I bought my first house 1 1/2 years ago, at £159k. Unfortunately on new years eve I was made redundant, and there are no jobs available in the local area I have been offered a new job up in Scotland. The property value (Btw, its a help to buy property) has unfortunately decreased to around […]

Rathmell Hall is York’s newest student accommodation development, offering projected net yields of circa 7%. Not only does the development offer its tenants luxury living quarters, but also on-site communal amenities to allow its student residents to get to know each other. These facilities include the likes of a common room, a laundry room and […]

I had a letter recently from my letting agent regarding renewal of my tenancy, and there was a £75 charge for moving to an SPT. As I had done a little research I questioned this fee, and the response I got was that the fee is there as a deterrent which I thought nothing more […]

I Served section 8 to the tenant, but I have signed as the landlord when I am the agent. Will it get struck out on a technicality? I have also refused to give the tenant details of the landlord’s address as he required by writing. Am I wrong in doing so? Ashley

Will the new Stamp Duty regs lead to another series of unforeseen consequences for FTBs? Those parents who have chosen to assist their children into the property market may well have found it necessary to purchase jointly or in common with their kids. When mum & dad choose to move they will presumably find themselves […]

I had various dog walkers / sitters, but they kept on letting me down so I decided to rent out a room to a live in dog sitter and this worked well with a male. The male decided to leave and he gave me his notice and we’ve remained friends. I took in a female […]

Can anyone offer me some advice please ? I have been in private rented accommodation for 14 months, I receive housing benefit to help with part of the rent after I left the family home with my 3 children due to domestic violence. I have a Shorthold Tenancy agreement and for the 14 months I […]

In his seminal preview of the mortgage lending market in 2016, published this week, The new “normal” prospects for 2016, leading economist Rob Thomas addresses the issue of housing affordability. He notes: “Paradoxically, while the media and politicians have focused on the unaffordability of housing as measured by the house price to earnings ratio, the […]

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has released its landlord possession statistics for October to December 2015, which reveals total evictions last year reached a record high of 42,728. Whilst overall possession claims fell during the year to 148,043, the number of accelerated possession cases continued their upward trend reaching 37,663 in 2015, up 4.5% on […]

I have always tried to keep my rents low, and like many other full-time ‘professional’ landlords I have the ethos that I don’t increase rents on tenants in situ.  In recent years this has been relatively easy as interest rates have been low (though my HMOs have seen utility bills rise significantly).  Clause 24 has […]

As the Ides of March grow ever closer, George Osborne’s political capital seems to be finally running out and the knives are drawn. His Rt Honourable Conservative friend Andrew Tyrie seems to be one of the first in line to sink in the dagger. Former Head of the FSA/FCA Tyrie is now Chairman of the Cross […]

I put down a holding deposit (non refundable) with a well respected high street agent for a property at £780, which included admin fees + first week of rent. Three hours later, I sat down to order broadband for my new address and discovered that the speed was far too detrimental for my lifestyle and profession […]

One of my properties which is a 50 year old plus mid-terraced cottage has a front garden which has an unusual layout in that it extends all the way across the front of the house next door thereby leaving next door with no front garden since it all belongs to my property as indicated in […]

Does anyone think that the changes to SDLT and LBTT are being rushed through without much, if any, thought to the consequences to the wider market? If yes, please read the following: First Time Buyers The Primary Driver for the proposed legislation is to: a) give first time buyers the greatest chance of home ownership […]

Is it possible that corporate landlords could have ‘moles’ in The House of Commons? Politicians with a vested interest? Surely not! The MP for South Suffolk has set about framing working and middle class buy-to-let landlords as mass property-hoarding despots, in place of institutional investors obtaining and letting properties on a truly industrial scale. Were his […]

The following letter template has been drafted by a member of the Property118 campaign committee. Please feel free to copy/paste and send it to your local council officers, who have responsibility for housing the homeless.  Dear Councillor Would you mind forwarding this email to your fellow councillors and council officers who have responsibility for housing the homeless in your constituency […]

I just received the following email – and have submitted a fake application which took about 2 minutes The job of chief executive at HMRC is up for grabs. After letting the bank HSBC get away scott-free with helping hundreds of wealthy customers evade tax, HMRC’s top boss is stepping down. Chancellor George Osborne is […]

I have had the same tenant for four years. The tenancy agreement stated that no locks be changed without the landlords permission, but they have been changed and although I was promised that spare keys would be given to us, this has not happened. Originally this was in the hands of an agent, but they […]

Landlords are being urged to carry out mid-tenancy inspections of their rental property, with February being the optimum time to do so, according to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC). This is because it is currently the time of year when many homes will be suffering from mould, generally caused by condensation problems. Landlords […]

Firstly keep up the good work to all of you ! I own a garden flat and Hounslow Holmes the local authority are my freeholder. They or the one person I correspond with have declined my enquiry regarding proposal of removing a window into my garden and replacing the window with french doors. All works […]

Research by The House Crowd shows that buy-to-let investors are predicting a stormy ride in 2016, with nearly three quarters (72%) reporting that legal changes to the sector this year will have a negative effect on their investments. A fifth of investors plan to sell their buy-to-let properties in 2016.   Previously viewing their investments […]