I’m new to this and appreciate all comments/ opinions in advance! In a nut shell I’ve seen a couple of properties that appear to be reasonably priced, because they have charges on them. One of them the current owner is bankrupt and the other one though is freehold, but has to pay a perpetual rent […]

Hello to all the property118ers, I wish to get some feedback on the demand for a holding deposit and pre-sale contract with estate agents. This comes into effect after the offer is accepted by the vendor and 1% of sale price is taken up by the estate agent as holding deposit. This is non refundable […]

Letting agents had found me a couple for a finders fee and they had a six month lease which was paid regularly on time. Then the 7th month rent was not paid, when my husband contacted the tenant he said the girlfriend had gone, but he wanted to stay there and he needed a new […]

I’m considering setting up a business as an inventory clerk, producing check-in, mid-tenancy and check-out reports for either landlords or letting agents in the Cheshire area. I was therefore interested to know the following from other landlords and letting agents in particular: 1) What existing arrangements do you have for inventories ? Do you outsource […]

This year we have seen an increase in the number of readers, who are also developers, asking for help to repay commercial development finance on recently completed properties. Then looking to replace the borrowing with loans that fit what they need now post completion. Every development project is different, but Malcolm Jones (Principal of Brooklands […]

I have become increasingly frustrated at Shelter’s position on the Tenant Tax so have decided to write the following letter to Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive. Dear Campbell, I am having some difficulty understanding why Shelter has not come out against the Government’s plans to restrict finance cost relief for non-incorporated landlords. As you will […]

We are considering changing our property’s from Joint tenancy to Tenants in common. I am a higher rate tax payer, my wife is retired. The 1% / 99% split respectively. Would we be allowed to allocate the income therefor reducing our tax liability. Many thanks Alan

Do you have a Nightmare Tenant? Would you like to expose them on National TV? Eviction Expert Paul Shamplina founder of can help with this. We are currently filming a third series of Nightmare Tenants Slum landlords and we are looking for current eviction cases. Please email [email protected]

I have a tenant who for the past year has been really playing up with his rental payments and thus used one excuse or another to pay late – sometimes months etc. Now he owes more then 2months rent (Aug 19th and Sept 19th) he has now refused to pay saying that he has informed […]

I have recently been to court to enforce a section 21 after the tenant didn’t move out on the required date. At the hearing I was told it would be dismissed due to the proceedings being done on line through pcol and the fact that I had put it all down to arrears. Ii asked […]

We are considering turning a Holiday Let into a BTL. No mortgage, so no Clause 24 problem, but we are concerned about the CGT implications. Can someone please compare the CGT calculations for selling a BTL and a Holiday Let? Many thanks, Lou

A fellow landlord found themselves in the unenviable position of landing a tenant whose history was hidden but rapidly caught up with them after only 6 weeks in the property. The paperwork was fine and the prospective tenant had a backstory worthy of Harry Pearce himself. Now, with 8 weeks hindsight the clues are there; […]

Just suppose you only had to pay corporation tax on your retained rental profits. This is currently just 20% and is due to be reduced. Just suppose you could restructure your rental property business so that it becomes unaffected by restrictions on finance cost relief. Just suppose you achieve the above for a total cost of […]

If you are already aware of the problem and can’t be bothered to read this entire article please feel free to skip to the bottom to read our “plan of action”.  It is all very well that media are recognising the Government experiment to introduce the 3% Stamp Duty levy on second homes is failing […]

I have been billed for council tax for a void period. The tenant left on 31 August and a new one moved in on 9th September. I was charged for the void period as 31 Aug to 8th September. I believe I should have been charged for the period 1-8 September. Although the amount involved […]

The Royal institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has highlighted the risks in continuing to discourage the provision of new rental property by the Private Rental Sector (PRS). Reported findings from PWC show that there will be demand for an extra 1.8million new properties to rent rather than purchase by 2025. Recent Statistics suggest 86% of […]

A letting agent has just told me that there are new tax implications to having one’s student offspring living in a student property that I own in a university town. Has anyone come across this? Many thanks. Deepak

I have been looking to take on another property for a few months, and am struggling to find something suitable. Previous properties I took on in 2012 and 2015, have made 12-14%+ return per annum (Captial gains excluded). Now I am struggling to find anything that will give me 10% return – and those that […]

I’m researching whether the referendum decision to leave the EU is affecting landlords. In particular whether landlords are a bit jittery about renting to people from EU countries while there is uncertainty about whether EU tenants will have to, or choose to, go back to their home countries at some point. Would be interested to […]

My first Mortgage Express mortgage comes to an the end of its term September 2018 (it had a 20 year term from 1998). Then there is a batch due to come to term in 2022, 2023 etc. What worries me now and then is whether MEx can say when this one comes to an end […]

I have a client who has today received a letter from his mortgagee stating they are enforcing power of sale on his buy to let flats as he has breached his mortgage conditions. The breaches it appears have been caused by non payment of service charge which were being disputed and more bizarrely by the […]