Pre-credit crunch, bridging finance was often referred to as lending of last resort. However, this perception has changed dramatically since then and particularly in the last couple of years and is now considered to be part of main stream finance. The causes of the credit crunch have been well documented. One of the major causes […]

Figures from the Bank of England’s latest inflation report shows a benign environment for any pressure on interest rates. Domestic growth has slowed along with wage inflation and price inflation. Global growth has also slowed again in the last few months with the US economy undershooting by some margin at only 0.7% for the last […]

First off hi to everyone on this forum. I have been reading on this forum for a long time but I now have a question. I have a BTL property which has a form B restriction on registered at land registry. What I need to know is will this affect my ability to re – […]

HSBC sold me residential mortgages on several buy to let properties, approximately 10 – 15 years ago. I converted all of them to interest only when I retired a few years ago, as the income is now part of my retirement funding. HSBC is now refusing to renew any of the mortgages, as and when […]

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 […]