I have a tenant who has been with us for 3 years. The original AST tenancy agreement was written in Sept 2013 which has 6 months on it. She is a DSS tenant, but they only pay £380, and the tenant pays £65 top-up. She has always been in arrears on the top-up, but in […]

I bought a property last July which was a converted 2nd floor flat with a third bedroom in the loft. I wanted to make some updates to the property only to find that there was no planning permission given and certainly no building control involvement. I did a basic survey on the purchase but my […]

Professor Philip Booth has spoken out against the Chancellor’s latest attack on landlords in the 16th March Budget. This is his statement: ‘The 2016 Budget was not a good Budget for tax neutrality. Once again, the abandonment of this important principle was extended in an adverse way to buy-to-let landlords. Capital gains tax was – […]

If you visited the Bristol Landlord Expo yesterday you will have noticed that a new organisation “Association of Local Landlords (Wessex) Ltd” (or ALL Wessex) was advertising it’s presence. Formerly called NLA Wessex, an independent organisation, that worked in association with the NLA. ALL Wessex has been formed so that we can focus on represent […]

Does anyone have any specific information regarding a very irritating situation that a block of 42 flats has found itself in with regards to the refurbishment of the block. We are quite an important and prestigious block who have agreed works and pretty much ready to go and now one leaseholder is raising issues – […]

My wife and I purchased a property outside the A406 in London about a year ago. Around about the same time a long term friend of mine who is a builder informed me that he was trying to sell his property and buy one too. However, as time has gone on I have found all […]

Cannot find this information anywhere! I am buying out my partner`s 50% share of rental property. I own the other 50%. I also own my own home. Question is – will I pay SDLT on the whole value of property or only on the 50% I am purchasing? Anyone know? Thank you Linda

I have a very good long term tenant, not one rent payment ever late, property kept well, always polite & easy to get along with, understanding and cooperative over maintenance etc. He has a good steady job with reasonable salary, but his girlfriend, who wasn’t on the AST, has just moved out. She wasn’t contributing […]

I am in the process of selling my flat and extending the lease in the deal, for my buyer to get a mortgage. I have had a surveyor who values the lease extension at £27,000. The Lease Advisory Service calculates it between £26,000 and £30,000. The freeholder insisted we serve notice and has come back […]

BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme “You and Yours” are planning on more coverage of Mr Osborne’s attack on the private rented sector and the effects of Clause 24 and the extra 3% SDLT. They urgently want to speak to tenants that have been served notice due to the tax effects and landlords selling up, […]

Rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing has led to a buoyant but illegal subletting market which makes victims of both landlords and subtenants. This is what landlords need to know. What are subletting scams? There are many different circumstances in which subletting scams occur. But on the whole, they all involve a person(s) […]

I’m hoping you kind people can provide some opinions on the following situation. I am about to complete on a BTL property purchase and the vendor wishes to remain as a tenant until they complete on buying a new property which is in a chain. I want to be able to offer as flexible a […]

Does anyone have any dealings with CHL. Ive just received a 7 day before letter notice. they won’t enter into an arrangement with me to pay arrears. They said I have to pay back £10000 (just under) within 7 days. The arrears have come about as they paid back to my to wife accounts 4 […]

A tenant of mine recently died, it is a two bedroom flat, and his 21 year old son lived with him. The son was not registered as living at the property, he is actually registered as living with his Mother at a different address. The Son is not in a position to continue paying the […]

A little while ago I asked property118 for advice on evicting a tenant, we contacted Landlord Action and we have served a Sec 21 and now two Sec 8’s (they forgot to deduct the deposit which the tenant told us to use). Two weeks ago I had a call from the tenant to say he […]

Since April 2015, the government has signaled that it will introduce new legislation via the Housing and Planning Bill or an amendment to the 2004 Housing Act, which will extend the range of mandatory licensing. This regulation currently only applies to 3 story properties with 5 or more people, though this will now include 2 […]

I started my own portfolio of 3 flats in 2014 and feel like I’ve learned an incredible amount from property 118. What a great community! I’ve come across my first dilemma hoping for some advice. I have a persistent leaking roof in a top floor one bedroom flat. All landlords have contributed towards a fund […]

I am one of the two Directors in a Right To Manage (RTM) company created in 2008 after suffering for several years under the Freehold Landlord’s (FH L/L) appointed management companies, which had managed to turn a brand new development into a much-neglected site from 2005 to 2008. The current managing agents were employed for […]

I was looking for some guidelines with regards to compensation of tenants whilst a property had issues. So for 3 months while we were sorting out leaks and electrical issues how should I compensate a tenant. Would it for instance be a case of taking a percentage of the property which was not usable and […]

The first quarter of 2016 has seen a surge in investors buying student property in order to beat the imminent stamp duty changes. Investors have been rushing to complete their student property purchase by the end of this month to avoid the 3% stamp duty surcharge which will become applicable for second homes. Research by […]

The Chancellor George Osborne has just delivered his Government’s Budget. Quick reference details for Landlords Below: Stamp Duty surcharge of 3% on residential property to apply to all investors regardless of size. Stamp Duty on commercial property transactions is to be reformed. Our understanding is that bandings will be applied similar to residential property, albeit with […]