I recently instructed a letting agent to find a tenant for a flat I own. I made it it clear that as an experienced landlord and a member of the TDS I would be holding the deposit and managing the property myself. This was agreed, written into the contract and signed by all parties. The […]

We are thinking of either renting our home out as a whole to a family or similar or venturing into the new world of renting out individual rooms. The house is in a great location, close to transport links etc. Have posted an add in spare rooms and already have received a lot of interest. […]

A small family Trust wants to buy an income producing BTL property from a family member by way of a Beneficial Transfer to both avoid SDLT, (as the property remains legally owned by the family member), and to preserve the mortgage held by the family member, (as a new lender would require the Trust to […]

My fellow Director Chris Badger will be hosting a complimentary webinar on Evicting tenants on Thursday 23rd June at 12.30pm. The webinar lasts an hour and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. Some of the topics we will be covering are the notices that need to be issued and the process of transferring […]

FREE ENTRANCE  On 29th June the Brighton Landlord Expo hosted by Association Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) will deliver a programme full of legislative updates, key topics concerning Landlords and Agents. This is an excellent opportunity to meet fellow Property118 members. Lesley Lindsay, a Founder Member of Property118 Action Group, has very kindly agreed to represent […]

It is predicted that upwards of 100,000 mis-selling complaints could be directed to Financial and Legal Ombudsmen over the next 5 years in respect of mortgage contracts which were not properly explained by professional advisers (mortgage advisers and solicitors). Each complaint costs the borrower nothing to make but results in fees being payable to the […]

I am a full time landlord and have a portfolio of properties that are all in my sole name. I am confused by the conflicting advice I have received from various tax advisers about incorporating via a property partnership to get around both CGT and SDLT.  I find the partnership route very murky and open […]

I am proposing to purchase a buy to let now which would obviously then be let, I then propose to pay off the mortgage with the proceeds from my present home and move in to the buy to let property when close to retirement. This will not be sold, my question is, do I in […]

I own a house and I want to make this my primary address and actually live there now as its almost repaired. I have been renting a property now for 10 years near my work. I do actually need an office and be close for meetings, and my company do not provide me with an […]

I would like some advice regarding purchasing a property the property is made up of a ground floor cafe located in a good location in a sea side town centre, which has 3 floors above the cafe, with 6 bedroom accommodation. However, the lease is only 21 year lease due to expire July 2027. I […]

Can you spare a day to help us out in Brighton on 29th June and/or Leicester on 19th July and/or Manchester on 28th July? We need somebody to represent Property118 Action Group at a series of ARLA Expo’s. We can afford to pay up to £150 for each event to cover your expenses. ARLA have very kindly offered […]

I let my property through letting agent in July 2007. Jan 2008 he disappeared from the market and did not protected the deposit. I carried on with the tenancy and now want my property back for 30th June 2016(Notice section 21 served). The tenant is refusing to leave and I have to go to court […]

I currently rent a commercial property and I have just been hit with 16% rise in rent, this seems to be a bit excessive. To be fair I haven’t had a rise for 4 years, but even so it seems like a very large hike. Can anyone with commercial property experience tell me if this […]

My husband and I are relatively new to the buy-to-let business and we would value any advice. I let a property to a lady with three children. She is a single mother who receives housing benefit. In March my tenant got a part time job. She contacted the council who promptly suspended her claim for […]

I am a part-time landlord with one property, but I am renting my flat. Recently a ceiling hoist has been installed in the flat below and I am getting less and less sleep as the downstairs neighbour goes to bed much later than me and also gets up at about 6.00am. I have spoken to […]

Discontent amongst borrowers with BoI (Bristol & West Mortgages), Skipton Building Society (Amber Homeloans) and Manchester Building Society is growing. Whilst all those borrowers with West Brom tracker mortgages are getting a full refund of their over-charged mortgage accounts and their mortgage payments put back to where they should be, those affected by similar rate hikes […]

As a sole trader I am interested in the beneficial interest trust as a strategy, however the article doesn’t seem to address the IHT issue.  A discretionary trust has been suggested but the 45% tax and 10 yearly IHT tax seems counter productive, any suggestions. Many thanks Tony

I took out a tracker mortgage to buy my home in 2004, was then relocated to Ireland in 2005 and I started to rent my house in 2006.  Halifax told me that I had to give up my tracker and go on another, higher, rate. This cost me twice as much. Has anyone had a similar […]

Shawbrook Bank who specialise on Buy to Let, Commercial, Semi-commercial and Bridging products have opened up criteria and improved products in light of the recent changes to Stamp duty. Shawbrook anticipate the commercial market is likely to attract increased demand from investors looking to spread their risk across different types of property investment rather than […]

We own a ground floor flat in an East London house converted into two flats in the 1970s. We have 120 years remaining on a 125 years lease. The upstairs flat has 60 years left on a 99 years lease. It needs refurbishing; we’ve had leaks through our ceiling. External maintenance has been neglected and […]

The number of tenants falling into serious rent arrears has been decreasing, according to the latest report. Tenants renting their homes from private landlords are less likely to suffer from a serious build-up of late rent as a result of falling unemployment levels. Only 86,200 tenants across the UK were more than two months behind […]