Page 685 – Property118

What am I entitled to if tenant leaves after 1 month?

29th November 2016

I had a tenant that signed a 6 month contract; paid deposit and 1st months rent. Decided after approx 1 month to just leave!; did notify me via email they had gone. I get conflicting legal advice on what I can claim for. He seems to think he can get his deposit back via the […]

Advice on settling a Subsidence Claim

29th November 2016

We own a commercial premise which we trade from. Our neighbour has developed land directly at the back of our property. When he excavated the site we experienced subsidence. Our neighbour proved to be awkward to deal with. Please note prior to the build we did engage the services of an architect who was supposed […]

RTM Company wants to quit but freeholder refuses to accept management

29th November 2016

We have been RTM for 4 years and started off with 8 Directors. We have been at legal loggerheads with our freeholder – whom insists that we are not managing the building properly and has threatened taking legal action against the RTM Company and several leasees whom are in breach of covenant. As a result […]

Litigation Looms For Greedy Letting Agents

29th November 2016

Many blame Foxtons for the Chancellors decision to ban letting agents charging fees to tenants. Unsurprisingly, Foxtons have seen their share price plummet, but that’s far from the end of their troubles. Litigation also looms! Lawyers acting for landlord clients of Foxtons are planning to bring claims to force the company to pay all undisclosed fees […]

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 […]