In my opinion, the Shelter Housing Charity masquerade as a charity (their official classification) but are really an extreme left wing, anti-landlord lobbying group. To my knowledge, they don’t provide any “shelter” for the homeless. Instead they seem to focus on making the lives of private housing providers (landlords) a misery. Shelter run campaigns throught the […]

We are holding a half day workshop on Universal Credit and benefit caps on 23rd March 2017 and have been granted permission to invite Property118 members who wish to improve their knowledge of the evolving welfare system. The purpose of this half-day workshop is to provide an insight to Private and Social Landlords on the […]

We are delighted to welcome Sherrelle Collman from Caridon Landlord Solutions as our expert source of Universal Credit and Housing Benefit  Advice and Information. Over the coming weeks and months, Sherrelle will be sharing case studies which I am sure will strike a cord with landlords involved with benefit reliant clients. The first of these […]

Thoughts……. “Clause 24” – Rent increase letter & copying in your local MP (cc Philip Hammond, Gavin Barwell, Local Council any others worth “cc”ing) I think we all need to play out part in trying to filter back through our MP’s the dire effect “C24” will have – Most seem to have their head in […]

I recently bought an ex-council flat which got a huge bill mainly for window replacement. The information pack showed an unpaid bill of £26k for major works, with a comment saying they expect the final bill to be less. The purchase was completed in Sept as urged by the seller and the seller’s solicitor paid […]

My 2nd floor let property was vacant and work was going on. The gas engineer had taken the boiler down, and shut the water mains till new boiler went in. However, another contractor was doing the bathroom wall panels, and let the mains on and did not notice water running for about one hour and […]

Housing Minister Gavin Barwell has cleared up confusion caused by the recent Housing White Paper, which called for ‘family friendly’ three year guaranteed tenancies to be offered to tenants in an effort to increase stability and security for those families that want it. Barwell told Inside Housing that government calls for longer tenancies will be […]

Tory Member of Parliament for North Wiltshire James Gray has urged landlords in an interview with the RLA to lobby their constituency MPs against Section 24 mortgage interest relief changes on a Saturday. Apparently Saturday is traditionally the day most MPs hold their constituency surgeries meeting with the public to discuss their concerns and issues. […]

I would like to see some statistics over the last few decades to show how many new build properties have been purchased by private landlords vs owner occupiers. I suspect individual landlords will have purchased the higher percentage, but whatever the figures, I know for sure that a lot of them were snapped up by landlords.  […]

Lloyd’s Bank recently reported that an hour-long commute to central London will save on average £380,000 in house prices, even taking rail fare into account. Coming up with an almighty deposit for London property has always been a more than arduous task. However, it’s now not only a big ask, but a huge risk. House […]

I am thinking of going into property refurbishment full time and will need some advise. My plan is to buy properties and refurbish them to a high standard and either sell or rent them out. I am in the process of registering a company for this purpose and want to find out if its advisable […]

I’m struggling to find a lender who will remortgage a property I own outright. My intention is to use the money part for debt consolidation and part as a deposit for another property but through a ltd. company. The broker keeps saying it’s for business purposes and they won’t lend. Does anyone know of any […]

Since 1st December 2016, landlords who knowingly let to a tenant who has no right to rent in the UK are committing a criminal offence. Under the Immigration Act 2016, landlords and agents not carrying out these checks now face prosecution and a fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Making the checks […]

To whom it may concern. I watched your programme last night and must point out firstly an error that was made. In the introduction to the film shown, Emily Maitlis stated: “in this next film we meet three individuals, each kicked out of their private lodging when things got tough…” In addition to the unprofessional […]

I am a new landlord and have recently started renting out a property I own outright, I also have a residential property which is mortgaged and can’t help, but feel I may be able to arrange my finances in a better manner, but I’m unsure how to go about obtaining good advice. The residential property […]

I’d like to hear any thoughts on these options. On face value they appeal for a couple of reasons: 1 – perception that income returns are better than BTL 2 – tax benefits – the ability to add value through renovation and offset this against future income tax bill Does anyone have any key tips […]

I have recently purchased a property with a share of the freehold. Each flat owner is a shareholder of the company which owns the freehold, and must pay towards the maintenance of the block. The block is self-managed by a couple of the residents, and do this for free. There are a couple of problematic […]

A Tenant gave notice by text. I have promised the property to someone else. The tenant then changed their mind and doesn’t want to move out. I would prefer it if they did move out. What is my legal position? Many thanks Terry

I currently self manage my 15 buy to let properties in the Greater London region. I want to legitimately reduce my property income so was thinking of creating a property management company whereby I transfer 6% of the annual rent as a service fee to the property management company. I am happy to create monthly […]

I have a flat which I have let out for the past few years. The last tenancy change was last summer (2016). I let it fully managed using a local letting agent – I am very hands off. Both my management company and freehold owner know I do not live at the property (all correspondence […]

Dear Mr Barwell, I noticed in your appearance on Newsnight last night that you said the main cause of homelessness was the ending of a private tenancy. In fact, it is important to keep explaining to people who say this (you have clearly picked this up from the anti-landlord rhetoric of Shelter and the like) […]