Page 735 – Property118

Attachment to earnings – what is your experience?

22nd July 2015

Recently, we have seen a lot of discussion about using HCEO to recover debts. People started sharing their experiences, give us more inside view on how HCEO works. It may help other people to make better decision in the future. I would like to bring on another enforcement method: an attachment to earnings. After the […]

Landlords race for shares in Property118 Portal Ltd

21st July 2015

The race is on for Property118 members to snap up the remaining shares in Property118 Portal Ltd before they are made available to all members of the Seedrs crowd funding platform next week.  The share sale will raise funds to launch a National TV advertising campaign to promote the portal. Investors stand to benefit not only by […]

I am a non resident landlord and being taken to court for the deposit?

21st July 2015

I know that under the housing act the LL must provide an address for service. How does this work with a non-UK resident landlord if they have zero connections with the UK (except owning property there) no friends, family or agent? I am having issues with tenants who moved out 2 months ago and want […]

Being sued for rejecting a tenant due to bad references

21st July 2015

I run a small letting agency where I own half of the properties we rent out. All in all this works well as I understand what a landlords needs are! However, several weeks a go we received an application to rent a property from an individual to for one of my most valuable properties in […]

Couple arguing on a sofa during a tense relationship breakdown relevant to tenancy issues

How the budget will affect private landlords – EXAMPLE

20th July 2015

Dave & Margaret are married and together run a sizeable buy-to-let property business. Properties have been acquired over a period on nearly three decades and have always been purchased in their own names as opposed to a company based on advice from their accountants. 2016/17 Tax year 2020/21 Tax year Rental income £600,000 £600,000 Expenses £200,000 £200,000 Mortgage […]

emails to George Osborne – Chancellor of the Exchequer

20th July 2015

The following are just a selection of the emails that Property118 members have sent to George Osborne since his budget announcements affecting landlords last week.  Please feel to post yours in the comments section below …. Dear Mr Osborne I am writing to you to express my dismay and consternation at the proposed changes to […]

Liverpool Landlord Licensing – Judicial Review?

20th July 2015

Firstly, may I say that I have NO issue with true Selective Licensing for landlords. I have properties in a couple of areas of Liverpool where I would positively welcome it! My previous item about Liverpool’s Landlord Licensing scheme was published here on 26th May last year during the ‘consultation’ process. City wide licensing was […]

How do you get rid of the smell from a heavy smoker?

20th July 2015

We have a very heavy smoker moving out of a property and wanted to know the best way for getting rid of the smell and freshening up the place. It’s a large 4 story and we’ll get in professional cleaners, but wondered if anyone had any good tips. Thanks Gillian

Extortionate ground rent review increase by 2840%

20th July 2015

I’ve been served with a notice for a ground rent increase from £50 to £1470 by my landlord for a freehold house in a village near Norwich. My house is attached to a number of flats which are also faced with a similar increase by the landlord although he has just singled me out to […]

Can rental profit become ‘earned’ income?

20th July 2015

I was wondering about the pros and cons of setting up a property management or lettings business to run my portfolio through. This is partly because of the proposed tax changes to mortgage interest and partly because I currently don’t fit the criteria for certain finance and insurance products as my income is deemed to […]

Mark Carney prepares the country for possible Bank of England base rate rise

17th July 2015

Despite some serious economic head winds Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, is preparing the country for the possibility of an interest rate rise at the beginning of next year. China, the recent driving force in the world economy, is seeing growth slow along with its stock market taking a fall. The […]

Is this a legit way to minimise tax?

16th July 2015

I have been told by a ‘property accountant’ that its perfectly reasonable for me to:  – buy a property cash in my name – refurb it – rent it out – have an ‘arrangement’ where my wife gets all the rental income in exchange for ‘fully managing the property inc losses’ – the rent would […]

Property118 needs your help please

16th July 2015

We would like to see Property118 advertised on National TV and we’re hoping you will want to help.  We have launched a crowd funding campaign, the minimum investment is just £10. You will get a 50% tax credit/rebate on any amount you commit, plus CGT benefits under SEIS rules. You will also get shares in our new property portal so it’s […]

UK student property market still growing

16th July 2015

The UK student property market is continuing to grow and provide landlords with healthy yields, according to latest figures. Investment in student accommodation hit £3.98 billion in the first half of 2015, well ahead of the £2.35 billion for the whole of last year. The research from commercial property and real estate company CBRE, also […]

How are service charges apportioned between units in mixed-use blocks?

16th July 2015

I own a leasehold retail unit that is one of four along the front of a modern mixed-use building with residential flats above. There is a rear courtyard and car park accessible to and used only by the flat occupants. The block managers (acting for an RTM company) used to require me to pay service […]

Moving a BTL portfolio into a Ltd company structure with no CGT

15th July 2015

If you could transfer your properties to a limited company without paying any capital gains on the transfer would you be interested?  Massive thanks to Property118 member Simon Lever for sharing this information. Simon is a Chartered Accountant and Business Advisor. In Simon’s own words …. “I refer you to the case of Elizabeth Moyne Ramsey v […]

Bank of Ireland Deal

15th July 2015

Buy-to-Let borrowers who were left feeling stitched up by the Bank of Ireland tracker rate hike can switch to these products-  3.29% fixed for 5 years or 3.49% fixed for 7 years No application form or further underwriting No valuation or arrangement fees No legal fees No broker fees 5% early repayment charge if you pay off […]

Buy to let mortgage dilemma- transfer of equity?

15th July 2015

I wondered if anybody has experience of can advise on the following: My sister and I started building a property portfolio around 15 years ago. Two of the properties have mortgages in our joint names, the others are solely in one name. We have always recognised the properties as shared and have declared a split […]

Development finance

Five classes of development finance lenders – Don’t be left frustrated

15th July 2015

Roll back the clock to pre credit crunch time and developers were generally financed through their banks. Due to a dearth of readily available finance from this traditional source, a number of new entrants entered the market. With the number and variety of existing and new lenders, development finance has become a far more complex […]