Page 651 – Property118

Why Did I Ever Invest in Buy to let?

22nd February 2017

My wife and I bought our one bed flat in a town in the NW of England in 2007 – the plan was simple keep it for 10 -15 years then sell using the increase in valuation as a means to diversifying our pension provision. We never bought with a view to growth in units […]

Property Investment in the East of England

22nd February 2017

From East Anglian cities and towns like Norwich and Ipswich to the less urban areas of Essex or Cambridgeshire, there’s a lot to discover when it comes to property in England’s East. The East of England is made up of six areas: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Properties in the area range vastly […]

Sole Ownership Becomes Bad For Tax Purposes

22nd February 2017

As of April 6th 2017, sole ownership of rental properties with buy-to-let mortgages will become less attractive than it ever was before.  This is because jointly owned property owners can form partnerships and distribute profits in the most effective manner, e.g. using the full nil rate tax band and basic rate tax bands of all […]

Who is responsible for what in joint Freehold?

21st February 2017

I have joint freehold with my downstairs neighbour, I have recently had the roof repaired at great cost to me. My neighbour has made me aware of running water under her ground floor kitchen. I sent an engineer to repair the pipe( I had no idea who’s pipe was leaking) the engineers fixed the leak. […]

New Tenant – something not quite right

21st February 2017

I have a three bed house in Surrey with a new tenant moving in on the 28th. She seems like a genuine person. Has just split with her husband, has two kids, house is very near the school. She is working part time and is relying on Tax Credits and the maintenance money from her […]

Baker Street Property Meet – Wed 29th March 2017

21st February 2017

Baker Street Property Meet is the UK’s number one property investors networking event with over 220 property investors attending our monthly meet-ups. Our Feb event is now fully booked. But we are now taking bookings for our eagerly awaited March event: =================================================== Event: The Baker Street Property Meet, (Monthly Networking Event) When: Wed 26th March […]

Insurance if the seller is a fraudster ?

21st February 2017

Does anyone know of an insurance policy that a buyer can purchase to safeguard against the unlikely though catastrophic event of a fraudster pretending to be the seller of a property and the sale goes through to completion. To be clear, the protection I’m seeking is for the would-be buyer, not the legitimate property owner […]

Farce of credit searches and court judgements

21st February 2017

It is supposed to be easy to find out if a prospective tenant has any county court judgements and general poor credit, but this is not the case. CCJ’s are supposed to follow you around like a “bad smell”, and yet the reality is very different. Experian state they are informed of all CCJ’s for […]

New lenders streamline processes and competition for Property Developers

21st February 2017

It is estimated that around 300,000 new homes need to be built every year to satisfy the pent up demand that has been growing in the market for over a decade. Our population has and is increasing and the gap between supply and demand is ever widening. With Article 50 about to be triggered and […]

Packaged bank account costs?

20th February 2017

I’d imagine there’s a really obvious answer to this question, but, I have a separate bank account just for a rental property I have. If I change this account to a packaged bank account for £10 a month. (that gives me travel insurance, breakdown cover etc) Can I offset this £10 against the rental income […]

Straw poll on Mortgage renewal options?

20th February 2017

I have been given these options for the renewal of the mortgage on one of the BTL properties I have. I thought I would put it out for suggestions from the forum members:- (A) Product (B) Loan Amount (C) Property Value (D) Interest Rate (E) Monthly Payment (F) Product Fee (added) (G) Valuation (H) Legal […]

Referral fees for passing on deals?

20th February 2017

I keep spotting potential deals that I don’t want to take on myself (various reasons such as out-of-patch, already committed, slowing down etc), and would love to package them up and pass them on to investors, for a referral fee each time. This would build my own cash pot for deals that do tick all […]

Freeholder not doing repairs for 5 years, flat now uninhabitable

20th February 2017

Bought a flat over 5 years ago in 2011 for son to live in whilst at uni, flat suffered damp problems which got progressively worse and were reported to managing agents numerous times by phone and email. It took the then managing agents nearly 2 years to get quotes for repairs and section 20 to […]

Fixing The “Tax Secrets” Assignment Tax Structure

20th February 2017

I first came across the assignment tax structure around 10 years ago. It quickly became a popular method for private landlords with larger portfolios to hive off profits into company structures, which benefit from much lower tax than for individuals who would have otherwise been taxed at the higher rate (40%) or the additional rate (45%).  […]

Generation Rent have produced a video telling tenants “How to Fight a Rent Hike in 10 Steps”

20th February 2017

It is evident that Generation Rent has no comprehension of the impact on tenants of Section 24, and seem to think that we’re going to pocket the rent increases. http://www.generationrent.org/how_to_fight_a_rent_hike_in_10_steps This is further evidenced by Betsy Dillner, director of Generation Rent, who in the article below says “that landlords who propose to put up rents […]

Fraudulent Injury claim being made against me!

20th February 2017

An ex tenant is making what I strongly believe to be a fraudulent injury claim against me. The incident is said to have happened in my property as a result of disrepair. I have a very strong reason to believe the claim to be fraudulent due to a number of things – events, what this […]

Are Holiday Lets worth considering as investments?

20th February 2017

I have a few BTL flats and a couple of shops (ground floor of the flats) which I bought as investments/income generators. I wondered to what extent people go out and buy cottages or whatever specifically to run as holiday lets, or whether most holiday lets are inherited properties or outbuildings in the grounds of […]

Your Property Network Magazine – get your FREE copy!

18th February 2017

Imagine paying off your investment property in just three years by using Airbnb instead of long-term rental tenants! The truth is; ANYBODY can make money in property when armed with the right education and mind-set and whether your objective is to create cash profits now, secure your long-term financial future, or create a passive income […]

Santander is dropping the rent rise clause but only for new mortgages

17th February 2017

I’ve been campaigning for Santander to drop this ridiculous clause which forces up rents every year for no benefit to anyone, including Santander. They have announced today that they will be dropping this clause for new mortgages but it will still apply to existing mortgages. Santander’s disingenuous response states “Any potential to increase the rent […]

Small Claims Court against who?

17th February 2017

Good morning everyone, my girl friend has a battle with her ex landlord’s agent after entering into a verbal contract to leave. She wanted out quickly and the agent said they’ve found someone and she should get packing quickly as new tenant wants to be in in 2 weeks. She found somewhere and paid the […]

Are Friends Electric?

17th February 2017

Hello all, I am planning a small development on the side of my property. It will be a 35m2 maisonette and completely new construction (but adjoining the original house. Will be putting in electric heating and hot water – the question is what type? Would you recommend storage heaters, electric rads and if so oil […]