The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have now confirmed to lenders what they expect the minimum standards of Buy to Let underwriting to be. These standards will have to be in place by 1st January 2017 for rental stress testing and by 30th September for other minimum affordability and risk checks. The PRA have confirmed the […]

Our search for a low-budget super model is over. Pictured above is Neil Patterson, Managing Director of Property118.com, showcasing our bright orange promo T-Shirts for our big publicity stunt. We are looking forward to meeting as many of our members as possible at the Property Investor Show at the ExCel Conference Centre on 8th October. We […]

This is a query about whether this particular tenancy can become periodic. We have a flat which have let to the same tenant for two, consecutive, 12 month tenancies. In each case, the rent for the whole 12 months has been paid in advance. The tenant is a single mother but with some sort of […]

Local authorities (LA) have traditionally used a possession order from the County Court to remove travellers, but many are now obtaining an eviction order from a Magistrates Court and using their own staff for service. Under exceptional circumstances, such as a substantial risk of public disturbance, the application may be started in the High Court. […]

In his Keynote speech to close the Labour Party conference in Liverpool,  the leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, accused the government of subsidising private landlords spending £9bn of housing benefits in the sector. A sum double that of 10 years ago. Despite the Private Rented Sector (PRS) now accounting for over half of […]

I rent a small studio to a chap that I have discovered is in prison. He was obviously expecting it (apparently breached a restraining order with his ex) and has left a friend living in the flat, to look after it, including all his belongings and 2 cats, until he gets released. The housing benefit […]

I have a tenant that has continually been in arrears and despite me coming to arrangements to assist , the arrears have simply increased as a result of several holidays. I served a s21 and tomorrow they are instructed to move out. (a few days over 2 months notice provided) I have sent them 3 […]

My letting agents are telling me that I need to comply with new rules relating to safety by the end of the year – is this a national thing or just in Scotland? Despite not having a legionnaires check, EICR, PAT test, two smoke detectors (if on one floor) and an interlinked heat shield in […]

I recently sublet from a tenant with the consent of the landlord and sublet contract. A £1300 deposit was paid direct to tenant on request of the landlord. Following moving out of the property a scrape on the wooden floor was noticed. The landlord has asked tenant to withhold entire deposit to pay for scrape. […]

This is the response I received from my local Conservative MP from East Worthing, who obviously is another one who doesn’t understand the Bill and its implications: Dear Mr… Thank you for contacting me about changes to the taxation of landlords. I am passionate about helping small businesses thrive. But this needs to be balanced […]

We now have 169 fully paid up lifetime members and a further 125 members contributing £10 a month to fund our ongoing campaigns We have released a “No Nonsense Guide To Landlord Tax” which consolidates many of the discussions and strategies shared on Property118 since the Summer 2015 Budget – details HERE Bank of Ireland legal […]

A tenant vacates a property and both the tenant and managing agent provided final meter readings to the utility company to terminate the supply of electricity and gas. However, N Power fails to terminate the utility supply. The property is then empty for 9 months with the service still connected and at the end of […]

It has been reported that Peterborough Council have spent over £1million to house families in Travel Lodges since April This year. This is due to an increase in Homelessness in Peterborough from an average of 98 people per month to 150 in August. The Council is blaming this increase on the role out of Universal […]

I asked a plumber I have used before to check a leaking radiator at my tenants house as soon as he could. Four days later he turned up, tightened the valve connection and left, 2 minutes maximum my tenant tells me. I have now received his invoice for £90 to “tighten a nut”. Should I […]

Following the success of the first two series, Channel 5 has commissioned a third series of ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’, with Landlord Action as one of the leading tenant eviction firms featuring throughout the twelve-part series. As rents spiral ever upwards due to continuing pressure on housing stock, the dramatic observational documentary will continue to […]

Section 24 Tax Problems – Will your mortgage interest payments be taxed? The following breaks down, into three easy sections, the important questions of whether your mortgage interest payments will be taxed from 2017 onward, and if so what you can do about it. Identify the size of the PROBLEM, if indeed there is one at all What […]

The following appeared this weekend in the comments section of an article published on the Conservative Home website:- I am The Maluka. I am a rich landlord without a mortgage (I had to look up ‘mortgage’ on Wikipedia for the word was not in my vocabulary). Currently I house many, more than 100, DWP tenants […]

We at Property118 have often pointed out that the Irish government disallowed finance costs between April 1998 and December 2001, and the average rent rose by almost 50% from 600 Euros to almost 900 Euros. We inadvertently gave the impression that this measure affected existing loans, and was retroactive. Having found the TAX BRIEFING from […]

I’m in the process of purchasing my first HMO property and need some advice on purchasing in my sole name, or through an SPV company as I understand the interest relief will soon be gone for sole investors along with other changes. What if the same reliefs get changed for limited and SPV companies? Or […]

My tenants of 3 years moved out and did not clean the property thoroughly after moving out. I called in the cleaners including the carpet and paid £80, which I said will deduct from the deposit, as there were stains, rubbish under the bed etc. The lead tenant was not happy with this and said […]

Hi Everyone, I’m currently researching how technology is influencing property investments, and I was wondering two things: – If buying a property involves the 3 below steps, how much time do you usually spend on each step? 1. finding properties – X hours 2. verifying that they are right – X hours 3. closing the […]