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

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 […]

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? […]

We have just purchased a house with attached land recently for future development. The house was already let and we have retained the existing tenants and is being managed by a local letting agency. We have signed up with them for 6 months with a view to handling the tenancy directly ourselves or perhaps just […]

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 […]

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 […]

Landlords have the responsibility of keeping their tenants safe and electrical safety is a big part of this. In order to avoid fines and protect your tenants, be aware of changes to the latest legislation. Failure to keep electrical equipment such as light switches, microwaves and fuse boxes safe and in good condition can lead […]

I have now found a Housing Benefit tenant and done all the credit checks/ references etc and all is good. They are currently receiving HB in another London borough, but will be moving to my properties London borough so wanted I wanted to know if anyone could briefly outline the procedure I would need to […]

  GENERAL GUIDANCE  If you have been retaining profits after paying the higher rates of income tax then you have probably been paying more tax than necessary. IS TAX AVOIDANCE LEGAL? The law regarding tax avoidance was clarified nearly 80 years ago. In 1936 a landmark legal case was heard in the House of Lords […]

Mydeposits has been given government approval to operate a custodial based tenancy deposit protection scheme in England and Wales from April 2016. Protecting tenants’ deposits has been a legal requirement in England and Wales since 2007, with landlords and letting agents having the choice of an insurance based scheme that involves a fee, or a […]

I have received a demand from Bedford Borough Council for back dated council tax for 2013. The tenant said he moved out 6 months earlier  and could I actually prove when he vacated. The Council say that due to a recent case, if the tenant’s tenancy has gone periodic and moves out without informing council, […]

Does anyone know, or have, a good template for Fire Risk Assessments please, as most I look at seem a lot more geared to larger business properties rather than 5-8 bed student HMOs? Do you carry them out yourselves, or get them done professionally? Thanks Midsicl

Landlord Action is in full support of the Government’s latest proposal to crack down on rogue landlords. In particular, those who carve up properties to creative multiple sub-standard sized rooms in a bid to maximise their rental income. Imposing a minimum square footage per room, as a legal requirement, will help reduce the number of […]

Don’t allow the restrictions on finance cost relief to ruin the viability of your property investments. Complete the short fact find linked below and we will show you the way.

I have an apartment, but the Right to Manage (RTM) company with their managing agent have failed to repair the roof and I have lost 6 months rent due to them not repairing it. The  Buildings Insurance company will not pay as they are saying it was not maintained! Can I hold the RTM company […]

I have an aggressive tenant who always pays late and who I would like gone. I recently tried to increase the rent after 3.5 years, but he refused to pay it or sign a new contract. I issued him a Section 21 notice requiring possession, but he is refusing to leave under instructions from the […]

Eight out of ten of those renting accommodation want tenancy agreements of one year or less, a large survey by The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) has suggested. 39,855 tenants whose deposits are protected by The DPS’ responded to the survey, with 80.1% saying that they preferred agreements that lasted no longer than 12 months.  […]

We are a family with good income, who just moved to UK and we see ourselves living here for another 10 or 20 years, but unlikely forever. I do not have the patience to deal with whimsical landlords, but I neither have interest in buying a property in UK. I’m therefore looking for a contract, […]

My property is in an area of additional HMO licencing therefore requires a licence for 3 sharers or more. I let my house to two people on a 12 month AST. They have moved in two more, the council know this now and say they require a licence. The tenants are in breach of their […]

I have been married to my husband for 25 years but we still have one flat that is only in his name. We now want to sell this flat and take advantage of 2 lots of CGT relief. Can I be added to the deeds easily so as to avoid him paying a huge CGT […]

Is it legal to create AST contracts whilst the landlord lives in the same property using the same kitchen etc, reason being I have lodgers at present but am selling the house with lodgers in situ , I would like to change the contracts over to AST before I sell the business? Regards Alison