Page 708 – Property118

New purchase is a contract reassignment?

11th July 2016

Can someone explain me the math on a contract reassignment? (FYI: I know there are risks in contract reassignments, but my question is not trying to understand those risks) I have an opportunity to take on a contract re-assignment. The current vendor is selling it at lower than the original price which is what makes […]

Fraudulent Letting Agents Rank High on National Scam Awareness Week Radar

11th July 2016

I had a very interesting conversation this morning with Alan Harris of the Local Government Association. This week is National Scam Awareness Week where 370 local Councils are uniting to expose fraudulent practices. I explained that Property118 Action Group is bringing a particularly large (multi-million pound) private criminal prosecution to Court next month via Mark […]

Rights and responsibilities of Freeholders for anti social behaviour?

11th July 2016

Can anyone advise on the rights and responsibilities of Freeholders in relation to the tenants of their long leaseholders please. We are the freeholders of a block of flats and are very concerned about the letting agents employed by the long leaseholder of one flat, and also the behaviour of some of the tenants of […]

The realities of rouge traders and suppliers

11th July 2016

As a respectable, honorable landlord the buck firmly stops with you! However, the harsh realities is as we all know include constant chasing, booking workmen in and being let down. Just this week I had a young plumber who has been chasing me for months about giving him a whole job to “show me what […]

Can Council Tax be claimed as an expense?

11th July 2016

I have sold a property after it sat empty for a year. However, I am now forced to pay the full council tax liable against the property. My question is can I use the council tax costs as an expense against my other lets for tax purposes? Many thanks Peter

Tenants split up – Notice to Quit

11th July 2016

My tenants advised that they have split up. Miss T wishes to remain at my property, but wants Mr T removed from Tenancy (its on periodic). I have been advised by RLA that if Mr T sends me Notice to Quit (NTQ) that will remove him from the Joint tenancy and liability will pass to […]

VAT conundrum – Mixed Residential Commercial Development

11th July 2016

My VAT conundrum is – I am looking to purchase a group of buildings freehold. There are 4 buildings in total, split into 10 separate units. Building 1 is 2 units both let out to 1 tenant with a 10 year lease. Building 2 is 3 units, unit 1 is let to a tenant with […]

Challenging an LPA receiver

11th July 2016

UKAR (as Mortgage Express) have appointed an LPA receiver on a flat I own. They said I didn’t make any payments to the account for 3 months. I have shown them redacted bank statements showing payments made from my account to their collections account. Apparently this isn’t good enough. they are now asking that I sign new […]

Residential eviction webinar Q & A – part one

8th July 2016

Thank you to all who took part in what turned out to be our most highly attended webinar ever. With almost 600 registered, you can imagine there were many questions. We will answer these in a series of articles, starting here with part one. Please clarify the difference between PF88 and PF89 Both of these […]

Massive increase in Buy to Let through Limited Companies

8th July 2016

With the impending new tax rules coming into force next year restricting mortgage interest tax relief for landlords with properties in their personal names there has unsurprisingly been a massive percentage increase in Buy to Let mortgages taken out in limited company names. Figures from Mortgages for Business show that their market share of Buy […]

Can some please advise on minimising CGT on property sale?

8th July 2016

I sold a flat last year which I had owned for 11 years. I lived in it for the first 2 years, before moving into a house with my partner. I made a reasonable profit on the transaction, but also spent quite a bit on refurbishments (kitchen, bathroom, decorating, etc…) while it was rented and […]

Valuation of storage space taken?

7th July 2016

I own a lease self contained upper maisonette with its own garden since Aug 2000. It’s part of a two flat building. The lower maisonette was recently sold and the new owners have done building works and in the process have taken two storage areas which were adjacent to their property but part of my […]

Fire Safety Risk Assessment due again after 3 years?

7th July 2016

I manage a block of 4 flats in a Victorian building. When one of the owners decided to sell his flat three years ago, we had a professional Fire Safety Risk Assessment completed. Some recommendations were made to reduce the fire risk, and these were done, with the surveyor returning to inspect the improvements and […]

Large HMO change of use declined after works complete – Help?

7th July 2016

A commercial building (class B8) has been granted a Planning Department change of use to a residential dwelling (class C3). During this time the building has been renovated and applied to the planning dept for change of use to a large 9 bed HMO (class commercial Sui Generis). The renovation is now complete. The planning […]

Better To Sell Or To Let?

7th July 2016

When I decided to move to Malta I also decided to sell some of my properties, not all of them, just a few every year.  Many of my tenants have been with me for many years so rather than serving them with notice I decided that I would sell my properties as and when they […]

Manchester Landlord Expo – Meet Fellow Property118 Readers

7th July 2016

More than 200 Property118 members are expected to attend this event. The ARLA Landlord Expo in Manchester on Thursday 28th July presents another ideal opportunity for Property118 readers to meet each other. Cllr. James Fraser, an avid campaigner for “Axe The #TenantTax” and regular contributor to Property118 forums will be attending to represent Property118 Action Group. Please pop […]

Warning for landlords considering increasing rent

6th July 2016

Landlords are being urged to stop putting additional pressure on tenants who may already be struggling to pay their rent by increasing rents further. As a result of a surcharge on stamp duty for second property owners, a third of buy to let landlords intend to pass on increased costs to their tenants. However, hikes […]

Three large property funds suspend trading

6th July 2016

M&G Property Portfolio fund valued at £4.4billion, Standard Life Investments UK Real Estate fund valued at £2.7billion and Aviva Investors Property Trust valued at £1.9billion have all suspended trading to protect the liquidity of the funds after a run on withdrawal requests. This run on withdrawals was exacerbated by fears of a fall in commercial […]

RTM Co failing to provide notices and placing new leases in limbo!

6th July 2016

I own the freehold ground rent interest of a large block of flats where there used to be a Management Company but there is now a RTM Company in its place. The RTM Company has been in existence for 5 years and has throughout that time employed a managing agent who is a member of […]

Private landlord letting advertising in Scotland?

5th July 2016

Seeking advice on access to Letting Portals for advertising a property in Aberdeen, Scotland. As a private landlord able to advertise on CityLets and Gumtree but seeking to broaden profile by advertising on the other popular portals serving Scotland, which are understood to be LettingWeb, S1 Homes and Zoopla. Some of these charge a monthly […]