The 2016 Expo will be on Thursday 20th October at the Toyota Suite, iPro, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8XL. Visitors to the free Derbyshire Landlord & Letting Agent Expo, will be able to benefit from the very latest rental advice and support from the region’s property professionals. There will be plenty of advice and guidance […]

I’m asking this question on behalf of my niece. She is in an interesting situation and I wondered if anyone could offer any advice or warnings. She owns a flat in Glasgow that she lives in herself. She has a friend who is also a lodger. On my advice she has a lodger agreement in […]

My accountant has advised me that I can no longer claim for replacement carpets even though they are heavily worn. In fact, not just carpets but anything replaced, I can only claim for actual repairs. So if I replace that 10 year old worn out fitted kitchen I can’t claim relief, where as if I […]

I have been told by the Directors that I am breaking the terms of my lease by having Laminate/wooden floor instead of carpet and sub-letting the flat out. However I have found 6 instances from recent flat sales in the same block that have wooden flooring and I have also identified other landlords in the […]

Currently in year four of a new build/grade listed 2 building conversion and just discovered that my waste water pipe from the kitchen is not connected to the main sewer. I initially had an issue concerning a leak under my kitchen. Other than a constantly blocked sink, a smell had developed around the hallway. This […]

Update on Landlords Fight Back #TenantTax  Following our meeting with the Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, on Friday 9thSeptember, we wanted to share this detailed update with you. We thank him for making the time to see us. In attendance were: – Gavin Barwell (MP and Housing Minister) – Graham Lyon (Croydon resident and landlord) – […]

Our block of flats is 3 stories tall and semi-detached to a 2 story house. The ground floor is a communal entry, and a tunnel through the carpark. We are 50% freehold owners, and both us and the other freeholder agree that we would like to extend up if we can. Ideally we would like […]

If a tenant owes a large amount in arrears why not consider making the tenant bankrupt as this alone will shake them? I’m not a lawyer but if the arrears are over £5000 it seems feasible with their assets used to pay off debts? Worth considering? Peter

Like many landlords on this forum, I let properties to tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit. I usually get the HB paid direct to me as not all tenants would use it to pay their rent. I have recently read that the Benefit Cap is being reduced in November 2016, and as the Housing Benefit […]

My partner and I have split up and she has moved into our jointly owned property which is on a buy to let mortgage. The property was previously rented out and she is now depriving me of an income. I have warned her that she has to tell the lender that it is no longer […]

We have RTM of a block of 15 flats. There is a large basement which is marked in our leases as an ‘internal communal area’. Access to the basement is from a door at ground floor level in the communal hallway. There is a small room within the basement where all our meters are kept. […]

I wonder if someone can advise me if this is Ok to do, I have always managed my properties myself over the last 15 years and have always put my home address on the tenancy agreements and was wondering is it o.k to use an address of a company I own (which has no connection […]

I have found a house that would I would like to buy as my main residential property. Although I wasn’t looking to move, it’s a very good price and I would end up making approx £400k on it after a new kitchen and some cosmetic work. The problem is, I already have a house which […]

I am planning to ask my mother to manage 2 properties for me which would include inspections, agreements, certificates repairs, gardening, cleaning etc at £800 a month. I would like to set-up my mother as a sole trader paying NIC 2 taxes. The tenants will pay rent directly into my personal account which I would […]

I need to renew the bathroom and kitchen taps in a mid-price 2-up 2-down BTL house let to a young professional family. Nothing fancy is needed, but I want something that’s going to last and be durable enough for BTL. I’m wary of just sticking cheap B&Q level stock in there. I want to minimise […]

Surveyors say that activity in the UK housing market has stabilised post Brexit, with sales and prices expected to rise in the coming months. Property sales in the aftermath of the referendum dropped sharply, but had now stabilised, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said. Its members predict that house prices will increase by […]

This is another one of those articles which deserves sharing on Facebook. However, this time we are the authors of neither the title or the article. It was written by Tracey Boles, news editor at City A.M. LINK Many of the tax campaign inner-circle at Property118 have already written supportive letters of gratitude to Tracey for […]

Second charge loans can be very real alternative to a remortgage. While every application needs to be considered on its own merits, the second charge industry has recently become more competitive and attractive with lender rates now starting from 4.50%. Reasons for considering second charge loans: 1 – Keeping your existing low rate mortgage You […]

Dear Sirs We had our scheduled committee meeting yesterday and it was agreed that we would help promote your action group to our members. There were some questions that I hope you can answer: How and who decides what issues the action group take on? Is there any criteria to be met before a case […]

Ten years ago my husband and I bought a newly converted leasehold flat for my husband to live in for work purposes when working away. Shortly after purchase the management agent sold the freehold and the service charges increased significantly. A tribunal ruled that electricity charges be itemised separately (although individual meters were put in […]

It would now appear that Liverpool Landlord Licensing may now be on a collision course with the office of the surveillance commissioner. The Council in their conditions on ASB, and their insistence on Landlords obtaining details of guests in spare bedrooms not only breach the tenants right to privacy and quiet enjoyment as well as […]