The Supreme Court has ruled that an occupier of a private residence cannot invoke Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as a defence when the private landlord seeks possession. Article 8 Article 8 http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf covers the right to respect for private and family life and states the following: Everyone has the […]

If you thought clause 24 of the 2015 finance bill was underhanded, wait until you get a load of this!  The government have slipped some additional clauses into the finance bill 2016 “Sections 75-78: taxation of profits from trading and investing in UK Land” which make profits made on the sale of buy-to-let property become taxable income, at […]

Myself and my wife are established BTL landlords with a high value portfolio of six properties in London. The net result taxwise is that we both now have incomes of just above the higher rate limit of £43K and no other income. The purpose of the portfolio is purely is to provide a long term […]

I have a new family moving in 1/10/2016 who wish to bring there own gas cooker. Do I have any legal responsibility to get the tenants own gas cooker they want to install gas safety checked or is it their responsibility to use a gas safe installer of cookers? I appreciate that I need a gas safety certificate […]

I have just had a very traumatic experience after taking a freehold management company to 1st tier tribunal over a costs dispute. This is my story of how winning £800 cost me over £14,000. In 2014 I took a managing agent to a 1st Tier Tribunal and they were ordered to repay unreasonable service charges. The tribunal made […]

Their leader has been praying for a House Price Crash for years, he’s even set up a forum dedicated to helping to create one! By his own admission he can afford to buy a place of his own but has always chosen not to. What a plonka! His strategy is based on hope and he’s recruited around three […]

It’s all well and good moaning about headlines like the one above and the bias of anti landlord media which leads to increased legislation and higher taxes but what are we doing about it? Ah yes, we are going to pass on all the costs to our tenants because they should foot the bill – […]

I private rented with no letting agents, had a basic tenancy agreement and paid my rent each month. The landlord wasn’t paying his mortgage and now the house has been repossessed leaving my family homeless. We got the letter informing us of eviction 6th July, this is when I refused to pay the rent for […]

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has suggested a possible Brexit clause that can be added by member surveyors to be added to Valuation reports. This is intended to offer protection for Surveyors against the uncertainty of future house price movements while the issue of Brexit and its repercussions are still uncertain. The RICS […]

Has anyone had a success with a housing benefit claim where they own a family members property and rent it back to them? I purchased my parents unencumbered home (for market value) in order to pay for renovations and to repay some of their debts. Almost 10 years on they have decided to claim housing […]

I have given a few properties to a guaranteed rent agency to manage, handle licences, bills, tenancies etc. I gave most of them early last year with a one year contract. Since handing them over, I have been out of the country and having just returned to attend a wedding. I have found illegal partitions, […]

Liverpool landlord Licensing is a deeply flawed process. I have exposed not only data breaches, but a breach in the 2015 de regulation act. The co regulators who are supposed to represent Landlords have so far defended the council on their now defunct anti social behaviour clause. The co regulators still purport to represent landlords, […]

I have to say that I was disgusted to read the article on this mornings BBC news page with regards to how much landlords are ‘lining’ their pockets from housing benefit claimants…. the title ‘Private landlords double housing benefit haul to £9.3bn’ suggest to me that private landlords are somehow stealing this money! Clearly landlords […]

There are 4 apartments in the unit. The 4 owners bought the freehold so that they could control maintenance and costs. One of the owners is questioning who has the right to suggest what remedial work is required, and who should be responsible for payment. His view appears to be that no work should be […]

I have a student (international students) let in a HMO and one of the tenants want to leave (its a month into her tenancy) and go back to her home country as she is unwell. I understand that she is liable for the full contract for the term however she can find a replacement tenant […]

I allowed a DSS couple have access to an empty 2 bed mid terraced property on the basis that their DSS application would be successful and all monies concluded within four working days. Today fourteen working days have passed and deposit monies have not been collected in full £250 of £595 due. No rental money […]

As a landlord can I ask what the repercussions are of having to cancel a Student Let AST due to the council not approving the property as an HMO. The property was being refurbished and modernised, a reputable Letting Agency drew up the contracts and found student tenants, however in the interim, the local council […]

I am one of the landlords fighting the absurd tax attacks on the Private Rented Sector from a Chancellor who seemed intent on doing as much damage as possible. It seems that many people believe landlords to be responsible for the terrible housing crisis we have in this country and that every one of us […]

Last night we celebrated our 1st birthday since launching the Norfolk Property Network. It’s hard to believe it was just a year ago we held our first FREE event. 12 months on and we’ve gone from strength to to strength and last night really demonstrated this. Over a year ago I found the other property […]

Commenting on calls for a renewed strategy for tackling homelessness by the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee, Richard Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at the National Landlords Association (NLA), said the following. “The NLA welcomes the CLG Committee findings, and its recognition that private landlords play a crucial role in preventing homelessness. “We are […]

Do the three stages of a Section 20 have to be completed within a certain time? There has been nine months between stage 1 of my Section 20 and the next communication – demand for payment, not even stage 2 of the notice. Is there a total period of time the whole notice lasts? i.e. […]