It is with great pride and delight I’m able to announce that Grace Charles Property is the first Official Property Partners of Norwich City Football Club 2017/2018 After just 3 years of starting the local business we’ve been able to agree, what is by far one of our biggest announcements as a company. From very humble […]

Following a change in regulations in January 2017, my Council have insisted that I upgrade a fire alarm in my HMO. It will cost £000’s, which is fine – especially if I can deduct it from income tax rather than capital gains! The alarm was formerly compliant and the expenditure is non-discretionary. “Spending to preclude […]

Whether you are looking to grow you business or to downsize and pay down loans, this presentation will reveal opportunities to save tax.  By popular request we have reproduced the presentation given by myself and Mark Smith at the Baker Street Property Meet in PDF format. This means you don’t need any special programs to […]

My relationship with a tenant seems to have broken down. They have called Environmental Health to inspect the property. I anticipate the buckling laminate floor in the lounge to be snagged. It had been previously agreed with the tenant (last week on apparently good terms) that this would be fixed in the Summer when it […]

I have served a section 21 notice to tenants giving 3 months notice. Reason for doing is B2L mortgage term ending soon. The tenants have made an application to the LA (South Devon) showing them our letter of explanation which complies with s21 requirements. The Council have now advised them that their application has been […]

Am a small landlord and with all these tax changes coming into play. Its best to play it safe and get some sort of insurance. Do you know of any good companies providing this cover ? Thanks Jiten

Normally, if you sell your properties you will realise a capital gain, which is the difference between the purchase price and the sale price. This gain is then added to your income and if you’re a higher rate tax-payer you will pay CGT at a rate of 28% of the gain.  However …. Did you […]

I have watched with extreme interest, with many others I am sure, the developing catastrophe for some landlords due to section 24 Finance issues and then the Agents loss of tenant fees and then realised that on top of this in Wales we have Rent Smart Wales licensing (already enforced) and the new Renting Homes […]

My conundrum is that we need to rent a new property so we plan to rent our existing personal property and then rent another property to live in. I am sure many people are in the same situation. however the question I have is around tax. Lets say I rent my flat for £2,000 a […]

I have 6 properties, some jointly owned with my wife, a couple with my sister. I do most of the day to day management, with two managed by agents. I’m toying with the idea of setting up a service company to manage the properties and charging say 15% to 20% of gross rent to do […]

The picture below was taken at the Baker Street Property Meet on Wednesday 26th April 2017. A reported 379 high net worth private landlords are featured in this group “selfie”. It’s not too late to see the presentation, or to watch it again. We have added several extra slides too based on the questions asked […]

I am writing my thoughts here about Shelter, because they appear to have banned me from their Facebook page. I can still see their campaigns, but have no right to reply on their site, so have chosen to point out here what I would have written on their page: Shelter’s latest campaign is about mental […]

I have never used my CGT allowance as I thought you needed to sell a property to use it. Someone has told me though that it can be used by putting it each year into trust for your children. My understanding is that you have to allocate it to a particular property. Is it the […]

I am a landlord renting a property and was going to enter into a two-year tenancy agreement with a property management company. Prior to this the agreement was via a letting agent which outsourced it to the property management agency so at the end of the agreement with the agent, I thought it would make […]

My letting agency has recently advised me of changes to their terms and conditions in which they are increasing their landlord (and tenant) renewal fees from £84 to £132. I am a landlord of two properties, one of which renews every 6 months with rent paid (to the agent) in advance. I believe these to […]

Shelter Scotland and the Green Party are now calling for Rent Controls to be introduced in Edinburgh. The Scottish Government has so far implemented every suggestion that Shelter has had for the Private Rental Sector whilst The Green party are currently the kingmakers in The Scottish Parliament so very influential. As housing is a devolved […]

The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has announced a new database to name and shame successfully prosecuted criminal landlords and letting agents in London. The database will be published on the Mayor’s website and built in partnership with borough councils across London providing a blacklist of landlords and agents prosecuted for housing offences. The Plan is to […]

Today (Thursday 27th April, 9pm) on Channel 5s “Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords”, a Watford landlord has a fight on his hands when his long-term tenant stops paying rent and unleashes a deluge of abuse when he tries to evict her. With rent arrears already at £6000 and mounting legal costs, builder David Simpson has been […]

My partner (not married) owns a bungalow (principle residence). She has obtained planning permission for the demolition of the bungalow and to build 3 houses on the plot (1 x 4bed detached and a pair of 2 bed semi’s). My company (incorporated about a year ago to build and retain rental properties) has agreed to […]

The Victoria Derbyshire Programme on BBC Two and BBC News is looking at the ongoing issue of tenants and landlords. They are particularly keen to hear from readers if you are a landlord in the UK who has had a problematic tenant. Of most interest is a landlord who is currently in a serious dispute […]

With talks in the media of DWP claiming that they plan to make the process for direct payments to Landlord’s easier. On 11th April 2017 DWP released a new UC47 Alternative Payment Arrangement application forms; enabling landlords to apply for direct payments. On both the secure and non-secure forms landlords can also apply for repayment […]