I have sold a property after it sat empty for a year. However, I am now forced to pay the full council tax liable against the property. My question is can I use the council tax costs as an expense against my other lets for tax purposes? Many thanks Peter

My tenants advised that they have split up. Miss T wishes to remain at my property, but wants Mr T removed from Tenancy (its on periodic). I have been advised by RLA that if Mr T sends me Notice to Quit (NTQ) that will remove him from the Joint tenancy and liability will pass to […]

My VAT conundrum is – I am looking to purchase a group of buildings freehold. There are 4 buildings in total, split into 10 separate units. Building 1 is 2 units both let out to 1 tenant with a 10 year lease. Building 2 is 3 units, unit 1 is let to a tenant with […]

UKAR (as Mortgage Express) have appointed an LPA receiver on a flat I own. They said I didn’t make any payments to the account for 3 months. I have shown them redacted bank statements showing payments made from my account to their collections account. Apparently this isn’t good enough. they are now asking that I sign new […]

Thank you to all who took part in what turned out to be our most highly attended webinar ever. With almost 600 registered, you can imagine there were many questions. We will answer these in a series of articles, starting here with part one. Please clarify the difference between PF88 and PF89 Both of these […]

They say a picture tells a thousand words. Well just look at this picture of how Hong Kong has developed over the last 40 years! It is generally considered that it was the vision of a British Diplomat who turned around the fortunes of Hong Kong by creating a low tax environment to attract business […]

With the impending new tax rules coming into force next year restricting mortgage interest tax relief for landlords with properties in their personal names there has unsurprisingly been a massive percentage increase in Buy to Let mortgages taken out in limited company names. Figures from Mortgages for Business show that their market share of Buy […]

I sold a flat last year which I had owned for 11 years. I lived in it for the first 2 years, before moving into a house with my partner. I made a reasonable profit on the transaction, but also spent quite a bit on refurbishments (kitchen, bathroom, decorating, etc…) while it was rented and […]

I own a lease self contained upper maisonette with its own garden since Aug 2000. It’s part of a two flat building. The lower maisonette was recently sold and the new owners have done building works and in the process have taken two storage areas which were adjacent to their property but part of my […]

I manage a block of 4 flats in a Victorian building. When one of the owners decided to sell his flat three years ago, we had a professional Fire Safety Risk Assessment completed. Some recommendations were made to reduce the fire risk, and these were done, with the surveyor returning to inspect the improvements and […]

A commercial building (class B8) has been granted a Planning Department change of use to a residential dwelling (class C3). During this time the building has been renovated and applied to the planning dept for change of use to a large 9 bed HMO (class commercial Sui Generis). The renovation is now complete. The planning […]

When I decided to move to Malta I also decided to sell some of my properties, not all of them, just a few every year.  Many of my tenants have been with me for many years so rather than serving them with notice I decided that I would sell my properties as and when they […]

More than 200 Property118 members are expected to attend this event. The ARLA Landlord Expo in Manchester on Thursday 28th July presents another ideal opportunity for Property118 readers to meet each other. Cllr. James Fraser, an avid campaigner for “Axe The #TenantTax” and regular contributor to Property118 forums will be attending to represent Property118 Action Group. Please pop […]

Landlords are being urged to stop putting additional pressure on tenants who may already be struggling to pay their rent by increasing rents further. As a result of a surcharge on stamp duty for second property owners, a third of buy to let landlords intend to pass on increased costs to their tenants. However, hikes […]

M&G Property Portfolio fund valued at £4.4billion, Standard Life Investments UK Real Estate fund valued at £2.7billion and Aviva Investors Property Trust valued at £1.9billion have all suspended trading to protect the liquidity of the funds after a run on withdrawal requests. This run on withdrawals was exacerbated by fears of a fall in commercial […]

I own the freehold ground rent interest of a large block of flats where there used to be a Management Company but there is now a RTM Company in its place. The RTM Company has been in existence for 5 years and has throughout that time employed a managing agent who is a member of […]

Seeking advice on access to Letting Portals for advertising a property in Aberdeen, Scotland. As a private landlord able to advertise on CityLets and Gumtree but seeking to broaden profile by advertising on the other popular portals serving Scotland, which are understood to be LettingWeb, S1 Homes and Zoopla. Some of these charge a monthly […]

The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has just published its latest Financial Stability Report. In a speech given by Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, it was confirmed there is evidence that the forecast risks to the economy were beginning to crystallise and the current outlook for UK financial stability is challenging. To […]

I am moving abroad at short notice and am only 5 months into a 5 year fixed mortgage. I asked the mortgage company for permission to let (they would not grant). I asked if I could convert to a buy to let but they want £7k which I cannot afford. I now see no option […]

I would like to ask the views and tap into the wealth and experience held within the property 118. I am planning on renting out a block of 4 garages which I see as a small investment with some good returns over time. My idea is to take a deposit on each garage using My […]

In July last year I let one of my houses to an HB tenant. The rent is £765 pcm with the local council paying £650, tenant topping up. Since that time the tenant has been consistently in arrears and I am always having to remind about payment, which eventually is paid. When she moved in […]