Page 664 – Property118

Unsavoury goings on?

29th November 2016

In a conversion building , one of the owner/Leaseholders ( no share in Freehold) is a thoroughly undesirable element. He has unsavoury ‘visitors’ arriving at all hours of the day and night and in many other ways is in complete contravention of the terms of his lease. This has been going on for years, but […]

71% of Tenants Will Pay Landlord Tax Hike

28th November 2016

A recent survey Property118.com landlords has revealed that 71% of them will pass on Government tax hikes in the form of increased rents to tenants.  Nearly 1,000 landlords have already responded to the latest survey of Property118 members, the UK’s leading online resource for private landlords to share best practice. Buy to Let mortgage lending criteria […]

Viewing Clause vs Right to Quiet Enjoyment

28th November 2016

Currently renting a property and only a few months into the 12 month contract. There have been viewings arranged and undertaken for the last several weeks every day (Mon-Fri) and most of the time there are multiple viewings a day. The AST contains a clause stipulating the following: The tenant shall permit the property to […]

Tenancy Deposit Repair Kit

28th November 2016

With ever more complicated legislation being introduced it is becoming more common for both landlords and agents to make mistakes when it comes to compliance. But what are the consequences of failing to protect a tenants deposit and correctly serve prescribed information within the 30 day period allowed, and more importantly what are the solutions […]

Wolverhampton’s 1st ‘Official’ 5 Star Landlord & Agent

28th November 2016

City of Wolverhampton Council has named its first 5 star landlord under the new ‘Rent with Confidence’ scheme. Lyndon Whitehouse, Director of L&A Lettings, owns several 5 star properties in the city and has also been granted five-star agent status. The rating system is similar to the one used by the Food Standards Agency for […]

S21 or S8 but no EPC – Which will be quicker?

28th November 2016

Please be gentle as this is my first post, especially when you get to to EPC part. I have a DSS tenant who is 3 months overdue on her rent. I served S21 and S8 notices a few weeks ago. The s8 notice is due to expire on 29th November and the s21 notice on […]

54% of Private Landlords forced to evict tenants

27th November 2016

Nearly 900 landlords have already responded to the latest survey of Property118 members, the UK’s leading online resource for private landlords to share best practice. 54% of respondents said they will be forced by Government tax changes to evict existing tenants, either to sell their properties or to re-let to others who can afford to […]

Tenant In Distress – Mowing The Lawn

26th November 2016

Dear Mark, I hope you don’t mind me contacting, but after doing some research on Google I came across a reply/advice you had given re: Garden Maintenance ” Check with a Landlords Association or a solicitor if you like. If you have a garden and you want the tenants to cut the grass you must […]

Corporate Landlords Corrupting Government?

25th November 2016

You may recall that in December 2015 Property118 researchers exposed the source document behind George Osborne’s tax grab on private landlords –LINK  The young man who wrote the report, which was presented by the Inter Generational Foundation, was David Kingman. We will refer to him as Kingman Jnr. We now know that Inter Generational Foundation is sponsored […]

Disproportionate presence of Conservative Party donors and supporters

25th November 2016

While Section 24 of the Finance Act 2015-16 remains set to restrict the mortgage tax allowance of individual landlords to a mere 20%, thereby forcing many of them to raise rents or evict their tenants and sell-up, the tax-adjustment places no such restriction upon corporate landlords and property rental companies. Corporate letters therefore remain able […]

Landlord accreditation scheme

25th November 2016

There seem to be a number of landlord accreditation schemes- and landlord training programmes- both run by individual councils, ARLA, RLA etc. I just wondered which scheme/ courses, if any, would other PRS landlords recommend? Jill

BTL Early Repayment Charge Allowable Expense?

25th November 2016

Apologies if this question has already asked but I am struggling to find clarity on the .Gov website. I am considering remortgaging a buy to let property which is currently still within its fixed term, doing so will incur an early repayment charge of £4k. Does anybody know if this early repayment fee is an […]

Previously a Conservative voter!

24th November 2016

I have traditionally voted Conservative but I would be unable to vote for them if there was a general election next week due to recent changes in BTL taxation. I would like to understand how many other readers of this forum feel the same way and what their intentions are, the next time they get […]

How and when to serve a Section 21?

24th November 2016

We wish to start the process of evicting our tenants from 3 of our properties in the new year due to S21. We would like some advice on how to do this correctly, as we have not done so for a few years and are aware of some new changes. One property has a 12 […]

Land Registry privatisation plans cancelled by Government

24th November 2016

Following a consultation the Government has cancelled plans to privatise the Land Registry and will instead keep it as a publicly owned organisation. The Government has indicated that the Land Registry should become more focused on digital data driven registration saying “modernisation will maximise the value of HM Land Registry to the economy and should […]

Sectioned tenant ripped out pipes and now wants to come back?

24th November 2016

I have what I think is a strange circumstance. My tenant has ripped all the pipes out of the water supply during a psychological fit, he has been sectioned, but will want to move back within a couple of weeks. This is the second time he has done this, the first time I repaired the […]

Section 24 – A new type of reply from the Treasury

24th November 2016

A few days ago, a fellow landlord brought to my attention a new type of reply from the Treasury, which Property118 users can download Here. In response to this strengthened Treasury reaction, I typed the following for himself to reply back with and to fuel the responses of other landlords, should they themselves receive replies […]

Will Freeholders Consent To Let Fees Be Banned?

24th November 2016

I have a readers question of my own for a change!  Given the Chancellors announcement in his Autumn Statement that agents will not be allowed to charge fees to tenants, does this mean that freehold management companies will no longer be able to charge us fees (as long leasehold tenants) for consent to let? Thoughts […]

Extra Tax On Landlords Will Hurt Agents More Than Chancellors Ban On Tenants Fees

24th November 2016

Letting agents who are arguing about the ban on charging fees to tenants are still failing to recognise this isn’t the biggest threat to their business. Property118 “The Landlords Union” launched a survey of landlords within minutes of the Chancellor delivering his Autumn Statement. Nearly 500 landlords responded within 18 hours and the results are still […]