Has anyone had a success with a housing benefit claim where they own a family members property and rent it back to them? I purchased my parents unencumbered home (for market value) in order to pay for renovations and to repay some of their debts. Almost 10 years on they have decided to claim housing […]

I have given a few properties to a guaranteed rent agency to manage, handle licences, bills, tenancies etc. I gave most of them early last year with a one year contract. Since handing them over, I have been out of the country and having just returned to attend a wedding. I have found illegal partitions, […]

Liverpool landlord Licensing is a deeply flawed process. I have exposed not only data breaches, but a breach in the 2015 de regulation act. The co regulators who are supposed to represent Landlords have so far defended the council on their now defunct anti social behaviour clause. The co regulators still purport to represent landlords, […]

I have to say that I was disgusted to read the article on this mornings BBC news page with regards to how much landlords are ‘lining’ their pockets from housing benefit claimants…. the title ‘Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn’ suggest to me that private landlords are somehow stealing this money! Clearly landlords […]

There are 4 apartments in the unit. The 4 owners bought the freehold so that they could control maintenance and costs. One of the owners is questioning who has the right to suggest what remedial work is required, and who should be responsible for payment. His view appears to be that no work should be […]

I have a student (international students) let in a HMO and one of the tenants want to leave (its a month into her tenancy) and go back to her home country as she is unwell. I understand that she is liable for the full contract for the term however she can find a replacement tenant […]

I allowed a DSS couple have access to an empty 2 bed mid terraced property on the basis that their DSS application would be successful and all monies concluded within four working days. Today fourteen working days have passed and deposit monies have not been collected in full £250 of £595 due. No rental money […]

As a landlord can I ask what the repercussions are of having to cancel a Student Let AST due to the council not approving the property as an HMO. The property was being refurbished and modernised, a reputable Letting Agency drew up the contracts and found student tenants, however in the interim, the local council […]

I am one of the landlords fighting the absurd tax attacks on the Private Rented Sector from a Chancellor who seemed intent on doing as much damage as possible. It seems that many people believe landlords to be responsible for the terrible housing crisis we have in this country and that every one of us […]

Last night we celebrated our 1st birthday since launching the Norfolk Property Network. It’s hard to believe it was just a year ago we held our first FREE event. 12 months on and we’ve gone from strength to to strength and last night really demonstrated this. Over a year ago I found the other property […]

Commenting on calls for a renewed strategy for tackling homelessness by the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee, Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at the National Landlords Association (NLA), said the following. “The NLA welcomes the CLG Committee findings, and its recognition that private landlords play a crucial role in preventing homelessness. “We are […]

Do the three stages of a Section 20 have to be completed within a certain time? There has been nine months between stage 1 of my Section 20 and the next communication – demand for payment, not even stage 2 of the notice. Is there a total period of time the whole notice lasts? i.e. […]

The proposed 24 hour tube service will finally begin this coming Friday (19th August) and it is predicted that this could have a positive impact on rents in particular areas. This weekend, the Central and Victoria lines will start running a night service, with the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines to also follow suit in […]

Andy Burnham the Mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester has announced plans if he wins for a ‘Community Buy-Back Fund’ which will providing loan finance to councils to buy out private landlords who fail to maintain properties to the Decent Homes Standard. He would also bring in plans to License all landlords in the whole Greater […]

The ‘Step Up’ mortgage product offered by the Coventry Building Society has been withdrawn, because borrowers may be hit by the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge on second homes. The Step Up product had allowed parent’s additional disposable income to be added to First Time Buyers affordability calculations by being a party to the loan application […]

I bought a Buy to Let flat in 1999 and since then there has been significant capital growth. Two years ago the lease holders bought a share of the freehold and I now have a 999 year lease. A developer has expressed interest in buying the block from the freehold company, knocking it down and […]

Has anyone else been finding that valuers are undervaluing properties for remortgage purposes. They seem to have gone from one extreme to the other. I am currently remortgaging 4 properties one of which I know I could sell for 90k easy, and a valuer has just said 72k!! There are no houses in this area […]

The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) are urging action against Clause 24 tax changes to be taken by landlords in their latest policy press release below: Over the past year landlords across Scotland have faced significant changes to the way they are taxed. The former Chancellor argued that landlords are buying properties that could go […]

Following on from an excellent article recently regarding Liverpool City Council, I have now ( I am an Estate Agent ) have to be co regulated in order to be accepted as the Licence Holder for many of my landlords. We are ARLA associated, SafeAgent and they want more. What’s not consistent is that I […]

I was wondering if any one had knowledge or a solution for a property ownership issue with inheritance liability in mind. My father and I purchased a property approximately 2 years ago in the form of a joint tenancy. This property was a rental investment and has been let ever since. My father’s estate at […]

As a small scale landlord myself I was surprised when my student Son complained to me that he and the other three students he rents a house (3 bed semi converted to 4 bed) had been charged £180 for the end of let property inspection. Is this usual practice with students lets? When he asked […]