) has found that 40% of private landlords have faced tenants not paying their final month’s rent in the past three years. The […]

The financial year end is almost upon us so I phoned HMRC and asked the question in claiming interest do I do the calculation myself – input 75% of my interest paid or do I input all the interest I have paid and their system will do the calculation. Apparently its the former. So where […]

If you wish for your tenants Housing Cost Element (Rent) to be paid direct to you, as a Landlord you can make a request for a Managed Payment (APA) by completing a UC47 form, this form can be found on Gov.uk. This form has recently been updated on 21/03/18 and the wording to support the […]

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North Staffs Landlord Association (NSLA) have started a 38 Degrees petition “We urge Stoke-On-Trent City Council to reject Selective Licensing.” The NSLA have reported that: “Every rental property in the designated streets will have to have a licence, be inspected and satisfy many conditions. The license will last for 5 years. The City Council have […]

I have a buy to let property where the tenant asked the Council to assess the house using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). She had not raised, with me, any concerns about the condition of the house beforehand. The Council raised a few minor points, like broken light switch, down pipe leaking […]

I’ve received two notices from the council, one is ‘Housing Act 2004 – Disrepair to private rented property’, and the other is a ‘Drainage Notice Building Act 1984 , Section 59’ The disrepair lists nearly 20 points, almost all very minor e.g. light switch not working! Half the points such as ‘missing downstairs smoke alarm’, […]

Six months after the Bank of England’s (BoE) latest attempt to cool the buy to let market, almost two thirds of landlords (63%) who are aware of the changes say it is now harder to get a mortgage. The changes, which come from BoE’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), were introduced in two stages last year. […]

My 12 month tenancy is coming to an end once again. Last time it ended one of the tenants moved out and the other remained (moving a partner in, under a re-signed agreement). A new agreement was drawn up and any changes within the new agreement were initialed by the remaining tenant, but notably the […]

I took out a mortgage in 2007 using a broker for a property, which at the time was our residential property. In 2008 I took another mortgage to buy a second property which then became our residence , with our first property being rented. During the process of obtaining our second mortgage, we contacted our […]

I currently have 2 buy to let flats in Reading. Each brings in £9800 per annum. I have a total of £125000 mortgage lending on these and they have a value of £410000. I work earning £21,900 and have a pension of £18800. My wife earns £10300. I am considering buying another flat in Newbury […]

TV’s property expert Phil Spencer was joined by robot Pepper on official opening day at The Ideal Home Show 2018 sponsored by Zoopla: the longest running exhibition in history. Phil may have cut the ribbon to the 110th year of Britain’s famous lifestyle show, but it was Pepper who fascinated visitors as she demonstrated her […]

It’s an absolute Joke – Unfair and UNJUST LEGISLATION on the Private Sector. The same as the Deposit Protection Service – I had £2,000 of repairs to address burned / damaged carpets / Ripped wallpaper / cleaning / etc. All the carpets were brand new as was the wallpaper. I put in a claim against […]

I’m in the process of converting a 2 bed terraced house into a 5 bed student, all with ensuite shower rooms. I have kicked off an enquiry with Western Power to look at upgrading the electricity supply to a 3 phase supply which will give me enough capacity for 4 electric showers plus an additional […]

Am I going mad? I can replace a tap washer to fix a dripping tap, but I can’t renew an aging tap that it is at the end of it’s useful life because that would be an improvement … even if it is cheaper and the most economically sensible route? Taps come in pairs. Do […]

The Berkeley Group, one of the UK’s largest home builders, has said that despite government pressure it is unable to ramp up house production. Prime Minister Theresa May has told builders to “do their duty to Britain” and that she wanted “to see planning permissions going to people who are actually going to build houses, […]

This week, RBS have introduce policy changes to their Buy to Let lending criteria representing the final phase of changes post PRA rules introduced last year regarding portfolio landlord (4 or more rental properties) affordability underwriting. RBS have increased the total number of Buy to Let properties they will allow a landlord customer to own […]

The onslaught against the PRS knows no Bounds. Sect 24 , Restrictions on the use of section 21, and of course the Flawed revenue raising Licensing schemes being implemented on the back of sham consultations. I now wish to draw Readers attention to the 2016 planning bill. This ill thought piece of legislation allows for […]

I have rented out a property for nearly 2 years after relocating abroad for work. My property is an upstairs maisonette that I lived in with my wife for 3 years. Prior to moving we had problems with the downstairs neighbour who complained many times about leaks into their property, each time we had plumbers […]

My wife and I are about to invest in our first buy-to-let, and we want to make sure we get all our ducks in a row and maximise our tax liability. I work part time, earning less than my annual income tax allowance; my wife is a 40% tax-payer. We had a meeting with a […]

We’ve just had a neighbour’s drain backup cause flooding in our lower ground floor flat bedroom. Luckily flat is between tenancies. However, our block of flats landlord insurance company is refusing to cover our fitted carpet replacement, stating it’s content and as such not covered. Our policy states under covered items: “Wide definition of buildings […]