Since we won our case at the Court of Appeal against West Bromwich Building Society, mortgage borrowers affected by their tracker rate hike are now receiving their share of the £27,500,000 payout in respect of over charged interest and compensation thereon. I have been inundated with thank you messages of support on Facebook and other […]

Decision changes long-held legal precedent of the “But For” test The Court of Appeal today issued a landmark judgement in a professional negligence case that will have wide-ranging ramifications across the lending industry. The decision also sets a new precedent, in that it changes the legal principle of causation. Banks, building societies, asset based lenders […]

I am planning on renting my flat out on short term lets i.e. not ASTs.  My lease has 2 clauses which I need some guidance on: The flat must be used for residential purposes It should not be used for business purposes There is no restriction in the lease about how long I can rent […]

Homeowners and landlords alike appreciate stability in the UK property market, so being a nation of homeowners the majority of the UK will doubtless be thankful for a new top tier in Government. Our prediction is an all female team to fill the top two positions in the post Brexit Government with …. Teresa May as […]

Our reader figures are now in for the first half of 2016 and we are delighted to report that progress has continued to accelerate in terms of both page views and unique user numbers. A significant contributor to the exceptional Q2 growth this year, which is up over 300% compared to the same period last year, has […]

In a speech this afternoon at the Bank of England, Governor Mark Carney, confirmed that the Monetary Policy Commitee (MPC) may need to consider all monetary policy easing tools at its disposal following a “change in the economic winds”. This means that it is possible the MPC could consider supporting the economy by either decreasing […]

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/22/contents/enacted was approved by Parliament on 12th May and there will be a number of changes affecting landlords and property managers of residential properties. Recovering abandoned premises Currently, if a tenant has abandoned a residential property which has been let by a landlord, it is necessary for a landlord […]

I have now bought 2 additional properties on top of the one I already owned (100%). These 2 new properties (one single let and one Multi-let) have been bought with my wife (50% / 50%) and one with my wife and a friend as JV (not declared on the completion statement) which is in fact […]

I have Planning Permission to build a 2 bed end of terrace house with gross internal floor space of 79sqm onto the side of an existing rental house I own. Requests for quotes have gone out to 3 builders, one used before and other 2 from recommendation. I thought I could get it built for […]

I want to remortgage my BTL flat with a Lender that will allow me to Transfer the Property into an existing family Trust if I should want to do so in the future(the Trust has £80,000 of shares that are not performing well). There is no risk to the Lender in doing this as the […]

Changes to the process of accelerated possession, through applying to use High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) to evict a tenant, has brought an end the so called ‘7-day eviction’ which were misleading for landlords as well as increased costs. The majority of residential possession claims are dealt with in the county court and enforced by […]

The majority of British home owners renovate their property for living in for the long term rather than to increase the price, according to the latest research. 67% of people are planning to stay in their home for more than five years and carry out work with the aim of building their dream home. A […]

In case Property 118 members don’t already know, the government has revived its proposal for selling off the Land Registry – despite having had to scrap a similar proposal made during the previous coalition government. If private corporations get their hands on the Land Registry, they’ll have just one thing on their minds – profits. […]

I live in a rented property with my two sons. It has a massive garden and we do not have a lawn mower to cut the grass with. The landlord has had us living here with a no working shower from August to December, when I started to ask for compensation. The house was in […]

Following a complex four-year investigation carried out by Barnet Council’s Trading Standards team, Martin Marcus, 52, of Bushey, Hertfordshire pleaded guilty to fraudulent pocketing over £220,000 seven days into his trial. He was sentenced on five offences at Harrow Crown Court on Monday. The court heard how he fronted a string of letting agencies and […]

If you wish to have an influence on who is elected the next leader of the Conservative Party, and hence Prime Minister, you need to join as a member of the Party before the 1st of July. Considering the attack on Landlords and the PRS by George Osborne, with cuts to mortgage interest relief and […]

With Brexit starting to hit the housing market isn’t it now an ideal time for the chancellor to drop the SDLT and reintroduce the full tax relief on interest payments?  Buy-to-let property investors saved the housing market from 2007, kept house owners from going into negative equity, helped created an environment where the developer could at […]

The ARLA Landlord Expo in Leicester on 19th July presents another ideal opportunity for Property118 readers to meet each other. The Leicester Landlord Expo will be hosted by the Association Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and will deliver a programme full of legislative updates, key topics concerning Landlords and Agents. The aim of the Expo is […]

I am in quite dire need of advice. The local council (Shrewsbury) made me liable for my tenants’ unpaid council tax bill on my property for the period they remained in my property while I was enforcing a court order to get them to leave. I served notice to vacate through the agency on the […]

I have submitted my tax return (SA100/SA105 etc) for 2015-16, which is the first year for which I have made an ‘in-year’ profit (around £5k) – so that’s the number in Box 38. However, this has really only reduced my cumulative losses (from brought-forward £20k loss up to April 2015, i.e. the Box 39 figure, […]

I have a query regarding SDLT and transfer of equity on a jointly inherited property. I have inherited a 50% share in a property and am in the process of buying my siblings’ shares (25% each), I came across guidance notes for “Stamp Duty Land Tax: higher rates for purchases of additional residential properties” published […]