Page 718 – Property118

Form N5b questions

18th November 2015

Can form N5b be submitted online or does it have to be posted/hand delivered? Do you just state “County court” on top right of page 1 or name the specific court? How do you decide or know which court to use? First one I’ve had to do, so any advice is appreciated. Many thanks Rob

NLA logo colour

Subletting behind Landlords backs

18th November 2015

Over half of tenants who sublet their property do so without their landlord’s consent, according to new findings from the National Landlords Association (NLA). The findings come as the government recently announced proposals to introduce minimum room sizes in order to crack down on problems with private rented accommodation such as unauthorised subletting, which often […]

Fixed term AST or SPT?

18th November 2015

I have had a tenant for 12 years and currently each 12 months issue a new AST contract raising the rent on average 4%. I am told that I should just let the contract continue without raising anew one each year. Can you tell me the pros and cons of doing this please? Trevor

Limited Company Tax Partnership Confused!?

18th November 2015

I have a few queries which I need to iron out as I am receiving different advice all the time. Earlier this year me and my brother decided to invest in the BTL market and now have 4 properties we jointly own. The issue we have now is whether to setup a limited company and […]

Tracing employment from National insurance number?

17th November 2015

I currently have a case with the Sheriffs but the ex-tenant is being evasive and has defaulted on the last 2 payments. Does anyone know if it is possible to trace employment with a National Insurance number and go for attachment to earnings, or is this a backward step once the case has moved up […]

Amending a tenancy agreement – HA30?

17th November 2015

I am a private landlady. My tenants have signed a 6-month Shorthold tenancy agreement and have now been renting my property for 8 months. We are now on a mutual two-month notice rolling agreement which suits us all very well. I need to make some minor adjustments to the tenancy agreement relating to using the […]

Letting Agent Breached my Mortgage Terms and Conditions!

17th November 2015

I have my property under full management with a well known national letting agency. They have just re-let it on a 6 month AST with all the rent paid in advance because the tenants failed the financial check due to the length of their work contracts. This happened without my knowledge despite my having informed […]

Freeholder difficult to communicate with and looking to sell?

17th November 2015

I own a leasehold flat and which I presently Let. The property is a conversion 1930’s standard build split into two flats with own entrance. As the lessee I have an obligation to pay the ground rent due. Over the past 5 years I have submitted my payment by cheque posting it through the freeholders […]

Divorced Tenants and New Tenancy Agreements

17th November 2015

I have a dilema here and I would like your advice. Property Rented to Tenants (Estate Agency) – March 2012 Tenancy Agreement (TA) – Assured Shorhold – 6 months reverted to periodic Landlord took over management – March 2013 New TA (same copy just dates change and rent amount) signed by same Tenants (Husband and […]

deregulation act

Q and A for Deregulation Act 2015

16th November 2015

We recently held a webinar on rapid tenant eviction via HCEO (High Court Enforcement Officer) which included a particular focus on the various eviction notices that need to be served. Some great questions were raised so in this article we are going to focus on providing the answers to those questions relating to the changes […]

Religious symbols and Facebook Posts?

16th November 2015

Just wondering what people’s views would be about tenants in a shared house (all on individual room contracts) putting religious symbols in communal areas? The religious symbols in question being Catholic symbols. No-one has complained about this (except someone viewing the property who asked lots of questions about them, and clearly was very uncomfortable with […]

I paid for alternative accommodation but now tenants want rent refunded too!

16th November 2015

No Fault Fire in the house – I paid for alternative accommodation while the house repaired and re-decorated. Tenants are now demanding I also refund the rent for the period. The alternative accommodation cost more than the rent I received for the period. I used a standard RLA tenancy agreement. Anyone have any ideas how […]

Assigning a Joint Fixed Term AST?

16th November 2015

My house is let to four people who jointly signed a 12 month fixed term AST last June. One of them now wishes to leave and will find a suitable replacement tenant – subject to references being checked by my agent. The agent wants to tear up the existing contract and make a new 12 […]

Tenant eviction register

13th November 2015

Not sure how controversial this is but with all the changes to protect tenants which I don’t think is wrong, maybe there should be a tenants record in an aim to help protect landlords?  The idea is this would be kind of like a criminal record whereby any evictions and the reason for the eviction […]

Newbie Landlord – Taking risks growing my portfolio

13th November 2015

I became an accidental landlord in October 2014. I bought myself a one bed property in Surrey in December 2012, and had no intention of ever making property a business. However, when I approached my mortgage broker last year to discuss a switching deal after my fixed rate came to an end, he mentioned that […]

BTL Clause 24 and Sharia mortgages

13th November 2015

How does Clause 24 impact on Sharia mortgages where interest isn’t paid?  Are Sharia mortgages exempt from clause 24? If so is there a case for transferring to this type of mortgage or does this bring the proposed legislation into a religious and/or racial discrimination area? Thanks for sharing your thoughts Peter

Letting Agent charging for HMRC tax assessment

13th November 2015

The latest statement from my letting agent had a fee of £35 for ” HMRC tax assessment”.  When I queried what this was for her reply was; “the HMRC requested information from me under new Agent Regulations that have ‘just’ been enforced, and I had to provide to them a detailed spreadsheet of all landlords […]

Need help with a s21 and s8 notice please

12th November 2015

First Post so be gentle! I have a periodic AST where the rent is payable 4 weekly, so on serving a s21 notice do I give 2 months notice? If so what dates do I need to match up to make it work. OR do I give 8 weeks notice which is 2 rent cycles? […]

Conservative peer speaks out against Tory tax grab

12th November 2015

We are pleased to report that week, a member of the House of Lords had the intelligence and nerve to speak out against the anti-landlord ‘tax grab.’ Property118 landlord, Dr Rosalind Beck, has written to him to express our thanks. The extract and letter are below: In the Lords debate on the Finance Bill, Lord […]

Lord Davies of Oldham supports Clause 24

12th November 2015

I say: what about supporting the tenants? Labour, by supporting Clause 24, in effect, continues to support the Government’s attack on landlords who have borrowed to purchase properties. This is despite the fact that it is now generally agreed, the decision will lead to rents rising across the board in the private rented sector. This […]