I am trying to raise a small loan to finish the conversion of a house into three flats. The lender is insisting that it is jointly named on the insurance policy, and also that the policy contains a ‘mortgagee’s non-invalidation clause’. This effectively provides that the insurer will pay out to the lender even if […]

Written evidence submitted to The Finance Bill Committee by Councillor James Fraser, Stevenage Borough Council (FB 73) LANDLORD TAX – THE RUINOUS EFFECTS OF CLAUSE 24 PART1: THE BACKGROUND PART 2: WHERE’S THE MODERATE IDEOLOGY? PART 3: LANDLORDS AS DISNEY VILLAINS PART 4: THE ACTUAL TRUTH PART 5: THE STRANGE MYTHS OF LANDLORDING PART 6: […]

The Chancellor George Osborne has said he will give as yet undisclosed powers to the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) to intervene in the Buy to Let market as soon as possible. The FPC are the Bank of England committee who vote every month on decisions regarding the Bank Base Rate and levels of Quantitative easing. […]

We were asked recently whether High Court Enforcement Agents (HCEOs) were permitted to force entry when conducting an eviction from residential premises. In the case of enforcing a writ of control (a writ for money) against a debtor in residential premises, the enforcement agent is not permitted to force entry. No right to remain However, […]

This submission by the Property118 action group to the Finance Committee is intended to provide MPs with a summary of the comments made by landlords associations, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the media and other key stakeholders with regard to the Summer Budget proposal to restrict finance cost relief for individual landlords.   The National […]

I live in a rural part of Wales and have recently been informed that an application for 150 houses has been put in for the land behind, and adjoining, my back garden. This is an elevated field with a number of the proposed properties looking directly over and into my house. The local Council (Powys) […]

The latest interim report released by The Property Ombudsman reveals more than half of the 9141 enquiries received related to lettings disputes, nearly double that of sales. This not only reinforces the importance of legislation introduced a year ago, making it a legal requirements for all letting agents in England to register with an approved […]

Average rents across England and Wales reached the highest level ever recorded between August and September this year, new data has found. According to the latest buy-to-let index from Your Move and Reeds Rains, average rents currently stand at £816 per month, a 1.6% month on month rise and 6.3% year on year increase. These […]

Is Campbell Robb, CEO of Shelter arguing in favour of the tax grab against landlords and tenants! This following correspondence between Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Shelter and a member of Property118. Both letters were sent and received 20th of October 2015. Letter from Campbell Robb: Dear David, Thank you for your email. While the restriction of […]

The Home office have announced that Right to Rent checks will now be the responsibility of all Private Landlords from the 1st February 2016. This is part of a wider government scheme to make it harder for illegal immigrants to live in the UK. Landlords not making the checks could be fined up to £3,000 […]

On October 1st 2015 the House of Commons issued a briefing paper to clarify the legal requirements for landlords with regards to Legionella Risk Assessments. This gives specific clarification that all landlords operating rental properties must undertake a Legionella risk assessment on each rental property they own. To see full note click here Whilst many […]

I will be delivering an informal presentation at The Oaklands Hotel in Norwich tonight (Wednesday 21st October 2015) for the Norfolk Property Network.  My presentation is entitled “Constant Change Is Here To Stay”. It will be an interactive session with plenty of opportunities for group debate and Q&A’s. The key focus will be on changes to […]

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have fined a landlord in Bedford £265 and costs of £845 after a defective gas hob was found at the rental property. In February this year the tenants felt unwell and called the gas helpline. when an engineer arrived the property’s gas supply was stopped after carbon monoxide was […]

I took out my mortgage in 2006 with Kensington and that then changed to MX. We unexpectedly moved to Australia on a 4 year visa (2013) and rented out our house in the UK. I spoke to MX and they sent out the letting agreement pack which was completed and returned along with our new […]

Investors have been requesting high quality stock just outside of Manchester city centre. Arguably, Britain’s second city, a number of large corporations are based in Manchester, notably; the BBC, ITV, Google, KPMG, Deloitte and the Co-operative. Elisabeth Gardens, will be completed to a very high standard, and is unlike anything else on the market in […]

High demand is reported to be fueling increases in price for “First Time Buyer” property (two bedrooms or fewer) in a survey of house prices from Rightmove. Prices for these starter properties are up 4.9% on last month and 9.6% overall for the year. The national average price of all property coming to the market […]

I am an economics undergraduate(2nd year), 20 years old. My goal is to obtain my first BTL investment property within 1 year of graduating university. I am saving every penny(as hard as it is) of my student loan, and will have £9k of capital at my disposal when graduating. As ambitious as it is (maybe […]

Would anybody be able to advise how taxation works on a buy to let abroad (Spain). Would I have to pay tax in Spain or the UK or both? I’m a resident and tax payer in the UK. Thanks James

I’m a bit of a novice but what are everyone’s thoughts on buying properties at 35k/40k with a rental value of 350-400pcm? You might be able to guess the area from the price tag but these are post-industrial, highish unemployment etc areas. I’m going into this with open eyes – terrible tenants, damages, relatively high […]

7 years ago I put my name on a Buy to Let mortgage with what is now my ex husband (for the past 4 years). I have never had any income from this property, as we agreed that he wanted no further interest in our mortgaged family home and that I wanted nothing more to […]

As the MD of a right-to-manage company, I’ve had the misfortune of being caught in the crossfire of a water damage incident (ie water has leaked from one flat into another causing significant damage to the ceiling) – I’m not prepared to use the buildings insurance to make a claim since the value of the […]