A friend is looking to buy a property but discovered that it may have been built on a farm or small landfill site. The conservatory was replaced and underpinned (insurance claim). Homebuyers report and brief inspection by a structural engineer show no problems. How easy would it be to insure? (some brokers have already refused […]

The Court has allowed us possession following a S8, tenant is to leave within 14 days. If tenant does not leave, then I have to ask the court to allow me to appoint bailiffs. Altogether about another 6 weeks and £1000. I would like to negotiate with the tenant to induce her to leave but […]

More private tenants than ever before are on benefits and falling into arrears. Britain’s Benefits Tenants series 2 starts Wednesday 10th August 9pm Channel 4. This return series episode 1 of 3 follows letting agents trying to keep private landlords and tenants happy. This should be worth watching and discussing on comments below to see […]

I purchased a property in 2007 with my Mother. My Mum’s name purely went on the mortgage for loan purposes (as her salary allowed me to get a larger sum). I have always paid all expenses and lived at the property. This month we completed a Declaration of Trust to state that I own 100% […]

We paid a £400 holding deposit (half of the full deposit amount) for a room a few days ago. The room is currently still in use and will be in use by the current tenants until the end of the month. We received a receipt (with no terms and conditions) for the £400 and an […]

We have agreed to rent to a charity and have been told that an AST can’t be used. Can anyone point us in the right direction for the correct tenancy agreement as the NLA don’t have one. Also, does anyone know of any pitfalls we should be aware of? We have been landlords for many […]

Prime central London has seen rental values increase over the past three months as a result of greater demand from people looking to rent, a new report has revealed. Greater numbers of people are looking to rent rather than buy property in the capital city, particularly in the boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. […]

I’m a landlord myself, but this is a situation with my own home in Newham in London desperately needed someone’s help. The next door neighbour flat renovated after a floor I reported, and put in new hardwood type of floorings. In Feb, the flat was let out to a family with a kid and I […]

Mortgage Express have passed my property on to LPA receivers. The mortgage is £254 a month and I owed £546 when they passed it to them. The receivers have not payed a penny and the arrears are now over £1300. The tenant has told me she didn’t like the agents attitude and she felt intimidated […]

I recently want to change an existing BTL mortgage product. The mortgage in question had completed a fixed term and reverted to the standard rate and I wanted to take advantage of the low fixed rates on offer and fix the mortgage rate for 5 years. In the past I have always contacted the lender […]

Hello I am a tenant in a home where my diabetic girlfriend passed out and hit her head in a diabetic fit. The police were called and got no response because she was unconscious. Consequently they had to break the door down. Who pays for this? Is the Landlord liable? Does his Home owners insurance […]

A client of mine is currently living in her BTL property due to some circumstantial issues. She can not release her residential mortgage from her old house or switch it to a BTL as the LTV does not stack up. It’s currently for sale. She wants to buy another BTL property. Question is can she […]

From the May Inflation Report, the planned 3% surcharge on stamp duty for second homes in April caused some housing transactions to be brought forward. Therefore the sharp fall in property purchase completions in the second Quarter of 2016 was anticipated (see Chart 2.4). House price growth also slowed over the past few months with […]

I have had a house managed by an Letting Agent now for two years . The tenant who was found by the Letting Agent is on benefits and the rent is paid by the government direct to the Letting Agent and she has a top up of about £10 per week. I have been telling […]

I am a first time buyer considering buying an ex-council flat on a buy-to-let mortgage. The seller who lives there with his family is suggesting I let it back to him while he looks for a property to buy. I am concerned he may have an agenda to try and become a sitting tenant. For […]

The Bank of England has today announced its first rate cut since March 2009 bringing the rate to all all time record low since the bank was founded in 1694 from 0.5% to 0.25%. The Bank has also announced an increase in monetary stimulus to the economy by creating £170 billion in new money. £60 […]

I started receiving rental income in May 2015 and will therefore need to do a Self-Assessment in the months to come (I’ve only just informed HMRC). However, my mortgage was arranged in December 2014. As expected, the arrangement fees were not negligible. Can I obtain any type of tax relief for those fees? Should I […]

Hi there, can anyone advise me whether my leaseholder can force me to evict a tenant under a section 146 notice? I have a tenant in a block of flats whose behaviour can be antisocial at times due to her mental health issues. My leaseholder is threatening to revoke the lease under a section 146 […]

I had to serve notice on a tenant as the landlord was selling. The tenant couldn’t find anywhere to move to because prices have gone up so much so went to the council and they said they’d house him upon receipt of a court order. The landlord wasn’t happy but it is what it is. […]

I am renovating a HMO and had to give notice to the remaining tenants. One refused to leave when the S21 expired. Because he was in discussions with the council about rehousing him, I held back from issuing repossession proceedings. However, after several weeks with no progress, I paid £1,250 to a well-known firm to […]

The Think Tank, Resolution Foundation, has reported home ownership is now at a 30 year low. Using data from the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (LFS) the Resolution Foundation is reporting home ownership to have fallen from its high point in 2003 at 71% of the population to under 64% today. The highest […]