Expat BTL or standard BTL?

1st September 2016

I have found this website very helpful and I am now in a situation where my BTL mortgage is approaching the end of fixed term very soon, I am looking to remortgage to another lender with a better rate. The tricky thing is that I now get an opportunity to work abroad and I would […]

SafeDeposits Scotland searching for missing tenants

1st September 2016

Staff at Scotland’s tenancy deposit scheme SafeDeposits Scotland are on the hunt for thousands of Scottish tenants who have forgotten to claim back their deposits worth more then half a million pounds. Tenancy deposit schemes were introduced in July 2012 and since then more than 156,000 deposits have been repaid by SafeDeposits Scotland. While millions […]

Restrictive Covenants and Indemnity

31st August 2016

7 years ago I bought an ex council house. I was not aware that there is a restrictive covenant by the local authority that prevents the house being used ‘other than as a single private dwelling house for occupation by one family only and not to convert same to flats or maisonettes.’ The Local Authority […]

Who should pay for cat litter leak damage?

31st August 2016

I am looking for some advice please, I received a call whilst on holiday from the letting agent for the flat below mine saying they had to get the police to break into my flat, a locksmith to unlock the lock on the door and a plumber to put the water off as I had […]

Media Demonising Landlords

31st August 2016

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve posted some rather controversial made up headlines with the sole intention of attracting attention to a very real problem. Today I’m going to prove my point. Below are real headlines linked to articles which have appeared in National Media over the last few days … ‘Rogue landlords’ exploit […]

Are Damp Surveys a waste of money?

31st August 2016

Before buying a property I got a Homebuyers survey done that identified some damp at the rear of the building. I’ve done a decent amount of research and I’m confident this is rising damp and not condensation. This is what the report said. “The type of damp proof course was not visible and mostly no […]

How do I value property if I became joint owner 6 years after purchase?

30th August 2016

I really hope you guys can help. My wife kept her property when we purchased ours. She let it out and then 6 years later we became joint owners of it. We have sold the property. I understand how to calculate her CGT liability but, I never lived at the BTL property and as I […]

Enough is Enough!

30th August 2016

I’ve had ENOUGH of lazy journalists who blame private landlords for the housing crisis. I’ve had ENOUGH of MPs who pay lip service to concern for tenants. I’ve had ENOUGH of charities who demonise landlords. I’ve had ENOUGH of government ministers and their civil servants who pursue ill thought out policies. I’ve had ENOUGH of […]

Norwich City Council should reject Article4

30th August 2016

The growth and sustainability of the UEA needs the support of private investors to continue to offer accommodation to the growing student population. With interest rate relief cuts, increase in stamp duty and post Brexit BTL products changing, the sector will almost certainly have less investment. By introducing Article 4 Norwich City Council are demonstrating […]

Deal Breakers to pay attention to before determining value

30th August 2016

When it comes to achieving maximum value, it is easy to forget that what is appealing in terms of taste to one person can be abhorrent to the next. Of the many home improvement faux pas which affect saleability and value in the minds of buyers, the following seven deadly sins represent the equivalent of […]

Tenant wants reduced rent to cover Green Deal loan?

30th August 2016

I have updated a property of mine with a new extra wall insulation on green deal finance, new boiler and new roof. Which has been an expensive upgrade. My tenants saw a massive improvement in their energy costs. However due to job circumstances they moved out in June. I now have new tenants who I […]

Should Management Fee be passed onto tenants?

30th August 2016

We have a small portfolio of BTL properties one of which incurs an annual Management Fee which we have paid for the past 10 years, but we are now wondering should this have been an expense passed on to our tenant as she is clearly the ones who has benefited from the services provided? As […]

Deed of Trust CONFUSION! HELP!

30th August 2016

I will try to keep this as simple as possible!  I am the sole owner of 5 buy to let properties on mortgage. I wish to remain the sole owner by way of land registry. My wife has done majority of the leg work and finances towards the building of this portfolio – albeit in […]

Bank of England chief economist says property better than pensions?

30th August 2016

In an interview with The Times the Bank of England chief economist, Andy Haldane, said property was “almost certainly” a better investment for retirement and he could not make “the remotest sense of pensions”. This has caused quite a stir and accusations of irresponsibility considering his current pension pot is now worth a reported ÂŁ83,816 […]

97 year old woman with Alzheimers being persecuted by Director!

28th August 2016

My mother is 97, has Alzheimers and a pacemaker. She lives in a mansion block, is a freeholder and probably the longest resident in the building. The owner of the flat upstairs is a director of the freeholders association. His nephew has bought the flat. He has also bought the space outside the flat and […]

Insurance included in flat service charge – will it cover letting?

28th August 2016

I am very near to completion on an investment flat that I intend to rent out. The service charge includes the building insurance, however I want to know if this insurance will cover letting the place? I have been asking my solicitor this question for weeks now and frustratingly am still yet to get any […]

BTL landlords are benefits sucking people farming leaches

28th August 2016

This is another one of those antagonistic headlines to get you hot under the collar and to motivate you into action. It’s nothing you can’t read every day in the comments section of the National media though is it? And can you really blame the journalists for publishing their sensationalist, attention grabbing, anti-landlord headlines to sell […]

Sometimes I Despair

26th August 2016

If everybody who benefited from our campaign against The West Brom was do donate just 10% of the ÂŁ27,500,000 we recovered for them Property118 Action Group would have a fighting find today of over ÂŁ2.75 million. If each person who read my article last night had committed ÂŁ10 a month we would be building a fighting fund at a rate of […]

How Can I Evict Council Tenants Through a Sublet?

26th August 2016

I am asking on behalf of my mother, who owns a three-bedroom house. The property was leased to an estate agents that offer guaranteed rent whether the property has tenants or not. My mother signed a contract for two years, so she was due to receive the property back in May 2016. As such, she […]

Which university offers the best buy to let investment?

26th August 2016

The average house price across the top 100 universities in the UK equates to ÂŁ319,963, according to a new poll. Leeds University achieved the best balance of UCAS entry level and property prices for those considering a buy to let investment. Leeds University has an average entry requirement of 436.5 UCAS points and an average […]

Really worried and looking to sell ASAP

26th August 2016

After reading all the doom and gloom on the new tax rules and now the underhand tactics regarding CGT, I’m pretty much done and looking to sell up. I’m really worried that I will go bankrupt and take my family with me. It just isn’t sustainable under these new rules. I have two properties both […]