The increasing tax burden on Buy to Let is encouraging many landlords to investigate alternative ways of investing in property and an increasingly popular option, particularly with the rise of Airbnb, is to purchase property as a holiday let. Running a holiday let is treated by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the same way […]

“Who repairs what?” and “Who owns what?” These are two fundamental questions that any leasehold owner looking to do works to their property must ask and get the answers to. The answer will be found by reading and interpreting your lease. For instance, a common enquiry relates to wanting to develop into the roof space. […]

Is anyone aware of the Mortgage Securitisation issue that has arisen with “promises” of “up to 8 out of 10 UK Borrowers could qualify for a reduction in their mortgage by up to 70% if mortgage was sold by lender without borrower being told”?   I have been cold call approached by a mob seeking to […]

Could it happen in the UK? US property portal Zillow has a new Instant Offer program which allows sellers to receive offers direct from purchasers. It is being piloted in Las Vegas and Orlando. The hundred billion dollar US traditional Real Estate industry is seeing this as an attempt to displace or disrupt the status […]

The outcome of the due diligence of our professional advisers on this matter was that Landlords are NOT obliged to pay Class 2 National Insurance, regardless of whether they are running a business, unless they are also a trade. Furthermore, payment of Class 2 National Insurance also has no bearing whatsoever on claims for incorporation relief under Section […]

The three government approved redress schemes; The Property Ombudsman (TPO), Ombudsman Services: Property and The Property Redress Scheme have today issued a revised version of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Established to support the ongoing communication between the three redress schemes where relevant, the MOU ensures that any agent with an outstanding award with one […]

Homelet’s recently released rental index shows UK rental prices have fallen in May for the first time since 2009 by 0.3% with the average rent now at £901. This may not be statistically significant over a one month period, but the biggest regional fall was in London of 3% compared to May last year. Martin […]

I’ve just got married and I’m wondering if this changes how I should manage my buy to let property. I own a buy to let property with a mortgage (both solely in my name). The property is worth approximately £350k and the mortgage is £262,500 and 75% LTV – the monthly mortgage payment is about […]

Can anyone tell me if one is exempt from the additional 3% SDLT levy on a new house we bought after the change last year? We use it as a serviced accommodation to students providing breakfast and Dinner or just breakfast depending upon the students. Does that exempt it from the SDLT surcharge? If not […]

My wife is a basic rate tax payer and solely owns one property (with no mortgage) which she rents out. I also solely own one property (again with no mortgage) which I rent out. Annual rentals are around £6,000 per property. I currently have no other income apart from the rent of £6,000 from my […]

We are the leaseholders of an ex-council flat in a block of 12, roughly 50-60 years old, and the council is the freeholder. Their fire risk assessors claim that the front doors of the flats (open onto the communal stairwell) do not comply with current fire safety regulations, and so they want to force all […]

I have 8 buy to let’s which have interest only mortgages 0f about £480,000 producing an income of around 68k of course that’s gross without any agent fees repairs or interest. Can I place them in a Trust for my 4 children. Also will the section 24 still apply. Children are 34 25 23 and […]

Can any member comment upon their experience using ‘Lease Option Agreements’ to build a property portfolio? A friend of mine has just returned from a 3 days intensive training course run in Wolverhampton, and is full of enthusiasm based upon what he learned. I’m just a wee bit skeptical over the ease in which this […]

On Thursday 25th May 2017 ‘Rumble with the Agents’, an annual white collar charity boxing event in association with Landlord Action and sponsored by Hamilton Fraser, raised £18,000 for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. The sell-out event, which took place at The Holiday Inn Finchley Central, brought together a room filled with property professionals, including estate/letting […]

Hi my lodger been evicted yesterday, I gave her notice she was agreed to move by end of the month the when the time was to vacate the room then she suddenly changed she said has nowhere to go refused to move police were called then before the police come she disappeared she left her […]

I own a single 2 bed terraced property which has been let to the same working single tenant for just over 3 years. The tenant has unfortunately lost his job recently, and reached out asking if I would give him a new 6 month AST agreement which he claimed he needs in order to claim […]

One of the most common issues for landlords in relation to the new Universal Credit system is requesting a Landlord Managed Payment. Under the LHA scheme this was known as simply “direct payments” to landlords. Unlike Housing Benefit & LHA, where landlords could secure direct payment of the Housing Benefit (LHA) by statutory right (regulation […]

I self-manage a property in London and I used a letting agency to find my tenant. My contract with the letting agent states there is a fee to be paid for tenancy renewal (5% +VAT, periodic basis included). The tenant has contacted me well in advance of the expiration of the current tenancy term requesting […]

Hi, I am in need of some thoughts/ideas from the Gurus here. Wife and I live in our flat in London – Mortgage with First Direct. About 210k mortgage left, flat value 500k. Mortgage is being switched to an offset interest only mortgage circa £300pm still with First Direct. Potential rental income £1650pm from flat. […]

We are considering buying the house next door and combining it with our own house to create one property. We would then rent out the bedrooms under the rent-a-room-in-your-own-home scheme, which would be more tax efficient than renting out the house separately. From a legal point of view, does this sound viable, and what arrangements […]

Following a recent brain hemorrhage, I’ve decided to move abroad, with my husband, for health reasons. The silver lining is that hopefully I can sell my 5 rental properties with reduced CGT (up to April 15). I had the properties valued as at April 15 but have owned them for 15 years or more and […]